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MICHAEL WADLEIGH: It was
a pretty simple decision.
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This was the best there was.
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There was no competitor at all.
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It had a quick-change lens here,
a super ing�nue lens.
5
00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:33,918
And of course, I had a favorite,
a very short wide-angle lens
6
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,470
that I'd start up here,
and in just two or three moves,
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in two or three seconds,
you could quickly get the zoom off,
8
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rotate the wide angle around
and get on and...
9
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Some people's favorite shots
at Woodstock
10
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-were done with that wide-angle lens.
-You'd remove the 5.9.
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00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:51,398
Because you could get right
very, very close to the performers,
12
00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:54,040
and it gave you a tremendous
sense of depth and being there
13
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right on the stage with them,
14
00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,990
and, of course, then you had
this magazine back here
15
00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:01,036
that came off in a shot, you know.
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Its liability was if you didn't very carefully
get the loop right, it could jam.
17
00:01:05,960 --> 00:01:09,555
And you couldn't really hear it
run out effectively.
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You lived in fear and dread
19
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that actually you'd put the mag on,
threaded it up,
20
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and you were running, but of course,
with Hendrix and all those loud acts,
21
00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,598
you couldn't possibly hear
whether in fact you had a jam.
22
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Unfortunately, it was really
not well-balanced.
23
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Your shoulder is way back here,
so the bulk of the weight was forward.
24
00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,272
(CHUCKLING) So I used to be fairly strong.
25
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But it taxed you like a mother
to really hold it that long.
26
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But you couldn't get the shots
with the tripods.
27
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It was absolutely impossible.
28
00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:45,992
It has a footage counter here
that never seemed to work,
29
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never seemed to be dependable.
30
00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,839
But this idea that you could very quickly
take on and off the mag.
31
00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:53,876
And then you see down here
at the bottom,
32
00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,032
this is where either an AC motor
or a DC motor attach.
33
00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:59,509
So it's a beautiful modular unit.
34
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I mean, you can even say today,
this is a great, great beautiful design.
35
00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,349
BELL: Everybody had to use �clair cameras
36
00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:10,274
so that we had absolutely
interchangeable equipment.
37
00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,318
Everybody had to have 1 10-volt motors.
38
00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,631
And where do you find, like,
a dozen 1 10-volt motors
39
00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:20,759
in New York City for �clairs?
And you don't. It's almost impossible.
40
00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:25,834
We needed 50 different magazines
so that we could change film,
41
00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:28,434
raw stock, under the stage.
42
00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,558
The reason for the electric motor was,
43
00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:34,757
all the cameras had to run in sync
or else it would never be editable.
44
00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,877
We even looked for, I remember
one of the last things on my list
45
00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:40,190
was to try and find an electronic clock,
46
00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:41,918
you know, that spinned it over by seconds.
47
00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:46,630
It would be big. And we could ask
every camera guy on stage to,
48
00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:49,393
at the top of his roll, at least,
take a shot of that,
49
00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,074
so that we'd have
some common syncing point.
50
00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,311
We could not find anything
that we could use.
51
00:02:55,400 --> 00:03:00,713
So eventually, the whole postproduction
became a mess of trying to sync it.
52
00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,678
Well, then, of course,
we had a lot of equipment problems.
53
00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:06,479
Especially when the rain came along.
I remember this.
54
00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,838
The camera, when you put this up
on your shoulder,
55
00:03:10,920 --> 00:03:12,797
the motor hits you right in the shoulder.
56
00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:15,474
And we had to wrap towels
around the motor
57
00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:17,516
because it got so bloody hot.
58
00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,831
At one point the AC
that was being supplied
59
00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:22,273
was nearly twice the voltage,
60
00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,557
so we thought, "Well, it's gonna
melt the damn coils,
61
00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:28,359
"and the cameras will go entirely."
62
00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:30,596
-But I remember real pain.
-Yeah. And shock.
63
00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:32,830
And agony and shocks, of course.
64
00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:35,275
You know, just from the cameras.
65
00:03:46,116 --> 00:03:47,549
BELL: Here it is Tuesday, now.
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00:03:47,716 --> 00:03:52,631
The music is gonna start on Friday.
There is one missing ingredient.
67
00:03:53,036 --> 00:03:54,310
The raw stock.
68
00:03:54,396 --> 00:03:55,749
(LAUGHING)
69
00:03:55,836 --> 00:03:59,067
Michael is on the phone, it's Wednesday,
70
00:03:59,156 --> 00:04:01,431
and he's saying,
"Where the hell is the raw stock?"
71
00:04:01,516 --> 00:04:05,794
And I said I called Kodak on Monday.
We're buying it. Where was the money?
72
00:04:06,716 --> 00:04:11,312
He had not been paid yet
for 30 Days to Survival.
73
00:04:11,396 --> 00:04:13,273
That was the only source of the funds.
74
00:04:13,676 --> 00:04:18,591
Got the $15,000, put it in the bank.
We now had $17,000, right?
75
00:04:19,316 --> 00:04:23,548
Just almost enough to buy the raw stock
at the time.
76
00:04:23,636 --> 00:04:26,594
So I called him on Monday saying
we were going to place a large order
77
00:04:26,676 --> 00:04:30,032
of 7241, 7242 and 7255.
78
00:04:31,356 --> 00:04:33,028
And I didn't know exactly
what the quantity was.
79
00:04:33,116 --> 00:04:34,708
I said, "Do you have it all in stock?"
80
00:04:34,796 --> 00:04:38,072
"Yes, don't worry, don't worry,
don't worry. We've got it all in stock.
81
00:04:38,756 --> 00:04:40,872
"Come Wednesday morning."
82
00:04:40,956 --> 00:04:44,346
Now I've got the money in the bank.
I can actually write a check.
83
00:04:44,436 --> 00:04:47,269
And I called them and I said
I want umpteen rolls of this and that
84
00:04:47,356 --> 00:04:48,755
and the other.
85
00:04:48,836 --> 00:04:51,589
And like ten minutes later
they call me back and they say,
86
00:04:51,676 --> 00:04:53,906
"All we have are two boxes worth."
87
00:04:53,996 --> 00:04:57,909
We need 25 boxes in order to...
88
00:04:57,996 --> 00:05:00,874
We calculated,
if we've got five cameras shooting
89
00:05:00,956 --> 00:05:02,833
and they're shooting
for twelve hours a day,
90
00:05:02,916 --> 00:05:06,306
we are going to need a hell of a lot
of raw stock.
91
00:05:06,476 --> 00:05:10,913
But I had only access to two boxes
in New York.
92
00:05:10,996 --> 00:05:14,909
When you see those helicopters
in the movie coming in with
93
00:05:14,996 --> 00:05:16,714
Arlo Guthrie and the performers,
94
00:05:16,956 --> 00:05:21,472
they're carrying our raw stock
all they way through on a staggered basis
95
00:05:21,556 --> 00:05:23,353
until Saturday noon.
96
00:05:23,956 --> 00:05:25,833
They were shooting it so fast,
97
00:05:25,916 --> 00:05:28,111
and the helicopters were coming in
and everything.
98
00:05:28,196 --> 00:05:32,075
I mean, it was all we could do
to get it to the assistants
99
00:05:32,156 --> 00:05:34,795
who were under the stage in the mud.
100
00:05:34,876 --> 00:05:35,991
It was unreal.
101
00:05:51,736 --> 00:05:54,489
BELL: We asked Michael Lang
and John Roberts to build a lip
102
00:05:54,576 --> 00:05:56,134
on the front of the stage.
103
00:05:56,216 --> 00:05:58,889
So that Michael and the other guys
could, with his right hand,
104
00:05:59,056 --> 00:06:02,890
put an elbow on the stage,
stand on the 4x8 plywood
105
00:06:02,976 --> 00:06:06,571
and have an absolutely ideal,
perfect angle for this,
106
00:06:06,656 --> 00:06:09,170
and then Ieap on stage if it was necessary.
107
00:06:09,256 --> 00:06:12,248
And the tripod conveyed
none of the energy.
108
00:06:12,336 --> 00:06:15,931
The tripod fixed you in a position.
109
00:06:16,016 --> 00:06:20,567
The ability for Michael
and the other guys to get up on stage.
110
00:06:20,656 --> 00:06:23,648
I mean, the one...
When you see it in the director's cut,
111
00:06:23,736 --> 00:06:27,649
the one sequence with Bob Hite
of Canned Heat
112
00:06:27,736 --> 00:06:32,366
is one entire magazine,
uncut with the 5.9 lens.
113
00:06:32,456 --> 00:06:37,450
It is just so gorgeous
and such an exemplary manifestation
114
00:06:37,736 --> 00:06:40,170
of not only Michael's eye and his agility,
115
00:06:40,336 --> 00:06:43,214
but the camera's ability to register...
116
00:06:43,296 --> 00:06:44,490
I mean, when the guy comes up
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00:06:44,576 --> 00:06:48,569
and reaches into
Bob Hite's package of cigarettes
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00:06:48,656 --> 00:06:50,692
and takes a cigarette out
and puts it back in,
119
00:06:50,776 --> 00:06:53,688
I mean, you know you're right there
all the time.
120
00:06:53,776 --> 00:06:55,050
-I mean, it was marvelous.
-Yeah.
121
00:06:55,136 --> 00:06:59,926
For filmmaking, the uncut shots
are really just fabulous, I think,
122
00:07:00,016 --> 00:07:03,975
because it conveys a sense
of linear reality.
123
00:07:04,056 --> 00:07:07,048
And then what Dale is saying,
with the wide-angle lens
124
00:07:07,136 --> 00:07:11,766
which increases the impression
of how close you are to someone
125
00:07:11,856 --> 00:07:15,485
and what you can see around you,
it's really like being there on the stage.
126
00:07:15,576 --> 00:07:20,252
And, of course, now, the cameramen
don't really get that kind of intimacy often
127
00:07:20,336 --> 00:07:22,611
or they have to wear black
and stay out of the shots.
128
00:07:22,696 --> 00:07:26,735
So, of course, many times
you see all of us in the frame.
129
00:07:26,816 --> 00:07:29,410
But that's the spirit of the event.
What's the difference?
130
00:07:33,936 --> 00:07:37,167
(SINGING LEAVIN' THIS TOWN)
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Yeah!
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00:08:09,456 --> 00:08:11,412
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
133
00:08:11,496 --> 00:08:14,533
MAN: Ladies and gentlemen, Canned Heat!
134
00:08:26,804 --> 00:08:27,919
MICHAEL LANG: The lineup was the lineup.
135
00:08:28,004 --> 00:08:30,996
I think it was pretty much as it happened,
136
00:08:31,084 --> 00:08:32,233
except it happened on steroids.
137
00:08:32,324 --> 00:08:34,963
We wanted everybody we loved, and
everybody that we found along the way
138
00:08:35,044 --> 00:08:36,397
that we thought everybody else
would love.
139
00:08:39,884 --> 00:08:43,240
(AT THE HOP PLAYING)
140
00:08:47,124 --> 00:08:49,957
JOCKO MARCELLINO: As we were making
a little buzz, Hendrix came down to see us.
141
00:08:50,044 --> 00:08:53,275
John Bonham came down to see us
and Frank Zappa came down to see us.
142
00:08:53,484 --> 00:08:55,281
Kornfeld and Lang were hanging out,
143
00:08:55,364 --> 00:08:57,161
and they said, "We're doing Woodstock."
144
00:08:57,244 --> 00:08:58,279
And I had been hearing about this.
145
00:08:58,364 --> 00:08:59,592
I knew the lineup was getting big.
146
00:08:59,884 --> 00:09:02,762
Sly was going to be on it.
Hendrix was going to be on it.
147
00:09:03,244 --> 00:09:06,395
And I said to the manager,
"Yes, go find that guy and tell him yes."
148
00:09:06,484 --> 00:09:08,156
MICHAEL CARABELLO: I think
we had played a few colleges
149
00:09:08,244 --> 00:09:09,677
and stuff like that. Outdoor things.
150
00:09:10,244 --> 00:09:11,723
And there was this thing going on
in Woodstock.
151
00:09:11,844 --> 00:09:14,995
No big deal to us. It was way too far
from San Francisco anyway.
152
00:09:15,124 --> 00:09:17,319
Somebody had called.
It might've been Michael Lang,
153
00:09:17,404 --> 00:09:19,713
who was producing the Woodstock thing.
154
00:09:19,804 --> 00:09:20,793
Says, "Hey, we need a favor.
155
00:09:20,884 --> 00:09:22,283
"We need you to get somebody else
on the bill. "
156
00:09:22,364 --> 00:09:24,002
And in fact, we weren't actually
going to do Woodstock.
157
00:09:24,084 --> 00:09:28,282
We were in the middle of a tour,
and the agent said,
158
00:09:28,364 --> 00:09:29,683
"They're doing this festival,
159
00:09:29,764 --> 00:09:32,039
"they're anticipating
probably 50,000 people.
160
00:09:33,004 --> 00:09:34,357
"Would you like to do it?"
161
00:09:34,444 --> 00:09:35,718
And when we heard
what they were offering,
162
00:09:35,804 --> 00:09:36,793
we turned it down.
163
00:09:36,884 --> 00:09:39,444
But Frank Barcelona, our agent,
kept on at us,
164
00:09:39,524 --> 00:09:41,799
'cause he said, "You've got to do it,
'cause they've added Janis,
165
00:09:41,884 --> 00:09:44,114
"they've added Jimi,
they've added The Who,
166
00:09:44,204 --> 00:09:46,081
"they've added Airplane."
167
00:09:46,244 --> 00:09:49,122
So, in the end, we did it.
Thank God we did.
168
00:09:49,644 --> 00:09:52,795
LANG: We wanted to make sure that
nobody was excluded from this event.
169
00:09:53,164 --> 00:09:56,839
It was planned to be
an Aquarian exposition
170
00:09:57,004 --> 00:09:59,313
and all that that sort of entails
171
00:09:59,404 --> 00:10:01,964
which includes sort of
a new wave dealing with people,
172
00:10:02,044 --> 00:10:04,080
sort of a new openness.
173
00:10:04,724 --> 00:10:05,952
INTERVIEWER: What is it
the musicians have
174
00:10:06,044 --> 00:10:07,193
that they can communicate
so well to the kids?
175
00:10:07,284 --> 00:10:08,353
LANG: Music!
176
00:10:08,444 --> 00:10:09,638
INTERVIEWER: I mean,
they've always had music.
177
00:10:09,724 --> 00:10:12,363
Music has always been
a major form of communication,
178
00:10:12,444 --> 00:10:14,036
only now, the lyric and the type of music
179
00:10:14,124 --> 00:10:18,037
is a little bit more involved in society
than it was.
180
00:10:18,324 --> 00:10:21,396
LANG: Probably someone I wanted more
than anyone was Roy Rogers.
181
00:10:21,924 --> 00:10:23,323
I wanted him to close the show
with Happy Trails,
182
00:10:23,404 --> 00:10:27,955
'cause we all grew up with Roy Rogers
singing Happy Trails to us at night,
183
00:10:28,324 --> 00:10:29,962
or Saturday mornings, as it were.
184
00:10:31,044 --> 00:10:33,160
But his manager didn't think
it was a great idea.
185
00:10:33,964 --> 00:10:35,158
It's about what's happening now,
186
00:10:35,244 --> 00:10:38,202
and if you listen to the lyric
and you listen to the rhythm
187
00:10:38,284 --> 00:10:40,354
and what's in the music,
188
00:10:40,444 --> 00:10:42,480
then you'll know what's going on
with the culture.
189
00:10:42,844 --> 00:10:45,119
I gotta split on you.
190
00:10:45,324 --> 00:10:46,393
Great, groovy. Thanks.
191
00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:02,075
BELL: There was an incident
where I was looking over an invoice
192
00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:04,390
that I had received from Technicolor,
193
00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:07,434
who was processing all of the opticals
194
00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,034
that were coming
out of the optical houses.
195
00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:11,519
And I noticed this invoice,
196
00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:16,310
and it said that they were
making two prints of the negative.
197
00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:20,078
I called Technicolor with a really dumb,
naive question.
198
00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:21,991
I said, "Where does the second print go?"
199
00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:25,709
"We always send the second print
to New York to Warner Bros.
200
00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:29,076
"to have them get a look at
what we're producing."
201
00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:31,958
You know, what we're printing
for their client.
202
00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:35,032
I said, "Great. Okay, great."
203
00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:38,197
Next call, "Bob, we got a problem."
204
00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:42,117
We got on the phone with our attorney
205
00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:46,034
and we physically, at that point,
206
00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:51,035
shut down our editing
for all intents and purposes.
207
00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:55,557
We brought all of the negative
into our offices
208
00:11:55,640 --> 00:12:00,270
and hired a 24-hour security guard
with a gun.
209
00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,955
And Bob flew to New York
to negotiate with these people.
210
00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:08,431
Once we got it resolved
that Technicolor had absolutely no right,
211
00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:10,670
since we were the client of record,
212
00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,637
to make another copy
or to get it anywhere else,
213
00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:16,392
everything smoothed out again,
214
00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,950
and the negative went back
to Ed Richards.
215
00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:21,553
Ed Richards, the negative manager.
216
00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,871
And we continued to put new material
into the optical houses
217
00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:26,279
to get it processed.
218
00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:29,272
We were that rigid.
219
00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:34,798
We were that determined
to maintain the integrity of this film.
220
00:12:47,772 --> 00:12:51,082
MAN 3: Can those of you
in the back hear well?
221
00:12:52,612 --> 00:12:55,206
Raise your hand, please. It's all right?
Thank you.
222
00:12:55,532 --> 00:12:57,124
LANG: There were some pretty
interesting announcements.
223
00:12:57,252 --> 00:13:01,530
There were lots of "Meet your sister,"
and "Meet your brother," or
224
00:13:02,052 --> 00:13:03,326
"Get to the hospital,
you're having a baby."
225
00:13:03,412 --> 00:13:04,401
Those kinds of things.
226
00:13:04,492 --> 00:13:06,767
CHIP MONCK ON PA: Helen Savage,
please call your father
227
00:13:06,852 --> 00:13:09,127
at the Motel Glory in Wood-Ridge.
228
00:13:09,212 --> 00:13:12,568
By the time, I was appointed MC
229
00:13:12,692 --> 00:13:16,651
at 7:00 in the morning by the tap
on the shoulder by Mr. Lang,
230
00:13:17,772 --> 00:13:21,526
I had a feeling that it was going
to be mammoth.
231
00:13:21,892 --> 00:13:26,841
The Daily News, in rather large headlines,
still costing 10 cents,
232
00:13:27,212 --> 00:13:29,885
"Traffic Uptight At Hippiefest."
233
00:13:30,012 --> 00:13:33,288
Well, he was there. He was articulate.
234
00:13:33,932 --> 00:13:36,321
And I had forgotten to book anybody, so...
235
00:13:36,812 --> 00:13:41,124
You could actually hear my knees
rattling together.
236
00:13:41,212 --> 00:13:42,884
When I first started
on my announcements,
237
00:13:42,972 --> 00:13:45,930
it was a very uncomfortable feeling.
238
00:13:46,092 --> 00:13:49,528
It got smoother and got easier
because I was frankly in charge,
239
00:13:49,972 --> 00:13:52,088
and why should I be frightened?
240
00:13:52,172 --> 00:13:54,766
Because I could do anything I needed to.
241
00:13:54,892 --> 00:13:57,929
MONCK ON PA: Wheat Germ,
Holly has your bag with your medicine.
242
00:13:58,012 --> 00:14:00,890
Please meet at the information booth
as soon as you can, please.
243
00:14:01,092 --> 00:14:05,768
I think one of the doctors
came up and said,
244
00:14:05,852 --> 00:14:08,969
"If you can, let's see if we can get rid
of this brown acid."
245
00:14:09,612 --> 00:14:13,321
And for his hand to be on my back
and just push me downstage,
246
00:14:13,412 --> 00:14:15,368
which meant it was time to do it now.
247
00:14:16,212 --> 00:14:17,327
MONCK: The warning that I've received,
248
00:14:17,412 --> 00:14:20,210
you may take it with however many
grains of salt you wish,
249
00:14:20,972 --> 00:14:26,126
that the brown acid that is circulating
around us is not specifically too good.
250
00:14:26,732 --> 00:14:28,927
That was a very difficult announcement
to make,
251
00:14:29,012 --> 00:14:30,730
because if you really stomped on it,
252
00:14:30,932 --> 00:14:33,400
anybody who had taken it could, in fact,
253
00:14:33,492 --> 00:14:36,643
really end up having
a very unpleasant trip.
254
00:14:37,132 --> 00:14:38,406
STALLINGS: Which acid did I take?
255
00:14:38,492 --> 00:14:39,686
(LAUGHING)
256
00:14:39,772 --> 00:14:42,047
The green or the brown?
257
00:14:43,452 --> 00:14:46,012
And that took you to another place
'cause you were tripping.
258
00:14:46,092 --> 00:14:49,402
So you immediately spiral downward
259
00:14:50,652 --> 00:14:52,529
just from the announcements.
260
00:14:52,652 --> 00:14:55,724
(CHUCKLING) I really didn't know
how to do it.
261
00:14:56,012 --> 00:14:59,925
That's why there were so many little
colloquialisms and stuff stuffed in there,
262
00:15:00,012 --> 00:15:01,843
"grain of salt," "be my guest,"
263
00:15:01,932 --> 00:15:04,492
because I really wanted to try
and soften it.
264
00:15:05,132 --> 00:15:07,043
MONCK: It's suggested
that you do stay away from that.
265
00:15:07,172 --> 00:15:09,288
Of course, it's your own trip,
so be my guest,
266
00:15:09,372 --> 00:15:12,364
but please be advised
that there is a warning on that one, okay?
267
00:15:13,132 --> 00:15:16,807
I think you save the harsh ones
for the time you need it.
268
00:15:17,332 --> 00:15:21,086
So it's probably a good idea to be,
certainly not soft and cuddly,
269
00:15:21,172 --> 00:15:24,164
but at least courteous, you know.
270
00:15:24,652 --> 00:15:27,166
Because some people, I suppose,
could be easily offended
271
00:15:27,252 --> 00:15:30,244
by a type of language or an approach.
272
00:15:31,372 --> 00:15:33,602
So you have to be sort of careful in that.
273
00:15:33,732 --> 00:15:38,408
I started to actually tune
274
00:15:38,652 --> 00:15:43,726
and refine a skill
that I had no idea that I had.
275
00:15:44,332 --> 00:15:46,243
MONCK: Dr. Jack Maitland, please,
276
00:15:46,332 --> 00:15:50,245
with full suturing equipment,
your presence is requested.
277
00:15:51,812 --> 00:15:53,450
You've got a delivery to make.
278
00:15:53,732 --> 00:15:56,644
Both Chip and John Morris
also did some announcing,
279
00:15:57,292 --> 00:15:59,931
and they both did an amazing job.
I mean, it was just...
280
00:16:00,012 --> 00:16:04,164
It was totally, you know,
surprising to me.
281
00:16:04,252 --> 00:16:07,562
I had no idea they would be that good,
either one of them.
282
00:16:07,652 --> 00:16:08,801
But it's just one of those things,
283
00:16:08,892 --> 00:16:11,281
like a lot of things about Woodstock,
that worked out perfectly.
284
00:16:26,353 --> 00:16:29,629
BELL: Warner Bros. had said
they're going to open this film
285
00:16:29,713 --> 00:16:34,150
in eight cities at the end of March,
March 24 and 25,
286
00:16:34,473 --> 00:16:36,509
and they needed to be able to see it.
287
00:16:36,713 --> 00:16:42,982
We were still mixing the film
on March 10, 11 and 12, mind you.
288
00:16:43,633 --> 00:16:45,430
And they said, "We've got to see it,
we've got to see it.
289
00:16:45,513 --> 00:16:47,708
"The exhibitors have got to see it.
We've got to know how long it is."
290
00:16:48,033 --> 00:16:50,786
We had known all along
that the standard length for a movie
291
00:16:50,873 --> 00:16:54,422
is an hour and 50 minutes, 1-5-0.
292
00:16:54,513 --> 00:16:57,664
And here we were,
virtually double that length.
293
00:16:57,753 --> 00:17:01,792
What he wanted was almost
a four-and-a-half, five hour film.
294
00:17:02,873 --> 00:17:08,345
And, in fact, his first cut
was about seven hours or six hours.
295
00:17:08,673 --> 00:17:10,903
They said, "We want a screening.
296
00:17:10,993 --> 00:17:15,384
"Five of us, suits, will sit in the backroom
of the projection booth
297
00:17:15,473 --> 00:17:19,352
"over here on the Warner Bros. lot,
and we'll take a look at your film."
298
00:17:19,433 --> 00:17:21,867
And we said, "We'll call you back."
299
00:17:21,953 --> 00:17:24,262
(CHUCKLING) We all looked at each other
and said,
300
00:17:24,353 --> 00:17:26,913
"Five suits looking at this film?
They'll never get it."
301
00:17:27,033 --> 00:17:32,187
The editors at that time were concerned
302
00:17:32,273 --> 00:17:34,548
about "the studio."
303
00:17:34,633 --> 00:17:39,343
Because the studio was doing,
you know, big films,
304
00:17:39,433 --> 00:17:41,151
we'd been in the business for years,
305
00:17:41,233 --> 00:17:43,793
but they didn't have the "vision"
306
00:17:43,873 --> 00:17:48,151
that the young hippies of those days had.
307
00:17:48,593 --> 00:17:50,026
BELL: And we argued back and forth,
308
00:17:50,113 --> 00:17:54,504
and finally we said that we had invited
several hundred students
309
00:17:54,593 --> 00:17:58,506
from UCLA and USC, other film houses,
310
00:17:58,593 --> 00:18:01,903
to come watch the film
with the Warner Bros. suits.
311
00:18:01,993 --> 00:18:03,551
And we then invited them
312
00:18:03,633 --> 00:18:08,502
and showed them the whole film
at four hours in length.
313
00:18:08,593 --> 00:18:12,347
They had to hop over people
who were lying on the floor,
314
00:18:12,433 --> 00:18:14,901
opening weeds in the back,
315
00:18:14,993 --> 00:18:20,431
and from the first moment,
it was rip-roaring, rocking.
316
00:18:20,513 --> 00:18:22,743
The projectionists were absolutely perfect,
317
00:18:22,833 --> 00:18:26,792
the suits were totally,
totally overwhelmed.
318
00:18:26,873 --> 00:18:29,831
WADLEIGH: After the screening,
we were more confident than ever
319
00:18:29,913 --> 00:18:31,744
that we had a hit on our hands.
320
00:18:31,833 --> 00:18:37,305
We had a meeting the next day
in which Warner Bros. said, "It's too long."
321
00:18:38,633 --> 00:18:44,549
I just, you know, couldn't believe it.
You know, Dale had to hold me down.
322
00:18:44,633 --> 00:18:47,272
So the next morning we had a meeting.
323
00:18:47,353 --> 00:18:48,991
And there were certain things
that they said
324
00:18:49,073 --> 00:18:53,385
that we had kind of thought
among ourselves were going to be okay,
325
00:18:53,473 --> 00:18:55,429
that we would have to drop some stuff,
326
00:18:55,513 --> 00:18:57,868
'cause we'd had our own meeting
after the screening,
327
00:18:57,953 --> 00:19:00,706
and we'd felt even in putting them
into the film
328
00:19:00,833 --> 00:19:03,552
that maybe
they weren't really working properly.
329
00:19:03,633 --> 00:19:07,546
But where it came to be the most critical
was at the end.
330
00:19:08,353 --> 00:19:11,868
Warner's wanted
the Jimi Hendrix sequence
331
00:19:11,953 --> 00:19:13,272
cut down to three minutes
332
00:19:13,353 --> 00:19:16,948
because they thought it was so sour,
so dark.
333
00:19:17,033 --> 00:19:20,070
They wanted people going out
of the movie cheering, everything else.
334
00:19:20,153 --> 00:19:22,428
And they thought
that this whole rendering
335
00:19:22,513 --> 00:19:27,029
of Jimi's Star-Spangled Banner,
plus the Purple Haze that we had in there,
336
00:19:27,113 --> 00:19:29,581
and all that garbage picking up
and the whatever.
337
00:19:29,673 --> 00:19:31,550
How could you end the movie with that?
338
00:19:31,633 --> 00:19:34,147
WADLEIGH: I personally edited
that last section
339
00:19:34,233 --> 00:19:38,465
and felt very strongly that we should end
on a disturbing note.
340
00:19:38,553 --> 00:19:40,748
You know, that
this looks like post-holocaust,
341
00:19:40,833 --> 00:19:43,552
and you notice I put in the people
with the crutches
342
00:19:43,633 --> 00:19:47,546
and the casts on their arms
and all the detritus.
343
00:19:47,633 --> 00:19:49,942
It was meant to look like,
344
00:19:50,033 --> 00:19:54,265
wow, you know, will all this good time
end very, very badly?
345
00:19:54,353 --> 00:19:57,550
And that's exactly what I wanted people
to think about.
346
00:19:57,633 --> 00:19:59,464
With this brilliant guitar playing,
347
00:19:59,553 --> 00:20:04,308
it was really the perfect ending,
aesthetically, as a filmmaker, for the film.
348
00:20:04,393 --> 00:20:07,510
So I was ready to, you know,
349
00:20:07,593 --> 00:20:11,108
absolutely go to the mat over that issue.
350
00:20:11,193 --> 00:20:15,823
Of course, Michael and I butted heads
in a lot of ways,
351
00:20:17,433 --> 00:20:21,221
but it was always creative.
He was really the creative maven.
352
00:20:21,753 --> 00:20:23,823
And I was the guy from the studio.
353
00:20:24,193 --> 00:20:28,311
There were really vicious remarks
that were thrown back and forth.
354
00:20:29,113 --> 00:20:32,344
We spent the rest of the day
355
00:20:32,433 --> 00:20:37,791
ensuring that we had possession
of the elements that would prevent them
356
00:20:37,873 --> 00:20:40,023
from making a separate cut,
357
00:20:40,113 --> 00:20:43,423
coming up with a two-hour version
that the exhibitors wanted,
358
00:20:43,513 --> 00:20:46,027
because they were saying
the exhibitors wanna turn this film around.
359
00:20:46,113 --> 00:20:47,228
They wanna sell more popcorn.
360
00:20:47,353 --> 00:20:48,991
WADLEIGH: If they had not agreed with us,
361
00:20:49,073 --> 00:20:52,668
we were prepared
to at least threaten going berserk
362
00:20:52,753 --> 00:20:56,985
and destroying everything
if they didn't put out our version.
363
00:20:57,313 --> 00:20:59,224
BELL: But what we finally arrived at,
364
00:20:59,313 --> 00:21:01,986
we would cut down
the Jimi Hendrix piece,
365
00:21:02,073 --> 00:21:06,032
which I think was running
at about 15 or 16 minutes,
366
00:21:06,113 --> 00:21:10,265
down to a version
that we felt comfortable with,
367
00:21:10,353 --> 00:21:13,390
which we had to kind of determine
would be nine or 10 minutes.
368
00:21:13,473 --> 00:21:14,542
It was a compromise,
369
00:21:14,633 --> 00:21:18,990
but only as to a certain amount of length
with it,
370
00:21:19,073 --> 00:21:24,830
which, by the way, now's been put all back
into the director's cut.
371
00:21:24,913 --> 00:21:28,542
But by and large, we ended up,
I would say,
372
00:21:28,633 --> 00:21:30,908
with basically what we wanted.
373
00:21:31,113 --> 00:21:33,149
It took a while to get there.
374
00:21:33,233 --> 00:21:37,351
But just two or three weeks beforehand,
we were still screaming and yelling.
375
00:21:37,433 --> 00:21:40,709
But Michael was brilliant.
376
00:21:40,793 --> 00:21:45,469
I mean, you very seldom get a director
who had the vision that he had,
377
00:21:45,913 --> 00:21:48,825
who's able to shoot the film
the way he told the people to shoot it.
378
00:21:48,913 --> 00:21:51,188
And he was very instrumental in all that.
379
00:21:51,273 --> 00:21:54,424
And as a filmmaker, I thought,
"Wow. There's nothing I wanna change."
380
00:21:54,513 --> 00:21:57,949
I didn't have any second thought,
which is really, really nice.
381
00:22:16,341 --> 00:22:19,060
BELL: The summer of 1969,
382
00:22:19,141 --> 00:22:21,416
New York City was abuzz
383
00:22:21,581 --> 00:22:25,415
with this whole idea
that there was going to be, somewhere,
384
00:22:25,501 --> 00:22:27,810
at a place yet to be determined,
385
00:22:27,901 --> 00:22:31,576
a huge colossal music festival
386
00:22:31,741 --> 00:22:34,494
called Woodstock Music and Art Fair.
387
00:22:34,581 --> 00:22:40,178
In July of 1969,
Michael Wadleigh knew very little about it,
388
00:22:40,261 --> 00:22:44,573
because he was shooting a film
with Paul Petzoldt
389
00:22:44,941 --> 00:22:47,660
called 30 Days to Survival,
390
00:22:48,261 --> 00:22:52,334
in which Michael survived
and lost 20 pounds.
391
00:22:53,141 --> 00:22:55,052
-True?
-Yeah, it was my head...
392
00:22:55,141 --> 00:22:56,699
-Right.
-...that was lost.
393
00:22:56,781 --> 00:22:58,419
Took a long time to re-find it.
394
00:22:59,341 --> 00:23:02,094
BELL: As he came back at the end of July,
395
00:23:02,181 --> 00:23:06,618
there was this whole pulsating
in New York among the film community
396
00:23:06,701 --> 00:23:08,453
about this festival.
397
00:23:08,541 --> 00:23:12,375
And there was talk
that the festival producers
398
00:23:12,501 --> 00:23:17,529
were looking for filmmakers
to be able to shoot this festival.
399
00:23:17,621 --> 00:23:21,091
We heard this,
and Bob began to sniff around
400
00:23:21,181 --> 00:23:24,776
as to where were the rights to the festival.
401
00:23:24,861 --> 00:23:29,491
At that time, I had just come in
with the new Warner Bros. people.
402
00:23:29,861 --> 00:23:34,013
It was Steve Ross and Ted Ashley
had just taken over,
403
00:23:34,661 --> 00:23:38,051
and they had brought me in
to do the youth market.
404
00:23:38,421 --> 00:23:43,654
Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic Records
really had the music rights
405
00:23:43,741 --> 00:23:47,700
and the film rights,
all in a package for $100,000.
406
00:23:47,781 --> 00:23:49,214
But there was no deal with anybody,
407
00:23:49,301 --> 00:23:52,532
not with the producers,
not with any of the performers,
408
00:23:52,621 --> 00:23:56,455
certainly not with Ahmet Ertegun
at Atlantic Records, nobody.
409
00:23:56,541 --> 00:23:58,418
WEINTRAUB: It was really
because of the persuasive efforts
410
00:23:58,501 --> 00:24:01,971
of Artie Kornfeld,
who I had known in the Village.
411
00:24:02,061 --> 00:24:06,691
And he, with this great enthusiasm,
convinced me, and we went from there.
412
00:24:07,581 --> 00:24:10,937
After they turned me down cold,
I went back and said, "I'm Ieaving."
413
00:24:11,021 --> 00:24:15,856
They said, "Okay, Fred, it's only $350,000.
Don't worry about it."
414
00:24:16,341 --> 00:24:19,538
(SINGING WON'T YOU TRY)
415
00:24:26,581 --> 00:24:31,097
The Saturday before the Friday
when the music began,
416
00:24:31,701 --> 00:24:37,936
Michael and I, and John Binder,
and Larry Johnson, and Thelma,
417
00:24:38,021 --> 00:24:40,899
we all went up to the site
in about three cars,
418
00:24:40,981 --> 00:24:45,771
and we got to Max Yasgur's farm
at about noon.
419
00:24:45,861 --> 00:24:50,651
And there were so much turmoil,
but organized chaos going on at the site.
420
00:24:50,741 --> 00:24:55,292
And that was the moment at which
we all looked at each other
421
00:24:55,381 --> 00:25:00,296
and said, "We can figure out
how to get the people together,
422
00:25:00,381 --> 00:25:02,849
"get the camera people together,
get the gear together,
423
00:25:02,941 --> 00:25:05,409
"get the supplies together,
424
00:25:05,501 --> 00:25:09,050
"and get up to that site
by Thursday morning
425
00:25:09,181 --> 00:25:13,174
"before the music began on Friday.
We can do this."
426
00:25:13,461 --> 00:25:15,417
(SINGING SUMMERTIME BLUES)
427
00:25:44,217 --> 00:25:46,890
JACK CASADY: In the beginning,
access roads became so congested
428
00:25:46,977 --> 00:25:49,696
that by the time we actually went in
429
00:25:49,777 --> 00:25:51,972
for what was supposed to be
a sound check or whatnot,
430
00:25:52,057 --> 00:25:53,331
once you got in, you didn't Ieave.
431
00:25:53,457 --> 00:25:56,017
It reminded me of a Cecil B. DeMille
production movie,
432
00:25:56,097 --> 00:25:59,772
of all the extras portraying
the grandest army you ever saw.
433
00:25:59,857 --> 00:26:03,247
We were standing on the curbs
watching them come in last night,
434
00:26:03,337 --> 00:26:04,816
all the townspeople.
435
00:26:04,897 --> 00:26:07,650
It was just like an army invading a town.
436
00:26:07,737 --> 00:26:09,090
-INTERVIEWER: Really?
-It was hard to believe.
437
00:26:09,177 --> 00:26:12,647
Rows and rows of cars on each side
of the dirt access road
438
00:26:12,737 --> 00:26:16,013
didn't leave quite enough room
for one vehicle.
439
00:26:16,097 --> 00:26:19,134
I was driving. I took the trim
off both sides of the station wagon.
440
00:26:19,217 --> 00:26:21,572
We went through about 200 cars
441
00:26:21,657 --> 00:26:25,286
with the sides of the station wagon
scraping the whole way, you know.
442
00:26:25,377 --> 00:26:28,414
And it was...
Sorry, folks, whoever owned those cars.
443
00:26:28,497 --> 00:26:32,206
LEO LYONS: Well, we drove up to
what was then the Holiday Inn in Liberty.
444
00:26:32,297 --> 00:26:33,969
And in the lobby there
and in the coffee shop,
445
00:26:34,057 --> 00:26:36,810
everybody was there.
And, I mean, I knew most of the people,
446
00:26:36,897 --> 00:26:39,491
Hendrix and Janis Joplin...
447
00:26:39,577 --> 00:26:41,886
And so I got a bit of an idea
what it was like.
448
00:26:41,977 --> 00:26:43,296
MICHAEL CARABELLO: Everybody
was outside standing,
449
00:26:43,377 --> 00:26:44,776
going, "What the hell is going on?"
450
00:26:45,137 --> 00:26:46,695
And all of a sudden,
we see the National Guard,
451
00:26:46,777 --> 00:26:49,450
and, "Is there a war going on?
What's going on?"
452
00:26:49,537 --> 00:26:51,732
The only way to get in there
is by helicopter.
453
00:26:51,817 --> 00:26:54,650
LANG: We booked helicopters
before the weekend for emergencies.
454
00:26:54,737 --> 00:26:57,205
As the traffic
became more and more dense,
455
00:26:57,297 --> 00:27:00,050
we realized that we were gonna have
a problem getting performers in,
456
00:27:00,137 --> 00:27:04,210
and so we booked more helicopters
and we just kept doing that hourly,
457
00:27:04,297 --> 00:27:05,730
(LAUGHING) adding helicopters.
458
00:27:05,857 --> 00:27:09,566
MONCK ON PA: We apologize
for the noise of the choppity-choppity,
459
00:27:09,657 --> 00:27:12,649
but it seems there are a few cars
blocking the road,
460
00:27:12,737 --> 00:27:14,329
so we're flying everybody in.
461
00:27:14,417 --> 00:27:16,453
RIC LEE: The helicopter arrived,
and we were about to get on it,
462
00:27:16,537 --> 00:27:18,846
and these guys pushed in front of us.
463
00:27:18,937 --> 00:27:22,293
And I was gonna argue the toss with them,
as I have a habit of doing.
464
00:27:22,737 --> 00:27:26,810
And it turned out it was Crosby, Stills,
Nash & Young and Albert Grossman
465
00:27:26,897 --> 00:27:29,172
going to do a recce of the site.
466
00:27:29,257 --> 00:27:31,407
So we waited for the next helicopter.
467
00:27:31,497 --> 00:27:34,216
So we took a helicopter
down to the gig,
468
00:27:34,297 --> 00:27:36,174
maybe three hours before
we were due to play.
469
00:27:36,257 --> 00:27:40,091
We could see that it was
like some sort of war zone, really.
470
00:27:40,177 --> 00:27:44,534
And it was about a 10-minute flight
from there to the Woodstock actual site.
471
00:27:44,617 --> 00:27:48,371
CARABELLO: I got to be in a helicopter
with Jerry Garcia and Michael Shrieve.
472
00:27:48,457 --> 00:27:51,176
Got up and got high in the sky
and looked down
473
00:27:51,257 --> 00:27:52,770
and saw all these people
and just couldn't believe it,
474
00:27:52,857 --> 00:27:55,655
with the door open, mind you.
And Jerry just thought it was...
475
00:27:55,737 --> 00:27:58,456
"Can you believe it?
Look at all those people down there. "
476
00:27:58,537 --> 00:28:01,574
It was just overwhelming,
way, way overwhelming.
477
00:28:10,556 --> 00:28:14,390
MARTIN SCORSESE: Michael Wadleigh
and I had an idea to do a concert film
478
00:28:14,516 --> 00:28:16,552
utilizing, of course, 16mm equipment.
479
00:28:17,036 --> 00:28:20,506
I was in the motion picture workshop
that summer.
480
00:28:20,756 --> 00:28:22,667
There was this big event
that was gonna occur,
481
00:28:22,756 --> 00:28:26,032
some festival, a music festival
up in the country somewhere,
482
00:28:26,116 --> 00:28:27,105
a place called Woodstock.
483
00:28:27,516 --> 00:28:31,953
Think of this. There are half a dozen of us
working in this office
484
00:28:32,036 --> 00:28:36,712
on 81st Street and Broadway,
on the second floor of that building.
485
00:28:38,116 --> 00:28:40,789
There is, in the icebox,
486
00:28:40,876 --> 00:28:44,425
about ten boxes of short ends
of raw stock.
487
00:28:44,516 --> 00:28:47,986
There is about $2,000 in the bank.
488
00:28:48,356 --> 00:28:52,269
The festival is going to begin in five days.
489
00:28:52,676 --> 00:28:58,512
We have the chutzpah to think
that we can put together this team.
490
00:28:58,596 --> 00:29:01,064
THELMA SCHOONMAKER: Nobody could
land the rights to do it.
491
00:29:01,156 --> 00:29:02,874
There was no money
being offered up front.
492
00:29:03,036 --> 00:29:05,152
So Wadleigh just took a huge gamble,
493
00:29:05,836 --> 00:29:08,669
and we assembled everybody we knew
494
00:29:08,756 --> 00:29:13,352
(CHUCKLING) and went off
into this mad, crazy world.
495
00:29:13,436 --> 00:29:15,506
We had no idea
what we were getting into.
496
00:29:15,796 --> 00:29:18,947
I think that all of us felt that
there was something happening there
497
00:29:19,036 --> 00:29:21,550
that we would never regret.
498
00:29:21,636 --> 00:29:24,514
Certainly, again, really,
499
00:29:24,596 --> 00:29:27,668
I don't think we had the dollar sign first,
500
00:29:27,756 --> 00:29:30,475
if we had,
I know we wouldn't have done it.
501
00:29:30,556 --> 00:29:32,945
I think we wanted the adventure of it,
502
00:29:33,036 --> 00:29:37,666
and for me, I really, really wanted
to carry out these experiments.
503
00:29:37,756 --> 00:29:39,428
-And it was salivating to think...
-BELL: Right, right.
504
00:29:39,516 --> 00:29:43,031
...that this collection of rock and roll people
was going to be there.
505
00:29:43,196 --> 00:29:46,074
And as a filmmaker... "What the hell!
506
00:29:46,156 --> 00:29:49,068
"Let's just go and film these
legendary groups. "
507
00:29:49,556 --> 00:29:53,515
BELL: It's Monday morning.
Wads has gone up to the site.
508
00:29:53,596 --> 00:29:58,147
We had discussed the people
who we want to work on the project.
509
00:29:58,236 --> 00:30:01,433
And remember, there are no faxes.
There are no cell phones.
510
00:30:01,516 --> 00:30:03,632
There are no FedEx.
There are no computers.
511
00:30:03,716 --> 00:30:05,911
There's no nothing but payphones.
512
00:30:06,076 --> 00:30:10,706
So, Dick Pearce in Hartford,
got him to get on his motorcycle.
513
00:30:10,796 --> 00:30:13,594
Don Lenzer, David Myers, Stan Warnow...
514
00:30:13,676 --> 00:30:16,474
Dale was mentioning
the best cameramen on the East Coast.
515
00:30:16,556 --> 00:30:18,786
-You know, we tried...
-And on the West Coast.
516
00:30:18,876 --> 00:30:20,355
-And the West Coast, too.
-Right. Right.
517
00:30:20,436 --> 00:30:22,825
With David Myers,
who had come in on his own.
518
00:30:22,916 --> 00:30:26,431
"David, you're going to get paid $125.
It's going to be an adventure.
519
00:30:26,516 --> 00:30:29,553
"Can you put it on your card and
maybe we'll pay you when you get here?"
520
00:30:29,636 --> 00:30:32,912
Or maybe we'll pay you after the fact.
I mean, that's what it was.
521
00:30:32,996 --> 00:30:34,873
Bob Maurice was scurrying
around New York
522
00:30:34,956 --> 00:30:38,266
trying to find out where the rights were
and who was going on.
523
00:30:38,356 --> 00:30:40,153
Just constant around the clock with me
524
00:30:40,236 --> 00:30:43,034
and Sonya Polonsky
and a couple of other people,
525
00:30:43,116 --> 00:30:47,553
just making phone calls on time zones
to coordinate it.
526
00:30:47,636 --> 00:30:49,672
But, you know, I think this is a microcosm
527
00:30:49,756 --> 00:30:52,190
of how the whole festival
was pulled off really.
528
00:30:52,276 --> 00:30:55,393
I think, equally,
they just pieced it all together
529
00:30:55,476 --> 00:30:58,912
and made that happen and that happen
and that happen.
530
00:30:58,996 --> 00:31:03,035
And like we were saying earlier,
that's very hard to do today.
531
00:31:09,944 --> 00:31:13,493
WADLEIGH: We had really first-rate,
you could call them cameramen-directors,
532
00:31:13,584 --> 00:31:17,736
who were very used to going out,
taking an assignment
533
00:31:18,184 --> 00:31:19,663
and bringing back the footage.
534
00:31:19,744 --> 00:31:24,977
We'd have about four,
call them "documentary teams,"
535
00:31:25,064 --> 00:31:29,774
that would be wandering around,
either on motorcycles or on foot,
536
00:31:29,864 --> 00:31:36,497
going out into the non-music portions
to try to get representative samples
537
00:31:36,584 --> 00:31:42,216
of what sociological and psychological,
and indeed, physical activities
538
00:31:42,304 --> 00:31:44,022
were going on all around the stage.
539
00:31:44,104 --> 00:31:46,618
WADLEIGH: We would send out people
and have no idea where they were.
540
00:31:46,704 --> 00:31:49,298
They would send back.
We'd hear a request for film,
541
00:31:49,384 --> 00:31:51,978
you know, or a battery,
they were out of a battery.
542
00:31:52,064 --> 00:31:56,660
We would try to communicate
on a semi-regular basis.
543
00:31:56,744 --> 00:31:59,304
First thing in the morning,
we would try to talk,
544
00:31:59,384 --> 00:32:00,578
the documentary team would talk,
545
00:32:00,664 --> 00:32:02,939
I know I would with them
and John Binder.
546
00:32:03,024 --> 00:32:05,618
And we would try and find out,
"What did you get?
547
00:32:05,704 --> 00:32:07,535
"What have we heard is going to happen?
548
00:32:07,624 --> 00:32:11,094
"It would be really good if you could
get up to X by noon.
549
00:32:11,184 --> 00:32:13,618
"Try and get back,
send somebody back to us by noon,
550
00:32:13,704 --> 00:32:15,376
"so we know what you've done.
551
00:32:15,464 --> 00:32:19,377
"Because we may have something new
for you to do in the afternoon."
552
00:32:20,104 --> 00:32:22,220
(MAN PLAYING TUNE ON KAZOO)
553
00:32:22,464 --> 00:32:25,137
Please walk on the grass.
554
00:32:26,184 --> 00:32:28,220
Please walk on the grass.
555
00:32:29,304 --> 00:32:30,498
Hold it.
556
00:32:31,184 --> 00:32:34,176
Walk on the sides of the road
if you're gonna walk through here.
557
00:32:34,264 --> 00:32:37,062
SCHOONMAKER: And one of my jobs
was to try and get Chip Monck,
558
00:32:37,144 --> 00:32:40,739
who was lighting the show for the festival,
559
00:32:41,064 --> 00:32:44,101
to please give us some more light at times
when there were groups
560
00:32:44,184 --> 00:32:46,140
that Wadleigh would scream to me,
561
00:32:46,224 --> 00:32:49,102
he would be bent over that �clair camera,
562
00:32:49,184 --> 00:32:51,903
"Get me some light, get me some light!
I can't see them."
563
00:32:51,984 --> 00:32:54,703
I would go over to Chip and say,
"Could we have a little more light?"
564
00:32:54,784 --> 00:32:57,935
And he would say,
"I'm lighting for those people out there!
565
00:32:58,024 --> 00:32:59,696
"I'm not lighting for your movie!"
566
00:32:59,784 --> 00:33:02,139
(SINGING WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT)
567
00:33:15,024 --> 00:33:19,142
SCORSESE: The lighting is not
taking into consideration the camera.
568
00:33:19,224 --> 00:33:21,374
It's lighting for a show,
and that became a problem.
569
00:33:22,024 --> 00:33:25,221
That became a serious problem
for the cameramen, Michael and everyone.
570
00:33:25,304 --> 00:33:29,092
She was trying to get Chip
to give us more light,
571
00:33:29,184 --> 00:33:30,902
and he was trying to make a show.
572
00:33:30,984 --> 00:33:33,214
We kept asking the groups
for their playlists.
573
00:33:33,304 --> 00:33:35,056
And generally, they would give them to us,
574
00:33:35,144 --> 00:33:37,021
"Here's the order and songs."
So we'd say, "Oh, great!"
575
00:33:37,104 --> 00:33:39,334
"Well, these are the songs we wanna do."
576
00:33:39,424 --> 00:33:41,733
And then, we wouldn't start,
and here would come a song
577
00:33:41,824 --> 00:33:43,815
that we would want to do
that was number five,
578
00:33:43,904 --> 00:33:44,893
and they were opening with it.
579
00:33:44,984 --> 00:33:48,340
And this happened time and again,
so we'd all scramble, you know.
580
00:33:48,424 --> 00:33:50,460
So after that, we sort of set a rule that
581
00:33:50,544 --> 00:33:53,775
we would start shooting
just the first few seconds,
582
00:33:53,864 --> 00:33:57,413
and then I would either wave them off
and say, "No, no, no, we're not gonna go,"
583
00:33:57,504 --> 00:33:59,096
or we would continue.
584
00:33:59,384 --> 00:34:01,215
(SINGING)
585
00:34:03,984 --> 00:34:06,054
We couldn't afford just to film all the time.
586
00:34:06,144 --> 00:34:09,102
It was simply impossible
because the groups never would go off.
587
00:34:09,184 --> 00:34:11,539
Once they came on,
they didn't want to leave.
588
00:34:11,624 --> 00:34:14,616
Who had ever played
before such a gigantic audience?
589
00:34:14,704 --> 00:34:17,298
So they just kept going and going,
and going and going.
590
00:34:21,384 --> 00:34:23,295
Thelma and I and others had talked about
591
00:34:23,384 --> 00:34:25,978
how we would do these
elaborate multiple image shoots
592
00:34:26,064 --> 00:34:28,453
and how they'd be coordinated and...
593
00:34:28,544 --> 00:34:30,182
-Wow!
-With headsets.
594
00:34:30,264 --> 00:34:31,697
-With headsets. Right.
-With headsets,
595
00:34:31,784 --> 00:34:34,537
and we would say,
I had this idea that I'd say,
596
00:34:34,624 --> 00:34:38,253
"I'm on wide, go tight, go tight,
you know, now pan. Everybody, pan."
597
00:34:38,344 --> 00:34:39,902
And the headsets failed.
598
00:34:39,984 --> 00:34:43,977
Or there'd be just horrible feedback
that would just blow your ears out.
599
00:34:44,064 --> 00:34:45,179
Or no one could hear you,
600
00:34:45,264 --> 00:34:48,461
because, of course,
these groups were incredibly loud.
601
00:34:48,544 --> 00:34:52,457
We had all these fantastic plans about
how coordinated we would be,
602
00:34:52,544 --> 00:34:54,694
as if we were like a TV shoot.
603
00:34:54,784 --> 00:34:57,696
Again, it was more analogous
to thinking about being
604
00:34:57,784 --> 00:35:01,618
in Beirut or something,
you know, with the bombs going off
605
00:35:01,704 --> 00:35:03,695
and, "Pan left, pan..." "What?"
606
00:35:03,824 --> 00:35:05,780
Everybody was really in a separate silo,
607
00:35:05,864 --> 00:35:09,140
that phrase that we use today,
but that's exactly where everybody was.
608
00:35:09,224 --> 00:35:11,135
But they were at least positioned,
609
00:35:11,224 --> 00:35:13,533
and they all had tremendous instinct.
610
00:35:23,260 --> 00:35:26,377
WADLEIGH: Remember,
guys and gals out there,
611
00:35:26,460 --> 00:35:28,735
we've got two different physical objects,
612
00:35:28,820 --> 00:35:31,539
one, a soundtrack, and one, film.
613
00:35:31,620 --> 00:35:34,134
Nothing connects them at all.
We're free-floating.
614
00:35:34,220 --> 00:35:37,178
So you've got to get them together,
because you don't wanna put
615
00:35:37,260 --> 00:35:40,058
Santana's music with Hendrix's image.
616
00:35:40,140 --> 00:35:42,176
SCHOONMAKER: We hired
a large group of people
617
00:35:42,260 --> 00:35:46,378
just to sync the dailies for months, by eye.
618
00:35:46,460 --> 00:35:50,169
We weren't able to get slates,
we had "beep lights,"
619
00:35:50,260 --> 00:35:52,694
but again, things weren't working and...
620
00:35:52,780 --> 00:35:53,769
(LAUGHING)
621
00:35:53,860 --> 00:35:55,088
It was a nightmare.
622
00:35:55,180 --> 00:36:00,208
Since there were no slates,
no technical slates and no visual slates,
623
00:36:00,300 --> 00:36:06,250
we would rent a single-headed Moviola,
and a soundtrack player.
624
00:36:06,340 --> 00:36:09,013
It did put us in a manic state
at a certain point.
625
00:36:09,100 --> 00:36:10,931
We'd be so excited, we'd be running out,
"We got it in sync!"
626
00:36:11,020 --> 00:36:12,419
We'd come back in, it was out again.
627
00:36:12,500 --> 00:36:17,813
This is what was going on 24 hours a day
with a team of about 40 people
628
00:36:17,900 --> 00:36:20,778
in a space that was 2,400 square feet,
629
00:36:20,860 --> 00:36:23,374
where each editing table
was literally touching
630
00:36:23,460 --> 00:36:25,132
another editing table.
631
00:36:25,220 --> 00:36:28,451
Once we got sync on all of...
632
00:36:28,540 --> 00:36:31,816
We only fed them every other day,
because of...
633
00:36:31,900 --> 00:36:34,016
-They didn't get too big.
-I mean, it was unreal.
634
00:36:34,100 --> 00:36:35,089
It was totally unreal.
635
00:36:35,180 --> 00:36:37,296
You'd get a phone call at 2:00
in the morning
636
00:36:37,380 --> 00:36:40,816
saying, "Where's the reel
on Creedence Clearwater?" or whatever.
637
00:36:40,900 --> 00:36:43,733
But systematic labeling,
the systematic logging,
638
00:36:43,820 --> 00:36:45,651
all of that were absolutely paramount.
639
00:36:45,820 --> 00:36:50,291
No computers, no Excel sheets,
it all had to be done by hand.
640
00:36:50,380 --> 00:36:54,692
The festival was August 15, 16, 17.
641
00:36:54,780 --> 00:36:58,409
The syncing was not completed until
642
00:36:58,500 --> 00:37:01,936
towards the end of September,
early October.
643
00:37:09,793 --> 00:37:12,910
PENNY STALLINGS: We kind of knew
that if you bring Hendrix,
644
00:37:12,993 --> 00:37:16,827
if you bring Janis Joplin,
if you bring The Who,
645
00:37:17,153 --> 00:37:19,792
the entire axis of the planet
is going to tilt.
646
00:37:20,313 --> 00:37:22,190
Everyone's gonna try and get there.
647
00:37:22,273 --> 00:37:26,824
MICHAEL LANG: This idea of Woodstock
happening because it was a free show,
648
00:37:26,913 --> 00:37:28,392
I think, is a little inaccurate.
649
00:37:28,473 --> 00:37:31,510
I think most people were coming
looking for places to buy tickets.
650
00:37:31,913 --> 00:37:34,473
They couldn't buy tickets
'cause they weren't available anywhere.
651
00:37:34,553 --> 00:37:36,350
We never got the ticket booths in place.
652
00:37:36,993 --> 00:37:41,509
MAN: This is one thing that I was
gonna wait a while before we talked about,
653
00:37:41,593 --> 00:37:44,426
but maybe we'll talk about it now
so you can think about it.
654
00:37:44,513 --> 00:37:46,743
It's a free concert from now on.
655
00:37:50,193 --> 00:37:52,149
SCORSESE: At one point, somebody
told me, "Marty, come here, take a look."
656
00:37:52,233 --> 00:37:54,064
So I went up,
and I went to the lip of the stage,
657
00:37:54,153 --> 00:37:58,032
and I saw this massive
sort of impressionist painting.
658
00:37:58,113 --> 00:38:00,991
I'm a paranoid New Yorker.
There were times I got nervous,
659
00:38:01,073 --> 00:38:02,586
"What if something goes wrong?"
660
00:38:02,673 --> 00:38:03,662
(LAUGHS)
661
00:38:03,953 --> 00:38:06,990
Yeah, but the interesting thing
about Woodstock
662
00:38:07,073 --> 00:38:09,029
is that it didn't, you see?
663
00:38:09,113 --> 00:38:10,785
That was the beauty of it, I think.
664
00:38:10,873 --> 00:38:15,230
What we have in mind
is breakfast in bed for 400,000.
665
00:38:18,193 --> 00:38:19,342
JOHNNY WINTER: Started to say
wall-to-wall people,
666
00:38:19,433 --> 00:38:20,912
but there weren't any walls.
667
00:38:20,993 --> 00:38:23,029
It was just everywhere,
as far as you could see,
668
00:38:23,113 --> 00:38:24,705
-just people.
-INTERVIEWER: Yeah.
669
00:38:24,793 --> 00:38:26,909
WINTER: People, mud and rain.
670
00:38:26,993 --> 00:38:29,461
The overall thing
which was so big about it is
671
00:38:29,553 --> 00:38:33,068
you had so many people there
of all races and colors,
672
00:38:33,353 --> 00:38:35,992
and there was no fights,
and everybody got along,
673
00:38:36,073 --> 00:38:37,711
and it got organized somehow.
674
00:38:37,793 --> 00:38:39,306
LEE BLUMER: There have been
many events
675
00:38:39,393 --> 00:38:42,351
that have gathered many people,
you know, in the last 40 years,
676
00:38:42,433 --> 00:38:45,391
but realistically,
they weren't all in the same headspace.
677
00:38:45,473 --> 00:38:48,271
CARABELLO: It was about our generation
getting together and showing them
678
00:38:48,353 --> 00:38:50,787
that we didn't have to go to war,
we didn't have to have jobs,
679
00:38:50,873 --> 00:38:53,387
we were gonna play music
and turn the world around.
680
00:38:59,876 --> 00:39:03,186
MAN: (SHOUTING)
No rain! No rain! No rain!
681
00:39:05,996 --> 00:39:08,112
Joe Cocker arrived.
Joe went on and played,
682
00:39:08,196 --> 00:39:11,313
and I think we were gonna go on after him,
and then, that's when the rain started.
683
00:39:11,916 --> 00:39:14,953
MONCK ON PA: All right, everybody,
just sit down, wrap yourself up.
684
00:39:15,036 --> 00:39:17,072
We're gonna have to ride it out.
685
00:39:18,796 --> 00:39:20,548
Hold on to your neighbor, man.
686
00:39:20,636 --> 00:39:22,627
MAN: No rain! No rain! No rain!
687
00:39:22,716 --> 00:39:26,834
-No rain! No rain! No rain! No rain!
-No rain! No rain! No rain! No rain!
688
00:39:26,916 --> 00:39:29,476
The next thing I know it was
pouring down with rain,
689
00:39:29,556 --> 00:39:31,433
I mean, it's turned into a torrential rain.
690
00:39:36,396 --> 00:39:38,227
I remember 'cause I was freezing cold.
691
00:39:38,316 --> 00:39:41,114
I had just a tank top on, you know,
with no sleeves.
692
00:39:41,476 --> 00:39:43,751
And it was very, very cold at first.
693
00:39:43,836 --> 00:39:48,466
And they brought in great, big
cardboard boxes of scraps of material.
694
00:39:48,556 --> 00:39:50,194
It was like being on a refugee...
695
00:39:50,276 --> 00:39:52,915
I imagine what a refugee camp was like,
you know.
696
00:39:52,996 --> 00:39:54,952
CHURCHILL: To me, it was a mini-tornado.
697
00:39:55,036 --> 00:39:57,231
-It was, yeah.
-Yeah, they didn't say it was,
698
00:39:57,316 --> 00:40:00,388
but that was my introduction to
tornadoes, of which I've been in two more.
699
00:40:00,476 --> 00:40:02,910
LYONS: They had a VIP area
at the side of the stage
700
00:40:02,996 --> 00:40:04,190
where people could watch,
701
00:40:04,276 --> 00:40:06,790
groupies and press and whatever you like
could watch the band,
702
00:40:06,876 --> 00:40:08,548
they had to close that down
703
00:40:08,636 --> 00:40:13,027
to take the strain off the stage,
because it was slipping down the hill.
704
00:40:13,196 --> 00:40:14,788
And there is a clip in the movie
705
00:40:14,876 --> 00:40:17,470
of this young kid running down
towards the camera, and he says,
706
00:40:17,556 --> 00:40:19,353
"This is the American government!
They're doing this!
707
00:40:19,436 --> 00:40:20,869
"They've been spraying the clouds, man."
708
00:40:20,956 --> 00:40:21,945
BOY: I've got something to say.
709
00:40:22,036 --> 00:40:24,231
I want to know how come the fascist pigs
have been seeding the clouds?
710
00:40:24,316 --> 00:40:25,669
Right, for the last hour and a half.
711
00:40:25,756 --> 00:40:27,269
'Cause I've seen the airplanes
going over twice
712
00:40:27,356 --> 00:40:30,393
with all the smoke coming out of them,
seeding the clouds,
713
00:40:30,476 --> 00:40:33,434
and I want to know, you know,
why that stuff is going down, man,
714
00:40:33,516 --> 00:40:36,952
and why doesn't the media
report that stuff to the people, man?
715
00:40:37,356 --> 00:40:39,312
And with current events,
you really have to wonder
716
00:40:39,396 --> 00:40:41,466
if that, maybe, was the case.
717
00:40:41,556 --> 00:40:44,832
'Cause I know the FBI and the CIA
were very, very nervous...
718
00:40:44,916 --> 00:40:47,430
-It's getting to conspiracy theories.
-...of all that many people, you know.
719
00:40:47,516 --> 00:40:49,984
Technically, it was a horror, you know,
720
00:40:50,076 --> 00:40:54,115
(LAUGHING) because it stopped
many things from working.
721
00:40:54,396 --> 00:40:56,990
The wiring was flooded.
722
00:40:57,076 --> 00:40:59,112
I remember, when we went on stage,
723
00:40:59,196 --> 00:41:02,472
in between the wires, it was like water.
724
00:41:03,476 --> 00:41:05,353
You can squeeze
those two conductors together
725
00:41:05,436 --> 00:41:07,427
and get a monstrous zap.
726
00:41:07,516 --> 00:41:09,188
It goes through your mind, "Well,
727
00:41:09,276 --> 00:41:12,234
"this could be our best
and last show here."
728
00:41:19,236 --> 00:41:21,545
There were just people every place,
I mean, it just...
729
00:41:21,916 --> 00:41:24,146
Started to say wall-to-wall people,
but there weren't any walls.
730
00:41:24,236 --> 00:41:26,670
It was just everywhere,
as far as you could see,
731
00:41:26,756 --> 00:41:28,508
-just people.
-INTERVIEWER: Yeah.
732
00:41:28,596 --> 00:41:30,314
People, mud and rain.
733
00:41:31,516 --> 00:41:32,790
GRACE SLICK: Some of them
were even playing in it.
734
00:41:32,876 --> 00:41:34,355
And I thought,
"Well, thank God you're young."
735
00:41:34,676 --> 00:41:36,985
Take off your clothes and play in the mud.
736
00:41:37,916 --> 00:41:39,907
HUGH HEFNER: I was glad I wasn't there,
737
00:41:39,996 --> 00:41:42,988
(LAUGHING) but I don't think I would've
enjoyed all the mud.
738
00:41:43,996 --> 00:41:46,669
I'm very glad it happened, in hindsight,
739
00:41:46,756 --> 00:41:49,748
because it was a wonderful settling event,
740
00:41:49,836 --> 00:41:52,908
because you could look around
and everybody looked the same.
741
00:41:52,996 --> 00:41:54,793
Drowned rats.
742
00:41:54,876 --> 00:41:56,594
That's really what was amazing
about the whole thing,
743
00:41:56,676 --> 00:41:58,951
is that the conditions weren't good at all,
744
00:41:59,036 --> 00:42:01,106
but nobody seemed to care, you know.
745
00:42:12,832 --> 00:42:15,665
KRAMER: When I think back
on Woodstock, I just think,
746
00:42:15,752 --> 00:42:17,105
"I'm gonna shut myself up in
747
00:42:17,192 --> 00:42:20,821
(CHUCKLES) "this little eight by eight
portion of this tractor trailer,
748
00:42:21,232 --> 00:42:24,304
"and whatever happens,
just try to get this stuff
749
00:42:24,392 --> 00:42:26,030
"on tape as best as I can."
750
00:42:26,112 --> 00:42:27,625
He couldn't see anything.
751
00:42:27,712 --> 00:42:30,272
All he could do was to listen and guess,
752
00:42:30,552 --> 00:42:33,305
"I hear something through that mike,
it must be here."
753
00:42:33,392 --> 00:42:34,791
KRAMER: As far as the gear
was concerned,
754
00:42:34,872 --> 00:42:37,545
literally, it was a 12-channel console
755
00:42:37,632 --> 00:42:39,623
with a couple of Shure mixers stacked
on top of it,
756
00:42:39,712 --> 00:42:43,387
and one of the eight-track machines
was in an orange crate.
757
00:42:43,472 --> 00:42:47,943
It was hung together with wire and string
and chewing gum.
758
00:42:48,032 --> 00:42:52,184
And we were in the back corner
of a tractor trailer,
759
00:42:52,272 --> 00:42:56,584
literally, maybe eight foot by eight foot,
if that.
760
00:42:57,712 --> 00:42:59,862
And that's where I was stuck
for the whole three days.
761
00:43:00,032 --> 00:43:04,344
He did not have 24 tracks
that we have today, or 32 or 68.
762
00:43:04,512 --> 00:43:05,786
He had eight tracks,
763
00:43:05,952 --> 00:43:10,264
one of which was devoted, thankfully,
to our sync signal.
764
00:43:10,352 --> 00:43:13,344
So, essentially, I'm dealing with
seven channels of audio,
765
00:43:13,432 --> 00:43:15,343
which includes the audience
766
00:43:15,432 --> 00:43:18,026
and horns and vocals
767
00:43:18,112 --> 00:43:21,661
and drums and bass and guitars
and everything else, so...
768
00:43:23,272 --> 00:43:25,388
(SINGING UNCLE SAM'S BLUES)
769
00:43:36,952 --> 00:43:40,831
After the first number, the first act,
770
00:43:40,912 --> 00:43:43,551
all communication was just in the toilet,
771
00:43:43,632 --> 00:43:46,544
because who knew
what was going on after that?
772
00:43:46,632 --> 00:43:52,628
So we had to utilize
the first song of each set
773
00:43:52,712 --> 00:43:58,947
as the sort of trial by fire
and trial by error.
774
00:43:59,032 --> 00:44:01,785
(LAUGHING) It was complete chaos,
but we did it.
775
00:44:01,872 --> 00:44:03,544
I mean, you know, that was the challenge.
776
00:44:12,293 --> 00:44:15,524
MAN 1: Ladies and gentlemen,
the Sha Na Na! Harold, turn up the mike.
777
00:44:16,213 --> 00:44:17,965
(SINGING AT THE HOP)
778
00:44:24,253 --> 00:44:26,448
If we hadn't been at Woodstock,
779
00:44:28,213 --> 00:44:30,602
I don't think Sha Na Na would've had
any of the success it's had.
780
00:44:30,693 --> 00:44:34,242
They were, I think, completely shocked
when I booked them.
781
00:44:34,493 --> 00:44:37,405
I think that they didn't really
take it seriously.
782
00:44:37,493 --> 00:44:40,451
I saw them at The Scene,
Steve Paul's club,
783
00:44:40,533 --> 00:44:43,923
and I thought, "You know,
what a great light moment this would be! "
784
00:44:44,013 --> 00:44:48,131
And you know, kind of a nod to
the rock and roll roots that we all had,
785
00:44:48,213 --> 00:44:49,487
so I thought it would be fun for everybody.
786
00:44:49,573 --> 00:44:52,007
I mean, you can't get too heavy
all the time, so...
787
00:44:52,093 --> 00:44:55,403
Well, I have to say that
the whole Sha Na Na career,
788
00:44:56,053 --> 00:44:57,805
celebrating our 40th,
789
00:44:58,653 --> 00:45:01,167
may not have ever happened.
790
00:45:01,253 --> 00:45:05,326
So we owe a ton to it, I think,
more than any other act that was there.
791
00:45:11,013 --> 00:45:14,608
I've seen the world,
and I've become very comfortable
792
00:45:14,693 --> 00:45:16,888
and thankful that I had this career,
793
00:45:16,973 --> 00:45:19,726
and it wouldn't have happened
without Woodstock.
794
00:45:19,813 --> 00:45:21,963
And there was only one Woodstock.
795
00:45:22,413 --> 00:45:24,244
(SINGING WON'T YOU TRY)
796
00:45:28,893 --> 00:45:30,565
And it did change my life
in that sense that
797
00:45:30,653 --> 00:45:32,928
the music also fixed me a certain way,
798
00:45:33,133 --> 00:45:34,361
seeing it performed that way,
799
00:45:34,453 --> 00:45:39,163
being right there with that music,
hearing the sound go through you.
800
00:45:39,253 --> 00:45:42,609
I'd always wanted to play music.
I love music.
801
00:45:42,693 --> 00:45:46,242
And so it was a major factor
802
00:45:46,333 --> 00:45:49,325
in all my other work and my films
and everything else.
803
00:45:49,413 --> 00:45:53,201
That was an extraordinary cathartic
situation with that music.
804
00:45:54,293 --> 00:45:58,923
(STAMMERING) A very, very powerful,
powerful feeling.
805
00:45:59,213 --> 00:46:01,124
(SINGING)
806
00:46:03,413 --> 00:46:06,803
FRED WEINTRAUB: Steve Ross and Ted
Ashley had just taken over Warner Bros.
807
00:46:06,893 --> 00:46:10,363
And they had decided
almost in a funny kind of way
808
00:46:10,933 --> 00:46:14,528
that with all the movies that they saw
that they had when they took over,
809
00:46:14,733 --> 00:46:17,008
that maybe they were gonna
sell the studio.
810
00:46:17,093 --> 00:46:19,971
And Woodstock basically
saved the studio,
811
00:46:20,053 --> 00:46:22,806
and became the fact
that they made movies
812
00:46:22,893 --> 00:46:25,851
'cause of what happened
to the Woodstock film.
813
00:46:25,933 --> 00:46:29,289
Well, several writers wrote
that Woodstock saved the studio.
814
00:46:29,373 --> 00:46:32,888
At the time, several, Variety and others,
815
00:46:32,973 --> 00:46:36,886
said that this strange hippie piece
and that...
816
00:46:36,973 --> 00:46:38,725
And by the way, I will say,
817
00:46:38,813 --> 00:46:41,452
one good thing was that
once it became a hit,
818
00:46:41,533 --> 00:46:43,012
I had a wonderful experience
819
00:46:43,093 --> 00:46:45,402
traveling around the world with the film,
820
00:46:45,493 --> 00:46:48,963
able to speak about its politics
and cultural significance.
821
00:46:49,053 --> 00:46:53,444
I didn't think any of the musicians there
expected it to be anything.
822
00:46:53,973 --> 00:46:55,406
And they just went along to play.
823
00:46:55,493 --> 00:46:57,927
And stoned as some of them were
on one thing or another,
824
00:46:58,013 --> 00:46:59,924
there was no ulterior motive.
825
00:47:00,013 --> 00:47:03,926
And the audience turned up,
not expecting anything.
826
00:47:04,013 --> 00:47:06,163
So the whole thing
was a spontaneous thing,
827
00:47:06,253 --> 00:47:07,447
and the energy was there,
828
00:47:07,533 --> 00:47:09,205
and when you organize something,
829
00:47:09,293 --> 00:47:13,081
that thing can never be captured,
never ever.
830
00:47:13,173 --> 00:47:14,606
That's the difference.
831
00:47:14,693 --> 00:47:16,843
And I think
that's why people find it fascinating.
832
00:47:16,933 --> 00:47:21,051
(SINGING WON'T YOU TRY)
833
00:47:32,377 --> 00:47:33,810
LANG: It's been very gratifying, you know.
834
00:47:33,897 --> 00:47:36,855
I'm delighted to have been affiliated with it.
835
00:47:38,497 --> 00:47:43,332
It obviously took the energies
of lots of people,
836
00:47:44,257 --> 00:47:48,296
and I'm certainly
eternally grateful to all of them.
837
00:47:49,257 --> 00:47:50,246
It was a very special time,
838
00:47:50,337 --> 00:47:52,487
and I was thrilled to be
a part of making it happen
839
00:47:52,577 --> 00:47:54,374
and thrilled to be a part of it happening.
840
00:47:54,737 --> 00:47:56,614
So, it's always been gratifying.
841
00:47:56,697 --> 00:47:59,530
I mean, I've spoken to lots of people
over the years,
842
00:47:59,617 --> 00:48:02,290
and I can't tell you
how many times people tell me
843
00:48:02,377 --> 00:48:04,129
that it changed their lives
in a very positive way.
844
00:48:04,217 --> 00:48:05,696
So it's very gratifying.
845
00:48:05,777 --> 00:48:07,733
It's a great, great festival.
846
00:48:08,777 --> 00:48:10,369
One of the best there's ever been.
847
00:48:10,817 --> 00:48:14,207
I think it is the most important
rock and roll show in history.
848
00:48:14,537 --> 00:48:20,931
It is the symbolism of Woodstock
that is so much alive today
849
00:48:21,737 --> 00:48:23,648
that can be carried forward
850
00:48:23,737 --> 00:48:28,811
and it can be replicated,
duplicated, implemented
851
00:48:29,377 --> 00:48:33,928
by every individual, whether they went,
whether they saw it,
852
00:48:34,017 --> 00:48:37,214
whether they raise their hand
saying they were there and they weren't.
853
00:48:37,297 --> 00:48:42,451
Those people who are encased
in the spirit, infused with the spirit
854
00:48:42,537 --> 00:48:45,097
and the essence
of what Woodstock represented.
855
00:48:45,257 --> 00:48:47,976
I mean, it did have an impact.
It had an impact.
856
00:48:48,057 --> 00:48:50,969
And I think maybe it was because
that many people gathered together.
857
00:48:51,057 --> 00:48:55,653
They were all kind of
the hippie culture, if you like.
858
00:48:56,457 --> 00:48:58,129
And there wasn't that much trouble.
859
00:48:58,297 --> 00:49:01,175
We think the people of this country
should be proud of these kids.
860
00:49:01,257 --> 00:49:04,135
Notwithstanding the way they dress
or the way they wear their hair,
861
00:49:04,217 --> 00:49:05,889
that's their own personal business.
862
00:49:05,977 --> 00:49:09,731
But their inner workings,
their inner selves,
863
00:49:09,817 --> 00:49:12,889
their self-demeanor cannot be questioned.
864
00:49:13,057 --> 00:49:14,854
I thought, "My God, we were just..."
865
00:49:15,537 --> 00:49:19,496
Everyone was so sweet and nice,
and what was so threatening about that?
866
00:49:19,577 --> 00:49:23,013
But you know,
people were smoking pot on camera,
867
00:49:23,097 --> 00:49:26,373
and there were people who were
undressed in the middle of a meadow
868
00:49:26,457 --> 00:49:30,132
and bathing nude in a lake.
But, come on, I mean, really.
869
00:49:30,217 --> 00:49:32,048
Everyone was just
having a wonderful time.
870
00:49:32,137 --> 00:49:33,331
Woodstock was unique.
871
00:49:33,417 --> 00:49:38,013
It was a unique place, time,
872
00:49:39,577 --> 00:49:43,172
coming together of
all of these various artists.
873
00:49:44,337 --> 00:49:47,568
The fact that economically, socially,
874
00:49:47,657 --> 00:49:52,447
it was a very, very traumatic time.
875
00:49:52,977 --> 00:49:57,129
And look at all these people.
Half a million kids,
876
00:49:57,217 --> 00:50:00,926
adults, children coming together
in one place at one time,
877
00:50:01,017 --> 00:50:04,612
becoming a huge city
virtually overnight. Peaceful.
878
00:50:05,097 --> 00:50:07,657
The Summer of Love and Woodstock
were the beginning
879
00:50:07,737 --> 00:50:13,846
of a decade of celebration
that was almost Eden-like.
880
00:50:17,737 --> 00:50:20,774
And then we were
kicked out of the garden.
881
00:50:22,337 --> 00:50:23,736
Over the years,
882
00:50:26,297 --> 00:50:29,050
there's a real sour grapes attitude
883
00:50:29,137 --> 00:50:33,892
towards Woodstock, towards the time,
towards the sensibility.
884
00:50:34,377 --> 00:50:39,770
It's easy to make fun of
because it was kind of the last time when
885
00:50:40,777 --> 00:50:45,532
a group so large, a demographic so large
could be so sincere
886
00:50:46,097 --> 00:50:49,407
and uncynical about
what they were doing.
887
00:50:49,577 --> 00:50:52,614
BLUMER: The legacy of Woodstock is
the legacy of possibilities.
888
00:50:52,697 --> 00:50:57,896
What Woodstock proved
is that human beings
889
00:50:57,977 --> 00:50:59,251
are capable of so much more
890
00:50:59,337 --> 00:51:01,976
than they ever, ever
reach into themselves and do.
891
00:51:02,217 --> 00:51:06,688
I just think in any of these anniversaries,
892
00:51:08,297 --> 00:51:11,209
and I think as you get further away,
now at 40,
893
00:51:11,297 --> 00:51:14,812
and you look back at it,
it just shows the importance of it.
894
00:51:16,017 --> 00:51:17,006
It's still important.
895
00:51:17,537 --> 00:51:22,213
LANG: I think that they will get a glimpse
of a time that was very hopeful,
896
00:51:22,337 --> 00:51:24,771
in a world that was very much like
the one we're living in today,
897
00:51:24,937 --> 00:51:26,495
you know, unpopular war,
898
00:51:26,577 --> 00:51:29,614
and the Earth being wounded
as it is today.
899
00:51:29,697 --> 00:51:34,248
All the things that the '60s
sort of brought to the fore
900
00:51:35,897 --> 00:51:38,855
seem to be coming back to haunt us now,
901
00:51:38,937 --> 00:51:39,926
'cause we didn't listen then.
902
00:51:40,017 --> 00:51:42,736
Yes, it did have a huge impact
on the world, I think.
903
00:51:43,617 --> 00:51:49,089
And I think the movie gives an example,
a taste of what it was like in that era.
904
00:51:49,537 --> 00:51:50,811
CARABELLO: I think
the legacy of Woodstock
905
00:51:50,897 --> 00:51:52,649
was that it was a peaceful event.
906
00:51:52,737 --> 00:51:55,570
That we showed, even though
we were revolutionary and stuff,
907
00:51:55,657 --> 00:51:58,649
that we showed that you didn't need guns
and you didn't need power.
908
00:51:59,057 --> 00:52:01,810
And all we needed was music
and to dance and to love one another.
909
00:52:02,897 --> 00:52:04,569
(LAUGHING) Of course,
it's changed nothing.
910
00:52:04,657 --> 00:52:09,572
We've still got world wars going on
and poverty and one thing and another.
911
00:52:09,657 --> 00:52:11,852
But we thought we could
change the world, yeah.
912
00:52:11,977 --> 00:52:12,966
We hoped we could.
913
00:52:13,057 --> 00:52:16,094
And I think, to a certain extent,
we gave a lot of people hope.
914
00:52:31,236 --> 00:52:34,592
(SINGING SEE ME, FEEL ME)
915
00:52:38,876 --> 00:52:41,913
WADLEIGH: We had shot everything
with 16mm,
916
00:52:41,996 --> 00:52:45,591
but we knew we wanted to go
to the 70mm format,
917
00:52:45,676 --> 00:52:49,430
because we had experienced 70mm sound,
918
00:52:49,516 --> 00:52:52,349
where you had four channels
behind the screen
919
00:52:52,436 --> 00:52:53,664
and two in the rear.
920
00:52:53,756 --> 00:52:55,235
So we wanted to take advantage of that.
921
00:52:55,316 --> 00:52:58,228
Well, we worked out with Eastman
and other people
922
00:52:58,316 --> 00:53:00,750
how we could go from 16 mm,
923
00:53:00,836 --> 00:53:05,432
blow up to 70
in the most efficient way possible,
924
00:53:05,956 --> 00:53:07,355
which was a miracle in itself.
925
00:53:07,436 --> 00:53:10,712
Imagine! 16mm is just tiny.
926
00:53:10,796 --> 00:53:14,152
And here, we were going
for a 70mm release.
927
00:53:14,236 --> 00:53:15,669
The KEMs enabled us to do that,
928
00:53:15,756 --> 00:53:19,829
because, how do you mark
where you want an image to go?
929
00:53:20,836 --> 00:53:26,194
Let's say you don't even want a full frame
of one of your 16mm images,
930
00:53:26,276 --> 00:53:27,470
let's say the left frame.
931
00:53:27,556 --> 00:53:29,990
But you want to select a portion of that.
932
00:53:30,076 --> 00:53:32,306
Well, we simply figured out an XY grid.
933
00:53:32,396 --> 00:53:35,786
For vertical numbers,
we had one through 20, or whatever,
934
00:53:35,876 --> 00:53:36,945
one through 80.
935
00:53:37,036 --> 00:53:39,266
And then, horizontal numbers.
936
00:53:39,356 --> 00:53:42,109
And then, you would simply write,
it was a description,
937
00:53:42,196 --> 00:53:44,630
from this point, this sized image.
938
00:53:44,716 --> 00:53:47,628
We then wanted to blow it up
to the 70mm
939
00:53:47,716 --> 00:53:49,911
in that quadrant of the 70.
940
00:53:49,996 --> 00:53:52,464
And of course, it was not that precise.
941
00:53:52,556 --> 00:53:57,232
So we would give it to the optical people,
they'd give it a try
942
00:53:57,316 --> 00:53:59,784
and then we'd do readjustments
from there.
943
00:53:59,876 --> 00:54:01,434
The technicians at the time,
944
00:54:01,516 --> 00:54:05,031
these old guys who were now our age,
right?
945
00:54:05,116 --> 00:54:06,435
Seventy years old and so on,
946
00:54:06,516 --> 00:54:09,633
who had been around the movie industry
all their lives.
947
00:54:09,716 --> 00:54:12,674
They just loved it,
and they were so helpful to us.
948
00:54:12,756 --> 00:54:15,987
They loved the challenge
of being able to do,
949
00:54:16,076 --> 00:54:19,955
with rock and roll
and these modern young kids,
950
00:54:20,036 --> 00:54:23,187
to take this technical challenge
of how to get it to the theater
951
00:54:23,276 --> 00:54:24,550
so that it looks really cool.
952
00:54:24,676 --> 00:54:27,827
But from front to back,
it was all an experimentation.
953
00:54:27,916 --> 00:54:31,704
No one had done what we had done
with those machines
954
00:54:31,796 --> 00:54:33,787
or with the shooting up until that point.
955
00:54:33,876 --> 00:54:35,548
And of course they then devoted
956
00:54:35,636 --> 00:54:38,833
a whole issue of
American Cinematographer to us.
957
00:54:38,916 --> 00:54:41,384
Many other technical journals
just describing
958
00:54:41,476 --> 00:54:44,912
how, technologically,
Woodstock had come about.
959
00:54:45,276 --> 00:54:49,474
But then, of course, what all of us
were going for was an aesthetic.
960
00:54:49,556 --> 00:54:52,787
The technology was a means to producing
961
00:54:52,876 --> 00:54:56,152
what we felt was going to be
a real involving experience.
962
00:55:05,873 --> 00:55:09,024
It broke all sorts of new ground,
and the critics loved it,
963
00:55:09,113 --> 00:55:14,267
and, you know, we were able
to really pioneer multiple image
964
00:55:14,633 --> 00:55:18,706
and a new way that rock and roll
and documentaries were shot.
965
00:55:19,273 --> 00:55:21,264
We mentioned that, you know,
Roger Ebert said
966
00:55:21,353 --> 00:55:23,264
maybe it was
the greatest documentary ever made,
967
00:55:23,353 --> 00:55:24,945
and others did as well.
968
00:55:25,033 --> 00:55:26,466
I thought it was overwhelming.
969
00:55:27,393 --> 00:55:31,068
Yeah, I think one of the things that
970
00:55:32,153 --> 00:55:35,145
is most fortunate, is that
971
00:55:36,433 --> 00:55:38,071
that film exists
972
00:55:38,153 --> 00:55:43,944
that captured the real sense
of that remarkable weekend.
973
00:55:45,273 --> 00:55:48,231
And it's a phenomenal documentary.
974
00:55:48,593 --> 00:55:51,710
Pauline Kael was head of
the Critics Association,
975
00:55:51,793 --> 00:55:54,102
so she came in to see the movie,
976
00:55:54,193 --> 00:55:56,343
and she was no hippie at all.
977
00:55:56,433 --> 00:56:00,870
And we were all like, "Oh, my goodness,
you know, she's a super-critic."
978
00:56:00,953 --> 00:56:05,947
Well, she loved the thing, I mean,
just thought it was great filmmaking,
979
00:56:06,033 --> 00:56:10,265
and slow but surely,
a number of people came and gave us...
980
00:56:10,353 --> 00:56:14,187
Not that we lacked the confidence,
but I have to admit, I was really nervous,
981
00:56:14,273 --> 00:56:16,662
because it's like
having a hit on your hands,
982
00:56:16,753 --> 00:56:21,031
and are you gonna blow it, you know,
are you just gonna make it worse?
983
00:56:21,153 --> 00:56:23,223
What surprised me was
how well they captured it.
984
00:56:23,913 --> 00:56:26,552
That that movie really,
in three and a half hours,
985
00:56:26,633 --> 00:56:30,023
gave you a good sense of
what that weekend was like for us.
986
00:56:31,553 --> 00:56:34,784
And it wasn't just from sort of
a typical documentary point of view,
987
00:56:34,873 --> 00:56:36,909
it really brought you in.
988
00:56:36,993 --> 00:56:40,065
I think once it came
and we saw it at the movies,
989
00:56:40,153 --> 00:56:43,270
you know, the opening of it,
which we saw in New York,
990
00:56:43,353 --> 00:56:44,627
it was very interesting because
991
00:56:44,713 --> 00:56:46,749
it was the first time
that they used three cameras.
992
00:56:46,833 --> 00:56:48,869
It's a damn good documentary, you know.
993
00:56:48,953 --> 00:56:50,625
It's a good piece of reporting.
994
00:56:50,713 --> 00:56:55,582
It's not journalistic, you know, to me,
it doesn't appear to have a view,
995
00:56:56,153 --> 00:56:57,472
you know,
from the director's point of view.
996
00:56:57,553 --> 00:56:59,669
Many people also talked about
point of view,
997
00:56:59,753 --> 00:57:03,905
that it was a revolutionary way
to convey filmmaking,
998
00:57:03,993 --> 00:57:08,509
you know, from the documentary
and from the musical points of view,
999
00:57:08,593 --> 00:57:12,029
that it gave you a real sense of,
not only being there,
1000
00:57:12,113 --> 00:57:14,752
but also making intellectual connections
1001
00:57:14,833 --> 00:57:17,950
and emotional connections
between material
1002
00:57:18,033 --> 00:57:20,467
through the use of the multi image.
1003
00:57:20,553 --> 00:57:23,021
Because like,
why would 300,000 or 120,000, 60,000,
1004
00:57:23,113 --> 00:57:26,742
70,000 people come to anything
just because it's music?
1005
00:57:26,833 --> 00:57:31,145
I mean, was music all that important?
I don't really think so.
1006
00:57:31,233 --> 00:57:33,827
People don't know.
They don't know how to live,
1007
00:57:33,913 --> 00:57:34,948
and they don't know what to do,
1008
00:57:35,033 --> 00:57:37,627
and they think that if they can come here
they can find out,
1009
00:57:37,713 --> 00:57:41,422
you know, what it is,
or how to maintain with it.
1010
00:57:41,513 --> 00:57:43,424
It's just like people are very lost, I think.
1011
00:57:43,593 --> 00:57:45,982
I'd been up to the editing lot
1012
00:57:46,073 --> 00:57:47,552
when they were in New York
several times
1013
00:57:47,633 --> 00:57:51,387
and watched
this unbelievable amount of footage,
1014
00:57:51,473 --> 00:57:53,464
trying to get reduced into
1015
00:57:54,393 --> 00:57:57,305
what ended up being, I think,
three and a half hours.
1016
00:57:57,393 --> 00:58:02,421
It was a monumental task,
and they did a brilliant job.
1017
00:58:02,513 --> 00:58:05,107
Even though we ran out of film,
you know, a bunch of times,
1018
00:58:05,193 --> 00:58:08,390
and had to conserve,
not shoot so many acts
1019
00:58:08,473 --> 00:58:12,352
or at least the totality
of some of the acts they should've shot,
1020
00:58:12,433 --> 00:58:15,789
but given the circumstance
and given what they had to do,
1021
00:58:15,873 --> 00:58:17,465
it was phenomenal.
1022
00:58:17,553 --> 00:58:21,466
I was certainly bent on
not just making a music film,
1023
00:58:21,553 --> 00:58:26,422
and as you know, every single song was
put in for its lyrical value,
1024
00:58:26,513 --> 00:58:29,232
you know, not just its musical value.
1025
00:58:29,313 --> 00:58:31,269
We didn't select songs that were hits,
1026
00:58:31,353 --> 00:58:35,744
we tried to use the lyrics
as poets would to tell a story.
1027
00:58:36,193 --> 00:58:38,423
CHURCHILL: In America,
it was a gigantic movie,
1028
00:58:38,513 --> 00:58:40,868
and the theaters were full every night
that it was on.
1029
00:58:40,953 --> 00:58:45,549
People started sitting down,
but then, as soon as the image came on,
1030
00:58:45,633 --> 00:58:48,306
"Been a long time coming,"
or Sidney Westerfeld saying...
1031
00:58:48,393 --> 00:58:49,985
My name is Sidney Westerfeld.
1032
00:58:50,073 --> 00:58:54,225
I'm the owner of this antique tavern
in Mongaup Valley, New York State.
1033
00:58:54,513 --> 00:58:56,663
The whole theater would get up en masse,
1034
00:58:56,753 --> 00:58:59,108
and they wouldn't sit down
for three hours.
1035
00:58:59,193 --> 00:59:02,344
It was amazing. Just amazing.
1036
00:59:02,633 --> 00:59:05,625
Watching the film was really wonderful.
1037
00:59:05,913 --> 00:59:08,825
I was standing in the back,
watching people's reactions
1038
00:59:09,193 --> 00:59:11,263
and the sequences, the edited sequences.
1039
00:59:11,353 --> 00:59:12,945
The music is so wonderful.
1040
00:59:13,033 --> 00:59:14,989
And people really reacted strongly.
1041
00:59:15,073 --> 00:59:20,909
It was almost like being
at the festival again, in a way,
1042
00:59:21,073 --> 00:59:23,223
but in a more comfortable position.
1043
00:59:23,313 --> 00:59:24,302
(LAUGHS)
1044
00:59:24,393 --> 00:59:27,544
It had become another myth.
1045
00:59:27,633 --> 00:59:33,071
We had our own myth
that we communally experienced.
1046
00:59:33,153 --> 00:59:36,111
And then there was the movie,
which was magnificent.
1047
00:59:37,153 --> 00:59:40,623
It is the essence of Woodstock, too.
1048
00:59:41,033 --> 00:59:45,311
If another film director had been there,
who was strictly interested in the music,
1049
00:59:45,393 --> 00:59:48,271
and who had simply done the hits,
1050
00:59:48,353 --> 00:59:54,826
you know, it really could have been
quite a different sort of movie
1051
00:59:54,913 --> 00:59:57,381
that wouldn't have
had the kind of outreach,
1052
00:59:57,473 --> 01:00:00,670
but because I was a documentarian and,
1053
01:00:00,753 --> 01:00:02,630
well, I had photographed
Martin Luther King
1054
01:00:02,713 --> 01:00:07,548
and Bobby Kennedy and
the great movers and shakers of the '60s
1055
01:00:07,633 --> 01:00:09,624
then, all of that kind of resonated,
1056
01:00:09,713 --> 01:00:14,229
and hopefully, showed up in the movie.
1057
01:00:14,553 --> 01:00:17,625
People were dancing in the aisles
at this press screening,
1058
01:00:18,673 --> 01:00:21,028
which validated what we were saying.
1059
01:00:21,113 --> 01:00:24,583
And I'll never forget Ted Ashley,
the head of Warner Bros.,
1060
01:00:24,673 --> 01:00:27,585
came up behind me, and we were
at such a war at that point that...
1061
01:00:27,673 --> 01:00:29,345
And he touched me on the shoulder,
and I jumped,
1062
01:00:29,433 --> 01:00:31,742
and he said, "You were right."
1063
01:00:31,833 --> 01:00:33,152
Which was great. Yeah.
1064
01:00:33,233 --> 01:00:35,793
And then, of course,
the film did become very successful.
1065
01:00:35,873 --> 01:00:40,185
STALLINGS: To look at those people,
in their prime, now,
1066
01:00:42,073 --> 01:00:44,746
I certainly do think it holds up.
1067
01:00:45,113 --> 01:00:47,308
It's a wonderful document.
1068
01:01:51,525 --> 01:01:54,164
LISA LAW: The Hog Farm commune
were a bunch of misfits
1069
01:01:54,485 --> 01:01:58,364
all living together, helping each other out,
experiencing life together.
1070
01:01:58,445 --> 01:02:00,356
It was a beautiful commune.
1071
01:02:00,445 --> 01:02:02,675
WAVY GRAVY: We were approached
by Stan Goldstein.
1072
01:02:02,765 --> 01:02:04,323
And Stan, "Well, how would you like to do
1073
01:02:04,405 --> 01:02:07,397
"this music festival in New York state?"
1074
01:02:07,485 --> 01:02:10,682
And we said, "Well, we're gonna be
in New Mexico."
1075
01:02:10,765 --> 01:02:14,838
And he said, "That's all right.
We'll fly you in an astro-jet."
1076
01:02:14,925 --> 01:02:17,644
And we figured he was like
one toke over the line,
1077
01:02:17,725 --> 01:02:18,999
and we thought nothing of it.
1078
01:02:19,085 --> 01:02:21,519
The phone rings,
and it's Bonnie Jean Romney
1079
01:02:21,605 --> 01:02:23,516
saying they want us to come
with the Hog Farm
1080
01:02:23,605 --> 01:02:26,039
and to work there at Woodstock
1081
01:02:26,125 --> 01:02:28,923
and help with the food
and all that stuff they do.
1082
01:02:29,005 --> 01:02:30,324
The Hog Farm, in a way,
1083
01:02:30,405 --> 01:02:33,078
set the vibe for all of these people.
1084
01:02:33,165 --> 01:02:39,161
So everybody kind of had the same
easygoing, non-authoritarian attitudes.
1085
01:02:40,645 --> 01:02:43,159
WAVY GRAVY: We set up a free kitchen
that we were feeding,
1086
01:02:43,245 --> 01:02:45,634
not the multitudes in any way,
1087
01:02:45,725 --> 01:02:48,717
but we were able to cover the people
that were really stuck
1088
01:02:48,805 --> 01:02:50,158
and didn't have anything.
1089
01:02:51,325 --> 01:02:54,044
LAW: I got a truck
and I went to the nearby farmers
1090
01:02:54,125 --> 01:02:56,764
and bought their entire farm.
1091
01:02:58,285 --> 01:02:59,718
I said, "Give me that row of cabbage.
1092
01:02:59,805 --> 01:03:01,875
"Give me that row of corn.
Give me that row of tomatoes."
1093
01:03:02,205 --> 01:03:04,275
JEAN NICHOLS: After Woodstock
got started
1094
01:03:04,365 --> 01:03:06,083
and we realized
how many people there were,
1095
01:03:06,165 --> 01:03:10,124
we had to go back and forth to New York
and get more food.
1096
01:03:11,325 --> 01:03:13,077
Having come totally unprepared
1097
01:03:13,165 --> 01:03:14,962
and having just turned 16,
1098
01:03:15,245 --> 01:03:18,317
I became hungry and was right there
at the free kitchen.
1099
01:03:19,165 --> 01:03:21,554
We were doing maybe 5,000 people a meal
1100
01:03:21,645 --> 01:03:24,205
with bulgur wheat, with salad,
stuff like that.
1101
01:03:24,285 --> 01:03:27,357
SIPP: If you were coming to eat,
you were also gonna help out.
1102
01:03:27,445 --> 01:03:29,436
And I loved it.
I loved being part of that group.
1103
01:03:29,525 --> 01:03:31,197
And they became my family, too.
1104
01:03:31,285 --> 01:03:34,914
The Hog Farm did set up
what we called "freak-out centers."
1105
01:03:35,485 --> 01:03:40,001
People who had taken acid
for the first time or something like that.
1106
01:03:41,085 --> 01:03:43,645
We already knew
in the Hog Farm experience that
1107
01:03:43,725 --> 01:03:45,920
you could always talk somebody down.
1108
01:03:46,205 --> 01:03:49,561
We didn't want them
giving the trippers Thorazine,
1109
01:03:50,085 --> 01:03:53,714
because if you give somebody Thorazine,
it stops their trip and knocks them out.
1110
01:03:54,285 --> 01:03:55,877
We wanted them to finish their trip.
1111
01:03:56,765 --> 01:04:00,121
SIPP: As soon as somebody was able
to be verbal again,
1112
01:04:00,205 --> 01:04:02,355
they would become the doctor
for the next person.
1113
01:04:02,445 --> 01:04:05,881
What happened in these freak-out centers,
at the free kitchen,
1114
01:04:05,965 --> 01:04:08,684
was that in the same way
the early volunteers had come
1115
01:04:08,765 --> 01:04:11,598
and just pitched in
and kind of become Hog Farmers,
1116
01:04:11,685 --> 01:04:14,358
the people who got over
their demons with LSD
1117
01:04:14,445 --> 01:04:16,117
or came to the kitchen,
1118
01:04:16,205 --> 01:04:17,843
they basically wanted to stay and help.
1119
01:04:17,925 --> 01:04:19,802
And I think that's what happened
at Woodstock
1120
01:04:20,605 --> 01:04:22,800
is that everybody
respected everybody else.
1121
01:04:23,005 --> 01:04:25,565
Once you're a Hog Farmer,
you're always a Hog Farmer.
1122
01:04:25,645 --> 01:04:29,194
Even if you were only a Hog Farmer
for a week at Woodstock,
1123
01:04:29,285 --> 01:04:30,843
you're still always a Hog Farmer.
1124
01:04:43,473 --> 01:04:45,350
HEFNER: I came out to California
1125
01:04:46,313 --> 01:04:50,192
and in '68 and '69 did a show
called Playboy After Dark.
1126
01:04:50,673 --> 01:04:53,710
It was a syndicated variety show.
1127
01:04:55,353 --> 01:04:58,425
The premise of which was that
1128
01:04:58,513 --> 01:05:01,789
instead of doing a variety show on a stage
in front of an audience,
1129
01:05:01,873 --> 01:05:03,989
it appeared to be my apartment.
1130
01:05:04,073 --> 01:05:06,382
It appeared to be a party in my apartment.
1131
01:05:07,273 --> 01:05:11,346
And we devoted one entire show
to Woodstock.
1132
01:05:11,873 --> 01:05:15,866
We got a response to the Vietnam War,
we got the civil rights movement.
1133
01:05:16,313 --> 01:05:18,588
And all of that came together
with the Summer of Love.
1134
01:05:20,833 --> 01:05:22,869
And that gave us Woodstock.
1135
01:05:22,953 --> 01:05:25,467
And Woodstock was a celebration
of all of that.
1136
01:05:25,553 --> 01:05:28,192
The flower children, the hippies
1137
01:05:29,873 --> 01:05:33,548
and, you know, the corny
1138
01:05:34,713 --> 01:05:39,912
but still very pertinent notion
of "Let's make love, not war."
1139
01:05:39,993 --> 01:05:44,191
And that, in combination with the music,
is what Woodstock was all about.
1140
01:05:45,473 --> 01:05:46,588
As you may have overheard,
1141
01:05:46,673 --> 01:05:48,903
we're going to have
a kind of a special evening tonight.
1142
01:05:48,993 --> 01:05:51,746
A lot of our people here, our guests,
are into the contemporary scene
1143
01:05:51,833 --> 01:05:53,471
and a few of them, well ahead of it.
1144
01:05:53,633 --> 01:05:54,782
But to really top the evening off,
1145
01:05:54,873 --> 01:05:57,671
we're going to have clips
from Woodstock, the film.
1146
01:05:57,753 --> 01:06:01,985
In preparation for that show,
for Playboy After Dark,
1147
01:06:02,073 --> 01:06:07,431
and knowing that we were going to be
devoting a show to Woodstock,
1148
01:06:08,673 --> 01:06:13,144
because I had not seen the movie
and I had not been at Woodstock.
1149
01:06:13,233 --> 01:06:16,748
I was going with a young lady
who was a regular on the show
1150
01:06:16,833 --> 01:06:18,346
named Barbi Benton,
1151
01:06:18,433 --> 01:06:21,345
a relationship that lasted
for about eight years.
1152
01:06:21,433 --> 01:06:25,472
And we went out to a post-midnight show
1153
01:06:27,193 --> 01:06:31,903
and saw it the night before
we did the Playboy After Dark show
1154
01:06:31,993 --> 01:06:34,632
so that I would be prepared
to do the interview.
1155
01:06:35,193 --> 01:06:36,785
(ALL APPLAUDING)
1156
01:06:41,313 --> 01:06:45,943
All right, that is one brief clip
of several we're going to show tonight
1157
01:06:46,033 --> 01:06:48,263
from what I consider to be
1158
01:06:48,353 --> 01:06:51,106
one of the really remarkable
documentaries of our time,
1159
01:06:52,033 --> 01:06:56,709
Woodstock, which is a film
by Mike Wadleigh,
1160
01:06:56,793 --> 01:06:59,068
who is here with us tonight.
1161
01:06:59,153 --> 01:07:01,144
-And I'm delighted to have you here, Mike.
-Thanks a lot.
1162
01:07:01,233 --> 01:07:04,225
And most of you have probably not
had a chance to see the film yet.
1163
01:07:04,313 --> 01:07:07,032
Barbi and I went in
and saw it a few nights ago.
1164
01:07:07,113 --> 01:07:10,708
And I want to say in front,
before we talk about the film, that...
1165
01:07:10,793 --> 01:07:12,112
I think you've all heard about Woodstock.
1166
01:07:12,193 --> 01:07:14,309
Woodstock was, as you know,
1167
01:07:14,393 --> 01:07:17,749
the most spectacular
love-and-music festival of our time.
1168
01:07:18,593 --> 01:07:21,949
And the film that Mike and his people
have managed to make from it
1169
01:07:22,833 --> 01:07:26,462
is unbelievable and, I think,
really sets a new precedent
1170
01:07:26,553 --> 01:07:28,271
for what documentary films
ought to be all about,
1171
01:07:28,353 --> 01:07:31,902
because both cinematically
and from a sound point of view,
1172
01:07:32,673 --> 01:07:34,186
it's a real experience.
1173
01:07:34,273 --> 01:07:36,184
And it must've been something else
trying to do it.
1174
01:07:36,513 --> 01:07:37,628
Well, it was, in a way,
1175
01:07:37,713 --> 01:07:40,352
but the best thing about
making films like this
1176
01:07:40,433 --> 01:07:41,786
is that you're participating.
1177
01:07:41,873 --> 01:07:46,742
I mean, it's not a sense of doing a job
or making a constructed Hollywood film,
1178
01:07:46,833 --> 01:07:50,223
where you have scripts
and makeup people and all that.
1179
01:07:50,553 --> 01:07:52,862
I mean, you just go there,
participate and do it.
1180
01:07:52,953 --> 01:07:57,981
And come away with a sense of vitality
or a sense of reality of being there.
1181
01:07:58,553 --> 01:08:02,341
And in every way, we were trying
to make an experience film,
1182
01:08:02,433 --> 01:08:03,707
the kind of substitute experience
1183
01:08:03,793 --> 01:08:05,863
for those people who were there
or who weren't there.
1184
01:08:05,953 --> 01:08:06,942
It didn't matter.
1185
01:08:07,033 --> 01:08:09,149
I don't think anybody knew
beforehand, however,
1186
01:08:09,273 --> 01:08:11,070
just how much of an experience
it was going to be.
1187
01:08:11,313 --> 01:08:14,828
The whole phenomenon
of opposition to the war
1188
01:08:14,953 --> 01:08:18,104
and a celebration of the music
and a celebration of love
1189
01:08:20,753 --> 01:08:22,266
was one of a kind.
1190
01:08:22,353 --> 01:08:24,913
I mean, there's never been anything like it
before or since.
1191
01:08:26,913 --> 01:08:31,543
And I think that it was a moment
in history that is remembered clearly,
1192
01:08:31,873 --> 01:08:35,070
not only then, but now,
or we wouldn't be talking about it.
1193
01:08:35,713 --> 01:08:38,432
HEFNER: And you, before the fact,
must've had a notion
1194
01:08:38,513 --> 01:08:41,186
it was going to be something special
or you wouldn't have been there, but...
1195
01:08:41,273 --> 01:08:45,346
Well, just like you saw in this film clip,
I think what attracted most of us there
1196
01:08:45,433 --> 01:08:48,743
was the idea of holding a rock festival
on a big farm.
1197
01:08:48,873 --> 01:08:51,785
I mean, it was like going to
your uncle's farm on a weekend, okay,
1198
01:08:51,873 --> 01:08:52,862
(ALL LAUGHING)
1199
01:08:52,953 --> 01:08:55,751
and with a big transistor radio
in the form of 36 rock groups.
1200
01:08:55,913 --> 01:08:57,869
HEFNER: The farm looked a little different
after it was all over.
1201
01:08:57,953 --> 01:09:01,946
What, it was something between
400,000 and 500,000 people
1202
01:09:02,033 --> 01:09:03,591
congregated in the area.
1203
01:09:03,713 --> 01:09:06,989
Well, they say that better than
half a million more
1204
01:09:07,073 --> 01:09:08,392
tried to make it there.
1205
01:09:08,473 --> 01:09:11,545
I understand they were
blocking the highways
1206
01:09:11,633 --> 01:09:13,464
100 and more miles away
1207
01:09:13,553 --> 01:09:15,066
to stop the people from getting there.
1208
01:09:15,153 --> 01:09:16,427
Exactly. They closed...
1209
01:09:16,513 --> 01:09:18,822
The New York State Thruway
is eight lanes wide,
1210
01:09:18,913 --> 01:09:22,189
and they closed it all off and turned them
all back in the other direction.
1211
01:09:22,753 --> 01:09:26,268
I have a strong music connection.
1212
01:09:28,353 --> 01:09:30,025
And the show itself featured
1213
01:09:30,113 --> 01:09:32,991
a combination of both jazz
and rock and roll.
1214
01:09:34,593 --> 01:09:38,632
And music was key to what
the show was all about.
1215
01:09:38,713 --> 01:09:42,023
It was a variety show that had humor
and some conversation,
1216
01:09:42,113 --> 01:09:43,387
but music was key.
1217
01:09:43,753 --> 01:09:46,426
One of the most remarkable things
about this particular event,
1218
01:09:46,513 --> 01:09:49,346
beyond its just incredible size,
1219
01:09:49,713 --> 01:09:51,510
was also the fact that
these kids got together
1220
01:09:51,593 --> 01:09:53,823
under rather incredible circumstances.
1221
01:09:53,913 --> 01:09:56,347
Because of the size of the crowd,
1222
01:09:57,153 --> 01:09:59,872
there was completely
inadequate living conditions,
1223
01:09:59,953 --> 01:10:04,947
food, sanitation,
and they also ran into bad weather.
1224
01:10:05,233 --> 01:10:06,985
No, I was glad I wasn't there,
1225
01:10:07,073 --> 01:10:11,225
(LAUGHING) but I don't think I would've
enjoyed all the mud.
1226
01:10:11,313 --> 01:10:14,623
And the actual circumstances
1227
01:10:14,713 --> 01:10:18,547
of living there for those several days
1228
01:10:20,513 --> 01:10:23,949
was pretty rough and ready,
and I'm not an outdoor guy.
1229
01:10:24,033 --> 01:10:28,982
I created the magazine and my life
as a celebration of the great indoors.
1230
01:10:29,633 --> 01:10:33,706
But I think that the message,
in terms of Woodstock,
1231
01:10:33,793 --> 01:10:35,226
was something I very much believed in.
1232
01:10:35,873 --> 01:10:39,991
And there was a very open
and permissive attitude
1233
01:10:40,073 --> 01:10:43,270
towards both drugs and sex
during the period they were staying there,
1234
01:10:43,353 --> 01:10:45,583
-and yet there was no violence.
-Right.
1235
01:10:45,673 --> 01:10:47,948
-No violence at all.
-Well... Excuse me,
1236
01:10:48,033 --> 01:10:50,752
it was like one of the guys says in the film.
1237
01:10:50,833 --> 01:10:53,825
There are a couple of adults arguing
and one of them says to the other,
1238
01:10:53,913 --> 01:10:57,223
"Now, can you imagine 50,000 adults
getting together
1239
01:10:57,313 --> 01:11:00,111
-"with beer at any place..."
-Right.
1240
01:11:00,193 --> 01:11:01,626
(ALL CHUCKLE)
1241
01:11:01,713 --> 01:11:06,582
There was a beautiful interview
with a local police officer
1242
01:11:07,393 --> 01:11:10,669
who said he thought the kids were swell
and everybody was behaving themselves
1243
01:11:10,753 --> 01:11:12,186
and having a good time.
1244
01:11:12,273 --> 01:11:14,992
And the interviewer said, "Well, isn't that
kind of a funny idea
1245
01:11:15,073 --> 01:11:16,552
"or a funny attitude for a cop?"
1246
01:11:16,873 --> 01:11:20,661
And he paused a moment, and he said,
"I'm not a cop. I'm a police chief."
1247
01:11:20,753 --> 01:11:21,947
(ALL LAUGHING)
1248
01:11:22,033 --> 01:11:24,991
That got an applause, I must say,
at the theater where I was at.
1249
01:11:25,073 --> 01:11:27,223
You know, the kind of things,
including the rain
1250
01:11:27,313 --> 01:11:31,704
and the circumstances that they faced
out there in the country,
1251
01:11:31,793 --> 01:11:33,863
not only didn't get in their way,
it seemed to add to the fun.
1252
01:11:33,953 --> 01:11:35,671
Yeah. I mean, most people...
1253
01:11:35,753 --> 01:11:38,267
This is what it means
to make this kind of a film.
1254
01:11:38,353 --> 01:11:41,231
Because most guys would've run for cover
and put their cameras away.
1255
01:11:41,313 --> 01:11:44,908
But our people got out in the mud
and, as you know, there are later shots
1256
01:11:44,993 --> 01:11:47,382
where the cameraman actually slides
with his camera,
1257
01:11:47,953 --> 01:11:49,432
point-of-view shots.
1258
01:11:49,513 --> 01:11:52,107
But that was the whole thing that I mean
about participating.
1259
01:11:52,193 --> 01:11:55,868
There wasn't a separation between
the people who were making the film
1260
01:11:55,953 --> 01:11:57,466
and the people who were
in front of the cameras.
1261
01:11:57,553 --> 01:12:00,192
I mean, it was all a rapport situation.
1262
01:12:00,273 --> 01:12:02,070
You were very good
about showing both sides,
1263
01:12:02,153 --> 01:12:04,303
but an amazing number of people
in the community,
1264
01:12:04,393 --> 01:12:07,783
the people there pitched in
when they found out
1265
01:12:07,873 --> 01:12:09,352
that kids were there
and didn't have anything to eat.
1266
01:12:09,433 --> 01:12:10,991
They pitched in
and brought food to the kids,
1267
01:12:11,073 --> 01:12:12,984
set up additional sanitation facilities.
1268
01:12:14,273 --> 01:12:17,424
The love-festival aspect of it
and the spiritual aspect of it,
1269
01:12:17,513 --> 01:12:18,741
-I think, did come across.
-WADLEIGH: And...
1270
01:12:18,833 --> 01:12:20,869
HEFNER: How much footage did you shoot?
1271
01:12:20,953 --> 01:12:23,103
We shot a quarter of a million feet,
1272
01:12:23,193 --> 01:12:24,182
(ALL GASP)
1273
01:12:24,273 --> 01:12:26,309
which is about 120 hours.
1274
01:12:26,393 --> 01:12:30,272
And then the film is three hours long,
but with all the multiple images added up,
1275
01:12:30,353 --> 01:12:31,866
it's really eight hours long.
1276
01:12:31,953 --> 01:12:33,784
So, we used a lot of footage.
1277
01:12:34,913 --> 01:12:37,746
Well, the one thing
that I alluded to at the beginning
1278
01:12:37,833 --> 01:12:40,347
that I wanna really say again
is that I think that this,
1279
01:12:40,433 --> 01:12:42,742
not only is the most
remarkable documentary
1280
01:12:42,833 --> 01:12:44,266
done on this particular subject
1281
01:12:45,233 --> 01:12:49,670
that I have ever seen,
but I think it also sets a new precedent
1282
01:12:49,753 --> 01:12:53,302
in terms of what one can expect
in the way of documentaries in the future
1283
01:12:53,393 --> 01:12:55,827
in terms of excellence of photography
and sound.
1284
01:12:56,313 --> 01:12:58,747
-Thank you.
-This is the first time that we've had
1285
01:12:59,233 --> 01:13:03,749
a chance to meet, and I want to thank you
for coming this evening
1286
01:13:03,833 --> 01:13:06,666
and for bringing this film and allowing us
to show it on the air.
1287
01:13:07,393 --> 01:13:08,667
Because I think that
the kids enjoyed it here
1288
01:13:08,753 --> 01:13:10,823
and the folks at home enjoyed it.
1289
01:13:10,913 --> 01:13:16,351
And I want to personally recommend
to everyone, young and old,
1290
01:13:16,473 --> 01:13:19,510
this film which I think is one of the most
important motion pictures
1291
01:13:19,593 --> 01:13:21,151
you're going to see in quite a while.
1292
01:13:21,233 --> 01:13:25,624
One of the things that is most fortunate
1293
01:13:25,793 --> 01:13:32,187
is that that film exists
that captured the real sense
1294
01:13:32,273 --> 01:13:35,470
of that remarkable weekend.
1295
01:13:36,993 --> 01:13:40,542
And it's a phenomenal documentary.
1296
01:14:01,436 --> 01:14:05,065
I think the two seminal events from 1969
1297
01:14:05,156 --> 01:14:08,193
were the moon landing and Woodstock,
one could say.
1298
01:14:08,436 --> 01:14:11,906
And they were both
such romantic, improbable,
1299
01:14:12,036 --> 01:14:14,630
glorious, innocent events in some sense.
1300
01:14:14,716 --> 01:14:16,115
We were in Bethel.
1301
01:14:16,676 --> 01:14:21,545
By that point,
we took over a small motel for a while.
1302
01:14:21,636 --> 01:14:24,833
I got us a television
so we could watch the moon landing.
1303
01:14:25,436 --> 01:14:27,267
WADLEIGH: I certainly remember
where I was.
1304
01:14:27,356 --> 01:14:30,314
I was making a mountain-climbing film
at the time, way out in the mountains,
1305
01:14:30,396 --> 01:14:31,465
and I came out of the mountains
1306
01:14:31,556 --> 01:14:34,514
just in time to see
the guys landing on the moon.
1307
01:14:34,596 --> 01:14:38,509
And we were in a bar
in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
1308
01:14:38,596 --> 01:14:41,633
And, God! We'd go out
and look up at the real moon
1309
01:14:41,716 --> 01:14:44,389
and look at the TV and think,
"Oh, my God!
1310
01:14:44,476 --> 01:14:46,148
"Isn't this just remarkable?"
1311
01:14:47,396 --> 01:14:49,671
NEIL ARMSTRONG ON RADIO:
That's one small step for man,
1312
01:14:52,316 --> 01:14:54,989
one giant leap for mankind.
1313
01:14:56,436 --> 01:14:58,313
BUZZ ALDRIN ON RADIO:
That looks beautiful from here, Neil.
1314
01:14:58,396 --> 01:15:02,435
STALLINGS: Being this group
of conspiracy-theory,
1315
01:15:02,516 --> 01:15:06,065
counterculture,
nothing-is-what-you-see people,
1316
01:15:06,636 --> 01:15:08,388
no one believed it was happening.
1317
01:15:08,476 --> 01:15:12,185
And I had gotten them the television
to watch a thing that
1318
01:15:12,276 --> 01:15:14,506
they felt was being done in a sound studio.
1319
01:15:14,756 --> 01:15:16,474
But that was kind of wonderful, too.
1320
01:15:16,676 --> 01:15:18,268
WADLEIGH:
And then just a little while later,
1321
01:15:18,356 --> 01:15:20,870
there I was,
standing on the stage at Woodstock.
1322
01:15:20,956 --> 01:15:24,835
And I remember when each day
the New York Times banner came in,
1323
01:15:24,916 --> 01:15:26,144
and we got the biggest...
1324
01:15:26,236 --> 01:15:29,990
We got as much width
as the moon landing got, right.
1325
01:15:30,076 --> 01:15:33,068
And of course, it's a famous story
that the New York Times
1326
01:15:33,156 --> 01:15:36,626
carefully analyzes whether
you're worth the whole width or not.
1327
01:15:36,716 --> 01:15:39,992
Well, we got the whole width.
1328
01:15:40,076 --> 01:15:42,306
And I just remember,
1329
01:15:42,516 --> 01:15:45,155
for me, standing there looking
at the moon and so on
1330
01:15:45,236 --> 01:15:47,830
and standing there looking
at all those people
1331
01:15:47,916 --> 01:15:50,146
and those incredible musicians.
1332
01:15:50,236 --> 01:15:54,195
And isn't it interesting that, equally,
we have not had another Woodstock
1333
01:15:54,316 --> 01:15:56,147
and we have not had
another moon landing.
1334
01:15:56,236 --> 01:15:59,990
And maybe, again, the economics of it all
and the dream
1335
01:16:00,076 --> 01:16:04,786
and the idealism and so on
that drove both events, I would say,
1336
01:16:06,316 --> 01:16:09,672
maybe now with money
being so much tighter
1337
01:16:09,756 --> 01:16:13,590
and with calculation
being so much tighter,
1338
01:16:13,676 --> 01:16:18,704
it's harder to launch those kind of
idealistic endeavors.
1339
01:16:18,796 --> 01:16:20,070
But, boy, were they great.
1340
01:16:35,233 --> 01:16:36,951
The Woodstock Festival was
going to take place
1341
01:16:37,033 --> 01:16:39,831
in Woodstock, New York,
till they were kicked out.
1342
01:16:39,993 --> 01:16:42,951
Well, there wasn't an original location
until down the road.
1343
01:16:43,033 --> 01:16:44,182
I mean, we were looking for quite a while.
1344
01:16:44,273 --> 01:16:45,308
BELL: They had been moving around.
1345
01:16:45,393 --> 01:16:46,428
I mean, these festival guys,
1346
01:16:46,513 --> 01:16:49,710
you know, had had three prior locations
1347
01:16:49,793 --> 01:16:53,183
announced on the radio,
starting in March of 1969.
1348
01:16:53,313 --> 01:16:57,465
We finally settled on Wallkill
at the end of March,
1349
01:16:59,113 --> 01:17:00,671
out of desperation, really.
1350
01:17:00,753 --> 01:17:02,584
And it was a site that I always hated.
1351
01:17:02,673 --> 01:17:06,427
It had the virtue of being there
and being available, so we went for it.
1352
01:17:06,513 --> 01:17:07,912
We lost Wallkill.
1353
01:17:07,993 --> 01:17:09,267
It was kind of miraculous
the way that happened.
1354
01:17:09,353 --> 01:17:14,905
We lost Wallkill on the 14th or the 15th
when the town council decided
1355
01:17:14,993 --> 01:17:17,791
that they were not going
to approve our permit,
1356
01:17:17,873 --> 01:17:19,909
the permit they invented for this event.
1357
01:17:19,993 --> 01:17:24,748
And I found a better one on the 16th,
a day later.
1358
01:17:24,833 --> 01:17:29,623
Well, we wound up there because
somebody named Elliot Tiber called me
1359
01:17:29,713 --> 01:17:32,830
and said, "I have a site and a permit,
and we want you."
1360
01:17:33,153 --> 01:17:36,190
Met Elliot at the El Monaco Motel
1361
01:17:37,033 --> 01:17:40,025
right in the middle of the town
of White Lake.
1362
01:17:40,233 --> 01:17:44,988
And Elliot led us down to a field
behind the motel
1363
01:17:45,073 --> 01:17:50,193
that he and his parents operated,
which from the rim looked beautiful.
1364
01:17:50,273 --> 01:17:54,824
As we walked down into it,
it began to get squishy,
1365
01:17:54,913 --> 01:17:57,632
(CHUCKLING) and then it got squishier,
1366
01:17:57,713 --> 01:18:00,671
and then we wound up in mud
to our knees.
1367
01:18:00,753 --> 01:18:04,143
And Elliot had bugged out,
Elliot had simply disappeared.
1368
01:18:04,313 --> 01:18:05,905
And that was the end of that site.
1369
01:18:06,073 --> 01:18:09,622
MEL LAWRENCE: I received a call
through Elliot Tiber,
1370
01:18:09,713 --> 01:18:13,911
who said that there was this man, a fixer,
1371
01:18:14,273 --> 01:18:15,706
someone who's a go-between,
1372
01:18:15,793 --> 01:18:19,388
who puts this guy together with this guy
and they make a deal.
1373
01:18:19,473 --> 01:18:21,589
And he knew a man who had a farm.
1374
01:18:22,033 --> 01:18:24,991
We got in this big Buick and we went
driving through the countryside.
1375
01:18:25,153 --> 01:18:29,943
Michael and I drove up and we got there
and we met Max.
1376
01:18:30,073 --> 01:18:34,828
And we drove out in two cars,
the fixer and Max in one car,
1377
01:18:34,913 --> 01:18:37,063
Michael and I in the other,
1378
01:18:37,153 --> 01:18:41,192
and he took us to this enormous field,
very flat but very big.
1379
01:18:41,313 --> 01:18:43,543
And there it is.
1380
01:18:43,833 --> 01:18:47,223
And, like, I looked at Michael and I said,
"Boy, you know, it's big,
1381
01:18:47,313 --> 01:18:49,383
"but this would make a parking lot.
1382
01:18:49,473 --> 01:18:52,192
"We need some elevation,
we need something,
1383
01:18:52,273 --> 01:18:54,503
"because people have got to see
the stage."
1384
01:18:54,593 --> 01:19:00,225
And we said, "Do you have anything
that has some roll to it, some contour?"
1385
01:19:00,313 --> 01:19:04,545
"I have a field, alfalfa."
1386
01:19:04,633 --> 01:19:07,067
And we go out and look at it.
1387
01:19:07,153 --> 01:19:11,908
So we drove out,
and it was raining, drizzling,
1388
01:19:11,993 --> 01:19:15,542
and there was a mist everywhere,
1389
01:19:15,633 --> 01:19:19,706
and we were on the top of what is now
this famous amphitheater, you know.
1390
01:19:19,793 --> 01:19:23,024
And the mist started to rise,
and there was the lake,
1391
01:19:23,113 --> 01:19:26,264
and here was this perfect amphitheater.
1392
01:19:26,353 --> 01:19:29,823
LANG: There it was. We stopped the car.
You know, "This is it."
1393
01:19:29,913 --> 01:19:32,507
Sort of we were
congratulating each other,
1394
01:19:32,593 --> 01:19:34,982
and then Michael took Max to the side
1395
01:19:35,073 --> 01:19:39,032
and very quickly they made a deal.
1396
01:19:39,513 --> 01:19:41,105
And he'd heard what happened to us
in Wallkill
1397
01:19:41,193 --> 01:19:43,229
and thought that we were railroaded.
1398
01:19:43,313 --> 01:19:46,385
And so he was politically, if you will,
on our side.
1399
01:19:47,753 --> 01:19:50,472
...and felt that we had been
treated unfairly,
1400
01:19:50,553 --> 01:19:53,863
that a special case was being made,
1401
01:19:53,993 --> 01:19:57,906
and that he was gonna stand up
for what was right.
1402
01:19:58,233 --> 01:20:01,862
Max and I went off into the field,
1403
01:20:01,953 --> 01:20:04,023
and I said, you know, "This is it.
1404
01:20:04,113 --> 01:20:08,470
"We really want your field.
This is where we need to be."
1405
01:20:08,553 --> 01:20:10,305
And we made a deal,
right there on the field.
1406
01:20:10,393 --> 01:20:16,343
GOLDSTEIN: Max was a Yankee
in the very best meaning of the words
1407
01:20:16,433 --> 01:20:19,584
and a true believer in the American dream.
1408
01:20:20,313 --> 01:20:22,952
I'm a farmer. I don't know...
1409
01:20:23,033 --> 01:20:24,751
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
1410
01:20:27,433 --> 01:20:32,587
I don't know how to speak to 20 people
at one time, let alone a crowd like this,
1411
01:20:35,153 --> 01:20:39,192
but I think you people
have proven something to the world.
1412
01:20:39,793 --> 01:20:43,547
Not only to the town of Bethel
or Sullivan County or New York State,
1413
01:20:43,633 --> 01:20:45,863
you've proven something to the world.
1414
01:20:45,953 --> 01:20:49,423
The important thing
that you've proven to the world
1415
01:20:49,513 --> 01:20:51,663
is that a half a million kids,
1416
01:20:51,753 --> 01:20:55,382
and I call you kids because I have children
that are older than you are,
1417
01:20:55,473 --> 01:20:58,749
a half a million young people
can get together
1418
01:20:58,833 --> 01:21:04,032
and have three days of fun and music,
and have nothing but fun and music,
1419
01:21:04,113 --> 01:21:06,024
and God bless you for it!
1420
01:21:09,713 --> 01:21:10,862
LANG: Max was an amazing guy.
1421
01:21:10,953 --> 01:21:15,708
Max was, you know, one of those
sort of real American
1422
01:21:18,793 --> 01:21:20,670
wholegrain kinds of guys,
1423
01:21:21,513 --> 01:21:25,506
very straight, very honest,
very conservative in a lot of ways,
1424
01:21:26,833 --> 01:21:28,824
but a real man of his word
1425
01:21:30,073 --> 01:21:35,705
and someone who thought
that people had the right to do
1426
01:21:35,793 --> 01:21:36,782
whatever they wanted to do
1427
01:21:36,873 --> 01:21:40,149
as long as it was not adversely affecting
the people around them.
1428
01:21:55,429 --> 01:21:58,785
I think that turning point was when,
by Wednesday, I think,
1429
01:21:58,869 --> 01:22:01,906
we had 40,000 or 50,000 kids
sitting in the field.
1430
01:22:01,989 --> 01:22:05,584
So, we'd sold 120,000 tickets in advance,
1431
01:22:05,669 --> 01:22:07,819
and if that's any indication
of what's coming,
1432
01:22:07,909 --> 01:22:11,265
we knew we were well over
the 200,000 we'd planned on.
1433
01:22:11,349 --> 01:22:13,101
I think the turning point, actually,
1434
01:22:13,189 --> 01:22:16,943
for the whole thing was
when it got near to the festival,
1435
01:22:17,029 --> 01:22:20,305
and people then started to break down
the fences that they'd put up,
1436
01:22:20,389 --> 01:22:22,539
and they had to declare it a free festival.
1437
01:22:22,629 --> 01:22:24,859
MONCK ON PA:
It's a free concert from now on.
1438
01:22:24,949 --> 01:22:26,860
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
1439
01:22:28,949 --> 01:22:32,783
CHURCHILL: I think the first time I realized
something was going on was,
1440
01:22:32,869 --> 01:22:34,985
you could only get in by helicopter.
1441
01:22:35,069 --> 01:22:38,061
And I suddenly thought, "What's this?"
And then you flew over the audience.
1442
01:22:38,149 --> 01:22:39,582
It was just amazing to see.
1443
01:22:39,669 --> 01:22:42,820
Up until that point, it was
just another gig, another festival.
1444
01:22:42,909 --> 01:22:45,503
Around this period,
there were a lot of festivals going on,
1445
01:22:45,589 --> 01:22:49,264
and all the groups were traveling
to these festivals, you know,
1446
01:22:49,349 --> 01:22:51,909
and you'd see everybody
at all the festivals.
1447
01:22:51,989 --> 01:22:55,106
It was like a bunch of gypsies
going around at the time, so,
1448
01:22:55,189 --> 01:22:56,668
actually, when Woodstock happened,
1449
01:22:56,749 --> 01:22:58,979
it was another festival that was going on.
1450
01:22:59,069 --> 01:23:00,627
Nobody knew that it would be
1451
01:23:00,709 --> 01:23:03,507
the size or the volume of people
that it was.
1452
01:23:03,589 --> 01:23:04,658
They were all on pot.
1453
01:23:04,749 --> 01:23:06,501
-INTERVIEWER: Well, whatever it is...
-It never should have happened.
1454
01:23:06,589 --> 01:23:09,183
If pot makes them happy and no trouble,
maybe we ought to put
1455
01:23:09,269 --> 01:23:10,463
-all the adults on pot.
-How about the morals?
1456
01:23:10,549 --> 01:23:13,063
You want a 15-year-old girl
sleeping in the field in a tent?
1457
01:23:13,149 --> 01:23:15,185
What are you, out of your mind?
It never should have happened.
1458
01:23:15,269 --> 01:23:18,545
Do you feel bad about the kids
who were killed in Vietnam?
1459
01:23:18,629 --> 01:23:20,426
-This has nothing to do with Vietnam.
-That's the same thing.
1460
01:23:20,509 --> 01:23:22,227
Nothing at all to do with it.
There's no comparison.
1461
01:23:22,309 --> 01:23:25,858
I thought that this was going to
sum up the generation,
1462
01:23:26,509 --> 01:23:28,625
that it had an opportunity to do that.
1463
01:23:28,709 --> 01:23:31,985
Even when it was only gonna be 50,000
or 100,000 people that came there,
1464
01:23:32,069 --> 01:23:33,422
I still thought, "Wow!
1465
01:23:33,509 --> 01:23:35,739
"Being on a farm, going back to land,
1466
01:23:35,829 --> 01:23:38,502
"Woodstock, you know, all this mix
1467
01:23:38,589 --> 01:23:42,787
"and these great musicians who were
singing political songs, you know. "
1468
01:23:42,869 --> 01:23:45,429
Anyway, this is an organizing song,
1469
01:23:45,509 --> 01:23:46,942
and I was happy to find out
1470
01:23:47,029 --> 01:23:49,827
that after David had been in jail
for two and a half weeks,
1471
01:23:49,909 --> 01:23:52,981
he already had a very,
very good hunger strike going
1472
01:23:53,069 --> 01:23:56,948
with 42 federal prisoners,
none of whom were draft people, so...
1473
01:23:57,029 --> 01:23:58,906
WADLEIGH: These were not
just pop groups.
1474
01:23:58,989 --> 01:24:00,627
I'm very happy to say
1475
01:24:00,709 --> 01:24:03,542
we think the people of this country
should be proud of these kids.
1476
01:24:03,629 --> 01:24:06,507
Notwithstanding the way they dress
or the way they wear their hair,
1477
01:24:06,589 --> 01:24:08,261
that's their own personal business.
1478
01:24:08,349 --> 01:24:12,137
But their inner workings,
their inner selves,
1479
01:24:12,229 --> 01:24:15,380
their self-demeanor cannot be questioned.
1480
01:24:15,469 --> 01:24:18,063
They can't be questioned
as good American citizens.
1481
01:24:18,149 --> 01:24:20,868
That's kind of surprising
coming from a cop.
1482
01:24:20,949 --> 01:24:23,144
I'm not a cop. I'm a Chief of Police.
1483
01:24:23,389 --> 01:24:25,949
Festivals happened
and big shows happened
1484
01:24:27,029 --> 01:24:30,704
and corporate rock happened,
but that was a special time.
1485
01:24:30,789 --> 01:24:34,065
Nobody got rich at Woodstock. Nobody.
That's cool.
1486
01:24:46,208 --> 01:24:48,199
We had all agreed
1487
01:24:48,288 --> 01:24:52,247
that bringing over this new KEM,
the KEM editing machine
1488
01:24:52,608 --> 01:24:54,564
from Frankfurt, Germany,
1489
01:24:54,648 --> 01:24:58,118
was an absolutely essential ingredient
to the whole thing.
1490
01:24:58,208 --> 01:25:01,564
Yeah, that enabled the multiple images
to be cut effectively
1491
01:25:01,648 --> 01:25:05,243
so you could preview them
without going to an optical stage,
1492
01:25:05,328 --> 01:25:07,125
which none of us could afford to do.
1493
01:25:07,208 --> 01:25:09,039
At the time,
we didn't have that much money,
1494
01:25:09,128 --> 01:25:12,245
and it was a lot of money
for me to lay out.
1495
01:25:12,328 --> 01:25:13,602
I think it was 15 grand
1496
01:25:13,688 --> 01:25:14,803
-or something like that.
-Yeah, 15 grand.
1497
01:25:14,888 --> 01:25:18,085
In those days,
$15,000 was a great deal of money.
1498
01:25:18,168 --> 01:25:22,286
And I was really interested,
intellectually, in multiple image work,
1499
01:25:22,368 --> 01:25:25,326
and also trying to figure out
how to beat the bank,
1500
01:25:25,408 --> 01:25:30,277
how to do it simply and effectively
and economically.
1501
01:25:30,368 --> 01:25:34,441
So I'd read about this company
that had designed
1502
01:25:34,528 --> 01:25:36,484
this three-headed monster.
1503
01:25:36,568 --> 01:25:37,921
Three, I mean, you could put up
1504
01:25:38,008 --> 01:25:42,399
three images and one soundtrack,
or two soundtracks and two images.
1505
01:25:42,488 --> 01:25:46,003
It was just a breakthrough for us,
particularly for me
1506
01:25:46,088 --> 01:25:47,441
in the documentary footage,
1507
01:25:47,528 --> 01:25:50,486
it meant I could buzz through
large quantities of footage.
1508
01:25:50,568 --> 01:25:53,765
I could have three images up all the time
1509
01:25:53,848 --> 01:25:57,318
and be looking for ways
to intercut things.
1510
01:25:57,768 --> 01:26:00,043
It struck me
as just a magnificent machine,
1511
01:26:00,128 --> 01:26:02,278
so we particularly went to the factory,
1512
01:26:02,368 --> 01:26:05,599
and we got the very first one
that came to America.
1513
01:26:05,688 --> 01:26:08,202
-And...
-I'm gonna tell that little story,
1514
01:26:08,288 --> 01:26:10,165
because it's really hilarious.
1515
01:26:10,248 --> 01:26:15,527
Francis was building, in San Francisco,
American Zoetrope.
1516
01:26:15,608 --> 01:26:19,396
He had all of his dubbing machines
in San Francisco at Zoetrope,
1517
01:26:19,488 --> 01:26:22,366
but he did not have
any of the editing machines.
1518
01:26:22,448 --> 01:26:25,724
Peter Wolfert, at KEM in Frankfurt,
1519
01:26:25,808 --> 01:26:30,563
had said that one of his machines was
going to land at JFK
1520
01:26:30,648 --> 01:26:33,685
on a pallet, you know,
like tomorrow morning.
1521
01:26:33,768 --> 01:26:36,407
And I got on the phone with Francis
1522
01:26:36,488 --> 01:26:41,357
and said, "We would like to rent
your KEM machine,
1523
01:26:41,448 --> 01:26:42,642
"because we understand it's in New York,
1524
01:26:42,728 --> 01:26:45,162
"and we're doing this film
called Woodstock, and blah, blah, blah."
1525
01:26:45,248 --> 01:26:46,727
And he said, "No, you can't possibly."
1526
01:26:46,808 --> 01:26:49,163
I said, "Francis, Francis! "
And I begged, begged.
1527
01:26:49,248 --> 01:26:52,763
We all begged Francis
to let us have this one.
1528
01:26:52,848 --> 01:26:55,043
And we worked out a rental agreement,
1529
01:26:55,128 --> 01:26:58,643
and we got Peter Wolfert to send Francis
a second one
1530
01:26:58,728 --> 01:27:00,400
almost immediately thereafter.
1531
01:27:00,488 --> 01:27:04,606
But the very first one that Francis wanted
and was expecting
1532
01:27:04,688 --> 01:27:07,805
landed in our editing place.
1533
01:27:07,888 --> 01:27:10,243
WADLEIGH: But that machine was
an absolute godsend.
1534
01:27:10,328 --> 01:27:12,364
They were everything
we thought they were.
1535
01:27:12,448 --> 01:27:14,837
It was super German engineering.
1536
01:27:14,928 --> 01:27:15,917
They really worked,
1537
01:27:16,008 --> 01:27:19,045
they were wonderfully,
wonderfully thought out.
1538
01:27:19,128 --> 01:27:23,599
It was a wonderful machine, quiet,
beautifully designed,
1539
01:27:23,688 --> 01:27:25,280
and that's what I was working on,
1540
01:27:25,368 --> 01:27:27,723
originally, when we were cutting
the Aretha Franklin footage
1541
01:27:27,808 --> 01:27:30,083
that inspired the idea of multiple images.
1542
01:27:30,168 --> 01:27:35,037
Then I aggressively went after
multiple image ideas in film
1543
01:27:35,128 --> 01:27:38,643
to increase this kind of
point of view potential.
1544
01:27:38,728 --> 01:27:41,037
Michael was showing me things
as we went along.
1545
01:27:42,848 --> 01:27:46,158
One day, he said to me,
"Fred, I'd like to do split-screen."
1546
01:27:46,248 --> 01:27:48,159
And I said, "Mike, I hate split-screen.
1547
01:27:48,248 --> 01:27:50,318
"If there's anything I hate,
it's split-screen."
1548
01:27:50,408 --> 01:27:53,480
I said it usually never works.
1549
01:27:53,568 --> 01:27:55,559
He said,
"Well, let me show you this, okay?"
1550
01:27:55,648 --> 01:28:00,278
And he showed me two 16mm cameras
together, right,
1551
01:28:00,368 --> 01:28:04,646
and he showed me the section
that he'd edited with them.
1552
01:28:05,128 --> 01:28:08,803
And it blew me away.
It really got me so excited.
1553
01:28:09,288 --> 01:28:12,439
We were approached
at the end of July of 1969
1554
01:28:12,528 --> 01:28:17,648
by David and Al Maysles
and Porter Bibb, their producer,
1555
01:28:17,728 --> 01:28:21,607
who had heard that we had this technique,
1556
01:28:21,688 --> 01:28:25,158
and we brought them
into a screening room,
1557
01:28:25,248 --> 01:28:29,844
and in the screening room,
which was, maybe, 20 feet by 20 feet,
1558
01:28:29,928 --> 01:28:33,079
there were three projectors,
Graflex projectors,
1559
01:28:33,168 --> 01:28:35,887
on three projector stands,
1560
01:28:35,968 --> 01:28:41,361
a three-image, two-track film
1561
01:28:41,448 --> 01:28:43,518
that was about 15 minutes in length.
1562
01:28:43,728 --> 01:28:46,003
Certainly, some of that footage
proved to us
1563
01:28:46,088 --> 01:28:50,718
that if you had a great performer,
and a great set of circumstances,
1564
01:28:50,808 --> 01:28:52,764
that this would add not just a gimmick,
1565
01:28:52,848 --> 01:28:56,158
but a real, new kind of way
of perceiving events
1566
01:28:56,248 --> 01:28:59,365
and performances that enhanced it.
1567
01:28:59,448 --> 01:29:04,442
And this occurred, like,
every time that we invited new people in.
1568
01:29:04,528 --> 01:29:08,726
We had so revolutionized Hollywood
by importing
1569
01:29:08,808 --> 01:29:11,606
the first flatbed editing tables
that they had ever seen.
1570
01:29:23,572 --> 01:29:27,770
The '60s generation is often called
the Woodstock generation.
1571
01:29:27,852 --> 01:29:30,969
I don't think the decade had a name
1572
01:29:31,292 --> 01:29:33,169
before Woodstock happened,
1573
01:29:33,332 --> 01:29:38,725
but it enabled our media-driven society
1574
01:29:38,812 --> 01:29:43,328
to be able to put a symbol
next to a feeling.
1575
01:29:43,412 --> 01:29:46,802
The '60s was a feeling among people.
1576
01:29:46,892 --> 01:29:50,328
At the time it felt like something
that was just very important.
1577
01:29:50,412 --> 01:29:52,448
They were the first generation
that really believed
1578
01:29:52,532 --> 01:29:55,251
that they could actually make
a monumental difference.
1579
01:29:55,332 --> 01:29:58,608
And they were getting conflicting
messages from the establishment.
1580
01:29:58,692 --> 01:30:00,489
"You gotta be this way.
You've gotta do things."
1581
01:30:00,572 --> 01:30:03,564
And the establishment
wasn't being this way
1582
01:30:03,652 --> 01:30:04,641
and wasn't doing these things.
1583
01:30:04,732 --> 01:30:07,485
My group wasn't buying that.
1584
01:30:07,572 --> 01:30:10,644
They weren't buying into
the American dream,
1585
01:30:10,732 --> 01:30:12,370
as it had been presented.
1586
01:30:12,452 --> 01:30:13,726
We were more into changing things.
1587
01:30:13,812 --> 01:30:15,530
We were more into
the revolution of changing.
1588
01:30:15,612 --> 01:30:17,807
We're not gonna do this,
we're not gonna have jobs,
1589
01:30:17,892 --> 01:30:19,962
we don't wanna go to school,
we don't wanna do any of those things.
1590
01:30:20,052 --> 01:30:24,967
I think we all meant to change it
very, very, in a very peaceful way.
1591
01:30:29,252 --> 01:30:31,766
WADLEIGH: Well, of course, the ecology
movement got started then.
1592
01:30:31,852 --> 01:30:34,241
The consciousness
for what's happening to the planet
1593
01:30:34,332 --> 01:30:35,811
began during that era.
1594
01:30:35,892 --> 01:30:37,962
Anti-war, you know, here we are to Iraq,
1595
01:30:38,052 --> 01:30:39,610
well, it was Vietnam then.
1596
01:30:39,692 --> 01:30:42,684
This horrible war going on
that nobody wanted any part of.
1597
01:30:42,772 --> 01:30:44,569
It was unpopular, but it was going on,
1598
01:30:44,652 --> 01:30:48,201
and everybody knew it was pretty much
the wrong thing to be doing.
1599
01:30:48,612 --> 01:30:51,172
MONCK ON PA: The United States Army
has lent us some medical teams
1600
01:30:53,732 --> 01:30:55,324
and giving us a hand.
1601
01:30:55,412 --> 01:30:56,606
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
1602
01:30:56,692 --> 01:30:58,603
They're with us, man.
They are not against us.
1603
01:30:58,692 --> 01:31:01,570
They are with us. They're here
to give us all a hand and help us.
1604
01:31:01,652 --> 01:31:04,086
We, the youth of the time,
1605
01:31:04,932 --> 01:31:06,843
felt like we were sort of
backed into a corner,
1606
01:31:06,932 --> 01:31:08,729
and at the same time, we were huge.
1607
01:31:10,212 --> 01:31:11,725
Woodstock showed to the world
1608
01:31:12,332 --> 01:31:15,005
all these people
who had been against Vietnam,
1609
01:31:15,092 --> 01:31:17,447
against the new sexual mores,
1610
01:31:17,532 --> 01:31:19,887
all the things that were happening
in the '60s
1611
01:31:19,972 --> 01:31:21,849
all came together at Woodstock.
1612
01:31:22,052 --> 01:31:25,169
It was not only anti-war,
it was love in the broader sense.
1613
01:31:25,252 --> 01:31:30,690
It was a breakdown of racial boundaries,
something that I very strongly feel.
1614
01:31:31,092 --> 01:31:32,605
I felt then, feel today.
1615
01:31:32,692 --> 01:31:38,608
Until 1965, you could go
to a soda fountain in South Carolina
1616
01:31:38,692 --> 01:31:41,286
and not be allowed to sit next to someone
who wasn't your color.
1617
01:31:41,492 --> 01:31:43,528
Also human rights, you know, gay rights,
1618
01:31:43,612 --> 01:31:46,172
women's rights, black rights, and so on,
1619
01:31:46,252 --> 01:31:48,766
that took off during that time.
1620
01:31:48,852 --> 01:31:51,889
It was a breaking down of
of all the various boundaries
1621
01:31:51,972 --> 01:31:54,850
that separate men and nations.
1622
01:31:54,932 --> 01:31:59,926
That was a very rapid change,
that had really affected everything
1623
01:32:00,012 --> 01:32:02,606
that was what we call
the Woodstock generation.
1624
01:32:02,692 --> 01:32:07,322
All of those sort of things had
a sort of mini-revolution.
1625
01:32:07,412 --> 01:32:09,289
And there it was for people to see,
1626
01:32:09,412 --> 01:32:11,721
and they could see
these wonderful people,
1627
01:32:11,812 --> 01:32:14,565
and, you know, you'd been hearing
about hippies and all the terrible...
1628
01:32:14,652 --> 01:32:18,440
And here they are,
these wonderful, joyous people
1629
01:32:18,532 --> 01:32:20,170
having the greatest time of their life.
1630
01:32:20,252 --> 01:32:23,608
This was, you know, a show of force,
1631
01:32:25,772 --> 01:32:27,728
for everybody to say, "Okay,
1632
01:32:27,812 --> 01:32:31,043
"things are changing,
and we're gonna change the world."
1633
01:32:31,132 --> 01:32:33,805
And you really felt at that time
1634
01:32:34,612 --> 01:32:36,284
that there was a difference
being made here
1635
01:32:36,372 --> 01:32:38,647
just by the show of people.
1636
01:32:38,732 --> 01:32:43,010
I think that this event culminated
that decade
1637
01:32:43,092 --> 01:32:45,526
and somewhat culminated that feeling.
1638
01:32:45,612 --> 01:32:48,649
Somebody was saying this was
the second largest city in New York.
1639
01:32:48,732 --> 01:32:52,520
There's been no police.
There's been no trouble.
1640
01:32:52,772 --> 01:32:56,003
INTERVIEWER: You said a moment ago
that this wasn't the end of this festival,
1641
01:32:56,092 --> 01:32:58,606
that this was a beginning.
What do you mean, a beginning?
1642
01:32:58,692 --> 01:33:01,047
ARTIE: (LAUGHS) Well, look at it.
1643
01:33:01,812 --> 01:33:03,165
MICHAEL: This is the beginning
of this kind of thing.
1644
01:33:03,252 --> 01:33:04,605
ARTIE: Of this kind of thing?
1645
01:33:04,692 --> 01:33:08,287
Worldwide, I don't feel that
anyone thinks that another generation,
1646
01:33:08,372 --> 01:33:09,885
even right up to now,
1647
01:33:09,972 --> 01:33:12,440
has even come close
to starting a revolution
1648
01:33:12,532 --> 01:33:14,523
like the Woodstock generation did.
1649
01:33:14,612 --> 01:33:18,810
So, I'm sort of proud and excited
to be part of it.
1650
01:33:19,612 --> 01:33:21,284
I'm very proud to be of that generation,
1651
01:33:21,372 --> 01:33:25,126
and I think we stopped the planet
for a year or so.
1652
01:33:25,732 --> 01:33:28,644
Woodstock was like the...
It was the wraparound that said,
1653
01:33:28,732 --> 01:33:31,371
"This is the Woodstock nation."
1654
01:33:31,932 --> 01:33:33,843
And because that weekend
we could all cooperate,
1655
01:33:33,932 --> 01:33:37,322
there was a birth, a death,
there was a cosmos there.
1656
01:33:37,412 --> 01:33:40,609
And we did, we all cooperated.
I stayed out there for three nights.
1657
01:33:40,692 --> 01:33:44,446
Can't remember it all,
but we were very much a part of it,
1658
01:33:45,092 --> 01:33:49,131
so it was an important cultural landmark.
1659
01:34:04,792 --> 01:34:06,589
MONCK: There were
technical issues continuously.
1660
01:34:06,672 --> 01:34:09,232
The ineffective cabling on headsets
1661
01:34:09,312 --> 01:34:12,145
and trying to keep in touch with the crew,
with the operators.
1662
01:34:12,232 --> 01:34:13,551
The roads got overcrowded
1663
01:34:13,632 --> 01:34:16,100
and the mechanical systems
couldn't possibly work.
1664
01:34:16,192 --> 01:34:18,990
LANG: Constantly getting bands ready
to get on stage, getting equipment,
1665
01:34:19,072 --> 01:34:21,540
getting everybody in one place
at the right time
1666
01:34:21,632 --> 01:34:23,987
to be able to go on with the show
was another...
1667
01:34:24,072 --> 01:34:27,303
GOLDSTEIN: The pump trucks
for sanitation couldn't get out
1668
01:34:27,392 --> 01:34:28,871
and couldn't haul things away.
1669
01:34:29,232 --> 01:34:31,302
There were always these little things
that kept coming up.
1670
01:34:31,392 --> 01:34:33,428
Things, which days before the show,
1671
01:34:33,512 --> 01:34:37,471
we were told we couldn't possibly do,
was utterly illegal.
1672
01:34:37,552 --> 01:34:40,908
Mike, what's the worst part
of running one of these things?
1673
01:34:40,992 --> 01:34:42,869
I don't know. I don't know.
1674
01:34:43,192 --> 01:34:44,261
It was continuous. It was...
1675
01:34:44,352 --> 01:34:48,106
As I said, there's no single incident
that stands out that way.
1676
01:34:48,192 --> 01:34:50,262
It was just one after another
after another.
1677
01:34:50,352 --> 01:34:54,425
EDDIE KRAMER: I remember seeing
the sun coming up over the stage.
1678
01:34:54,512 --> 01:34:57,026
People were hammering and sawing
and things were going on.
1679
01:34:57,112 --> 01:35:01,230
I mean, this was Friday morning
and it started in about five hours.
1680
01:35:01,312 --> 01:35:03,064
And as I got closer to the stage,
1681
01:35:03,152 --> 01:35:06,622
I realized, "My God, how much work
still has to be done. "
1682
01:35:06,832 --> 01:35:09,062
You know, we were kind of on the fly.
1683
01:35:09,152 --> 01:35:13,304
And the idea of the stage
was a round stage cut in half, so to speak,
1684
01:35:13,392 --> 01:35:17,908
so that the first half
would be the first band,
1685
01:35:17,992 --> 01:35:20,825
and then the back half
would be the second band
1686
01:35:20,912 --> 01:35:22,311
with their gear ready to go.
1687
01:35:22,392 --> 01:35:24,269
And the idea would be,
once the first band finished,
1688
01:35:24,352 --> 01:35:26,070
they would turn the platform,
1689
01:35:26,152 --> 01:35:29,428
and then the secondary band
would be in position.
1690
01:35:29,512 --> 01:35:32,151
The whole thing was kind of jerry-rigged.
1691
01:35:32,432 --> 01:35:35,026
MONCK: There were so many people
on stage
1692
01:35:35,112 --> 01:35:38,787
watching the existing act
that was on and performing.
1693
01:35:38,872 --> 01:35:41,306
The problem was
that they all stood on the turntable,
1694
01:35:41,392 --> 01:35:45,180
which was far more weight
than they ever intended to support.
1695
01:35:45,472 --> 01:35:48,350
When I was there
and something was wrong,
1696
01:35:48,432 --> 01:35:49,911
and someone said...
1697
01:35:50,072 --> 01:35:54,827
"Get off the turntable elevation
because it's over loaded."
1698
01:35:55,152 --> 01:35:58,030
They attempted to turn this platform
and all the wheels fell off.
1699
01:35:58,112 --> 01:35:59,227
(MIMICKING WHEELS DROPPING)
1700
01:35:59,312 --> 01:36:04,545
(LAUGHING) And it just sat like that
for the entire three days.
1701
01:36:04,672 --> 01:36:07,311
MONCK: Yeah, I mean, Grace and Janis
and everybody was standing on it,
1702
01:36:07,392 --> 01:36:10,782
and you know, you can't really just
sweep them off with a broom, you know.
1703
01:36:10,872 --> 01:36:12,590
The best laid plans of mice and men.
1704
01:36:13,752 --> 01:36:15,310
MARCELLINO: I don't even know
how they kept the power on,
1705
01:36:15,392 --> 01:36:18,031
because it really rained on Sunday.
1706
01:36:19,712 --> 01:36:21,862
MONCK ON PA: Please move away
from the towers.
1707
01:36:21,952 --> 01:36:23,943
Please move away from the towers.
1708
01:36:24,032 --> 01:36:25,306
Because the ground was wet,
1709
01:36:25,392 --> 01:36:29,067
and because the cables
did run into the audience to the towers...
1710
01:36:29,152 --> 01:36:33,350
Some people, at one point, thought that
the power to the towers
1711
01:36:33,872 --> 01:36:37,069
was becoming exposed,
the cables were becoming exposed,
1712
01:36:37,152 --> 01:36:40,508
and that because
there was a field of wet people
1713
01:36:40,592 --> 01:36:43,152
that we were suddenly about to
electrocute a half a million people.
1714
01:36:43,232 --> 01:36:47,942
I was frightened to death every second.
I didn't want anyone to get hurt.
1715
01:36:48,352 --> 01:36:50,741
And then, to hear the stories
of how the stage was sinking.
1716
01:36:50,832 --> 01:36:53,744
When we played,
the stage was collapsing,
1717
01:36:53,832 --> 01:36:56,426
people screaming,
"The stage is collapsing, the PA is out! "
1718
01:36:56,512 --> 01:36:57,991
Everybody was getting shocks.
1719
01:36:58,072 --> 01:37:00,905
It was not necessarily
the safest place to be.
1720
01:37:00,992 --> 01:37:02,630
You know, things like that would come up,
and you'd have to
1721
01:37:02,712 --> 01:37:04,543
sort of suss them out
and see what the reality was,
1722
01:37:04,632 --> 01:37:06,350
and then go deal with it.
1723
01:37:06,712 --> 01:37:08,145
I think we can be very, very proud
1724
01:37:08,232 --> 01:37:11,907
of what we accomplished
in the face of enormous obstacles.
1725
01:37:12,392 --> 01:37:14,906
There were so many things
that could've been disastrous,
1726
01:37:14,992 --> 01:37:18,302
you know, but it all just made it,
it all just made it.
1727
01:37:32,668 --> 01:37:35,307
I know I slept in a pile of velour
under the stage at one time.
1728
01:37:35,388 --> 01:37:38,141
I had a trailer down at the lake
1729
01:37:38,988 --> 01:37:42,185
which was my lighting booth for Newport,
about a 40-footer.
1730
01:37:42,428 --> 01:37:46,580
We slept in the back of the tractor trailer
on the floor.
1731
01:37:47,588 --> 01:37:48,577
If you could call it sleeping,
1732
01:37:48,668 --> 01:37:50,898
it was a few hours, if that, every night.
1733
01:37:51,068 --> 01:37:53,138
Some of the guys in the band,
I think, actually went back
1734
01:37:53,228 --> 01:37:57,221
to whatever facilities they had
for performers to stay at.
1735
01:37:57,308 --> 01:38:02,098
But I figured, as long as I was there,
I was gonna, you know, just sort of dive in.
1736
01:38:02,348 --> 01:38:06,421
(CHUCKLING) I might as well just stay
dirty, and be part of it all, yeah.
1737
01:38:06,788 --> 01:38:09,177
When you see
the brown acid announcement,
1738
01:38:09,268 --> 01:38:13,864
you can tell by my fingernails
and the color of my hands that, you know,
1739
01:38:13,948 --> 01:38:16,621
we didn't get anywhere close
to any water.
1740
01:38:17,068 --> 01:38:18,945
I did not, for the record,
1741
01:38:19,028 --> 01:38:22,259
I did not go and swim naked
in the lake. Period.
1742
01:38:22,348 --> 01:38:26,899
I think skinny-dipping is just beautiful
if you want to do it, if you can do it.
1743
01:38:26,988 --> 01:38:28,501
But some people can't
1744
01:38:28,588 --> 01:38:33,821
because their environment made them,
you know, feel that it's wrong.
1745
01:38:36,908 --> 01:38:38,819
LISA LAW: We had discussions about
1746
01:38:38,908 --> 01:38:41,024
how we were gonna feed these people
that were coming.
1747
01:38:41,108 --> 01:38:44,817
And we were out scrounging around
some aluminum pots and this and that,
1748
01:38:44,908 --> 01:38:46,057
and I looked at the whole scene
1749
01:38:46,148 --> 01:38:49,299
and I said, "We don't need to scrounge."
1750
01:38:49,388 --> 01:38:53,347
The Hog Farm was able to get
bushels and bushels of brown rice.
1751
01:38:53,428 --> 01:38:55,623
Now, that's what they served
at the food booths.
1752
01:38:56,148 --> 01:39:00,380
I ended up buying 160,000 paper plates,
forks, knives and spoons
1753
01:39:00,468 --> 01:39:03,460
and about 30,000 paper cups.
1754
01:39:03,548 --> 01:39:07,382
And it's a good thing I did,
because they all went.
1755
01:39:07,468 --> 01:39:08,457
Everything went.
1756
01:39:08,548 --> 01:39:13,747
So that's how I figured that we fed
between 160,000 to 190,000 people
1757
01:39:13,828 --> 01:39:15,546
at the Hog Farm free kitchen.
1758
01:39:15,628 --> 01:39:19,223
They would come up and we were
frantically trying to keep things going,
1759
01:39:19,308 --> 01:39:21,378
and someone would just
stick a hot dog in your mouth.
1760
01:39:21,468 --> 01:39:23,698
That was about,
maybe one or two hot dogs
1761
01:39:23,788 --> 01:39:26,097
(CHUCKLING) was about what we ate
that whole time.
1762
01:39:26,188 --> 01:39:29,942
But we didn't care, because we knew
it was something fantastic.
1763
01:39:30,268 --> 01:39:33,783
LANG: At one point, the "Food for Love "
guys, who were our concessionaires,
1764
01:39:33,868 --> 01:39:36,257
were running low on hamburgers.
1765
01:39:36,348 --> 01:39:38,987
So they raised the prices
from a quarter to a dollar,
1766
01:39:39,588 --> 01:39:42,705
and that displeased a bunch of people,
so they went up and burned them down.
1767
01:39:42,788 --> 01:39:45,939
Now, there's a guy up there,
some hamburger guy,
1768
01:39:46,028 --> 01:39:48,781
that had his stand burned down last night,
1769
01:39:49,908 --> 01:39:52,183
but he's still got a little stuff left,
1770
01:39:52,268 --> 01:39:56,261
and for you people that still believe
that capitalism isn't that weird,
1771
01:39:56,348 --> 01:39:58,782
you might help him out
and buy a couple of hamburgers.
1772
01:39:59,108 --> 01:40:02,145
So I went around,
making sure that there was enough food
1773
01:40:02,228 --> 01:40:03,866
for the cooks to use,
1774
01:40:03,948 --> 01:40:05,825
and then I would
check on the medical tents.
1775
01:40:05,908 --> 01:40:08,297
I was trying to get some rest in that tent,
1776
01:40:08,388 --> 01:40:10,106
there was a couple of other people
in there with me.
1777
01:40:10,188 --> 01:40:12,861
At which point,
1778
01:40:12,948 --> 01:40:15,781
one of the medical personnel
came around.
1779
01:40:15,868 --> 01:40:19,019
The nurses came around and said,
"Anybody want a shot?" "Okay."
1780
01:40:19,108 --> 01:40:22,544
So they gave us this
really painful vitamin B shot
1781
01:40:22,628 --> 01:40:23,617
right in the ass.
1782
01:40:23,708 --> 01:40:25,300
And I tried to explain, "I can't, my arms..."
1783
01:40:25,388 --> 01:40:26,980
He just gave me a shot of B12.
1784
01:40:27,068 --> 01:40:29,104
Oh, Jesus, God, did that hurt!
1785
01:40:29,188 --> 01:40:30,860
But it helped, you know.
1786
01:40:30,948 --> 01:40:33,462
(LAUGHING) Don't know what it helped
with, but it definitely helped something.
1787
01:40:33,548 --> 01:40:34,583
I felt great.
1788
01:40:34,668 --> 01:40:35,657
(LAUGHING)
1789
01:40:35,748 --> 01:40:37,261
There was a performers' pavilion.
1790
01:40:37,468 --> 01:40:39,345
Then, all of a sudden, all that went to hell,
1791
01:40:39,428 --> 01:40:41,658
because they needed it for emergency,
you know.
1792
01:40:41,748 --> 01:40:47,459
I had to stand up to
one of the older producers
1793
01:40:47,548 --> 01:40:50,858
and say that we had to have the crew tent,
1794
01:40:50,948 --> 01:40:52,984
which was where
we were supposed to eat.
1795
01:40:53,068 --> 01:40:56,663
We had to convert it into a hospital,
we had no choice.
1796
01:40:56,748 --> 01:40:59,467
A lot of kids in town
didn't have anything to eat.
1797
01:40:59,548 --> 01:41:01,778
Word went out that everybody
should contribute food.
1798
01:41:01,868 --> 01:41:04,177
We went over to the park
1799
01:41:04,268 --> 01:41:07,101
and the village permitted
them to camp there.
1800
01:41:07,188 --> 01:41:11,101
A police car went up the street here
with a loudspeaker
1801
01:41:11,188 --> 01:41:12,382
and told the kids to come up there.
1802
01:41:12,468 --> 01:41:15,187
We fed them Saturday night,
all day Sunday.
1803
01:41:15,908 --> 01:41:18,342
MAN 1: If you got food, feed other people.
1804
01:41:19,068 --> 01:41:22,777
Bugsy, to the pink and white tent.
Keep feeding each other...
1805
01:41:22,868 --> 01:41:25,336
Pretty soon, everybody was taking care
of everybody else,
1806
01:41:25,428 --> 01:41:27,384
and that's what Woodstock was about.
1807
01:41:27,468 --> 01:41:30,585
...and if you're too tired to chew,
pass it on.
158798
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