Woodstock

[KukriKhan]

1969

40 years ago. Me 18.

Man.

I got off work at 3. Sally was waiting in her Corvair. "Hop on the 304 and follow me", she said.

The 304:



Off to Grosse Pointe we flew (Grosse Pointe = the nice part of Detroit, back then). Salley's G. Pointe friend, hoping to 'slum' at a folk-rock concert met us at the door. Hubby asked for the keys to the 304. In exchange, he handed me the keys to his Linclon Continental (he = Lawyer).

Me driving the Conti, we picked up Angie, Celia's pal, who was Sally's friend, Sally being my patroness, who I'd met at highschool, she being a sub theater teacher, who had offered Chris, my friend, and I: "If you ever need a place to crash, Mi Casa es Su Casa", two weeks after which I needed a place to crash.

Ya still with me?

OK. So me 'n Sally, driving Celia's Old man's car, with Angie rollin' and sharin' what she thought was mj in the backseat, headed East from Detroit. Ontario came and went. Then New York State. Nobody was really high, but everyone tried to pretend they were.

Buffalo. Angie claimed munchies. I was directed to stop at some steakhouse. The waiters brought out raw steaks and explained what they would do to them to make us happy. Angie and Celia were right at home. Sally eyeballed me and ordered a hamburger. I followed suit. Fine meal; paid for by Celia's Hubby, I was told.

Drove to Bethel. Looked for any kind of parking - none. Settled on the roadside. Sally had two paid-for tickets; we hoped we could buy two more. I found a phone booth and called in "sick" to work this Saturday Morning.

Walked at least 5 miles into the concert site, talking to folks along the way - kind of a "Canterbury Tales" time. Got to what might have been the ticket-taking/buying area and was told things had changed: it was free.

We walked in like we owned the place - like everyone else. My in postal uniform, holding our "spot" the women spread out and, by reports, enijoyed themselves. Later that Saturday night I 'slept' with them all, huddled in the mud. Ha!

I heard Canned Heat, CCR, and Jimi, that I remember. To this day, I'll remember the intro to "Born on The Bayou" being played as I woke up in the mud at sunrise.

Unaware of the significance of our attendance, we walked the miles back to the Linc. It untouched, we travelled back to the real world.

On arrival back in Detroit, I traded the Linc keys for the 304's. Dan ( I remember him now) remarked that he had fun on the 304. Nowadays I think he said so to ask if I had fun with his women. To this day Idunno.

That's my story, and I'm sticking' to it.

[KukriKhan]

Oh. And RIP Les Paul.

[Whacker]

Holy crap, you were there man?

[drone]

Ya hippie!

[Monk]

What I wouldn't give to have seen that show. Great stuff Kukri. As if we needed further affirmation of how awesome you are.

[Gregoshi]

To me, Woodstock was Snoopy's bird companion. I was too young (10) and had yet to become interested in music. I always thought Woodstock was all rock legends until I happened to need to see who performed there. What a surprising mix of artists. Sha Na Na? Amazing.

The kids at the Paul Green School of Rock schools all across the country are performing music from Woodstock on Saturday at anniversay events everywhere. Today's generation salutes the Great Ones.

BTW, great story Kukri.

[Raz]

Aww jeez. I salute you Kukri.

The music, the atmosphere - it was all there at Woodstock.

[seireikhaan]

Peace and love, Kukri-san, peace and love.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Wow.

Amazing story, Kukri, thanks for sharing.

It's hearing stuff like this that makes me think my generation needs to be involved in *something* epic.

[InsaneApache]

Great stuff Kukri.

I too was too young to 'get' all that late 60s stuff. I was still in love with The Tremeloes at that time.

My time was yet to come, but when it did, oh boy!

Something seems to have got lost with the music of today. I blame Simon Cowell.

Oh yeah, Les Paul, what would we rock and rollers have done without his 'special'. Great man, terrible loss. RIP man.

[Veho Nex]

I was born wayyyyy to late to enjoy woodstock. You lucky... grr.. Awesome story btw.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Oh, wow, awesome. Kukri, you have no idea - you could've just told me you were Neil Armstrong and walked on the moon forty years ago and I would be less impressed.

What a great story. Good times, wish I would've been there, but way before my time. You made history man. Youth culture in '68 and '69 shaped our world.


RIP Les Paul. A great man, a great guitar. I bought one, hoping to become as cool as people like KukriKhan.

[KukriKhan]

Haha. Honestly, I was sorta swept up by events totally out of my control. The event didn't seem all that big a deal at the time, except when somebody got on the PA and announced how large the crowd was - 400K.

It wasn't until I returned to Detroit and saw the news coverage that I realized the impact: almost half-a-million 18-35 year olds could peaceably, and almost spontaneously, assemble in one spot, "suffer" hardship together, and actually enjoy the time.

I went directly to work the following Monday, mudstains still on my uniform. My supervisor asked: "You didn't go to that Woodstick thing, did you?". "Nah, I was horrible sick, Boss", I answered. He knew I was lying (I think), but never pushed the issue.

[Hax]

CCR.

*faints*

[Beirut]

Kukri,

Beautiful, baby. Beautiful.

[Martok]

Kukri, there's no other way to say it: You're simply too cool for me. I can so easily see you having attended, too -- it's not hard to picture at all.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Do ya remember meeting this guy?



Grandpa Woodstock & Queen Estar

[KukriKhan]

Do ya remember meeting this guy?


Grandpa Woodstock & Queen Estar

LOL. Back then they were probably known as "King Peace and Princess Moonbeam".

From the same site, covering the 40th Anniversary concert:




Wuttahellizat? Padded chairs?? Overhead cover?? Sunglasses?? Yikes.

[Hosakawa Tito]

LOL. Back then they were probably known as "King Peace and Princess Moonbeam".

Yeah, they probably looked different back then, her beard probably wasn't so gray.

Wuttahellizat? Padded chairs?? Overhead cover?? Sunglasses?? Yikes.

Wow, what a bunch of wussies. Where's the mud, over-flowing porta-potties etc...

[Vladimir]

I imagine sleeping in the mud with a bunch of "dirty girls" was never as fun again.

[InsaneApache]

It's a teen thing. Once you hit twenty it's all over. True.

[Ice]

That's an epic story. You're very lucky for being able to be a part of something that legendary.

[AlexanderSextus]

so, kukri, how much weed did u smoke there? i have heard that there was literally a huge cloud of pot smoke emanating from the concert.

That and pretty much everyone was tripping balls on acid.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Hehehe, the program I watched on Woodstock the other night had film of someone announcing to the crowd not to eat the brown tabs....for those that did the organizers set up a medical tent to help those having a bad trip. what a bummer man

[KukriKhan]

so, kukri, how much weed did u smoke there? i have heard that there was literally a huge cloud of pot smoke emanating from the concert.

That and pretty much everyone was tripping balls on acid.

I am currently a federal employee, so I have never, ever, ever smoked or ingested any scheduled substance. If you get my drift on this publicly-viewed, google-archived forum.

But I can say that MJ was everywhere. And freely shared, from what I saw. And the "Don't take the brown acid" warning and medical tent (white, with prominent Red Cross) did occur. Apparently, no physical harm came to the brown acid trippers, just uniformly bad trips, so they needed babysitting by professional/experienced counsellors for a few hours.

More miraculous to me was Saturday evening, when actual food was being passed around (bean and cheese burritos); take 1 or 2 and pass the bag around.

[InsaneApache]

Not on the same scale but I've been to a couple of 'free' festivals. Like Kukri I never inhaled or dropped a blotter in my life.

When you mentioned the food it all came back. After a week of eating crepes and beanburgers I inhaled a bacon butty when I got home. Guess I wasn't cut out to be a hippy.

I try not to remember the toilets. Perhaps that's where I missed a trick with all that acid and morrocan cake about.

[Reverend Joe]

Not on the same scale but I've been to a couple of 'free' festivals. Like Kukri I never inhaled or dropped a blotter in my life.

When you mentioned the food it all came back. After a week of eating crepes and beanburgers I inhaled a bacon butty when I got home. Guess I wasn't cut out to be a hippy.

I try not to remember the toilets. Perhaps that's where I missed a trick with all that acid and morrocan cake about.

From what I've heard, they had real burgers and hot dogs all over Woodstock. I'm pretty sure the veggie crap came after the hippies lost their numbers and their souls.

@Kurki: I wouldn't be surprised if everyone that ate the brown acid had bad trips, after a dude on a loudspeaker was shouting at them not to eat the brown acid becuase they would have bad trips.

[naut]

Truly awesome. Wow. I'm glad you shared.