Anyone been to Woodstock?

NEPATelecaster · September 22nd, 2006, 04:59 PM

The Fillmore Thread made me think about Woodstock...

I live about 45-50 minutes (on a good day if you know were it is) from the Original site in Bethel NY...

I played in a band with a drummer who was at most of the Festival (13-14 yrs old at the time) and my current Guitar player's wife was there at 18 (and said that's where she saw her first naked male body

)

My father on the other hand, had JUST gotten back from his 2nd tour in Vietnam and when a group of friends invited him up to go, he said No Way am I going up there to spend my time with a bunch of Hippie War Protesters (understood)

I was born 5 years later, so anyone else have first hand stories form there?

zombywoof · September 22nd, 2006, 05:13 PM

I have read that if everyone who claimed to have been at Woodstock was actually in attendance there would have been 10 million folks or something at the Festival.

Like you, I lived pretty close (about 2 hours away) so I did wander up. I figured on staying with a good friend who lived in Monticello and also making a visit to one of my favorite delis - Kaplan's.
Did not stay for the whole thing (I left Sunday afternoon so missed Hendrix). Actually spent most of the time just walking around in a purple haze.

Home Grown Tele · September 22nd, 2006, 05:13 PM

I was there for the whole 3 days and had a buddy who was part of the crew from the very beginning and worked backstage security during the festival. He had some great stories and is writing a book with a ton of photos (cause he was a photograher back then) of the whole thing from the first site that got pulled on them to when they first got to Yasgur's Farm and it was nothing but a cow field and then on to the bitter end.

A lot of it is just a bunch of fuzzy memories now due to age, and the consumption of illicit substances, but I have some memories that still stand out like a beacon.

One is standing stage left during Sly and the Family Stone's set and actually seeing the air vibrating from the music and the vibes. It was unbelieveable!! Sly totally kicked ass that night.

Another was watching the Who and seeing Pete Townshend (in time with the music) unsnapping his guitar, slamming it butt first on the stage and then strapping it back up while he swelled the volume up on a chord he was playing and thinking how in the hell is he managing to do that??

Got a bunch more but I'll let some of the other forumites give you their impressions. I'm sure others were there too!

zombywoof · September 22nd, 2006, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Home Grown Tele

Another was watching the Who and seeing Pete Townshend (in time with the music) unsnapping his guitar, slamming it butt first on the stage and then strapping it back up while he swelled the volume up on a chord he was playing and thinking how in the hell is he managing to do that??

Do ya remember Townsend hitting Abbie Hoffman with his guitar when Abbie ran onto the stage during the Who's set? If I recall, the Who went on at like 2 or 3 Sunday morning.

beachkos · September 22nd, 2006, 05:45 PM

I currently live about an hour from the original site in Bethel - which is now home to The Bethel Woods Center for The Arts - I, unfortunately, was one who didn't make it to the original festival - I was 14 at the time and living on Long Island - my friends older brother was going up and was willing to take me along - but Mom consulted with my great-aunt Florence who had a summer house in White Lake, right next to Bethel, and by mid week "Aunt Florence" was relaying the stories of people everywhere and Mom put the kabash on that trip. I guess in retrospect, Mom's decision was the right one for a 14 year old kid who was still finding himself.

A couple of interesting "asides" - Max Yasgur's son, Sam Yasgur, is currently the Sullivan County Attorney ( Bethel is in Sullivan County ).

It's said that no matter what time of day, there are always "pilgrims" visiting the original site, 365 days a year.

Cindy Cashdollar is originally from the village of Woodstock, where the festival was to have taken place originally. Due to permits, etc, the festival was switched to Yasgurs farm at the 11th hour.

A link for the Bethel Woods site

http://http://www.bethelwoods.us/index.html

Chris S. · September 22nd, 2006, 05:54 PM

Yup, I got there Thursday night before the music began, and stayed all the way through Monday morning when Hendrix played. Surprisingly, I remember most of what happened that weekend. (There were a couple of hours Sunday afternoon over at the area known as the Hog Farm that are still a little uh... foggy.) ;-)

One quick story: on Saturday evening, right as Canned Heat launched into "Refried Boogie" to start their set, a lot of the crowd STOOD UP (to boogie, of course!) and some people began moving forward down the hill toward the stage. Which would have been fine, except that many folks had spent the entire afternoon sitting or lying down, relaxing, drinking, and ingesting various other substances – so when they all stood up abruptly, a lot of them promptly FELL OVER.

It was pretty funny.

More later, CS

chickenpicker · September 22nd, 2006, 06:01 PM

Yeah, I've been to Woodstock. You drive through it on the way to Oxford.

http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.c...=100000&addr1=

Home Grown Tele · September 26th, 2006, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beachkos

I currently live about an hour from the original site in Bethel - which is now home to The Bethel Woods Center for The Arts -

Cindy Cashdollar is originally from the village of Woodstock, where the festival was to have taken place originally. Due to permits, etc, the festival was switched to Yasgurs farm at the 11th hour.

Hey man, I'm originally from Cornwall just south of you and still have a ton of family living there. Great area!!

Actually the festival was refused permits in Woodstock and Michael Lang then tried to put it on outside of Middletown, NY, I believe in Scotchtown, and was also refused there and then finally ended up in Bethel. Still to this day people show up in Woodstock and ask where the festival was held, hahahahaha.

For anyone who can find it there is a great DVD out called "Woodstock, Ya Can't Get There From Here". It chronicles how the idea for the original Woodstock Festival sprang out of the shows that were done in the late 1800's and early 1900's in Woodstock by the artists that lived there. Lots of really great stuff on it from locals and Michael Lang. It's for sale in a shop in Woodstock called Legends for anyone who can get there.

beachkos · September 26th, 2006, 07:37 PM

There were a number of "alternate" sites that they looked at after being denied the permit for the Village of Woodstock - I believe most of the poster printing was already done listing "Woodstock" as the location before they were denied the permits - in the mad scramble that followed to secure a site, sites were looked at outside of Middletown, a site near New Paltz, and even a site in Newburgh itself. Had it not been for Max Yasgur and his last minute consent and influence, the festival was very close to being called off and abandoned.

charlie chitlin · September 26th, 2006, 10:10 PM

[quote=Home Grown Tele] Still to this day people show up in Woodstock and ask where the festival was held, hahahahaha.
QUOTE]

Many folks are surprised to find that Woodstock is a pretty toney town... very Beemer...which is probably why the permit was denied back when.
When we lived near Woodstock, we called it Woodhampton.

Paul in Colorado · September 27th, 2006, 01:23 AM

I've been to the town of Woodstock. It was rainning like crazy so we went from the car to the motel to the restaurant and were soaked every time. I think the last throws of a hurricane was going through.

As far as the festival, I was 16, in California and too broke to get to the other side of the country, even though the rumors of it being special had reached us before the festival even started.

September 22nd, 2006, 04:59 PM	#1 (permalink)
NEPATelecaster Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Archbald - NEAR Scranton PA Age: 34 Posts: 1,093	Anyone been to Woodstock? The Fillmore Thread made me think about Woodstock... I live about 45-50 minutes (on a good day if you know were it is) from the Original site in Bethel NY... I played in a band with a drummer who was at most of the Festival (13-14 yrs old at the time) and my current Guitar player's wife was there at 18 (and said that's where she saw her first naked male body ) My father on the other hand, had JUST gotten back from his 2nd tour in Vietnam and when a group of friends invited him up to go, he said No Way am I going up there to spend my time with a bunch of Hippie War Protesters (understood) I was born 5 years later, so anyone else have first hand stories form there?

September 22nd, 2006, 05:13 PM	#2 (permalink)
zombywoof Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Back in the Heartland Posts: 2,903 17 Photos	I have read that if everyone who claimed to have been at Woodstock was actually in attendance there would have been 10 million folks or something at the Festival. Like you, I lived pretty close (about 2 hours away) so I did wander up. I figured on staying with a good friend who lived in Monticello and also making a visit to one of my favorite delis - Kaplan's. Did not stay for the whole thing (I left Sunday afternoon so missed Hendrix). Actually spent most of the time just walking around in a purple haze. __________________ "I don't play a lot of fancy guitar. I don't want to play it. The kind of guitar I want to play is mean, mean licks." John Lee Hooker

September 22nd, 2006, 05:45 PM	#5 (permalink)
beachkos Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Newburgh, New York Age: 54 Posts: 627 5 Photos	Goin' down to Yasgurs farm.......................... I currently live about an hour from the original site in Bethel - which is now home to The Bethel Woods Center for The Arts - I, unfortunately, was one who didn't make it to the original festival - I was 14 at the time and living on Long Island - my friends older brother was going up and was willing to take me along - but Mom consulted with my great-aunt Florence who had a summer house in White Lake, right next to Bethel, and by mid week "Aunt Florence" was relaying the stories of people everywhere and Mom put the kabash on that trip. I guess in retrospect, Mom's decision was the right one for a 14 year old kid who was still finding himself. A couple of interesting "asides" - Max Yasgur's son, Sam Yasgur, is currently the Sullivan County Attorney ( Bethel is in Sullivan County ). It's said that no matter what time of day, there are always "pilgrims" visiting the original site, 365 days a year. Cindy Cashdollar is originally from the village of Woodstock, where the festival was to have taken place originally. Due to permits, etc, the festival was switched to Yasgurs farm at the 11th hour. A link for the Bethel Woods site http://http://www.bethelwoods.us/index.html __________________ "The key to avoiding a shark attack isn't necessarily in being able to swim faster than the shark, rather the key lies in being able to swim faster than the person you're swimming with. " Beachkos - circa 1972

September 22nd, 2006, 05:54 PM	#6 (permalink)
Chris S. Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Near TELE-Town (Wash. DC) Posts: 2,891 7 Photos	Yup, I got there Thursday night before the music began, and stayed all the way through Monday morning when Hendrix played. Surprisingly, I remember most of what happened that weekend. (There were a couple of hours Sunday afternoon over at the area known as the Hog Farm that are still a little uh... foggy.) ;-) One quick story: on Saturday evening, right as Canned Heat launched into "Refried Boogie" to start their set, a lot of the crowd STOOD UP (to boogie, of course!) and some people began moving forward down the hill toward the stage. Which would have been fine, except that many folks had spent the entire afternoon sitting or lying down, relaxing, drinking, and ingesting various other substances – so when they all stood up abruptly, a lot of them promptly FELL OVER. It was pretty funny. More later, CS __________________ "I go online sometimes, but everyone's spelling is really bad. It's depressing." – Tara, from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" "It was born at the junction of form and function." – Bill Kirchen, from "Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods"

September 26th, 2006, 07:37 PM	#9 (permalink)
beachkos Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Newburgh, New York Age: 54 Posts: 627 5 Photos	Woodstock There were a number of "alternate" sites that they looked at after being denied the permit for the Village of Woodstock - I believe most of the poster printing was already done listing "Woodstock" as the location before they were denied the permits - in the mad scramble that followed to secure a site, sites were looked at outside of Middletown, a site near New Paltz, and even a site in Newburgh itself. Had it not been for Max Yasgur and his last minute consent and influence, the festival was very close to being called off and abandoned. __________________ "The key to avoiding a shark attack isn't necessarily in being able to swim faster than the shark, rather the key lies in being able to swim faster than the person you're swimming with. " Beachkos - circa 1972

September 22nd, 2006, 06:01 PM	#7 (permalink)
chickenpicker Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: UK Posts: 3,060 14 Photos	Yeah, I've been to Woodstock. You drive through it on the way to Oxford. http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.c...=100000&addr1=

September 26th, 2006, 10:10 PM	#10 (permalink)
charlie chitlin Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bucktown, Pa Age: 47 Posts: 2,349	[quote=Home Grown Tele] Still to this day people show up in Woodstock and ask where the festival was held, hahahahaha. QUOTE] Many folks are surprised to find that Woodstock is a pretty toney town... very Beemer...which is probably why the permit was denied back when. When we lived near Woodstock, we called it Woodhampton. __________________ Nil illigitimi carborundum http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...6-bf3537901a07

September 27th, 2006, 01:23 AM	#11 (permalink)
Paul in Colorado Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Fort Collins, CO Age: 55 Posts: 4,330 3 Photos	I've been to the town of Woodstock. It was rainning like crazy so we went from the car to the motel to the restaurant and were soaked every time. I think the last throws of a hurricane was going through. As far as the festival, I was 16, in California and too broke to get to the other side of the country, even though the rumors of it being special had reached us before the festival even started.