"The Charbor Chronicles": Honoring Woodstock on the 53rd Anniversary

This was a copy of a newspaper poster "Remembering Woodstock" that helped to inspire this blog entry.

You know, I wanted to make a tradition each year of posting blog entries on anniversaries of things that mattered. This year, I have tried to stay on top of that, with blog entries like that (mostly blog entries republished from previous years, although admittedly often with a little touch up).

To that end, I post blog entries on such occasions as, say, Bastille Day, or July 4th (Independence Day), or Canada Day. I posted yesterday about it being the anniversary of V-J Day, which marked the end of World War II. Earth Day. Of course, prominent holidays probably go without saying.

And here is yet another one: the anniversary of Woodstock.

This was probably the most historical, and memorable, concert event in history. The level of sheer artistic genius and innovation on that weekend, coupled with what appears to have been a sincere striving to recreate the world, and to make it better, more honest and more loving, makes that concert in upstate New York way back in 1969 (before I was born!) makes that concert worth talking about, and there is rarely a better occasion to talk about it than on the anniversary!

So, here is that post on the biggest concert of them all, the one that somehow managed to transcend music while redefining it! The concert that in many respects changed the history of concerts, and possibly of rock music itself! That very rare breed of concert that everyone, whether a fan of Woodstock, and what it has come to represent, or not, knows about!

Woodstock, of course, is that concert. And while I cannot claim to have actually been there, or even to claim to have been born yet at the time that it took place, this concert has played a surprisingly prominent role at times in my life, and in my music appreciation.

So, without further ado, here is my blog entry in honor of Woodstock!

Remembering Woodstock (Originally Published on August 15, 2014)

I was just mentioning yesterday, on V-J Day, how amazing it seems that such an event as World War II (or rather, a series of events, because that was what it amounted to) should change the world so radically and permanently afterwards. There was the world before World War II, and there was the world after it.

Well, I stand by that. But there have been other such instances in history. The French Revolution immediately comes to mind. The Industrial Revolution. Surely, the Agricultural Revolution. Jesus Christ, no matter what one's interpretation of his life and it's meaning might be. World War I, which in it's own day was incredibly jolting and revealing of a darker truth to humanity than was commonly recognized or admitted to.

Now, I think we can also recognize some such instances within our culture, as well. And in the post-war era in the United States, it is hard to conceive of anything that changed the fabric of the nation as immediately, and as permanently, as the sixties liberation (for lack of a better term) movement. We can perhaps throw in the technological/computer revolution, which undeniably has changed our society, and indeed our world. The debate as to whether this is overall better or worse is far from decided. From my perspective, it is a bit of both. It is a tool, and you get from it what you make of it. Unfortunately, too many of us use technology only for convenient distractions from real life, which has become increasingly more difficult and strenuous, and not something that many of us, pampered with all of these toys and conditioned to living sheltered and privileged lives, use wisely or responsibly.

The internet can be a great tool for exploring things about the world, and indeed the universe, if you so choose. If you are among the relatively privileged few in the world today who enjoys a full belly regularly, who has a roof over their heads, and the internet readily available, then you are living better off than the vast majority of people out there. This privileged enclave would still include the bulk of the populations of North America and Western Europe.

Yet, we hardly seem to ever really reflect and recognize all of this. I think a large part of it is the underlying message, almost never spoken outright, to desire more than what we have. We consider this bettering ourselves. We are willing to work jobs, often extra jobs, in order to pay for the debts that many of us (a majority, surely, by now) are willing to get ourselves into (and I am one of them, by the way) in order to satisfy our desire for immediate gratification. That this gratification is fleeting, and that it never lasts long enough and, moreover, tends to make you hungrier for more and more, is something that the majority of us seem to know, deep down. But self-examination is not a specialty for us. Neither is thinking in general, unless it is thinking of how to advance oneself, and make more money, or improve one's station in life.

Again, it's all about the individual, in this individualistic society of ours.

Okay, so, perhaps indeed, technology has had a greater impact than the sixties. Arguably, maybe it is even competing with World War II, and the impact that it had on those who lived through it and were affected by it.

But I digress. This was the product of allowing myself to think too much. My mind was too free to wonder.

So, let me try to gain a bit more focus, and get back to the topic at hand: the sixties.

Think back to what the United States, and indeed the world, was like in the late fifties and early sixties. Politically, the world was dominated by the so-called "Cold War" between the two superpowers of the world - th United States, and the Soviet Union. Of course, these two nations had been allies during the epic Second World War. Now, they were enemies, and seemed to seriously threaten the world with the prospect of a World War Three. Remember, Stalin was not ancient history back then. Khruschev had taken off his shoe in the United Nations, and pounded it on his desk, claiming that they (the Soviets) would bury the West. Late in 1962, there was the Cuban Missile Crisis, where we probably came the closest to World War III.

Another thing that was very much a reality at the time, although it might be difficult, or even uncomfortable, for us to imagine it now, was legalized segregation in the Jim Crow South of the United States. That meant racial segregation, by custom and by law, which was strictly enforced.

In fact, what the fifties and very early sixties may be best known for in the United States is conformity. There was a certain set standard of behavior, as well as appearance and beliefs that were deemed normal. Deviation from these norms was frowned upon.

Such was the state of affairs in the United States during that era, which is considered, at least in retrospect, the "Golden Age".

Things changed, however. Many people still feel that those changes led to the general decline that the country then faced. I know some people like that, personally.

Yet, the changes, I think, were necessary. There was the Civil Rights movement of the 1950's, and into the 1960's. The whole process of legal desegregation had begun a long time before even Brown vs. Board of Education, arguably, with the desegregation of troops during World War II. But by the mid-50's, with the famous Supreme Court case, and the bus boycotts organized and led by Martin Luther King, Jr., and other prominent civil rights activists, it was in full swing.

It was a long and painful battle, to be sure. But ultimately, it was a successful one - at least from a legal standpoint. Martin Luther King, Jr. has once spoken about how long the arc of history is, and how it bends towards justice. It is long, indeed. Racism certainly has not been eradicated in the United States (or elsewhere). Some rather naive people suggested that it was, after the election of the first black man to the White House. But we have experienced enough problems since, that any such idyllic and lofty notions have proven to be daydreams, ultimately.

Still, advances were made. Progress was made. The situation, ultimately, improved. The legal infrastructure of Jim Crow segregation had ended with the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, both of which were signed by President Lyndon Johnson, himself from Texas.

Of course, Johnson is probably remembered more for Vietnam than for these things, or for his "Great Society" program that really worked towards greater equality and fairness overall. For it was in that war that his administration, perhaps justifiably, will be judged for history. It lied, it engaged in illegal, and quite probably immoral, activities before the whole world.

American involvement in Vietnam gradually, with advisers. It began to pick up over time, and then there was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, and the passing of this by Congress. Our involvement began to increase dramatically, until there were hundreds of thousands of American troops in South Asia.

It proved to be a long war - the longest in American history up to that point. It was costly, as well - particularly to American prestige. There were crimes committed, including rape and killing. the most famous such incident was the My Lai massacre. Also, the war became a very unpopular one over time, despite having started with an easy majority supporting it.

The war became more and more unpopular over time, and there were all sorts of protests against it. The most famous were the mass protests on the streets, some of which ended up violently, such as the infamous protests at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.

However, there were other forms of protest, as well. It can be argued that the artistic expression protesting Vietnam and other unfair aspects of American (and Western) society pushed the bounds of art, allowing it to go in directions that it had never gone before. That included artistic protest. Kurt Vonnegut, a novelist who would gain fame during this period, railed against the conflict in Vietnam, and war in general, and made a nice literary career out of it.

Musical expression famously expanded at this point, as well. To be sure, this was a period where some great musicians began to pop up - more than usual, most likely. Some of them seemed almost to test one another's abilities, and this forced them to experiment more, to do things that no musicians had done before. The Beatles emerged in the early 1960's, and initially, they were a cute band that could hardly be considered dangerous. They had long hair (for the time) and matching suits, but they appeared to be, more or less, the first boy band. It is remarkable to think of just how radically the band changed over time. Think of them during that famous visit to America in February of 1964. Then think of them in their final albums, in 1969 and into 1970, when they were in the process of disbanding. Their looks changed. Their innocence, if it indeed was innocence, had changed. Their voice had changed. Most importantly, their music had changed.

Other bands had sprung up during this time, as well. Joan Baez. Bob Dylan. Buffalo Springfield. The Rolling Stones. The Animals. The Kinks. The Beach Boys. In time, other bands came to the fore, as well. The Who. Jimi Hendrix. Janis Joplin. Pink Floyd. The Doors.

The musical scene by the end of the 1960's was radically altered from what it had been before, under the banner of the "Flower Power" hippie movement, if such a movement existed at all.

These were artists that were challenging the norms of society. They rejected conventional thinking, and they did so loudly, protesting it, screaming with their voice or their guitars, or both. They took music, and indeed art, to where it had not gone before.

The peak of this was the very late 1960's. There was the famous Monterrey concert, and some incredible artists were there to perform. Jimi Hendrix famously lit his guitar on fire.

But the most iconic moment was the Woodstock music festival in the summer of 1969.

Art was expressed in new and radical ways during Woodstock. Some of it served as a jolt to society, with shocking -shocking! - images of nudity and free love. People were sliding around in the mud - literally. There were ways of dressing and doing things that had never been seen before. There were poems expressed. There were speeches against war. Of course, we know that there was experimentation with drugs, both at Woodstock and in society at large.

And for those three days of the famous music festival, there was music. Incredible music.

You had several already well known and accomplished artists that added to their already considerable legacies. Jimi Hendrix. Janis Joplin. The Who. There were emerging artists, that would soon establish legendary reputations, who really stood out during Woodstock. Richie Havens. Santana. Crosby, Still, & Nash. Music was improvised on stage. Art was produced off stage. There were vocal protests against the war in Vietnam, most famously by Country Joe and the Fish.

It was three days worth of legendary performances, in a concert that really transcended even the lofty expectations of it. It became not just another concert, with some big names. It was not even a big concert with some incredible performances. It became the concert of it’s time, the one by which all others were judged – and found wanting.

There were other great concerts of the time, of course. The Beatles had a few, including the first outdoor concert at the late Shea Stadium. But that one was more of a shrilly scream fest for teenage girls, rather than an incredible music experience. Perhaps the Beatles performance on the rooftop in London might measure up. Monterrey is at least in the same neighborhood of Woodstock, and was probably seen in a similar manner to Woodstock prior to the actual Woodstock. But then, in the summer of ’69, there was the Woodstock Music Festival. Three days of peace, love, and music. Tickets were sold for admission. But before long, it had attracted so many people, that they allowed people free entry for the remainder of the show. Most of the artists seemed to feel a different kind of spirit prevailing on that weekend, as well. Only one band – the Who – actually demanded their pay. The rest of them were willing to forsake their pay for the sake of music, or of art in general, or perhaps even for a vision of a better future. Remember, those were less cynical times than these. Cynicism was just beginning to creep it’s way in the 1960’s, to challenge the long rule of unquestioned conformity. People actually had faith that a better world was possible, that change was possible. They believed, maybe, that they were even beginning that process of fundamental change.

And those three days in a farm field in upstate New York symbolized that spirit, and what they offered, better than any single thing out there during that era. It has transcended those times, to pass now into history, as not just a legendary concert, but as the very embodiment of a whole era, and a whole movement. It was not merely anti-war, or some hippie love fest. It certainly was not just music.

It was a product of it's time, that happened to transcend it's time. The year before was one of the most eventful, crazy years ever. There were near revolutions in several nations. There were political assassinations here in the United States. Race riots. A riot in the Democratic Convention. The war raged on in Vietnam, and that was the year of the Tet Offensive.

Then, in 1969, there were other things. A man walked on the moon. The Vietnam War continued, although the new Nixon administration promised "peace with honor". There was still the counterculture, but it was not quite as hot, if you will, as it had been the previous year. And, of course, there was Woodstock. If some of the events had showed some of the worst elements that humanity had to offer prior to that, Woodstock was different. Woodstock offered the best that the counterculture had to offer.

For three days, Woodstock was history itself, and today, on the anniversary of the conclusion of that concert, I recognize and honor it.

At the time, nobody seemed to want it. A number of communities denied the organizers a permit. But Max Yasgur gave them permission to go ahead after they gave an estimate of maybe around 50,000 expected to show up. The numbers are in dispute, but it is often suggested that somewhere between 400,000 to 500,000 people were in attendance. It marked the start of the modern day rock-festival era, and remains an iconic moment in the history of American popular culture. Also, the site at Yasgur's farm has now officially been listed in the National Register of Historic Places.