1 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:22,526 It looks like we're going to get a little bit of rain, 2 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:23,837 so you better cover up. 3 00:00:29,740 --> 00:00:33,744 Everybody who's in the back, please move back! 4 00:00:33,778 --> 00:00:35,539 Please move back. 5 00:00:35,573 --> 00:00:38,611 We have to get away from these towers. 6 00:00:39,888 --> 00:00:41,545 Put the mic stands down on the floor. 7 00:00:41,579 --> 00:00:42,856 Cover all the equipment. 8 00:00:42,891 --> 00:00:46,032 JOEL ROSENMAN: We were all in our mid-20s. 9 00:00:46,067 --> 00:00:49,242 We had created something that was much bigger 10 00:00:49,277 --> 00:00:51,072 than we had anticipated. 11 00:00:51,106 --> 00:00:52,142 I see it. 12 00:00:52,176 --> 00:00:53,798 All of you up on the towers, 13 00:00:53,833 --> 00:00:55,248 please come down. 14 00:00:55,283 --> 00:00:58,596 You are making it very, very dangerous. 15 00:01:01,185 --> 00:01:03,567 All right, everybody, just sit down, wrap yourself up. 16 00:01:03,601 --> 00:01:06,259 We're going to have to ride it out. 17 00:01:06,294 --> 00:01:09,159 JOHN MORRIS: Everything that could possibly go wrong was happening. 18 00:01:10,884 --> 00:01:14,440 I mean, it was all hell breaking loose. 19 00:01:14,474 --> 00:01:16,718 MORRIS : Hold on to your neighbor, man. 20 00:01:16,752 --> 00:01:19,548 And let's think hard to get rid of it, please. 21 00:01:19,583 --> 00:01:20,618 No rain! 22 00:01:20,653 --> 00:01:21,999 No rain! 23 00:01:22,033 --> 00:01:22,862 No rain! 24 00:01:27,315 --> 00:01:28,833 SUSAN REYNOLDS: When you think about it, 25 00:01:28,868 --> 00:01:31,629 it could have been an absolute disaster. 26 00:01:36,910 --> 00:01:38,464 BARON WOLMAN: And I just kept thinking, 27 00:01:38,498 --> 00:01:41,950 "Which direction is this thing going to go?" 28 00:01:41,984 --> 00:01:45,195 MAN : Try to keep yourself comfortable. 29 00:01:45,229 --> 00:01:49,164 It's gonna blow through. 30 00:02:10,772 --> 00:02:15,052 31 00:02:15,086 --> 00:02:20,747 in the air 32 00:02:20,782 --> 00:02:25,856 sooner or later 33 00:02:25,890 --> 00:02:30,032 here 34 00:02:30,067 --> 00:02:32,276 35 00:02:32,311 --> 00:02:34,416 REYNOLDS: We did not plan ahead, 36 00:02:34,451 --> 00:02:36,867 we did not plan where we were going to stay, 37 00:02:36,901 --> 00:02:39,387 we didn't think about food. 38 00:02:39,421 --> 00:02:41,596 It was just, like, "Hey, this sounds like fun. 39 00:02:41,630 --> 00:02:42,976 Let's get in the car and go." 40 00:02:43,011 --> 00:02:48,879 to get it together 41 00:02:50,087 --> 00:02:53,711 to get it together... 42 00:02:53,746 --> 00:02:55,057 PETER BEREN: We would pack 43 00:02:55,092 --> 00:02:56,990 as many hitchhikers as we could in the car, 44 00:02:57,025 --> 00:02:59,372 sitting on top of each other. 45 00:02:59,407 --> 00:03:01,167 And as we got closer, 46 00:03:01,202 --> 00:03:04,274 there would be people walking on foot like pilgrims. 47 00:03:05,792 --> 00:03:08,070 It looked like a pilgrimage. 48 00:03:10,072 --> 00:03:12,005 LAUREEN STAROBIN: We were looking for answers. 49 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:14,111 We were looking for other people 50 00:03:14,145 --> 00:03:16,355 that felt the same way as we did. 51 00:03:16,389 --> 00:03:18,564 52 00:03:18,598 --> 00:03:22,844 in the air 53 00:03:22,878 --> 00:03:26,468 JON JABOOLIAN: No matter where you looked, you saw people. 54 00:03:26,503 --> 00:03:29,437 It was like a field with people growing in it. 55 00:03:29,471 --> 00:03:32,163 I had never, never seen that many people in my life 56 00:03:32,198 --> 00:03:33,924 in one place at one time. 57 00:03:33,958 --> 00:03:35,857 58 00:03:37,859 --> 00:03:39,964 PAUL GEORGE: My feeling was, this is what we've been talking about, 59 00:03:39,999 --> 00:03:42,139 this is what we've been aiming for, 60 00:03:42,173 --> 00:03:44,866 this kind of freedom. 61 00:03:47,455 --> 00:03:50,009 OLD MAN: If 400,000 people could get together 62 00:03:50,043 --> 00:03:55,290 and have absolutely no violence, absolutely no conflict, 63 00:03:55,325 --> 00:03:58,776 I felt like, if we could bring all that love 64 00:03:58,811 --> 00:04:00,778 back into society, 65 00:04:00,813 --> 00:04:03,471 we could change the world. 66 00:04:03,505 --> 00:04:06,715 to get it together 67 00:04:08,924 --> 00:04:14,344 get it together now 68 00:04:27,115 --> 00:04:29,220 JOHN ROBERTS: I grew up in New York City, 69 00:04:29,255 --> 00:04:32,707 and I came from a wealthy family. 70 00:04:32,741 --> 00:04:34,674 My mother died when I was young, 71 00:04:34,709 --> 00:04:37,125 so when I was 21, 72 00:04:37,159 --> 00:04:40,922 I inherited about a quarter of a million dollars. 73 00:04:40,956 --> 00:04:44,960 That was quite a bit of money in those days. 74 00:04:44,995 --> 00:04:50,103 I had a job down on Wall Street doing research. 75 00:04:50,138 --> 00:04:51,864 ROSENMAN: When I met John, 76 00:04:51,898 --> 00:04:54,418 I had just gotten out of law school 77 00:04:54,453 --> 00:04:57,214 and was playing with a band down in the Village 78 00:04:57,248 --> 00:04:59,527 and at the clubs on Second and Third Avenue, 79 00:04:59,561 --> 00:05:03,462 but I was starting to get a little frayed at the edges. 80 00:05:03,496 --> 00:05:06,119 Neither one of us, I think, was really on a career path 81 00:05:06,154 --> 00:05:09,951 that we knew was the right one. 82 00:05:11,159 --> 00:05:13,506 ROBERTS: Joel and I met playing golf. 83 00:05:13,541 --> 00:05:16,267 We hit it off. 84 00:05:16,302 --> 00:05:19,029 And, uh, we thought we'd go into business together, 85 00:05:19,063 --> 00:05:22,273 investing this money that I had. 86 00:05:22,308 --> 00:05:24,414 ANNOUNCER: The denture cleanser you've hoped for 87 00:05:24,448 --> 00:05:25,691 is here at last. 88 00:05:25,725 --> 00:05:29,522 Start using new effervescent Polident tablets today. 89 00:05:29,557 --> 00:05:32,249 JOEL MAKOWER: John's grandfather founded the Block Drug Company, 90 00:05:32,283 --> 00:05:35,908 the maker of Poligrip and Polident. 91 00:05:35,942 --> 00:05:39,118 That fortune was the source of the seed money 92 00:05:39,152 --> 00:05:42,017 for a recording studio in Midtown Manhattan, 93 00:05:42,052 --> 00:05:44,330 Media Sound, which for John and Joel, 94 00:05:44,365 --> 00:05:47,471 actually turned into their first successful venture. 95 00:05:47,506 --> 00:05:50,854 It was because of Media Sound that John and Joel 96 00:05:50,888 --> 00:05:54,029 met Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld. 97 00:05:54,064 --> 00:05:55,893 MAN: How much do those matches sell for? 98 00:05:55,928 --> 00:05:58,033 65 cents for the roll. 99 00:05:58,068 --> 00:06:01,243 MAKOWER: Michael had had a head shop in Miami, in Coconut Grove, 100 00:06:01,278 --> 00:06:03,038 the center of the hippie culture down there. 101 00:06:03,073 --> 00:06:04,246 Right there, is that a pipe? 102 00:06:04,281 --> 00:06:07,077 Yeah, it's a Turkish water pipe. 103 00:06:07,111 --> 00:06:09,459 With two hoses. 104 00:06:09,493 --> 00:06:12,600 MAKOWER: In 1968, he moved to Woodstock, New York, 105 00:06:12,634 --> 00:06:15,948 about 100 miles north of New York City, 106 00:06:15,982 --> 00:06:18,295 and was introduced to Artie Kornfeld, 107 00:06:18,329 --> 00:06:21,885 who was a vice president at Capitol Records. 108 00:06:21,919 --> 00:06:25,336 ROBERTS: They called us in early 1969, 109 00:06:25,371 --> 00:06:28,063 and said, "We're very interested in building a recording studio 110 00:06:28,098 --> 00:06:29,651 "in Woodstock, New York. 111 00:06:29,686 --> 00:06:32,758 "We know that you and Joel were involved in building one 112 00:06:32,792 --> 00:06:34,173 "in New York City. 113 00:06:34,207 --> 00:06:35,657 Would you meet with us?" 114 00:06:35,692 --> 00:06:36,865 We said, "Sure!" 115 00:06:36,900 --> 00:06:39,247 ROSENMAN: When we met them, 116 00:06:39,281 --> 00:06:40,524 they were quite different from us, 117 00:06:40,559 --> 00:06:43,769 meaning a lot of fringe, a lot of buckskin, 118 00:06:43,803 --> 00:06:45,909 and a great deal of hair. 119 00:06:45,943 --> 00:06:47,566 John and I were making an effort 120 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:49,395 to look like businessmen at the time. 121 00:06:49,430 --> 00:06:51,846 So we, we couldn't have represented 122 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:54,883 more distant ends of the spectrum. 123 00:06:54,918 --> 00:06:57,058 ROBERTS: What Artie said was, basically, 124 00:06:57,092 --> 00:06:59,854 Woodstock was a center for artists, 125 00:06:59,888 --> 00:07:02,304 and that a recording studio there 126 00:07:02,339 --> 00:07:04,272 would have a natural constituency, 127 00:07:04,306 --> 00:07:08,587 and it would be a success. 128 00:07:08,621 --> 00:07:10,968 ROSENMAN: As we were looking through the proposal 129 00:07:11,003 --> 00:07:12,383 that they'd given us, 130 00:07:12,418 --> 00:07:15,628 we noticed an idea for an opening day party, 131 00:07:15,663 --> 00:07:18,251 where musicians who lived in the area-- 132 00:07:18,286 --> 00:07:22,048 Tim Hardin, John Sebastian, Bob Dylan-- 133 00:07:22,083 --> 00:07:23,705 would perform. 134 00:07:23,740 --> 00:07:28,986 I said, "The idea of having a concert with those stars, 135 00:07:29,021 --> 00:07:31,057 "I mean, why don't we skip the studio idea 136 00:07:31,092 --> 00:07:33,128 "and just do a big concert? 137 00:07:33,163 --> 00:07:35,993 We could make a fortune." 138 00:07:36,028 --> 00:07:40,757 So, in late January 1969, the four of us shook hands, 139 00:07:40,791 --> 00:07:45,175 and started brainstorming what Woodstock could be. 140 00:07:49,282 --> 00:07:51,871 REPORTER: To the hippie youth of today, 141 00:07:51,906 --> 00:07:53,804 this is part of their real world. 142 00:07:53,839 --> 00:07:57,118 This is the atmosphere at the Monterey Pop Festival. 143 00:07:57,152 --> 00:07:59,879 The music is frantic, the sounds are wild, 144 00:07:59,914 --> 00:08:01,329 and the mind is free. 145 00:08:01,363 --> 00:08:03,469 BOB HITE: 146 00:08:03,504 --> 00:08:05,989 147 00:08:06,023 --> 00:08:11,028 BOB SPITZ: Outdoor rock festivals were a pretty new concept at the time. 148 00:08:11,063 --> 00:08:15,895 They had begun in 1967 with Monterey Pop. 149 00:08:15,930 --> 00:08:18,553 And by 1968, '69, 150 00:08:18,588 --> 00:08:21,729 there had been a few festivals scattered around the country. 151 00:08:23,731 --> 00:08:26,043 Michael Lang was the only one of the four 152 00:08:26,078 --> 00:08:27,597 that had any experience in the concert business. 153 00:08:27,631 --> 00:08:31,773 In 1968, he had helped produce a festival in Miami 154 00:08:31,808 --> 00:08:33,810 that was a huge disaster. 155 00:08:33,844 --> 00:08:38,297 It was held at a racetrack, had very little atmosphere, 156 00:08:38,331 --> 00:08:41,472 it rained, there were a lot of lawsuits afterwards; 157 00:08:41,507 --> 00:08:43,889 the festival never really came off. 158 00:08:43,923 --> 00:08:48,687 But Michael knew that this is what he wanted to do. 159 00:08:48,721 --> 00:08:51,068 And he had this idea of taking the festival 160 00:08:51,103 --> 00:08:52,691 out of the racetrack, 161 00:08:52,725 --> 00:08:56,626 and putting it in a bucolic place. 162 00:08:56,660 --> 00:08:59,076 LANG: I had been thinking about doing 163 00:08:59,111 --> 00:09:00,768 a series of concerts in Woodstock. 164 00:09:00,802 --> 00:09:02,252 And I always thought if you could dream it up, 165 00:09:02,286 --> 00:09:03,874 you could put it together. 166 00:09:03,909 --> 00:09:09,742 And this was a chance to make, you know, a dream come true. 167 00:09:09,777 --> 00:09:15,506 ROSENMAN: Michael and Artie had optioned a property in Woodstock, 168 00:09:15,541 --> 00:09:18,061 but it was far too small-- it was just ten acres. 169 00:09:18,095 --> 00:09:21,340 So that didn't work out. 170 00:09:21,374 --> 00:09:25,240 A property in Saugerties didn't work out. 171 00:09:25,275 --> 00:09:27,726 And then John and I found a piece of property 172 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,418 that was in Wallkill that was being turned 173 00:09:30,452 --> 00:09:33,317 into an industrial park. 174 00:09:34,525 --> 00:09:37,011 It didn't knock you out visually, 175 00:09:37,045 --> 00:09:41,118 but it was available. 176 00:09:41,153 --> 00:09:43,155 MAKOWER: Michael hated it. 177 00:09:43,189 --> 00:09:45,019 It was everything he didn't want-- 178 00:09:45,053 --> 00:09:48,954 just a flat, barren piece of land 179 00:09:48,988 --> 00:09:52,923 that had no trees, no soul. 180 00:09:52,958 --> 00:09:54,304 LANG: You know how some pastoral scenes 181 00:09:54,338 --> 00:09:55,685 are beautiful and calming 182 00:09:55,719 --> 00:09:58,446 and make you feel comfortable, at peace? 183 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:00,828 This was completely the opposite. 184 00:10:00,862 --> 00:10:02,761 But we needed to get going, we needed a site, 185 00:10:02,795 --> 00:10:05,211 and I felt that we could transform it into something 186 00:10:05,246 --> 00:10:09,353 more spiritual and special. 187 00:10:10,803 --> 00:10:13,081 SPITZ: The town signed off on the festival 188 00:10:13,116 --> 00:10:15,497 as a, kind of a music and arts fair 189 00:10:15,532 --> 00:10:19,122 where kids would walk around and look at art 190 00:10:19,156 --> 00:10:23,057 and hear some music in the background. 191 00:10:23,091 --> 00:10:24,506 And "An Aquarian Exposition," 192 00:10:24,541 --> 00:10:26,060 which is what they called Woodstock, 193 00:10:26,094 --> 00:10:29,788 had some kind of mystical feel to it. 194 00:10:33,861 --> 00:10:36,829 ROSENMAN: Michael suggested that, like Monterey, 195 00:10:36,864 --> 00:10:40,453 we should have a crafts village and an art exhibition 196 00:10:40,488 --> 00:10:42,110 alongside the music. 197 00:10:42,145 --> 00:10:43,664 We all loved it! 198 00:10:43,698 --> 00:10:48,634 It was such a natural add-on to what we were thinking about. 199 00:10:48,669 --> 00:10:52,673 We wanted to make it like visiting another world, 200 00:10:52,707 --> 00:10:55,606 like visiting the world you were dreaming about 201 00:10:55,641 --> 00:10:58,264 if you were a young person. 202 00:10:58,299 --> 00:11:00,715 This shining place that you could go to 203 00:11:00,750 --> 00:11:03,684 and feel that you weren't a misfit, 204 00:11:03,718 --> 00:11:07,480 or that you weren't on the wrong side of a debate, 205 00:11:07,515 --> 00:11:08,861 or that you weren't 206 00:11:08,896 --> 00:11:11,933 under the suspicious eye of the authorities. 207 00:11:13,555 --> 00:11:16,110 MAKOWER: For the generation that was coming of age 208 00:11:16,144 --> 00:11:17,283 in the late '60s, 209 00:11:17,318 --> 00:11:20,252 everything was up for grabs. 210 00:11:20,286 --> 00:11:23,082 Young people were rejecting the status quo, 211 00:11:23,117 --> 00:11:26,637 whether it was your parents or whether it was your community 212 00:11:26,672 --> 00:11:29,779 or-- or the business establishment. 213 00:11:29,813 --> 00:11:32,713 This counterculture, as it was called, 214 00:11:32,747 --> 00:11:35,681 influenced music, it influenced art, 215 00:11:35,716 --> 00:11:38,546 and it certainly influenced the way people dressed. 216 00:11:38,580 --> 00:11:42,515 But clearly, politics was at the center of the counterculture, 217 00:11:42,550 --> 00:11:45,208 because the one thing that affected everybody 218 00:11:45,242 --> 00:11:47,935 was the war in Vietnam. 219 00:11:47,969 --> 00:11:50,592 Last week's casualty figures in the Vietnam War, 220 00:11:50,627 --> 00:11:55,011 released today, showed 299 Americans killed, 355... 221 00:11:55,045 --> 00:11:58,911 GEORGE: I remember watching the news in, you know, 1968 222 00:11:58,946 --> 00:12:01,880 and asking my father, "Why are we fighting in Vietnam?" 223 00:12:01,914 --> 00:12:06,091 And his answer was always, "Because they're communists." 224 00:12:06,125 --> 00:12:09,232 I didn't find that satisfactory. 225 00:12:12,028 --> 00:12:15,548 My father had been in World War II in Europe, 226 00:12:15,583 --> 00:12:17,723 in the Signal Corps. 227 00:12:17,758 --> 00:12:20,139 He always made clear that he thought the Army 228 00:12:20,174 --> 00:12:21,244 was a great experience, 229 00:12:21,278 --> 00:12:23,384 and everybody should do it. 230 00:12:23,418 --> 00:12:25,213 He just had a very positive view 231 00:12:25,248 --> 00:12:27,560 of serving one's country that way. 232 00:12:27,595 --> 00:12:31,461 And he did support the war in Vietnam. 233 00:12:41,954 --> 00:12:44,060 REYNOLDS: The men of World War II just assumed that their sons 234 00:12:44,094 --> 00:12:45,302 would also be soldiers. 235 00:12:45,337 --> 00:12:47,235 That's how you became a man. 236 00:12:47,270 --> 00:12:50,100 You grew up, you served your country. 237 00:12:50,135 --> 00:12:51,446 So my older brother Jim 238 00:12:51,481 --> 00:12:54,553 signed up for the Naval Reserves. 239 00:12:54,587 --> 00:12:57,176 I remember the day that he went to Vietnam, 240 00:12:57,211 --> 00:13:00,352 and being terrified. 241 00:13:02,043 --> 00:13:06,496 MICHAEL LINDSEY: When I was 18, I had to register for the draft. 242 00:13:06,530 --> 00:13:09,844 I was in college, so I got a deferment. 243 00:13:09,879 --> 00:13:13,710 But there was always that thing in the back of your mind. 244 00:13:13,744 --> 00:13:18,473 You knew that they were just one step behind you. 245 00:13:18,508 --> 00:13:20,165 If you were in college, 246 00:13:20,199 --> 00:13:21,925 you'd better hope that you had all your money straightened out 247 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:23,720 and grades were good and everything else, 248 00:13:23,754 --> 00:13:27,310 because if you dropped out, you were going to Vietnam. 249 00:13:29,519 --> 00:13:35,525 BEREN: When I was 20 years old, I was faced with a draft physical. 250 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,148 I'm putting down that I'm a bedwetter, 251 00:13:38,183 --> 00:13:40,944 that I'm a homosexual, that I'm a communist. 252 00:13:40,979 --> 00:13:45,466 I think there were 14 things in all that I had written down. 253 00:13:46,950 --> 00:13:49,884 So they escorted me over to the psychiatrist. 254 00:13:49,919 --> 00:13:53,370 He just said, "Kid, I'm gonna give you one year 255 00:13:53,405 --> 00:13:55,717 to straighten yourself out," 256 00:13:55,752 --> 00:14:00,239 and he gave me a deferment for 12 months. 257 00:14:02,138 --> 00:14:06,211 RICK DILLS: There's no way to describe how terrifying it was 258 00:14:06,245 --> 00:14:08,627 to be a 17-year-old, 259 00:14:08,661 --> 00:14:12,493 knowing that the Vietnam War was your fate. 260 00:14:12,527 --> 00:14:15,082 I wasn't alone in any way 261 00:14:15,116 --> 00:14:18,879 in transitioning from being personally afraid of the war 262 00:14:18,913 --> 00:14:22,365 to being politically opposed to it. 263 00:14:22,399 --> 00:14:24,815 CROWD : You kill people! 264 00:14:24,850 --> 00:14:28,095 You kill people! You kill people! 265 00:14:31,961 --> 00:14:35,240 THEIR: I participated in a couple of marches on Washington, 266 00:14:35,274 --> 00:14:37,552 anti-war rallies. 267 00:14:37,587 --> 00:14:39,727 The war was insane. 268 00:14:39,761 --> 00:14:42,488 You know, an insane conflict that, um... 269 00:14:42,523 --> 00:14:44,007 made everybody crazy, 270 00:14:44,042 --> 00:14:45,215 whether you were fighting the war 271 00:14:45,250 --> 00:14:47,010 or fighting against it. 272 00:14:47,045 --> 00:14:49,806 CROWD : Hell, no, we won't go! 273 00:14:51,808 --> 00:14:53,706 out in the streets 274 00:14:53,741 --> 00:14:55,916 275 00:14:55,950 --> 00:14:58,056 down the street 276 00:14:58,090 --> 00:15:00,610 277 00:15:00,644 --> 00:15:02,267 all the people that I meet? 278 00:15:02,301 --> 00:15:03,268 279 00:15:05,028 --> 00:15:07,962 REPORTER: This is a CBS News Special Report... 280 00:15:07,997 --> 00:15:10,827 THEIR: And then, on top of everything else, 281 00:15:10,861 --> 00:15:13,899 Martin Luther King was assassinated. 282 00:15:13,934 --> 00:15:15,797 The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., 283 00:15:15,832 --> 00:15:18,076 was shot to death by an assassin late today 284 00:15:18,110 --> 00:15:21,527 as he stood on a balcony in Memphis, Tennessee. 285 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:25,842 LINDSEY: When Martin Luther King was killed, 286 00:15:25,876 --> 00:15:28,293 I knew a lot of people who just felt, 287 00:15:28,327 --> 00:15:31,123 we have to do things differently, 288 00:15:31,158 --> 00:15:33,332 because the way the establishment have done things 289 00:15:33,367 --> 00:15:35,886 has led to this. 290 00:15:38,613 --> 00:15:40,995 GEORGE: By the time I got to be 16, 291 00:15:41,030 --> 00:15:44,481 I was really questioning the way society is structured. 292 00:15:44,516 --> 00:15:47,657 I objected to racism. 293 00:15:47,691 --> 00:15:52,110 I objected to inequality, consumerism, and poverty. 294 00:15:52,144 --> 00:15:55,285 I objected to the war in Vietnam. 295 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:59,082 ROBERT KENNEDY: One thing is clear in this year of 1968, 296 00:15:59,117 --> 00:16:01,740 and that is that the American people 297 00:16:01,774 --> 00:16:04,605 want no more Vietnams. 298 00:16:06,883 --> 00:16:09,610 LINDSEY: Of course, we had hope for Bobby Kennedy. 299 00:16:09,644 --> 00:16:13,924 He seemed to be one of us in a lot of ways. 300 00:16:13,959 --> 00:16:17,998 We really felt that he was finally going to be able 301 00:16:18,032 --> 00:16:20,966 to change things. 302 00:16:21,001 --> 00:16:23,141 REYNOLDS: I mean, he was out there espousing peace, 303 00:16:23,175 --> 00:16:25,177 and, you know, fighting against poverty and racism, 304 00:16:25,212 --> 00:16:27,800 and all the things that we believed in 305 00:16:27,835 --> 00:16:30,044 and wanted so deeply. 306 00:16:30,079 --> 00:16:33,220 He was our voice. 307 00:16:35,463 --> 00:16:41,297 BEREN: In June of 1968, I was leaving a bar in my hometown. 308 00:16:41,331 --> 00:16:43,057 I turned on the radio. 309 00:16:43,092 --> 00:16:45,611 REPORTER: The senator is lying with his eyes closed, 310 00:16:45,646 --> 00:16:47,303 absolutely unmoving, 311 00:16:47,337 --> 00:16:49,098 blood underneath his head. 312 00:16:49,132 --> 00:16:51,721 BEREN: I heard the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy 313 00:16:51,755 --> 00:16:55,449 as it unfolded in real time. 314 00:16:55,483 --> 00:16:59,763 And it just completely undid me. 315 00:16:59,798 --> 00:17:02,628 FRANK MANKIEWICZ: Senator Robert Francis Kennedy 316 00:17:02,663 --> 00:17:09,635 died at 1:44 a.m. today, 317 00:17:09,670 --> 00:17:13,225 June 6, 1968. 318 00:17:16,125 --> 00:17:18,161 STAROBIN: The shock of it was... 319 00:17:18,196 --> 00:17:22,821 It was just devastating, absolutely devastating. 320 00:17:22,855 --> 00:17:26,411 Martin Luther King and then Bobby Kennedy. 321 00:17:26,445 --> 00:17:29,241 You know, all these peacemakers. 322 00:17:31,830 --> 00:17:33,418 JABOOLIAN: It was, like, oh, this is what we do. 323 00:17:33,452 --> 00:17:35,213 This is what we do. 324 00:17:35,247 --> 00:17:38,319 You know, as soon as somebody tries to speak out, 325 00:17:38,354 --> 00:17:40,149 and they're too forceful, 326 00:17:40,183 --> 00:17:42,530 this big machine, whatever the hell it is, 327 00:17:42,565 --> 00:17:45,775 is gonna shut them up. 328 00:17:45,809 --> 00:17:49,019 The only thing that we took solace in 329 00:17:49,054 --> 00:17:50,297 was music, 330 00:17:50,331 --> 00:17:53,403 and there was a lot of politically conscious music 331 00:17:53,438 --> 00:17:54,818 that we were listening to. 332 00:17:54,853 --> 00:17:57,821 You know, like Buffalo Springfield. 333 00:17:57,856 --> 00:18:01,929 happening here 334 00:18:01,963 --> 00:18:06,658 ain't exactly clear 335 00:18:06,692 --> 00:18:11,697 over there 336 00:18:11,732 --> 00:18:15,805 337 00:18:15,839 --> 00:18:17,703 338 00:18:17,738 --> 00:18:19,498 339 00:18:19,533 --> 00:18:22,294 what's going down 340 00:18:24,434 --> 00:18:26,885 OLD MAN: When I was so disillusioned with everybody's else's thinking, 341 00:18:26,919 --> 00:18:29,025 I could escape into my music. 342 00:18:29,059 --> 00:18:31,993 It was such a comfort to me. 343 00:18:32,028 --> 00:18:34,927 You know, I hadn't met a lot of people at that time 344 00:18:34,962 --> 00:18:37,206 that felt like I did. 345 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:41,969 But when I listened to music, those people were there. 346 00:18:42,003 --> 00:18:45,421 speaking their minds 347 00:18:45,455 --> 00:18:48,838 from behind 348 00:18:48,872 --> 00:18:50,840 REYNOLDS: We couldn't wait for Saturdays, 349 00:18:50,874 --> 00:18:52,186 when we could go buy the latest record 350 00:18:52,221 --> 00:18:54,188 and then come home and literally lay on the floor 351 00:18:54,223 --> 00:18:56,535 and play it over and over and over. 352 00:18:56,570 --> 00:18:58,434 My father hated the music. 353 00:18:58,468 --> 00:19:01,885 He was always clapping his hands over his ears and just... 354 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:04,233 Would say, "Damn hippies!" 355 00:19:04,267 --> 00:19:08,306 wherever you roam 356 00:19:08,340 --> 00:19:10,998 around you have grown 357 00:19:11,032 --> 00:19:12,862 358 00:19:12,896 --> 00:19:15,209 LINDSEY: Dylan's song "The Times They Are A-Changin'" 359 00:19:15,244 --> 00:19:18,350 basically said to our parents' generation, 360 00:19:18,385 --> 00:19:21,250 "Get out of the new way if you can't lend a hand." 361 00:19:21,284 --> 00:19:24,287 or you'll sink like a stone 362 00:19:24,322 --> 00:19:28,636 they are a-changin' 363 00:19:28,671 --> 00:19:30,776 LINDSEY: Music had our ideas. 364 00:19:30,811 --> 00:19:34,849 For my generation, that was the thing. 365 00:19:34,884 --> 00:19:37,024 Especially our political views. 366 00:19:37,058 --> 00:19:39,923 367 00:19:39,958 --> 00:19:43,548 368 00:19:43,582 --> 00:19:46,585 369 00:19:46,620 --> 00:19:48,622 370 00:19:50,313 --> 00:19:53,178 DONALD GOLDMACHER: Music was terribly important to us. 371 00:19:53,213 --> 00:19:57,044 I came to the San Francisco Bay Area in June '67, 372 00:19:57,078 --> 00:20:00,185 and there was music everywhere. 373 00:20:00,220 --> 00:20:03,533 There were free concerts going on in Golden Gate Park, 374 00:20:03,568 --> 00:20:05,294 with all of these bands. 375 00:20:05,328 --> 00:20:08,435 I got to see Janis Joplin, the Jefferson Airplane, 376 00:20:08,469 --> 00:20:11,921 and the Dead, free. 377 00:20:11,955 --> 00:20:13,819 It really was amazing. 378 00:20:16,408 --> 00:20:19,446 THEIR: Music and lyrics became our tribal drum. 379 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:23,104 So we had a, kind of a secret communication going 380 00:20:23,139 --> 00:20:25,762 in the river of music that flowed through us. 381 00:20:28,213 --> 00:20:31,285 You know, it was a... wild liberation. 382 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:34,909 It was Dionysian. 383 00:20:34,944 --> 00:20:36,601 And drugs played a big part in that. 384 00:20:36,635 --> 00:20:41,399 STEVE WINWOOD: all happy 385 00:20:41,433 --> 00:20:45,437 GEORGE: We smoked a lot of pot and did a fair amount of acid. 386 00:20:45,472 --> 00:20:49,407 You know, the society that we're rebelling against, 387 00:20:49,441 --> 00:20:51,512 they don't want us smoking pot. 388 00:20:51,547 --> 00:20:55,102 Must be a good reason to smoke pot. 389 00:20:55,136 --> 00:20:59,071 KATHERINE DAYE: The more that we as a generation 390 00:20:59,106 --> 00:21:02,247 saw that what had been rammed down our throats 391 00:21:02,282 --> 00:21:07,701 was false-- it was false, it was a lie-- 392 00:21:07,735 --> 00:21:10,876 the more it freed us up to experiment. 393 00:21:12,602 --> 00:21:14,570 I mean, we had free love. 394 00:21:17,297 --> 00:21:20,334 The pill allowed us to just go to a party 395 00:21:20,369 --> 00:21:23,337 and be with somebody. 396 00:21:23,372 --> 00:21:28,238 We just reveled in having that much freedom 397 00:21:28,273 --> 00:21:32,553 and that much ability to piss off your old man. 398 00:21:32,588 --> 00:21:34,417 RONALD REAGAN: Movies were shown on two screens 399 00:21:34,452 --> 00:21:36,350 at the opposite ends of the gymnasium. 400 00:21:36,385 --> 00:21:38,179 They consisted of color sequences 401 00:21:38,214 --> 00:21:40,078 that gave the appearance of different-colored liquids 402 00:21:40,112 --> 00:21:42,149 spreading across the screen. 403 00:21:42,183 --> 00:21:44,945 Sexual misconduct was blatant. 404 00:21:44,979 --> 00:21:46,602 The smell of marijuana was prevalent 405 00:21:46,636 --> 00:21:49,121 all over the entire building. 406 00:21:51,779 --> 00:21:55,611 LINDSEY: By 1969, it really did feel like we were finally winning 407 00:21:55,645 --> 00:22:01,030 some kind of cultural war against the establishment. 408 00:22:01,064 --> 00:22:02,894 You know, this is how we lived, 409 00:22:02,928 --> 00:22:06,035 and if you didn't like it, too bad. 410 00:22:06,069 --> 00:22:08,244 We were seeing that America 411 00:22:08,278 --> 00:22:10,108 wasn't what we were taught it was, 412 00:22:10,142 --> 00:22:13,491 and when you stop looking at it that way 413 00:22:13,525 --> 00:22:16,252 and you start trying to figure it out for yourself, 414 00:22:16,286 --> 00:22:20,843 then, uh... it changes your life forever. 415 00:22:37,204 --> 00:22:38,930 MAKOWER: Once they got the permits they needed 416 00:22:38,964 --> 00:22:40,587 from the town of Wallkill, 417 00:22:40,621 --> 00:22:42,796 the first thing that John and Joel and Michael and Artie did 418 00:22:42,830 --> 00:22:46,455 was to assemble a core team to help produce the festival. 419 00:22:46,489 --> 00:22:48,940 There was Stan Goldstein 420 00:22:48,974 --> 00:22:51,080 who had worked with Michael on Miami Pop. 421 00:22:51,114 --> 00:22:54,601 There was John Morris, who had experience booking acts; 422 00:22:54,635 --> 00:22:58,225 Chip Monck, whose role was stage design and lighting; 423 00:22:58,259 --> 00:23:02,747 Bill Hanley, one of the pioneers of event production sound. 424 00:23:02,781 --> 00:23:05,888 These were guys who knew how to put together an event. 425 00:23:07,130 --> 00:23:09,098 Stan called his friend Mel Lawrence 426 00:23:09,132 --> 00:23:12,826 to be the director of operations. 427 00:23:12,860 --> 00:23:15,449 LAWRENCE: My mission was to, um, plan 428 00:23:15,484 --> 00:23:19,142 for all of the functions of the festival 429 00:23:19,177 --> 00:23:23,284 aside from the actual show. 430 00:23:23,319 --> 00:23:28,151 Everything from fences to food to transportation 431 00:23:28,186 --> 00:23:33,225 to fire access, lines of communication, 432 00:23:33,260 --> 00:23:39,093 security, water, sewerage-- you know this, that. 433 00:23:39,128 --> 00:23:43,615 I made a checklist that blew everybody's minds. 434 00:23:46,204 --> 00:23:49,932 GOLDSTEIN: One specific thing was toilets. 435 00:23:49,966 --> 00:23:51,727 We knew we'd have to have a lot of them. 436 00:23:51,761 --> 00:23:54,246 No one knew how many. 437 00:23:54,281 --> 00:24:00,529 So, I began going to events with a stopwatch and clipboard. 438 00:24:00,563 --> 00:24:01,840 Madison Square Garden, 439 00:24:01,875 --> 00:24:03,911 baseball stadiums-- 440 00:24:03,946 --> 00:24:05,948 any place that there were a lot of people. 441 00:24:05,982 --> 00:24:08,364 And I timed them, going in and coming out, 442 00:24:08,398 --> 00:24:11,160 and going in and coming out. 443 00:24:11,194 --> 00:24:12,955 And I took all the information I gathered, 444 00:24:12,989 --> 00:24:17,338 multiplied by the size of the crowd we thought we might have, 445 00:24:17,373 --> 00:24:21,688 and came up with outrageous numbers of johns. 446 00:24:21,722 --> 00:24:24,138 Tens of thousands, just... 447 00:24:24,173 --> 00:24:26,969 Impossible numbers. 448 00:24:27,003 --> 00:24:31,491 So we lined up as many as we could get. 449 00:24:34,390 --> 00:24:36,668 MORRIS: I was in charge of the booking, 450 00:24:36,703 --> 00:24:40,154 and Creedence was the first band that we booked. 451 00:24:40,189 --> 00:24:41,915 And then we got Jefferson Airplane, 452 00:24:41,949 --> 00:24:45,574 Joe Cocker, and Ten Years After. 453 00:24:45,608 --> 00:24:48,577 We didn't get the Stones or Dylan or the Doors, 454 00:24:48,611 --> 00:24:51,614 but we booked a lot of the acts we wanted to, 455 00:24:51,649 --> 00:24:54,548 including the Who and Jimi Hendrix. 456 00:24:59,001 --> 00:25:03,523 DAVID CROSBY: We had just started planning our first tour 457 00:25:03,557 --> 00:25:05,386 as Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, 458 00:25:05,421 --> 00:25:08,355 when we heard that Hendrix was going to play it, 459 00:25:08,389 --> 00:25:11,910 and the Who, and Sly, and Airplane, the Band, 460 00:25:11,945 --> 00:25:13,360 the Grateful Dead-- 461 00:25:13,394 --> 00:25:16,294 you know, everybody that we thought was cool. 462 00:25:21,023 --> 00:25:23,128 SPITZ: They needed to get the word out about the festival. 463 00:25:23,163 --> 00:25:25,786 They had a channel to do that, 464 00:25:25,821 --> 00:25:28,617 through the alternative press. 465 00:25:28,651 --> 00:25:31,067 There was the Berkeley Barb and the Rat 466 00:25:31,102 --> 00:25:32,413 and the Village Voice, 467 00:25:32,448 --> 00:25:35,693 and word about the festival poured out, 468 00:25:35,727 --> 00:25:37,418 not just to New York, where they thought 469 00:25:37,453 --> 00:25:38,627 they would draw the most people from, 470 00:25:38,661 --> 00:25:42,320 but all across the United States. 471 00:25:42,354 --> 00:25:44,909 Woodstock was on everybody's lips. 472 00:25:57,438 --> 00:26:01,235 DAYE: Tom and I subscribed to Rolling Stonemagazine, 473 00:26:01,270 --> 00:26:04,480 and long about, oh, early May, 474 00:26:04,514 --> 00:26:08,622 I started seeing these ads for a three-day festival 475 00:26:08,657 --> 00:26:11,798 with all these bands that we loved. 476 00:26:11,832 --> 00:26:15,077 And I said, "Tom! You wanna go to this?" 477 00:26:15,111 --> 00:26:17,148 RADIO ANNOUNCER: For tickets and information, 478 00:26:17,182 --> 00:26:20,669 write to Woodstock Music and Art Fair... 479 00:26:20,703 --> 00:26:23,464 GOLDMACHER: We heard it on the radio. 480 00:26:23,499 --> 00:26:27,399 They were describing this happening-to-be 481 00:26:27,434 --> 00:26:28,918 and that people were coming 482 00:26:28,953 --> 00:26:30,437 from all corners of the United States, 483 00:26:30,471 --> 00:26:33,958 and apparently abroad, as well. 484 00:26:33,992 --> 00:26:37,444 SUSIE KAUFMAN: I was hanging out at the fountain 485 00:26:37,478 --> 00:26:40,758 in, in Washington Square, with my guys, 486 00:26:40,792 --> 00:26:42,483 who were all musicians, 487 00:26:42,518 --> 00:26:43,588 and then all of the sudden, 488 00:26:43,623 --> 00:26:46,073 tickets were being made available. 489 00:26:46,108 --> 00:26:50,906 You could buy one day, two days, or three. 490 00:26:50,940 --> 00:26:52,459 And jeez, three days! 491 00:26:52,493 --> 00:26:54,737 Wow! That means staying there over... 492 00:26:54,772 --> 00:26:57,291 Wow, what an adventure that would be! 493 00:26:57,326 --> 00:26:59,811 We gotta do this! 494 00:27:04,022 --> 00:27:05,748 SPITZ: It was early June, 495 00:27:05,783 --> 00:27:08,406 so they started to build at the Wallkill site. 496 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,340 They brought in electricity, 497 00:27:11,374 --> 00:27:14,584 they started to lay the groundwork for a stage, 498 00:27:14,619 --> 00:27:18,899 and they hired a couple of hundred kids to help out. 499 00:27:18,934 --> 00:27:24,077 And these kids, they didn't look like anybody else in this town. 500 00:27:24,111 --> 00:27:26,355 ROSENMAN: They were a little suspicious about us, 501 00:27:26,389 --> 00:27:28,771 but we just forged ahead. 502 00:27:28,806 --> 00:27:31,809 All that did was, I guess, sound the rallying cry 503 00:27:31,843 --> 00:27:34,225 for what called itself 504 00:27:34,259 --> 00:27:38,194 the Concerned Citizens Committee of Wallkill. 505 00:27:38,229 --> 00:27:39,989 ROBERTS: They didn't like the looks of the people 506 00:27:40,024 --> 00:27:42,336 who were working on the site. 507 00:27:42,371 --> 00:27:45,167 They didn't like long hair, rock music, 508 00:27:45,201 --> 00:27:47,928 and all that that implied to them. 509 00:27:47,963 --> 00:27:50,241 We really tried to practice good community relations, 510 00:27:50,275 --> 00:27:54,417 but the Concerned Citizens had the wind up. 511 00:27:54,452 --> 00:27:58,387 SPITZ: Wallkill was a pretty conservative place. 512 00:27:58,421 --> 00:28:01,355 The way they saw it, these were kids who smoked dope, 513 00:28:01,390 --> 00:28:03,495 who had casual sex... 514 00:28:03,530 --> 00:28:07,120 They didn't want these hippies in their town. 515 00:28:08,673 --> 00:28:11,814 ROSENMAN: John and I were having dinner in New York City 516 00:28:11,849 --> 00:28:14,058 when the town of Wallkill passed an ordinance 517 00:28:14,092 --> 00:28:16,543 saying you can't have a gathering 518 00:28:16,577 --> 00:28:18,994 of more than 5,000 people. 519 00:28:19,028 --> 00:28:20,581 Essentially, it just legislated 520 00:28:20,616 --> 00:28:23,377 the possibility of a festival on this property 521 00:28:23,412 --> 00:28:26,208 out of existence. 522 00:28:26,242 --> 00:28:28,935 But we had already sold so many tickets, 523 00:28:28,969 --> 00:28:31,213 and hired so many bands, 524 00:28:31,247 --> 00:28:34,837 we couldn't turn back at that point. 525 00:28:34,872 --> 00:28:36,287 ROBERTS: It was like being on a rollercoaster 526 00:28:36,321 --> 00:28:37,840 that had just crested the rise, 527 00:28:37,875 --> 00:28:41,499 you know, before that first enormous plunge. 528 00:28:41,533 --> 00:28:47,056 I contemplated the abyss of a total wipeout and thought, 529 00:28:47,091 --> 00:28:50,025 "Let's not declare bankruptcy-- let's throw this festival." 530 00:28:50,059 --> 00:28:54,926 baby, don't you wanna go? 531 00:28:57,515 --> 00:29:01,277 baby, don't you wanna go? 532 00:29:02,485 --> 00:29:04,315 533 00:29:04,349 --> 00:29:09,078 MAKOWER: It was the first week of July, about five weeks out, 534 00:29:09,113 --> 00:29:13,462 so there was a mad scramble to find a new site. 535 00:29:13,496 --> 00:29:15,015 They drove around Upstate New York 536 00:29:15,050 --> 00:29:17,777 talking to local people, real estate brokers-- 537 00:29:17,811 --> 00:29:20,227 anyone who would listen. 538 00:29:20,262 --> 00:29:21,711 LAWRENCE: Michael and I, 539 00:29:21,746 --> 00:29:24,645 we must have looked for a week or maybe ten days, 540 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:29,133 renting helicopters and going here and going there. 541 00:29:29,167 --> 00:29:31,998 And then we meet Max Yasgur. 542 00:29:32,032 --> 00:29:34,276 SPITZ: Max was a farmer. 543 00:29:34,310 --> 00:29:36,796 And he was very successful. 544 00:29:36,830 --> 00:29:40,351 His dairy supplied almost everybody in that area 545 00:29:40,385 --> 00:29:42,353 with milk. 546 00:29:42,387 --> 00:29:45,390 Everybody knew Max Yasgur. 547 00:29:45,425 --> 00:29:49,463 JOHN CONWAY: Yasgur was a, you know, he was a law-and-order Republican, 548 00:29:49,498 --> 00:29:50,879 but, you know, he also believed 549 00:29:50,913 --> 00:29:53,709 in personal freedom and freedom of expression, 550 00:29:53,743 --> 00:29:56,850 and that's what he hung his hat on. 551 00:29:56,885 --> 00:29:59,680 LANG: We went to see Max, and we just hit it off. 552 00:29:59,715 --> 00:30:02,200 I think he liked the fact that we were doing something 553 00:30:02,235 --> 00:30:04,547 in the face of a lot of adversity 554 00:30:04,582 --> 00:30:06,895 and that we believed in. 555 00:30:06,929 --> 00:30:11,865 LAWRENCE: Max takes us to the top of this hill, and there it is! 556 00:30:11,900 --> 00:30:14,454 A natural amphitheater. 557 00:30:14,488 --> 00:30:18,561 Michael and I looked at each other: "This is it!" 558 00:30:18,596 --> 00:30:21,564 SPITZ: This was exactly what they were looking for, 559 00:30:21,599 --> 00:30:25,983 and they made a deal with Max right there on the spot. 560 00:30:38,271 --> 00:30:40,894 ROBERTS: Joel and I went up to get some kind of a handle 561 00:30:40,929 --> 00:30:42,896 on the town politics. 562 00:30:42,931 --> 00:30:45,243 We sure didn't want to get into the same problem there 563 00:30:45,278 --> 00:30:48,039 as we had in Wallkill. 564 00:30:48,074 --> 00:30:53,079 ROSENMAN: We were asked to fill out our attendance expectations 565 00:30:53,113 --> 00:30:55,288 on the permit application. 566 00:30:55,322 --> 00:30:57,428 We used Monterey Pop's record, 567 00:30:57,462 --> 00:31:00,949 28,000 people a day, or something like that, 568 00:31:00,983 --> 00:31:04,124 as the baseline. 569 00:31:04,159 --> 00:31:05,470 We multiplied it times two, 570 00:31:05,505 --> 00:31:07,507 and said, you know, "In our wildest dreams, 571 00:31:07,541 --> 00:31:09,198 this is what we're hoping for." 572 00:31:09,233 --> 00:31:13,651 And within a couple of days, we got our permits. 573 00:31:15,929 --> 00:31:18,449 MIRIAM YASGUR: A sign was erected near our house, 574 00:31:18,483 --> 00:31:20,071 and it said something like, 575 00:31:20,106 --> 00:31:22,763 "Don't buy Yasgur's milk, he loves the hippies." 576 00:31:22,798 --> 00:31:26,077 And I thought to myself, "You don't know Max, 577 00:31:26,112 --> 00:31:29,184 because we're going to have a festival." 578 00:31:29,218 --> 00:31:31,496 RADIO ANNOUNCER: The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, 579 00:31:31,531 --> 00:31:33,740 the three-day Aquarian Exposition, 580 00:31:33,774 --> 00:31:36,674 will be held at White Lake, 581 00:31:36,708 --> 00:31:39,125 in the town of Bethel, Sullivan County, New York. 582 00:31:39,159 --> 00:31:42,300 And on Friday, August 15, you'll hear and see: 583 00:31:42,335 --> 00:31:44,716 Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, 584 00:31:44,751 --> 00:31:49,100 Tim Hardin, Richie Havens, the Incredible String Band... 585 00:31:52,172 --> 00:31:55,003 ROBERTS: Everyone felt excited 586 00:31:55,037 --> 00:31:56,832 about the possibilities of the new site, 587 00:31:56,866 --> 00:31:59,731 but there was a lot to be done. 588 00:32:01,078 --> 00:32:02,976 ROSENMAN: We had to start all over again 589 00:32:03,011 --> 00:32:07,360 to construct what we had built in several months in Wallkill 590 00:32:07,394 --> 00:32:09,431 in less than four weeks. 591 00:32:09,465 --> 00:32:11,260 ROBERTS: The half a million at the old site 592 00:32:11,295 --> 00:32:13,228 was all down the drain, right? 593 00:32:13,262 --> 00:32:16,369 And we have to put another $800,000 into this one. 594 00:32:16,403 --> 00:32:19,924 Building a stage, getting the lights and the sound system up, 595 00:32:19,959 --> 00:32:20,960 fences. 596 00:32:20,994 --> 00:32:22,202 Food concessions. 597 00:32:22,237 --> 00:32:25,033 Portable toilets-- I mean, it was extraordinary. 598 00:32:25,067 --> 00:32:29,037 And Joel and I had never done any of this before. 599 00:32:29,071 --> 00:32:31,694 ROSENMAN: But because of ticket sales, 600 00:32:31,729 --> 00:32:35,905 we actually felt that we were gonna turn a profit. 601 00:32:35,940 --> 00:32:38,287 SPITZ: They knew by this time that there were going to be 602 00:32:38,322 --> 00:32:41,187 more than just 50,000 people. 603 00:32:41,221 --> 00:32:44,880 Ticket sales looked like it was going to be closer to 100,000. 604 00:32:44,914 --> 00:32:47,607 And with 100,000 stoned-out kids, 605 00:32:47,641 --> 00:32:51,645 they knew that there could be some difficulties. 606 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:56,374 REPORTER: There's been some trouble at a few of the pop festivals. 607 00:32:56,409 --> 00:32:58,100 What do you think brings that about? 608 00:32:58,135 --> 00:33:00,447 Why will it happen at one place and not another? 609 00:33:00,482 --> 00:33:02,622 PAUL BUTTERFIELD: You know, I, I really don't know. 610 00:33:02,656 --> 00:33:05,349 Like, in Miami, they broke down the fence, 611 00:33:05,383 --> 00:33:08,283 and they had a lot of fights. 612 00:33:08,317 --> 00:33:09,560 REPORTER: Do you think it has anything 613 00:33:09,594 --> 00:33:11,044 to do with the size of the audience? 614 00:33:11,079 --> 00:33:13,046 I think it has to do a little bit to do with the size. 615 00:33:13,081 --> 00:33:16,877 It has more to do with the way the festival is organized. 616 00:33:16,912 --> 00:33:19,708 WES POMEROY: To see what was really happening, 617 00:33:19,742 --> 00:33:22,159 we sent people to almost all the major rock festivals 618 00:33:22,193 --> 00:33:23,712 that summer. 619 00:33:23,746 --> 00:33:26,059 They went to Atlanta, 620 00:33:26,094 --> 00:33:28,786 they went to Denver, 621 00:33:28,820 --> 00:33:31,720 and they went to Newport. 622 00:33:31,754 --> 00:33:34,309 And every one, there were problems. 623 00:33:34,343 --> 00:33:37,070 They had teargas used in Denver, 624 00:33:37,105 --> 00:33:39,900 they had violence in Los Angeles County. 625 00:33:39,935 --> 00:33:42,662 So, back in New York, they kept insisting 626 00:33:42,696 --> 00:33:47,046 that they needed to have security people for safety. 627 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,151 I told John that all the cops in the world 628 00:33:49,186 --> 00:33:51,050 weren't going to prevent violence. 629 00:33:51,084 --> 00:33:54,915 It had to depend upon building the kind of expectation 630 00:33:54,950 --> 00:33:57,263 and the feeling of this event we're gonna have 631 00:33:57,297 --> 00:34:01,198 so that people didn't want to hurt each other. 632 00:34:01,232 --> 00:34:04,822 GOLDSTEIN: We also knew that there would be a lot of drugs around 633 00:34:04,856 --> 00:34:06,720 and there would be a lot of people 634 00:34:06,755 --> 00:34:08,722 who couldn't handle whatever it was 635 00:34:08,757 --> 00:34:10,828 that they were going to take, 636 00:34:10,862 --> 00:34:14,452 and that that had to be dealt with, as well. 637 00:34:15,557 --> 00:34:16,868 Hi, there. 638 00:34:16,903 --> 00:34:18,594 Uh, my name is Hugh Romney 639 00:34:18,629 --> 00:34:20,769 and I'm going through a series of changes 640 00:34:20,803 --> 00:34:24,704 in this fur room at the Electric Circus store. 641 00:34:24,738 --> 00:34:26,671 What is essentially on the front of my brain 642 00:34:26,706 --> 00:34:28,673 is this Hog Farm poster, 643 00:34:28,708 --> 00:34:32,470 which we're gonna be moving all around the country-- 644 00:34:32,505 --> 00:34:34,369 "we" being a commune. 645 00:34:34,403 --> 00:34:38,821 ROSENMAN: Stanley Goldstein suggested that we look to this... 646 00:34:38,856 --> 00:34:42,515 This commune called the Hog Farm, 647 00:34:42,549 --> 00:34:43,999 and that we should bring 648 00:34:44,033 --> 00:34:47,554 as many of these folks to the festival as we can, 649 00:34:47,589 --> 00:34:51,006 and have them handle our security. 650 00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:54,803 So he went and met with a fellow named Hugh Romney, 651 00:34:54,837 --> 00:34:57,495 also known as Wavy Gravy. 652 00:34:57,530 --> 00:34:59,463 WAVY GRAVY: We'd been driving around the country, 653 00:34:59,497 --> 00:35:00,774 putting on these shows. 654 00:35:00,809 --> 00:35:02,293 We had a certain skill 655 00:35:02,328 --> 00:35:05,054 with working with large crowds. 656 00:35:05,089 --> 00:35:07,505 We were a happening. 657 00:35:09,438 --> 00:35:13,166 So Stan Goldstein showed up and says, "How would you guys 658 00:35:13,201 --> 00:35:17,308 like to do this music festival in New York State?" 659 00:35:17,343 --> 00:35:18,516 And we said, "Well, 660 00:35:18,551 --> 00:35:20,553 "it sounds like a good time, 661 00:35:20,587 --> 00:35:23,072 but we're gonna be in New Mexico." 662 00:35:23,107 --> 00:35:25,799 And he says, "That's all right, 663 00:35:25,834 --> 00:35:28,975 we'll fly you in in an Astrojet." 664 00:35:29,009 --> 00:35:34,567 And indeed, 85 of us boarded this American Airlines Astrojet 665 00:35:34,601 --> 00:35:36,948 going to Woodstock. 666 00:35:36,983 --> 00:35:39,917 TOM LAW: We all arrived at the Albuquerque airport 667 00:35:39,951 --> 00:35:42,540 and loaded up a couple of sets of teepee poles 668 00:35:42,575 --> 00:35:46,682 and flew off to New York. 669 00:35:46,717 --> 00:35:50,893 WAVY GRAVY : The stewardesses locked themself in a little room, 670 00:35:50,928 --> 00:35:53,586 and we just took over the plane. 671 00:35:57,245 --> 00:36:00,903 We got to New York City, piled off the aircraft, 672 00:36:00,938 --> 00:36:04,217 and there was the press. 673 00:36:04,252 --> 00:36:07,565 What is the Hog Farm going to be doing in Woodstock? 674 00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:11,914 Well, the Hog Farm is a many-sided, multi... 675 00:36:11,949 --> 00:36:13,882 We're a kind of a family, 676 00:36:13,916 --> 00:36:15,539 a huge expanded family. 677 00:36:15,573 --> 00:36:17,092 And we could do any number of things, 678 00:36:17,126 --> 00:36:19,301 because each one of us is gonna do a different thing. 679 00:36:19,336 --> 00:36:21,303 But mostly we're just gonna try and be groovy, 680 00:36:21,338 --> 00:36:23,581 and spread that grooviness through everybody. 681 00:36:23,616 --> 00:36:25,928 Well, the Hog Farm has been hassled by security people, 682 00:36:25,963 --> 00:36:27,378 and they're calling you security people, 683 00:36:27,413 --> 00:36:30,485 so how do you feel about the, you know, the name? 684 00:36:30,519 --> 00:36:31,865 Well, I feel secure. 685 00:36:31,900 --> 00:36:33,729 I don't know what "security people" means. 686 00:36:33,764 --> 00:36:35,628 I never was called a security person before. 687 00:36:35,662 --> 00:36:37,077 It's, like, you're the first person 688 00:36:37,112 --> 00:36:39,356 that's ever called me that-- how do you feel? 689 00:36:40,391 --> 00:36:41,737 Well, I feel.. 690 00:36:41,772 --> 00:36:43,152 Do you feel secure? 691 00:36:44,188 --> 00:36:45,741 ROBERTS: There was a picture 692 00:36:45,776 --> 00:36:47,364 in the Postthe next day. 693 00:36:47,398 --> 00:36:50,919 My father called and said, "Nice cops you've hired." 694 00:36:50,953 --> 00:36:52,990 He thought that I was really out of my mind, 695 00:36:53,024 --> 00:36:55,717 to be involved in this thing. 696 00:37:16,531 --> 00:37:19,258 MARION VASSMER: We're a small town, we'll never have all those people here. 697 00:37:19,292 --> 00:37:22,468 They'll never... they'll never be here, you know. 698 00:37:22,502 --> 00:37:24,573 I didn't believe it. 699 00:37:27,369 --> 00:37:29,060 ARTHUR VASSMER: That's all you heard on the radio. 700 00:37:29,095 --> 00:37:32,892 "Woodstock, town of Bethel, Woodstock," you know? 701 00:37:32,926 --> 00:37:34,273 And ha-ha, we're all laughing, you know? 702 00:37:34,307 --> 00:37:35,929 And a guy come to me, he says, "Look out, 703 00:37:35,964 --> 00:37:37,345 this might be something bigger than you thought." 704 00:37:37,379 --> 00:37:39,139 I've been here all my life, you know? 705 00:37:39,174 --> 00:37:41,521 They're talking about hundreds of thousands of people, 706 00:37:41,556 --> 00:37:42,798 and so on and so forth. 707 00:37:42,833 --> 00:37:44,697 We never saw that in this town. 708 00:37:55,363 --> 00:37:57,468 DEBRA CONWAY: There was a certain backlash, 709 00:37:57,503 --> 00:38:01,230 but mostly, you know, it was kind of a daily little buzz 710 00:38:01,265 --> 00:38:03,302 from the locals. 711 00:38:04,924 --> 00:38:06,857 LOUIS RATNER: We started to hear rumors 712 00:38:06,891 --> 00:38:08,893 that this thing was more or less out of hand 713 00:38:08,928 --> 00:38:10,274 because no one knew 714 00:38:10,309 --> 00:38:13,104 the amount of tickets that were sold. 715 00:38:13,139 --> 00:38:19,041 One time they said 25,000, and then it was, it was 150,000, 716 00:38:19,076 --> 00:38:21,009 and then they don't know, 717 00:38:21,043 --> 00:38:23,287 and it got to a point where, uh, 718 00:38:23,322 --> 00:38:26,083 you started to get a little worried about it. 719 00:38:45,171 --> 00:38:47,622 MORRIS: It was early August 720 00:38:47,656 --> 00:38:49,831 and we were about a week out 721 00:38:49,865 --> 00:38:52,558 from the beginning of the festival, 722 00:38:52,592 --> 00:38:55,802 when, all of a sudden, people started showing up. 723 00:39:02,913 --> 00:39:04,604 MIRIAM YASGUR: About a week before, 724 00:39:04,639 --> 00:39:05,847 they started showing up in small groups 725 00:39:05,881 --> 00:39:07,469 and camping and so on, 726 00:39:07,504 --> 00:39:10,334 and the thing that Max and I were trying to figure out is, 727 00:39:10,369 --> 00:39:15,063 they hadn't gotten the fence around the field. 728 00:39:15,097 --> 00:39:17,479 And we thought, "Boy, they'd better rush and do that 729 00:39:17,514 --> 00:39:20,379 if they want to sell tickets to this thing." 730 00:39:31,251 --> 00:39:33,012 ROSENMAN: In the last week, 731 00:39:33,046 --> 00:39:35,428 if you saw what was going on, you were immediately aware 732 00:39:35,463 --> 00:39:38,673 that it couldn't possibly be finished in time. 733 00:39:38,707 --> 00:39:40,019 On Monday, 734 00:39:40,053 --> 00:39:42,918 everything was in a state of preparation 735 00:39:42,953 --> 00:39:44,817 roughly on target for a festival 736 00:39:44,851 --> 00:39:46,957 to be thrown some time in November, 737 00:39:46,991 --> 00:39:51,064 and not for one that was supposed to begin in four days. 738 00:39:52,341 --> 00:39:54,205 Let's clear the road, please! 739 00:39:54,240 --> 00:39:58,209 BEREN: We showed up three days before the festival opened, 740 00:39:58,244 --> 00:40:01,627 because that's what we were supposed to do as food handlers. 741 00:40:01,661 --> 00:40:03,801 It was thrown together at the last minute, 742 00:40:03,836 --> 00:40:07,909 so we had to build our own food stands before we manned them. 743 00:40:07,943 --> 00:40:09,566 ROBERTS: We have spoken 744 00:40:09,600 --> 00:40:12,983 to a lot of different food concession people, 745 00:40:13,017 --> 00:40:15,330 and all of them, the legitimate guys, 746 00:40:15,364 --> 00:40:18,057 went by the wayside when we lost Wallkill. 747 00:40:18,091 --> 00:40:22,855 What was left was an outfit called Food for Love. 748 00:40:22,889 --> 00:40:25,754 There were three of them-- three guys. 749 00:40:25,789 --> 00:40:27,135 I think one of them 750 00:40:27,169 --> 00:40:28,619 had some kind of food catering experience. 751 00:40:28,654 --> 00:40:32,278 I don't think the other two did. 752 00:40:32,312 --> 00:40:36,144 But we didn't have any alternative. 753 00:40:37,973 --> 00:40:39,492 ROSENMAN: I think it was Tuesday, 754 00:40:39,527 --> 00:40:41,287 the construction foreman tells us, 755 00:40:41,321 --> 00:40:44,255 "We just don't have enough time to finish everything. 756 00:40:44,290 --> 00:40:46,879 "So which would you like to have us finish, 757 00:40:46,913 --> 00:40:50,745 "the gates and the fences, or the stage? 758 00:40:50,779 --> 00:40:54,818 We don't have enough men and material to do both." 759 00:40:54,852 --> 00:40:59,098 I remember thinking, "If we don't have gates and fences, 760 00:40:59,132 --> 00:41:02,066 "then we're not gonna collect tickets. 761 00:41:02,101 --> 00:41:05,518 "We'll be bankrupt. 762 00:41:05,553 --> 00:41:08,590 "And if we don't have a stage, we'll be in jail. 763 00:41:08,625 --> 00:41:12,111 "Because there will be 100,000 kids running around 764 00:41:12,145 --> 00:41:13,699 "with nothing to do. 765 00:41:13,733 --> 00:41:15,770 For three days." 766 00:41:15,804 --> 00:41:17,116 So that was the answer. 767 00:41:17,150 --> 00:41:19,394 The answer was, "Build the stage." 768 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:25,780 TICIA AGRI: I'd go there in the middle of the night 769 00:41:25,814 --> 00:41:28,230 and people were building the stage. 770 00:41:28,265 --> 00:41:30,992 It was going 24 hours. 771 00:41:32,338 --> 00:41:33,891 MONCK: There was obviously so much to do, 772 00:41:33,926 --> 00:41:36,722 and so little time in which to do it, 773 00:41:36,756 --> 00:41:41,036 we had all come to realize that all of our individual jobs 774 00:41:41,071 --> 00:41:43,901 were going to be left somewhat undone. 775 00:41:43,936 --> 00:41:45,420 So we all kind of banded together 776 00:41:45,454 --> 00:41:49,424 into one sort of SWAT team trying to run around and finish. 777 00:41:58,813 --> 00:42:02,437 GEORGE: I quit my job at the restaurant in Ocean City with no notice. 778 00:42:03,990 --> 00:42:07,166 I just told them that I wouldn't be in anymore. 779 00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:08,581 And they said, "Why?" 780 00:42:08,616 --> 00:42:10,687 And I said, "Well, I'm going to Woodstock." 781 00:42:12,965 --> 00:42:15,312 DATE: We didn't get on the road till around noon, 782 00:42:15,346 --> 00:42:18,695 and by the time we got to within, 783 00:42:18,729 --> 00:42:23,113 I don't know, miles of Bethel, 784 00:42:23,147 --> 00:42:27,566 the traffic was just, you know, crawling. 785 00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:30,569 The folks on the road, the people who lived there, 786 00:42:30,603 --> 00:42:33,848 one would think that they would throw things at us. 787 00:42:33,882 --> 00:42:35,297 No! 788 00:42:35,332 --> 00:42:37,127 They just welcomed us. 789 00:42:37,161 --> 00:42:41,338 the morning went 790 00:42:41,372 --> 00:42:45,929 KAUFMAN: Never before in my life 791 00:42:45,963 --> 00:42:51,624 did I feel so much anticipation. 792 00:42:51,659 --> 00:42:53,764 This is going to be so cool! 793 00:42:53,799 --> 00:42:55,870 794 00:42:55,904 --> 00:42:59,356 795 00:42:59,390 --> 00:43:02,911 796 00:43:02,946 --> 00:43:08,123 OLD MAN: We were at a dead standstill for hours. 797 00:43:08,158 --> 00:43:10,022 People just got out and sat on their cars 798 00:43:10,056 --> 00:43:11,748 and started talking to each other, 799 00:43:11,782 --> 00:43:14,129 getting to know each other. 800 00:43:14,164 --> 00:43:16,407 You know, starting long conversations 801 00:43:16,442 --> 00:43:19,721 about politics and about music. 802 00:43:19,756 --> 00:43:24,830 Before long, we felt like we had hundreds of best friends. 803 00:43:24,864 --> 00:43:26,452 804 00:43:26,486 --> 00:43:28,592 ARTHUR VASSMER: We were sitting on the back porch 805 00:43:28,627 --> 00:43:31,906 and my God, the traffic, all of a sudden, it started. 806 00:43:31,940 --> 00:43:33,839 And I'm telling you, it never let up. 807 00:43:33,873 --> 00:43:35,841 We just opened the one door. 808 00:43:35,875 --> 00:43:36,842 But you couldn't let them in. 809 00:43:36,876 --> 00:43:38,429 It was impossible. 810 00:43:38,464 --> 00:43:40,639 And we let 40 or 50 people at a time, 811 00:43:40,673 --> 00:43:43,089 they'd get their groceries or whatever they needed, 812 00:43:43,124 --> 00:43:44,539 let them out the back, 813 00:43:44,573 --> 00:43:48,025 and then open up the door, let another 50 in. 814 00:43:48,060 --> 00:43:51,270 And these people, some of them walked four and five, six miles. 815 00:43:51,304 --> 00:43:53,790 "Where's the Woodstock? Where's the Woodstock?" 816 00:43:53,824 --> 00:43:55,343 817 00:43:55,377 --> 00:43:59,036 REPORTER: This sight is hard to believe. 818 00:43:59,071 --> 00:44:00,693 We're over White Lake, 819 00:44:00,728 --> 00:44:03,800 in the midst of this music festival encampment. 820 00:44:03,834 --> 00:44:06,630 We're up over the trees now, we're coming in over... 821 00:44:06,665 --> 00:44:10,358 JOE TINKELMAN: We were on the state highway, and cars were stopping. 822 00:44:10,392 --> 00:44:13,706 And we realized that this was parking for the concert, 823 00:44:13,741 --> 00:44:15,812 so we got out of the car and started walking, 824 00:44:15,846 --> 00:44:19,263 and we saw people setting up lawn chairs 825 00:44:19,298 --> 00:44:22,059 to watch this spectacle. 826 00:44:22,094 --> 00:44:25,235 It looked like this whole part of New York state 827 00:44:25,269 --> 00:44:27,168 was just being turned upside down 828 00:44:27,202 --> 00:44:29,273 by this event. 829 00:44:29,308 --> 00:44:32,138 REPORTER: The traffic is terrible. 830 00:44:32,173 --> 00:44:33,761 It is backed up from White Lake 831 00:44:33,795 --> 00:44:35,935 right back through on the Quickway past Monticello, 832 00:44:35,970 --> 00:44:41,630 and there's no place to park-- everything is full. 833 00:44:41,665 --> 00:44:43,909 REYNOLDS: They were announcing on the radio 834 00:44:43,943 --> 00:44:47,947 that you couldn't get there, and, you know, "Don't go." 835 00:44:47,982 --> 00:44:50,743 They were saying, "Don't go, don't go! 836 00:44:50,778 --> 00:44:52,849 "You can't get in, it's already overcrowded, 837 00:44:52,883 --> 00:44:56,266 and they're shutting it down, and turn around and go home." 838 00:44:56,300 --> 00:45:00,373 Nobody was turning around. 839 00:45:00,408 --> 00:45:04,239 It sort of increased our desire, more than anything. 840 00:45:04,274 --> 00:45:06,725 Like, one way or another, we'll get there. 841 00:45:25,951 --> 00:45:30,300 842 00:45:30,334 --> 00:45:32,267 843 00:45:32,302 --> 00:45:35,201 LINDSEY: As you walked in, it hit you. 844 00:45:35,236 --> 00:45:37,445 Suddenly, it just all came into view at once. 845 00:45:37,479 --> 00:45:39,965 the mountains ring 846 00:45:39,999 --> 00:45:45,453 LINDSEY: This whole enormous bowl full of people. 847 00:45:45,487 --> 00:45:50,251 It was mind-boggling. 848 00:45:50,285 --> 00:45:54,220 ROSENMAN: Coming over the hill and feeling the energy of that crowd 849 00:45:54,255 --> 00:45:56,533 is something that I'll never forget. 850 00:45:56,567 --> 00:46:00,157 There was so much power in it. 851 00:46:00,192 --> 00:46:02,470 852 00:46:02,504 --> 00:46:03,954 853 00:46:03,989 --> 00:46:06,232 854 00:46:06,267 --> 00:46:09,684 right now 855 00:46:09,718 --> 00:46:12,238 OLD MAN: It was indescribable, 856 00:46:12,273 --> 00:46:16,173 the feeling that came over me of warmth, 857 00:46:16,208 --> 00:46:20,488 and, "Oh, my God, there are this many people in the world 858 00:46:20,522 --> 00:46:22,835 that think like I think." 859 00:46:22,870 --> 00:46:24,837 "There are all these people here!" 860 00:46:24,872 --> 00:46:30,325 I never knew there were that many people in the world. 861 00:46:33,881 --> 00:46:36,711 REYNOLDS: Once we got there, the fences were just trampled. 862 00:46:36,745 --> 00:46:40,749 We walked up that hill, and we saw, you know, 863 00:46:40,784 --> 00:46:41,923 all these people. 864 00:46:41,958 --> 00:46:44,374 Our age, looked like us. 865 00:46:44,408 --> 00:46:45,927 Dressed like us. 866 00:46:45,962 --> 00:46:48,481 People... us. 867 00:46:48,516 --> 00:46:51,070 I mean, it was just... it was... 868 00:46:51,105 --> 00:46:55,523 It was like, you know, meeting your brothers and sisters. 869 00:46:55,557 --> 00:46:59,216 It was really beautiful. 870 00:46:59,251 --> 00:47:01,460 871 00:47:01,494 --> 00:47:03,048 872 00:47:03,082 --> 00:47:05,188 873 00:47:05,222 --> 00:47:09,848 right now 874 00:47:09,882 --> 00:47:11,988 875 00:47:12,022 --> 00:47:15,094 876 00:47:17,165 --> 00:47:20,134 MORRIS : We'll be getting our show on in about five minutes. 877 00:47:20,168 --> 00:47:21,894 Just keep cool and relax. 878 00:47:21,929 --> 00:47:23,758 We'll be with you as soon as we can. 879 00:47:23,792 --> 00:47:26,002 Thank you. 880 00:47:26,036 --> 00:47:28,245 Do you realize that half of these people 881 00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:29,453 don't have tickets, 882 00:47:29,488 --> 00:47:30,834 and there are people five miles away 883 00:47:30,869 --> 00:47:32,249 sitting on a highway with tickets 884 00:47:32,284 --> 00:47:33,975 who have driven 2,000 or 3,000 miles? 885 00:47:34,010 --> 00:47:36,253 Whatever has to be done to make it right, 886 00:47:36,288 --> 00:47:37,979 this is wrong.MAN: Yeah. 887 00:47:38,014 --> 00:47:41,845 ROBERTS: It was obvious we were in deep shit. 888 00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:43,882 After having worked that afternoon, 889 00:47:43,916 --> 00:47:46,470 trying to organize people to put the fences up, 890 00:47:46,505 --> 00:47:48,369 and actually pounding in posts myself, 891 00:47:48,403 --> 00:47:51,130 I realized it wasn't going to happen. 892 00:47:51,165 --> 00:47:53,305 We weren't going to be able to ring 893 00:47:53,339 --> 00:47:56,032 about a mile of perimeter. 894 00:47:56,066 --> 00:47:58,551 MORRIS: What are you going to tell a few hundred thousand people 895 00:47:58,586 --> 00:48:00,450 who are sitting in your field 896 00:48:00,484 --> 00:48:01,934 when you're supposed to be collecting money from them? 897 00:48:01,969 --> 00:48:03,591 "Go back out and come back in when we get the tickets 898 00:48:03,625 --> 00:48:05,938 and we finish the fences and the rest of it"? 899 00:48:05,973 --> 00:48:09,424 You are now giving the world's greatest three-day freebie. 900 00:48:09,459 --> 00:48:10,839 That's what it is. 901 00:48:10,874 --> 00:48:12,669 No, there's a way to do it.There is no way. 902 00:48:12,703 --> 00:48:14,015 MORRIS: Artie came up with, 903 00:48:14,050 --> 00:48:15,844 "Can't we get a whole bunch of girls, 904 00:48:15,879 --> 00:48:17,260 "and put them in diaphanous gowns 905 00:48:17,294 --> 00:48:18,571 "and give them collection baskets, 906 00:48:18,606 --> 00:48:20,159 and send them out into the audience?" 907 00:48:20,194 --> 00:48:25,958 It was the most ludicrous thing I had ever heard in my life. 908 00:48:25,993 --> 00:48:28,892 ROBERTS: As a business venture, it was dead. 909 00:48:28,927 --> 00:48:33,448 And I don't know why, but sort of a curious calm overcame us, 910 00:48:33,483 --> 00:48:35,968 and it seemed like the gates 911 00:48:36,003 --> 00:48:39,730 just weren't really what was important here anymore. 912 00:48:39,765 --> 00:48:41,940 MORRIS : It's a free concert from now on. 913 00:48:43,217 --> 00:48:46,185 That doesn't mean that anything goes. 914 00:48:46,220 --> 00:48:50,051 What that means is, we're gonna put the music up here for free. 915 00:48:50,086 --> 00:48:53,503 What it means is that the people who are backing this thing, 916 00:48:53,537 --> 00:48:55,263 who put up the money for it, 917 00:48:55,298 --> 00:48:56,264 are gonna take a bit of a bath. 918 00:48:56,299 --> 00:48:57,369 A big bath. 919 00:48:57,403 --> 00:48:58,749 That's no hype. 920 00:48:58,784 --> 00:49:01,649 That's truth-- they're gonna get hurt. 921 00:49:01,683 --> 00:49:03,375 But what it means is that these people 922 00:49:03,409 --> 00:49:05,998 have it in their heads 923 00:49:06,033 --> 00:49:09,450 that your welfare is a hell of a lot more important-- 924 00:49:09,484 --> 00:49:12,108 and the music is-- than a dollar. 925 00:49:17,044 --> 00:49:19,287 BEREN: The roar that went up from that crowd 926 00:49:19,322 --> 00:49:22,014 was incredible. 927 00:49:22,049 --> 00:49:24,706 Despite its roots 928 00:49:24,741 --> 00:49:26,639 in trying to be a capitalist enterprise, 929 00:49:26,674 --> 00:49:28,572 the concert was liberated. 930 00:49:29,711 --> 00:49:30,919 You don't even have to bother 931 00:49:30,954 --> 00:49:32,473 bringing your tickets or anything, 932 00:49:32,507 --> 00:49:34,440 because they aren't going to collect them. 933 00:49:34,475 --> 00:49:36,546 There's no way they can. 934 00:49:36,580 --> 00:49:38,582 They got a fence that's, like, half up, 935 00:49:38,617 --> 00:49:40,964 and there are people just sitting in that field. 936 00:49:40,999 --> 00:49:42,345 It's really beautiful. 937 00:49:42,379 --> 00:49:44,105 MAN : We're still waiting 938 00:49:44,140 --> 00:49:45,451 for the arrival of group one. 939 00:49:45,486 --> 00:49:47,453 Now, please bear with us. 940 00:49:47,488 --> 00:49:48,937 Due to the traffic problems, 941 00:49:48,972 --> 00:49:51,595 we're going to have to start a little later. 942 00:49:51,630 --> 00:49:54,115 MORRIS: The bands were all in different hotels, 943 00:49:54,150 --> 00:49:56,117 and if you tried to drive down to the site, 944 00:49:56,152 --> 00:49:59,258 it would take you six hours to do it. 945 00:49:59,293 --> 00:50:02,813 It became obvious that we needed helicopters. 946 00:50:02,848 --> 00:50:05,609 But then Richie Havens showed up, 947 00:50:05,644 --> 00:50:09,061 and it was, like, "Richie, please go on now." 948 00:50:09,096 --> 00:50:11,719 And he said, "I'm not scheduled to go on till later." 949 00:50:11,753 --> 00:50:15,481 I said, "Richie, we don't have anybody else." 950 00:50:15,516 --> 00:50:17,897 HAVENS: I actually was afraid to go on first, 951 00:50:17,932 --> 00:50:21,936 basically because I knew the concert was late 952 00:50:21,970 --> 00:50:24,456 and I didn't want to get beer cans thrown at me. 953 00:50:24,490 --> 00:50:26,251 You know, "Don't do this to me. 954 00:50:26,285 --> 00:50:29,495 "Don't put me in front of your problem like this," you know? 955 00:50:29,530 --> 00:50:32,153 "My bass player isn't even here." 956 00:50:32,188 --> 00:50:35,984 But I went on, you know, and it was beautiful. 957 00:50:36,019 --> 00:50:39,643 tell me what's that you see 958 00:50:39,678 --> 00:50:43,475 of Concord? 959 00:50:43,509 --> 00:50:47,858 with his flintlock in his hand 960 00:50:47,893 --> 00:50:51,103 961 00:50:51,138 --> 00:50:54,451 to the Concord war 962 00:50:54,486 --> 00:50:58,214 THEIR: Once the festival started, we opened the food stands. 963 00:50:58,248 --> 00:51:02,287 And a throng of people came running up the hill. 964 00:51:02,321 --> 00:51:05,773 There were too many people, too many arms reaching out, 965 00:51:05,807 --> 00:51:08,051 so we just started handing out hamburgers. 966 00:51:08,086 --> 00:51:12,090 And people began to shower us with joints. 967 00:51:12,124 --> 00:51:15,679 I had one in each pocket, one in my ear, 968 00:51:15,714 --> 00:51:18,475 and I was smoking two at a time. 969 00:51:18,510 --> 00:51:21,099 I got really high. 970 00:51:23,377 --> 00:51:26,000 HAVENS: I was onstage for something like two hours 971 00:51:26,034 --> 00:51:28,175 because nobody else was there to go on. 972 00:51:28,209 --> 00:51:31,488 I did about four or five encores, you know, 973 00:51:31,523 --> 00:51:33,111 until I had nothing else to sing. 974 00:51:33,145 --> 00:51:36,286 And then "Freedom" was created right there on the stage. 975 00:51:36,321 --> 00:51:38,875 That's how "Freedom" was created, onstage. 976 00:51:38,909 --> 00:51:42,050 It was the last thing I could think of to sing. 977 00:51:42,085 --> 00:51:43,431 I made it up. 978 00:51:54,615 --> 00:51:58,446 CAROL GREEN: I remember hearing Richie Havens 979 00:51:58,481 --> 00:52:00,931 playing "Freedom." 980 00:52:00,966 --> 00:52:02,899 And I was way up on the hill, 981 00:52:02,933 --> 00:52:05,971 and I heard it, and I was transported. 982 00:52:06,005 --> 00:52:09,561 HAVENS: 983 00:52:09,595 --> 00:52:12,943 984 00:52:12,978 --> 00:52:14,842 GEORGE: It's a good word to use. 985 00:52:14,876 --> 00:52:18,086 It wasn't just the freedom of being able to smoke a joint, 986 00:52:18,121 --> 00:52:22,160 it was the freedom of being able to be who you were. 987 00:52:22,194 --> 00:52:24,955 Not feeling that somebody was going to judge you 988 00:52:24,990 --> 00:52:26,888 or threaten you. 989 00:52:26,923 --> 00:52:31,030 So, yeah, freedom on a lot of levels. 990 00:52:37,002 --> 00:52:39,798 AGRI: I left the backstage area and I went into the crowd, 991 00:52:39,832 --> 00:52:42,697 and I went up, and I got in the middle of the crowd, 992 00:52:42,732 --> 00:52:45,976 and that was, like, "Wow, look what we've done. 993 00:52:46,011 --> 00:52:49,808 We actually pulled it off, and it's happening." 994 00:52:49,842 --> 00:52:51,775 MORRIS : What better way to start 995 00:52:51,810 --> 00:52:53,536 than with the beautiful Richie Havens? 996 00:52:53,570 --> 00:52:56,090 MORRIS: The audience reaction was just wonderful. 997 00:52:56,124 --> 00:52:58,989 It just brought the spirit right up and you felt, 998 00:52:59,024 --> 00:53:00,543 "Okay, this is going to work. 999 00:53:00,577 --> 00:53:01,854 We're going to be okay." 1000 00:53:02,786 --> 00:53:04,029 And then, thank God, 1001 00:53:04,063 --> 00:53:06,859 we got the helicopter rotation working, 1002 00:53:06,894 --> 00:53:09,448 and started to get people in. 1003 00:53:09,483 --> 00:53:13,245 MAN : We apologize for the noise of the choppity-choppity, 1004 00:53:13,280 --> 00:53:16,524 but it seems there are a few cars blocking the road, 1005 00:53:16,559 --> 00:53:19,182 so we're flying everybody in. 1006 00:53:19,217 --> 00:53:22,392 SPITZ: Once the artists started arriving, 1007 00:53:22,427 --> 00:53:25,464 the first band to go on was Sweetwater, 1008 00:53:25,499 --> 00:53:28,709 followed by the acoustic acts. 1009 00:53:45,035 --> 00:53:51,214 last night 1010 00:53:51,249 --> 00:53:54,942 1011 00:53:54,976 --> 00:53:57,082 BARNARD COLLIER: It was after midnight, 1012 00:53:57,116 --> 00:53:59,774 and in fact, it was starting to rain. 1013 00:53:59,809 --> 00:54:03,191 All through the crowd, there were matches 1014 00:54:03,226 --> 00:54:05,746 and cigarette lighters and candles, 1015 00:54:05,780 --> 00:54:08,714 and it looked like fireflies. 1016 00:54:08,749 --> 00:54:10,129 BAEZ: 1017 00:54:10,164 --> 00:54:12,062 CHRIS MOORE: The field was illuminated. 1018 00:54:12,097 --> 00:54:16,343 Not as bright as the blue light on Joan Baez on the stage, 1019 00:54:16,377 --> 00:54:19,794 but the immediate impact was the size of that crowd. 1020 00:54:22,349 --> 00:54:26,905 MOORE: There was nothing in that field but human beings. 1021 00:54:30,011 --> 00:54:33,670 MORRIS: Joan Baez was just wonderful. 1022 00:54:33,705 --> 00:54:37,191 She ended that night in a drizzle. 1023 00:54:37,225 --> 00:54:40,850 I looked out in the field and saw all these people, 1024 00:54:40,884 --> 00:54:44,336 and it was, like, "Let's go to sleep." 1025 00:54:44,371 --> 00:54:46,338 MORRIS : Maybe the best thing for everybody to do, 1026 00:54:46,373 --> 00:54:49,928 unless you have a tent or some place specific to go to, 1027 00:54:49,962 --> 00:54:54,553 is carve yourself out a piece of territory, 1028 00:54:54,588 --> 00:54:58,454 say goodnight to your neighbor, and say thank you to yourself 1029 00:54:58,488 --> 00:55:01,353 for making this the most peaceful, most pleasant day 1030 00:55:01,388 --> 00:55:05,357 anybody's ever had in this kind of music. 1031 00:55:07,014 --> 00:55:08,498 ROBERTS: Joel and I got on the Hondas. 1032 00:55:08,533 --> 00:55:10,397 And we rode up to a hill 1033 00:55:10,431 --> 00:55:15,091 that was, you know, maybe a mile away from the stage. 1034 00:55:15,125 --> 00:55:17,921 And in the distance, you could see hundreds, 1035 00:55:17,956 --> 00:55:20,165 thousands of little campfires. 1036 00:55:20,199 --> 00:55:22,857 It was like an army at rest before an enormous battle 1037 00:55:22,892 --> 00:55:25,481 the next day. 1038 00:55:25,515 --> 00:55:28,035 It was really beautiful. 1039 00:55:28,069 --> 00:55:30,555 That moment will stay with me forever. 1040 00:55:39,736 --> 00:55:41,738 MAN : I guess the reason we're here is music. 1041 00:55:41,773 --> 00:55:43,050 So let's have some music. 1042 00:55:43,084 --> 00:55:45,086 Ladies and gentlemen, Quill! 1043 00:55:55,752 --> 00:55:56,960 LINDSEY: The first day of the festival, 1044 00:55:56,995 --> 00:55:58,652 there were a lot of people there. 1045 00:55:58,686 --> 00:56:01,793 Maybe 250,000, 300,000 people. 1046 00:56:01,827 --> 00:56:04,140 That was the folk day. 1047 00:56:04,174 --> 00:56:06,763 The second day of the concert was the rock'n'roll day. 1048 00:56:06,798 --> 00:56:09,801 That's when everyone showed up. 1049 00:56:09,835 --> 00:56:12,010 They wanted to see the Who, Airplane, 1050 00:56:12,044 --> 00:56:14,322 the Dead, later that night. 1051 00:56:14,357 --> 00:56:19,949 So the crowd grew by about a hundred thousand. 1052 00:56:19,983 --> 00:56:21,744 DILLS: Holy shit, this thing 1053 00:56:21,778 --> 00:56:25,955 is way beyond what we ever could've imagined. 1054 00:56:25,989 --> 00:56:28,544 We just felt like we were going to get crushed up 1055 00:56:28,578 --> 00:56:29,821 against the stage, 1056 00:56:29,855 --> 00:56:31,443 and we didn't really want that. 1057 00:56:31,478 --> 00:56:35,033 So like a lot of people, we just decided to go out exploring, 1058 00:56:35,067 --> 00:56:39,209 walking around to see what was going on. 1059 00:56:39,244 --> 00:56:40,935 BEREN: On the periphery of the crowd 1060 00:56:40,970 --> 00:56:44,283 was a two-lane highway of people, 1061 00:56:44,318 --> 00:56:47,977 and it never stopped moving for the entire festival. 1062 00:56:48,011 --> 00:56:49,910 People were going to the food stands, 1063 00:56:49,944 --> 00:56:51,774 they were coming from the bathroom. 1064 00:56:51,808 --> 00:56:54,501 They were going God knows where. 1065 00:56:56,364 --> 00:56:58,297 GEORGE: If you just started wandering, 1066 00:56:58,332 --> 00:57:00,438 you'd come across all kinds of stuff. 1067 00:57:02,405 --> 00:57:05,546 A lot of it was like just walking the boardwalk 1068 00:57:05,581 --> 00:57:06,754 and seeing the sights 1069 00:57:06,789 --> 00:57:08,756 and taking in the scene. 1070 00:57:19,353 --> 00:57:22,494 DILLS: Walking around, I remember thinking, 1071 00:57:22,529 --> 00:57:26,118 "Holy shit, there are a lot of breasts here." 1072 00:57:26,153 --> 00:57:29,328 Most of the nudity I'd seen previously 1073 00:57:29,363 --> 00:57:32,021 was in Playboy, 1074 00:57:32,055 --> 00:57:35,265 and small bits on a hot date, 1075 00:57:35,300 --> 00:57:37,509 but, you know, really not much. 1076 00:57:37,544 --> 00:57:40,305 And there were a lot of people, girls and guys, 1077 00:57:40,339 --> 00:57:45,310 who were very, very open with their lack of clothing. 1078 00:57:45,344 --> 00:57:49,694 Especially down by the water. 1079 00:57:49,728 --> 00:57:54,526 STAROBIN: The good thing about skinny dipping is, we all went in. 1080 00:57:54,561 --> 00:57:57,598 Fat, skinny, it didn't matter. 1081 00:57:57,633 --> 00:57:59,980 Nobody looked, nobody cared. 1082 00:58:00,014 --> 00:58:05,261 It was just plain fun. 1083 00:58:07,746 --> 00:58:09,196 GEORGE: I was 17. 1084 00:58:09,230 --> 00:58:11,060 Normally, my jaw would be on the floor, staring, 1085 00:58:11,094 --> 00:58:14,201 but when everything, to a certain extent, 1086 00:58:14,235 --> 00:58:15,823 is beyond belief to begin with, 1087 00:58:15,858 --> 00:58:18,274 nothing surprises you. 1088 00:58:18,308 --> 00:58:22,243 BUCKLEY: how the sun shone down 1089 00:58:22,278 --> 00:58:25,384 GEORGE: There was kind of a, a path in the, in the woods 1090 00:58:25,419 --> 00:58:28,387 where people had all kinds of different shops set up. 1091 00:58:28,422 --> 00:58:32,564 They were selling, you know, musical stuff, 1092 00:58:32,599 --> 00:58:35,498 and things like beads and crafts that they had made. 1093 00:58:35,533 --> 00:58:40,883 Hand-tie-dyed clothing, blown-glass pipes, 1094 00:58:40,917 --> 00:58:43,333 and stuff like that. 1095 00:58:43,368 --> 00:58:47,372 Kind of head shops in the woods, that sort of thing. 1096 00:58:47,406 --> 00:58:50,375 There was one table set up where they were just selling pot. 1097 00:58:51,721 --> 00:58:53,723 We were well supplied. 1098 00:58:55,380 --> 00:58:58,072 STAROBIN: Saturday was kind of a day 1099 00:58:58,107 --> 00:59:01,179 where, you know, we walked, like, a couple of miles, 1100 00:59:01,213 --> 00:59:03,319 checking things out. 1101 00:59:03,353 --> 00:59:08,600 There was so much happening that that was almost as interesting 1102 00:59:08,635 --> 00:59:10,844 as seeing the music. 1103 00:59:12,742 --> 00:59:15,469 JABOOLIAN: Just to the other side, it was a wooded area. 1104 00:59:15,503 --> 00:59:19,128 Well, that's where the Hog Farm was set up. 1105 00:59:19,162 --> 00:59:21,820 This was commune life. 1106 00:59:21,855 --> 00:59:23,753 You know, I had heard about it, 1107 00:59:23,788 --> 00:59:26,929 but I had never seen it in action. 1108 00:59:26,963 --> 00:59:31,209 JAHANARA ROMNEY: We had been living in a group for years by then, 1109 00:59:31,243 --> 00:59:35,282 and it was quite an amazing experiment. 1110 00:59:35,316 --> 00:59:38,181 You know, the understanding that the people around me 1111 00:59:38,216 --> 00:59:42,772 are all part of the same spirit. 1112 00:59:42,807 --> 00:59:45,016 HENRY DILTZ: There was, like, a couple hundred of them 1113 00:59:45,050 --> 00:59:48,157 with all these kids running around. 1114 00:59:48,191 --> 00:59:51,160 They had teepees and yurts, you know, 1115 00:59:51,194 --> 00:59:56,752 and all these various little, you know, dwellings. 1116 00:59:56,786 --> 01:00:01,273 DAYE: A whole bunch of them came on all these exotic buses 1117 01:00:01,308 --> 01:00:03,413 that they had painted up. 1118 01:00:03,448 --> 01:00:06,002 It was magical. 1119 01:00:09,799 --> 01:00:12,008 JABOOLIAN: And the Hog Farm had built a small stage. 1120 01:00:12,043 --> 01:00:14,701 And there was music there, as well. 1121 01:00:14,735 --> 01:00:17,220 I didn't realize that at first. 1122 01:00:17,255 --> 01:00:21,742 GEORGE: There was always some kind of musical jam going on over there. 1123 01:00:23,848 --> 01:00:26,264 Away from the, the actual concert, 1124 01:00:26,298 --> 01:00:29,923 the Hog Farm was kind of a center of gravity 1125 01:00:29,957 --> 01:00:33,064 for the festival. 1126 01:00:33,098 --> 01:00:35,238 ROSENMAN: The Hog Farm turned out to be 1127 01:00:35,273 --> 01:00:38,276 an interesting choice for security. 1128 01:00:38,310 --> 01:00:42,349 They didn't call themselves a police force; 1129 01:00:42,383 --> 01:00:45,110 they called themselves a please force. 1130 01:00:45,145 --> 01:00:48,527 They substituted, "Hey, you, do this," 1131 01:00:48,562 --> 01:00:50,391 with, "Would you please do this?", 1132 01:00:50,426 --> 01:00:52,704 or, "Would it be all right with you if...?", and so forth. 1133 01:00:52,739 --> 01:00:56,052 Keep back, keep back now, let them through. 1134 01:00:56,087 --> 01:00:59,469 Everything's got room to flow here. 1135 01:01:02,058 --> 01:01:07,270 WAVY GRAVY: The please chiefs were myself and Tom Law. 1136 01:01:07,305 --> 01:01:08,824 We turned it into fun. 1137 01:01:08,858 --> 01:01:12,137 Oh, yes. 1138 01:01:12,172 --> 01:01:15,313 ROBERTS: They gave a nice flavor to the festival. 1139 01:01:15,347 --> 01:01:17,660 We paid them $18,000. 1140 01:01:17,695 --> 01:01:19,317 I remember that. 1141 01:01:19,351 --> 01:01:21,181 ROSENMAN: I don't remember paying them anything. 1142 01:01:21,215 --> 01:01:23,010 I thought we just chartered the jet. 1143 01:01:23,045 --> 01:01:24,494 ROBERTS: Maybe that's what that cost. 1144 01:01:24,529 --> 01:01:26,531 Maybe that's where the 18 grand went. 1145 01:01:26,565 --> 01:01:28,222 ROSENMAN: They did it just because they wanted to be there, 1146 01:01:28,257 --> 01:01:29,879 and because they felt that they could be useful. 1147 01:01:29,914 --> 01:01:31,916 They were really nice people. 1148 01:01:31,950 --> 01:01:35,505 COUNTRY JOE MCDONALD: what are we fighting for? 1149 01:01:35,540 --> 01:01:38,025 I don't give a damn 1150 01:01:38,060 --> 01:01:40,096 1151 01:01:40,131 --> 01:01:43,341 OLD MAN: In the afternoon, I kind of wandered back to the concert. 1152 01:01:43,375 --> 01:01:46,102 I was determined I was not going to miss 1153 01:01:46,137 --> 01:01:49,830 all these incredible people. 1154 01:01:49,865 --> 01:01:52,350 MCDONALD: throughout the land 1155 01:01:52,384 --> 01:01:54,559 to Vietnam 1156 01:01:54,593 --> 01:01:57,562 DEBRA CONWAY: My boyfriend was draft age. 1157 01:01:57,596 --> 01:02:00,979 And, you know, we had this future planned out 1158 01:02:01,014 --> 01:02:05,812 and it certainly didn't include him coming home in a body bag. 1159 01:02:05,846 --> 01:02:08,055 And so, you know, when Country Joe McDonald got up 1160 01:02:08,090 --> 01:02:10,092 on Saturday afternoon, 1161 01:02:10,126 --> 01:02:12,508 we were right there with him. 1162 01:02:12,542 --> 01:02:16,719 open up the pearly gates 1163 01:02:16,754 --> 01:02:19,584 to wonder why 1164 01:02:19,618 --> 01:02:21,413 to die! 1165 01:02:21,448 --> 01:02:24,175 All right! 1166 01:02:25,763 --> 01:02:27,592 REYNOLDS: We were 400,000 kids on a hillside 1167 01:02:27,626 --> 01:02:30,146 who all were vehemently against the war. 1168 01:02:30,181 --> 01:02:32,908 And, you know, for me, it was, like, "These are our people!" 1169 01:02:34,012 --> 01:02:36,394 "We found our people!" 1170 01:02:41,295 --> 01:02:43,504 REPORTER: Are you enjoying the festival? 1171 01:02:43,539 --> 01:02:46,024 Yeah, it's out of sight-- it's beautiful. 1172 01:02:46,059 --> 01:02:49,510 Why did you come to the festival? 1173 01:02:49,545 --> 01:02:52,134 To see the best music in the world, man. 1174 01:02:57,553 --> 01:03:00,211 MOORE: The only bored moment I had that weekend 1175 01:03:00,245 --> 01:03:02,972 was when Santana was about to appear, 1176 01:03:03,007 --> 01:03:05,078 and I didn't know who Santana was. 1177 01:03:05,112 --> 01:03:09,185 And Santana woke me up. 1178 01:03:13,362 --> 01:03:16,606 JABOOLIAN: You got... you got drawn into this music. 1179 01:03:16,641 --> 01:03:19,126 The song was "Soul Sacrifice," 1180 01:03:19,161 --> 01:03:21,715 which most of us had never heard before. 1181 01:03:31,898 --> 01:03:35,522 BEREN: Listening to it, I felt like we had gone from civilization 1182 01:03:35,556 --> 01:03:38,974 to some place where there was no rules. 1183 01:03:39,008 --> 01:03:44,393 And some people took the freedom to extreme places. 1184 01:03:46,188 --> 01:03:49,156 GOLDMACHER: People were there to have a good time 1185 01:03:49,191 --> 01:03:51,055 and they were doing it. 1186 01:03:51,089 --> 01:03:53,057 Now, it meant a lot of drugs. 1187 01:03:53,091 --> 01:03:58,545 It was mostly marijuana, hashish, and LSD. 1188 01:04:00,685 --> 01:04:02,929 COLLIER: One girl told me that just standing still, 1189 01:04:02,963 --> 01:04:04,620 she was getting stoned. 1190 01:04:04,654 --> 01:04:09,763 And my guess was that within a thousand feet of the stage, 1191 01:04:09,797 --> 01:04:11,903 everybody was stoned. 1192 01:04:16,977 --> 01:04:21,016 GOLDSTEIN: There were a lot of people who took a lot of drugs 1193 01:04:21,050 --> 01:04:24,226 in very strenuous circumstances 1194 01:04:24,260 --> 01:04:28,161 and were incapable of dealing with that. 1195 01:04:28,195 --> 01:04:32,165 The freak-out tents were oases. 1196 01:04:32,199 --> 01:04:36,548 GOLDMACHER: Wavy Gravy and the Hog Farm were taking care of bad trips. 1197 01:04:36,583 --> 01:04:41,346 Freak-out tents had been set up where people could lie down, 1198 01:04:41,381 --> 01:04:43,072 and folks from the Hog Farm were in there, you know, 1199 01:04:43,107 --> 01:04:44,971 just holding people's hands 1200 01:04:45,005 --> 01:04:48,319 and just really being able to guide them through it. 1201 01:04:49,872 --> 01:04:51,943 WAVY GRAVY: We're telling them, "You know, it's, 1202 01:04:51,978 --> 01:04:54,359 "it's going to be cool, man, it's going to wear off. 1203 01:04:54,394 --> 01:04:57,052 You took a little acid, and it's gonna wear off." 1204 01:04:57,086 --> 01:05:00,055 And then when somebody was near normal to rock 'n' roll, 1205 01:05:00,089 --> 01:05:01,504 we said, "Hold it. 1206 01:05:01,539 --> 01:05:04,680 "Now, you see that brother coming through the door? 1207 01:05:04,714 --> 01:05:06,544 "That was you three hours ago. 1208 01:05:06,578 --> 01:05:08,891 Now you go and help them out." 1209 01:05:08,926 --> 01:05:13,965 And that's the way the scene regenerated itself. 1210 01:05:16,071 --> 01:05:19,419 SPITZ: They always knew that there were going to be medical problems, 1211 01:05:19,453 --> 01:05:23,664 and they had prepared themselves as best they could. 1212 01:05:23,699 --> 01:05:27,013 But like everything else at the festival, 1213 01:05:27,047 --> 01:05:30,706 they were woefully understaffed, 1214 01:05:30,740 --> 01:05:34,261 and an emergency situation was developing. 1215 01:05:34,296 --> 01:05:36,746 MAN : We need a doctor or a medic, please, 1216 01:05:36,781 --> 01:05:38,645 over on this side of the stage, please, 1217 01:05:38,679 --> 01:05:40,716 at your earliest convenience. 1218 01:05:40,750 --> 01:05:44,996 GOLDMACHER: One of our people came rushing up to me and said, 1219 01:05:45,031 --> 01:05:47,481 "We're out of medical supplies." 1220 01:05:47,516 --> 01:05:50,622 And I said, "You've got to be kidding." 1221 01:05:50,657 --> 01:05:54,316 All the panoply of medical situations you could encounter 1222 01:05:54,350 --> 01:05:57,112 will happen during the course of 72 hours. 1223 01:05:57,146 --> 01:06:01,495 It's just what happens in a city of 400,000 people. 1224 01:06:01,530 --> 01:06:04,464 This is a medical disaster in the making. 1225 01:06:07,329 --> 01:06:10,021 GOLDSTEIN: Leaving aside for the moment 1226 01:06:10,056 --> 01:06:13,680 those people who were diabetics who needed insulin and so forth, 1227 01:06:13,714 --> 01:06:16,027 the casualties were mounting. 1228 01:06:21,343 --> 01:06:23,931 MORRIS: We got a call from the governor's chief of staff 1229 01:06:23,966 --> 01:06:26,106 telling us that Rockefeller was considering 1230 01:06:26,141 --> 01:06:29,696 sending in the National Guard. 1231 01:06:29,730 --> 01:06:31,422 SPITZ: Nelson Rockefeller's office-- 1232 01:06:31,456 --> 01:06:33,355 he was the governor at the time-- 1233 01:06:33,389 --> 01:06:35,633 was in pretty constant communication 1234 01:06:35,667 --> 01:06:37,497 with the festival people, 1235 01:06:37,531 --> 01:06:39,637 and Rockefeller was always threatening 1236 01:06:39,671 --> 01:06:43,192 to send in the troops. 1237 01:06:43,227 --> 01:06:44,883 MORRIS: They said it was a danger to the community, 1238 01:06:44,918 --> 01:06:46,575 it was a danger to public health, 1239 01:06:46,609 --> 01:06:48,784 it was a danger to any damn thing they could think of. 1240 01:06:48,818 --> 01:06:50,303 They wanted to get rid of it. 1241 01:06:50,337 --> 01:06:51,614 And they were stupid enough to believe 1242 01:06:51,649 --> 01:06:53,340 they could mobilize the National Guard 1243 01:06:53,375 --> 01:06:54,583 and move these kids out. 1244 01:06:54,617 --> 01:06:56,309 And I kept saying, 1245 01:06:56,343 --> 01:06:58,104 "There's only one way to do this, 1246 01:06:58,138 --> 01:07:00,278 and that's play it through." 1247 01:07:00,313 --> 01:07:02,142 In the end, there was an assistant to the governor 1248 01:07:02,177 --> 01:07:03,764 who got it, 1249 01:07:03,799 --> 01:07:06,974 and he said, "What can we do?" 1250 01:07:09,322 --> 01:07:14,085 BARBARA ERSKINE MILLER: Why are there Army helicopters flying overhead? 1251 01:07:14,120 --> 01:07:17,744 You know, it looked like what I saw on the news every night 1252 01:07:17,778 --> 01:07:22,749 in, you know, the pictures from Vietnam. 1253 01:07:22,783 --> 01:07:26,373 DILLS: Seeing that they were military helicopters 1254 01:07:26,408 --> 01:07:28,134 was very disconcerting. 1255 01:07:28,168 --> 01:07:30,929 We didn't know really why they were flying in. 1256 01:07:30,964 --> 01:07:34,243 You know, is this the start of a militarization 1257 01:07:34,278 --> 01:07:37,626 to close this thing down? 1258 01:07:37,660 --> 01:07:39,731 MORRIS: I was standing onstage, 1259 01:07:39,766 --> 01:07:42,458 and I could see these Hueys coming in. 1260 01:07:42,493 --> 01:07:45,151 There were three or four of them in a row. 1261 01:07:45,185 --> 01:07:48,050 And all I said was, "Ladies and gentlemen, 1262 01:07:48,085 --> 01:07:50,121 the United States Army." 1263 01:07:50,156 --> 01:07:52,779 MORRIS : The United States Army has lent us some medical teams. 1264 01:07:52,813 --> 01:07:58,854 There are 45 doctors who are here without pay 1265 01:07:58,888 --> 01:08:01,339 because they dig what this is into. 1266 01:08:01,374 --> 01:08:02,651 They are with us, man. 1267 01:08:02,685 --> 01:08:04,860 They are not against us, they are with us. 1268 01:08:04,894 --> 01:08:07,759 They're here to give us all a hand and help us. 1269 01:08:11,108 --> 01:08:14,352 MORRIS: That sound system was the only source of communication 1270 01:08:14,387 --> 01:08:15,698 we had with the audience. 1271 01:08:15,733 --> 01:08:16,803 MAN : Elliot from Harvard, 1272 01:08:16,837 --> 01:08:17,838 the hitchhikers you picked up 1273 01:08:17,873 --> 01:08:19,150 need the pills from your car. 1274 01:08:19,185 --> 01:08:22,291 Please go to the information station right away. 1275 01:08:22,326 --> 01:08:23,672 MORRIS: What started happening was, 1276 01:08:23,706 --> 01:08:26,157 people would bring messages to backstage. 1277 01:08:26,192 --> 01:08:27,469 And we did as many of them as we could 1278 01:08:27,503 --> 01:08:28,746 in between performances. 1279 01:08:28,780 --> 01:08:30,092 MAN : Sidney McGee, 1280 01:08:30,127 --> 01:08:32,370 please come immediately to backstage right. 1281 01:08:32,405 --> 01:08:34,855 I understand your wife is having a baby. 1282 01:08:34,890 --> 01:08:36,167 Congratulations. 1283 01:08:36,202 --> 01:08:38,100 Wheat Germ, 1284 01:08:38,135 --> 01:08:40,689 Holly has your bag with your medicine. 1285 01:08:40,723 --> 01:08:42,173 Please meet at the information booth 1286 01:08:42,208 --> 01:08:43,657 as soon as you can, please. 1287 01:08:43,692 --> 01:08:47,213 MORRIS: The information booth became a center. 1288 01:08:47,247 --> 01:08:48,904 And we just said to people, 1289 01:08:48,938 --> 01:08:52,873 "If you're looking for somebody, you got to go up there." 1290 01:08:52,908 --> 01:08:56,049 JABOOLIAN: Everybody would put messages on it. 1291 01:08:56,083 --> 01:08:57,568 So if you're looking for somebody, 1292 01:08:57,602 --> 01:08:59,156 or you're trying to get a ride home, 1293 01:08:59,190 --> 01:09:00,536 or, or whatever, 1294 01:09:00,571 --> 01:09:03,194 you could stick stuff up on there. 1295 01:09:03,229 --> 01:09:05,679 MAN : Larry Alexander, Cousin Al is sick. 1296 01:09:05,714 --> 01:09:07,923 Meet near the information center. 1297 01:09:07,957 --> 01:09:09,821 ROBERTS: We took a lot of phone calls 1298 01:09:09,856 --> 01:09:11,168 from worried parents, 1299 01:09:11,202 --> 01:09:13,308 wondering what was happening up there. 1300 01:09:13,342 --> 01:09:15,206 And, you know, if it was, like, "Call home," 1301 01:09:15,241 --> 01:09:16,828 we'd relay it to the stage. 1302 01:09:16,863 --> 01:09:18,209 MAN : Helen Savage, 1303 01:09:18,244 --> 01:09:19,417 please call your father 1304 01:09:19,452 --> 01:09:22,248 at the Motel Glory in Woodridge. 1305 01:09:22,282 --> 01:09:26,459 DILLS: I definitely wondered if my parents were watching 1306 01:09:26,493 --> 01:09:28,495 and what they thought. 1307 01:09:28,530 --> 01:09:31,705 Because after Friday, I'd had no contact 1308 01:09:31,740 --> 01:09:34,121 with anybody from the outside world. 1309 01:09:34,156 --> 01:09:35,675 MAN : The Daily News, 1310 01:09:35,709 --> 01:09:38,609 in rather large headlines, 1311 01:09:38,643 --> 01:09:41,750 "Traffic Uptight at Hippiefest." 1312 01:09:41,784 --> 01:09:42,958 GEORGE: The stage announcements 1313 01:09:42,992 --> 01:09:45,616 really became our news radio. 1314 01:09:45,650 --> 01:09:47,100 How we found out 1315 01:09:47,134 --> 01:09:49,309 what the outside world was paying attention to. 1316 01:09:49,344 --> 01:09:52,692 And they would've thought it was an utter disaster, 1317 01:09:52,726 --> 01:09:56,040 from what they were seeing in the news and stuff. 1318 01:10:14,990 --> 01:10:18,200 ROSENMAN: The world expects this to explode. 1319 01:10:18,235 --> 01:10:21,410 And I remember thinking to myself, "This is perfect." 1320 01:10:21,445 --> 01:10:23,757 Because there's nothing kids like better than to disappoint 1321 01:10:23,792 --> 01:10:26,139 what the world thinks they're going to do. 1322 01:10:26,173 --> 01:10:29,832 MAN : Ladies and gentlemen, Keef Hartley. 1323 01:10:42,776 --> 01:10:45,434 REYNOLDS: Late afternoon, the sun came out, and it was hot. 1324 01:10:45,469 --> 01:10:49,058 And we walked around a bit, because we got hungry. 1325 01:10:49,093 --> 01:10:52,683 And we quickly discovered there was no food. 1326 01:10:52,717 --> 01:10:55,306 All the booths were out of food. 1327 01:10:55,341 --> 01:10:57,377 There was nothing. 1328 01:10:57,412 --> 01:10:59,931 BEREN: We ran out of food. 1329 01:10:59,966 --> 01:11:04,315 Delivery trucks could not get through the traffic jams, 1330 01:11:04,350 --> 01:11:05,627 so there was no more food. 1331 01:11:05,661 --> 01:11:09,734 No soda, no burgers, no hot dogs, no nothing. 1332 01:11:09,769 --> 01:11:13,255 And then word spread very fast. 1333 01:11:13,290 --> 01:11:16,016 SPITZ: Sure, there was a sanitation crisis, 1334 01:11:16,051 --> 01:11:17,777 and there was a medical crisis, 1335 01:11:17,811 --> 01:11:19,710 but when the food started to go, 1336 01:11:19,744 --> 01:11:21,539 the producers knew that this could turn 1337 01:11:21,574 --> 01:11:24,784 into an even more immense problem. 1338 01:11:24,818 --> 01:11:28,512 But something really incredible happened. 1339 01:11:28,546 --> 01:11:30,652 The people of White Lake and Bethel 1340 01:11:30,686 --> 01:11:32,619 literally went in their pantries. 1341 01:11:32,654 --> 01:11:34,449 Anything that was in the refrigerator, 1342 01:11:34,483 --> 01:11:35,795 anything that was in the freezer, 1343 01:11:35,829 --> 01:11:38,280 anything that was in the house, 1344 01:11:38,315 --> 01:11:39,523 they contributed. 1345 01:11:39,557 --> 01:11:43,078 MAN: We got word over WVOS 1346 01:11:43,112 --> 01:11:45,218 that a lot of kids didn't have anything to eat. 1347 01:11:45,252 --> 01:11:46,875 Stuff was taken over to the school, 1348 01:11:46,909 --> 01:11:49,774 and they flew it to the, to the site. 1349 01:11:49,809 --> 01:11:52,363 I have a 19-year-old myself, 1350 01:11:52,398 --> 01:11:57,092 I felt that we got to give them a, a fair shake here. 1351 01:11:57,126 --> 01:12:00,647 Kids are hungry, you got to feed them. 1352 01:12:00,682 --> 01:12:04,927 JOHN CONWAY: Those helicopters were going over constantly. 1353 01:12:04,962 --> 01:12:07,758 And also a lot of the neighbors were involved 1354 01:12:07,792 --> 01:12:09,207 in efforts to make sandwiches 1355 01:12:09,242 --> 01:12:13,246 and get them to the, to the helicopters. 1356 01:12:13,280 --> 01:12:15,179 GORDON WINARICK: It was on the radio, "Bring whatever you can." 1357 01:12:15,213 --> 01:12:17,354 And I decided, we'll just send eggs, 1358 01:12:17,388 --> 01:12:19,390 because it's an egg area. 1359 01:12:19,425 --> 01:12:20,736 I tapped people for donations. 1360 01:12:20,771 --> 01:12:23,049 I said, "Look, give me cases of eggs." 1361 01:12:23,083 --> 01:12:26,915 So we hard-boiled hundreds of thousands of eggs. 1362 01:12:26,949 --> 01:12:28,295 LENI BINDER: We would never have said, 1363 01:12:28,330 --> 01:12:30,021 "We don't want any part of you, leave. 1364 01:12:30,056 --> 01:12:32,369 I don't care if you're hungry or starving." 1365 01:12:32,403 --> 01:12:35,889 That was not our communities. 1366 01:12:35,924 --> 01:12:37,926 Maybe we were hicks, but we did go, 1367 01:12:37,960 --> 01:12:41,343 as the Bible says, welcome the stranger. 1368 01:12:41,378 --> 01:12:42,620 They were hungry. 1369 01:12:42,655 --> 01:12:44,104 We fed them. 1370 01:12:45,589 --> 01:12:46,797 ROMNEY: Helicopters came in 1371 01:12:46,831 --> 01:12:49,731 with anything people wanted to donate. 1372 01:12:49,765 --> 01:12:52,009 Like little bags of picnic supplies 1373 01:12:52,043 --> 01:12:55,737 or green beans-- even a tiny can of olives. 1374 01:12:55,771 --> 01:12:57,635 You know, I just, "Yes! 1375 01:12:57,670 --> 01:12:59,257 "Bring it on! 1376 01:12:59,292 --> 01:13:04,401 We can take it and make it into food for the masses." 1377 01:13:04,435 --> 01:13:07,645 DAYE: The Hog Farm had set up this huge kitchen, 1378 01:13:07,680 --> 01:13:10,545 and they were boiling brown rice 1379 01:13:10,579 --> 01:13:12,236 and frying up vegetables, 1380 01:13:12,270 --> 01:13:14,687 and it was fabulous. 1381 01:13:21,487 --> 01:13:25,180 JABOOLIAN: I found out about the Hog Farm serving food 1382 01:13:25,214 --> 01:13:27,389 from the guy that sat next to me. 1383 01:13:27,424 --> 01:13:30,219 He says, "Yeah, man, they got free food up there. 1384 01:13:30,254 --> 01:13:32,532 You just, just go up there and get in line." 1385 01:13:34,465 --> 01:13:39,056 DILLS: I and one of my friends offer to help, 1386 01:13:39,090 --> 01:13:42,197 and they just put us on a pot, 1387 01:13:42,231 --> 01:13:44,924 and we, we scooped it for people. 1388 01:13:46,304 --> 01:13:48,410 It was kind of cool to feel like, "Wow, 1389 01:13:48,445 --> 01:13:52,103 "I'm helpless here, as are most of these people, 1390 01:13:52,138 --> 01:13:55,072 "but there are people who are taking care of us, 1391 01:13:55,106 --> 01:13:59,732 and in a sense, we're taking care of each other." 1392 01:13:59,766 --> 01:14:02,286 BILL WARD: People were good to one another. 1393 01:14:02,320 --> 01:14:05,254 I would see, I would see people 1394 01:14:05,289 --> 01:14:06,842 passing around a Coke or something; 1395 01:14:06,877 --> 01:14:09,327 other people were sharing their food. 1396 01:14:10,674 --> 01:14:12,814 STAROBIN: Everybody around us had something, 1397 01:14:12,848 --> 01:14:15,057 and we just passed everything around. 1398 01:14:15,092 --> 01:14:16,852 It was like the loaves and the fishes, 1399 01:14:16,887 --> 01:14:19,130 it really was. 1400 01:14:19,165 --> 01:14:23,549 GEORGE: This was actually kind of a functioning city 1401 01:14:23,583 --> 01:14:25,792 out in the middle of nowhere, 1402 01:14:25,827 --> 01:14:27,829 and we realized that it was functioning 1403 01:14:27,863 --> 01:14:32,040 because of people pulling together. 1404 01:14:32,074 --> 01:14:36,044 It just had this feeling that, "This was ours. 1405 01:14:36,078 --> 01:14:37,804 "This was the new city. 1406 01:14:37,839 --> 01:14:41,463 This was the alternative city, and it worked." 1407 01:14:55,442 --> 01:14:58,273 MORRIS: Saturday afternoon, the show was good. 1408 01:14:58,307 --> 01:15:01,448 But Saturday night, we really came up to speed 1409 01:15:01,483 --> 01:15:03,174 when the sun went down. 1410 01:15:03,209 --> 01:15:07,075 told the little brown hen 1411 01:15:07,109 --> 01:15:09,836 about a half past ten" 1412 01:15:09,871 --> 01:15:11,769 little boogie... 1413 01:15:11,804 --> 01:15:15,739 MORRIS: I guess we got to a point where we felt more comfortable, 1414 01:15:15,773 --> 01:15:18,707 and maybe we were proving 1415 01:15:18,742 --> 01:15:20,053 to the press and the outside world 1416 01:15:20,088 --> 01:15:21,952 that we knew what we were doing, 1417 01:15:21,986 --> 01:15:23,229 and that this was special, 1418 01:15:23,263 --> 01:15:24,989 that there was some kind of magic here. 1419 01:15:25,024 --> 01:15:27,716 And I would say that probably gave us the second wind. 1420 01:15:29,269 --> 01:15:31,375 GEORGE: I was sort of in a daze. 1421 01:15:31,409 --> 01:15:33,791 You'd been listening, watching music 1422 01:15:33,826 --> 01:15:35,552 starting in the afternoon 1423 01:15:35,586 --> 01:15:38,037 and going pretty much all through the night. 1424 01:15:38,071 --> 01:15:40,798 There's no way you couldn't get oversaturated 1425 01:15:40,833 --> 01:15:42,869 with the stimulus. 1426 01:15:42,904 --> 01:15:44,491 1427 01:15:44,526 --> 01:15:45,941 CROWD: 1428 01:15:45,976 --> 01:15:47,011 1429 01:15:47,046 --> 01:15:48,426 GEORGE: For me, 1430 01:15:48,461 --> 01:15:51,188 the most memorable performance that night 1431 01:15:51,222 --> 01:15:52,569 was Sly and the Family Stone. 1432 01:15:52,603 --> 01:15:54,294 SLY: 1433 01:15:54,329 --> 01:15:56,607 GEORGE: The music, yes, but the, the crowd 1434 01:15:56,642 --> 01:16:01,405 and just feeling this incredible electricity. 1435 01:16:01,439 --> 01:16:03,614 I mean, it was the middle of the night, 1436 01:16:03,649 --> 01:16:06,617 and everybody was up dancing. 1437 01:16:06,652 --> 01:16:09,206 It was just a pulsing hillside 1438 01:16:09,240 --> 01:16:12,105 of hundreds of thousands of people. 1439 01:16:15,212 --> 01:16:16,800 1440 01:16:16,834 --> 01:16:18,284 1441 01:16:18,318 --> 01:16:19,975 1442 01:16:20,010 --> 01:16:21,770 1443 01:16:24,635 --> 01:16:26,395 DILTZ: I was in front of the stage, 1444 01:16:26,430 --> 01:16:28,639 shooting it, you know, taking pictures. 1445 01:16:28,674 --> 01:16:30,296 Roger Daltrey, up there, 1446 01:16:30,330 --> 01:16:34,024 with fringe on his cape flying around. 1447 01:16:34,058 --> 01:16:35,646 And he'd twirl that microphone around, 1448 01:16:35,681 --> 01:16:37,406 and, you know, he would just miss the floor, 1449 01:16:37,441 --> 01:16:39,167 and then it would come arcing through the air, 1450 01:16:39,201 --> 01:16:40,755 and he'd grab it just in time, 1451 01:16:40,789 --> 01:16:42,135 you know, to get into, 1452 01:16:42,170 --> 01:16:45,345 "Talkin' 'bout my generation." 1453 01:16:45,380 --> 01:16:47,002 And then there was Townshend leaping in the air, 1454 01:16:47,037 --> 01:16:49,798 and doing his splits, and landing on stage. 1455 01:16:49,833 --> 01:16:52,214 DALTREY: what, what, what we all say 1456 01:16:52,249 --> 01:16:54,320 1457 01:16:54,354 --> 01:16:56,805 GREEN: "Talkin' 'bout my generation," 1458 01:16:56,840 --> 01:16:59,705 and that was my generation. 1459 01:16:59,739 --> 01:17:01,051 When they sang that song, 1460 01:17:01,085 --> 01:17:03,881 they, you know, elicited this clarion call, 1461 01:17:03,916 --> 01:17:05,262 and we went, "Rock and roll!" 1462 01:17:05,296 --> 01:17:09,093 1463 01:17:13,684 --> 01:17:18,102 DILTZ: The Who was absolutely fantastic, 1464 01:17:18,137 --> 01:17:20,587 and they were still playing as the dawn came up. 1465 01:17:40,400 --> 01:17:42,575 All right, friends, you have seen the heavy groups. 1466 01:17:42,609 --> 01:17:45,889 Now you will see morning maniac music. 1467 01:17:45,923 --> 01:17:47,891 Believe me, yeah. 1468 01:17:47,925 --> 01:17:49,893 It's the new dawn. 1469 01:17:52,136 --> 01:17:55,899 The regular guys and Nicky Hopkins. 1470 01:18:00,282 --> 01:18:01,559 PAUL KANTNER: I could barely remember our performance, 1471 01:18:01,594 --> 01:18:04,079 because it was 6:30 in the morning. 1472 01:18:04,114 --> 01:18:07,013 We just went out and played as best we could. 1473 01:18:07,048 --> 01:18:09,119 We were pretty burned, though, by the time we got onstage. 1474 01:18:09,153 --> 01:18:10,879 Good morning, people! 1475 01:18:10,914 --> 01:18:13,537 EDGES: And we could see there was a lot of people just asleep. 1476 01:18:13,571 --> 01:18:16,298 And the fires were starting to go out, 1477 01:18:16,333 --> 01:18:18,956 and people were crashing. 1478 01:18:21,096 --> 01:18:23,443 LAWRENCE: I was walking around, and everybody was sleeping. 1479 01:18:23,478 --> 01:18:29,173 I mean, people were horizontal all over the place, you know? 1480 01:18:29,208 --> 01:18:31,175 It looked like after a big party. 1481 01:18:33,730 --> 01:18:38,217 1482 01:18:38,251 --> 01:18:42,842 1483 01:18:42,877 --> 01:18:47,191 1484 01:18:47,226 --> 01:18:52,300 1485 01:18:52,334 --> 01:18:57,995 the world's behind you 1486 01:18:58,030 --> 01:18:59,376 WAVY GRAVY : Good morning. 1487 01:18:59,410 --> 01:19:02,206 What we have in mind is breakfast in bed 1488 01:19:02,241 --> 01:19:05,831 for 400,000. 1489 01:19:05,865 --> 01:19:10,111 Now, it's not going to be steak and eggs or anything, 1490 01:19:10,145 --> 01:19:13,908 but it's gonna be good food, and we're gonna get it to you. 1491 01:19:13,942 --> 01:19:16,117 We're all feeding each other. 1492 01:19:18,360 --> 01:19:22,295 We must be in heaven, man! 1493 01:19:22,330 --> 01:19:24,228 ROMNEY: What we served was plain raw oats 1494 01:19:24,263 --> 01:19:27,059 with honey and powdered milk mixed up, 1495 01:19:27,093 --> 01:19:29,268 'cause it wasn't any time to toast oats. 1496 01:19:29,302 --> 01:19:31,028 And, you know, it was just, 1497 01:19:31,063 --> 01:19:34,583 we threw nuts and seeds and raisins in it. 1498 01:19:34,618 --> 01:19:37,379 And I think we had ten serving stations, 1499 01:19:37,414 --> 01:19:40,210 and the lines of people in front of each of the serving stations 1500 01:19:40,244 --> 01:19:42,246 were as long as you could see. 1501 01:19:45,387 --> 01:19:48,149 The Yasgurs supplied us with milk and yogurt. 1502 01:19:48,183 --> 01:19:51,669 And it was just like a gift from an angel. 1503 01:19:51,704 --> 01:19:54,949 1504 01:19:54,983 --> 01:19:57,883 1505 01:20:00,333 --> 01:20:03,164 MORRIS : We have a gentleman with us. 1506 01:20:03,198 --> 01:20:04,959 It's the gentleman upon whose farm we are, 1507 01:20:04,993 --> 01:20:06,512 Mr. Max Yasgur. 1508 01:20:09,653 --> 01:20:13,519 MORRIS: In the early afternoon, Max came down to the stage, 1509 01:20:13,553 --> 01:20:15,072 and he said, "I'd like to speak to the crowd." 1510 01:20:15,107 --> 01:20:16,556 And I said, 1511 01:20:16,591 --> 01:20:20,215 "I think the crowd would very much like to meet you." 1512 01:20:20,250 --> 01:20:21,838 MAX YASGUR: Is this on? 1513 01:20:28,430 --> 01:20:31,123 I'm a farmer, I don't know... 1514 01:20:35,817 --> 01:20:39,476 I don't know how to speak to 20 people at one time, 1515 01:20:39,510 --> 01:20:41,823 let alone a crowd like this. 1516 01:20:43,790 --> 01:20:48,899 But I think you people have proven something to the world. 1517 01:20:48,934 --> 01:20:50,797 Not only to town of Bethel, 1518 01:20:50,832 --> 01:20:52,627 or Sullivan County, or New York state, 1519 01:20:52,661 --> 01:20:55,009 you've proven something to the world. 1520 01:20:55,043 --> 01:20:59,530 The important thing that you've proven to the world 1521 01:20:59,565 --> 01:21:02,706 is that a half a million kids-- and I call you kids, 1522 01:21:02,740 --> 01:21:05,640 because I have children that are older than you are-- 1523 01:21:05,674 --> 01:21:08,850 a half a million young people can get together 1524 01:21:08,885 --> 01:21:12,233 and have three days of fun and music, 1525 01:21:12,267 --> 01:21:14,580 and have nothing but fun and music. 1526 01:21:14,614 --> 01:21:16,616 And I God bless you for it. 1527 01:21:20,172 --> 01:21:22,105 DILLS: It was an affirmation, you know, 1528 01:21:22,139 --> 01:21:24,107 that instead of being angry, 1529 01:21:24,141 --> 01:21:27,455 that he was that positive about us. 1530 01:21:27,489 --> 01:21:31,424 And I'm sure that his fields were just destroyed. 1531 01:21:31,459 --> 01:21:35,152 But if a conservative Upstate New York farmer 1532 01:21:35,187 --> 01:21:36,257 could feel that way, 1533 01:21:36,291 --> 01:21:38,915 well, that was pretty cool. 1534 01:21:38,949 --> 01:21:43,574 In that moment, I realized, being in the middle of it, 1535 01:21:43,609 --> 01:21:46,060 that not only was Woodstock bigger 1536 01:21:46,094 --> 01:21:47,854 than we ever could have imagined, 1537 01:21:47,889 --> 01:21:52,721 but it was symbolically even bigger. 1538 01:21:58,003 --> 01:22:00,937 MAN : Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Joe Cocker. 1539 01:22:00,971 --> 01:22:02,352 Let's go for Sunday! 1540 01:22:02,386 --> 01:22:04,078 Yes, yes, well, good afternoon. 1541 01:22:04,112 --> 01:22:08,910 And this title just about puts this all into focus. 1542 01:22:08,945 --> 01:22:11,637 It's called "With a Little Help From My Friends." 1543 01:22:14,640 --> 01:22:21,060 if I sang out of tune 1544 01:22:21,095 --> 01:22:27,066 and walk out on me 1545 01:22:27,101 --> 01:22:34,522 and I'll sing you a song 1546 01:22:34,556 --> 01:22:38,353 out of key 1547 01:22:38,388 --> 01:22:41,011 1548 01:22:41,046 --> 01:22:44,187 BACKING SINGERS: from my friends 1549 01:22:44,221 --> 01:22:45,809 COCKER: 1550 01:22:45,843 --> 01:22:49,019 SINGERS: from my friends 1551 01:22:49,054 --> 01:22:52,781 COCKER: I'm gonna try a way 1552 01:22:52,816 --> 01:22:56,889 SINGERS: from my friends 1553 01:22:56,923 --> 01:22:59,064 DILLS: I really liked what Joe Cocker was singing about, 1554 01:22:59,098 --> 01:23:04,069 because in one sense, I had 450,000 friends. 1555 01:23:13,768 --> 01:23:16,115 COCKER: When we got into "Little Help," 1556 01:23:16,150 --> 01:23:20,050 I just felt that we'd really caught a massive consciousness 1557 01:23:20,085 --> 01:23:22,294 in the crowd. 1558 01:23:22,328 --> 01:23:24,089 It was a powerful feeling. 1559 01:23:25,538 --> 01:23:28,403 MAN : That's Joe Cocker! 1560 01:23:28,438 --> 01:23:33,029 COCKER: And then somebody yelled at me, "Joe, look over your shoulder." 1561 01:23:35,100 --> 01:23:36,860 MORRIS: It was hot as could be. 1562 01:23:36,894 --> 01:23:39,897 And you look up in the sky behind the audience, 1563 01:23:39,932 --> 01:23:42,521 and you can see these black clouds 1564 01:23:42,555 --> 01:23:44,454 like Armageddon coming at you. 1565 01:23:44,488 --> 01:23:46,007 It looks like we're going to get a bit of rain, 1566 01:23:46,042 --> 01:23:48,665 so you better cover up. 1567 01:23:48,699 --> 01:23:52,462 All of you up in the towers, please come down. 1568 01:23:52,496 --> 01:23:53,877 You're making it very, very dangerous. 1569 01:23:53,911 --> 01:23:56,224 COLLIER: Hanging on these big light stands 1570 01:23:56,259 --> 01:23:57,846 were a bunch of kids who had used them 1571 01:23:57,881 --> 01:23:59,814 to get a better perch to watch the show from. 1572 01:23:59,848 --> 01:24:05,061 People screamed, "Come down, get down from there!" 1573 01:24:05,095 --> 01:24:07,822 MORRIS : All right, everybody, just sit down, wrap yourself up. 1574 01:24:07,856 --> 01:24:11,308 We're gonna have to have to ride it out. 1575 01:24:11,343 --> 01:24:15,933 Jody, get off the stage. 1576 01:24:15,968 --> 01:24:17,935 Get off the stage. 1577 01:24:20,179 --> 01:24:24,701 MORRIS: I mean, all hell started breaking loose. 1578 01:24:24,735 --> 01:24:26,979 And then, Barry Melton of Country Joe and the Fish 1579 01:24:27,013 --> 01:24:28,429 grabbed a mic. 1580 01:24:28,463 --> 01:24:31,225 No rain, no rain, no rain! 1581 01:24:31,259 --> 01:24:36,747 MELTON AND CROWD: No rain, no rain, no rain, no rain! 1582 01:24:36,782 --> 01:24:43,927 No rain, no rain, no rain, no rain, no rain! 1583 01:24:45,480 --> 01:24:46,861 LAW: And then it hit. 1584 01:24:46,895 --> 01:24:51,279 It hit like a major, you know, country storm. 1585 01:24:51,314 --> 01:24:55,111 It was not a tornado, but it had that kind of feel to it. 1586 01:24:56,526 --> 01:24:58,562 Everyone scrambled to cover equipment. 1587 01:24:58,597 --> 01:25:03,084 I mean, there was a billion volts of equipment. 1588 01:25:03,119 --> 01:25:05,259 You wouldn't believe the amount of electrical energy 1589 01:25:05,293 --> 01:25:08,020 on the stage and in those towers. 1590 01:25:08,054 --> 01:25:10,885 ROSENMAN: During the storm, I learned 1591 01:25:10,919 --> 01:25:14,958 that 50,000-volt cables had become unearthed. 1592 01:25:14,992 --> 01:25:18,651 Then we could have a mass electrocution. 1593 01:25:18,686 --> 01:25:21,344 Fortunately, that didn't happen. 1594 01:25:26,038 --> 01:25:29,938 VIC WELLS: There were a lot of people who had plastic and blankets. 1595 01:25:29,973 --> 01:25:31,630 Of course, the blankets got soaked. 1596 01:25:31,664 --> 01:25:34,529 You know, you either just covered up, 1597 01:25:34,564 --> 01:25:39,810 or you just held your head up and enjoyed it. 1598 01:25:50,856 --> 01:25:53,824 STAROBIN: The outside world thought it was a disaster area. 1599 01:25:53,859 --> 01:25:57,207 Well, that's not what we thought. 1600 01:25:57,242 --> 01:26:01,936 And so people started playing in the mud like children. 1601 01:26:01,970 --> 01:26:04,835 It was like they were six years old, 1602 01:26:04,870 --> 01:26:09,185 going down a waterslide in their front yard. 1603 01:26:23,026 --> 01:26:26,892 JAMES SALZER: After the rain, the crowd really thinned out. 1604 01:26:26,926 --> 01:26:32,863 I guess a lot of people just wanted to get back home. 1605 01:26:34,969 --> 01:26:36,971 DEBRA CONWAY: I had to go to work the next day. 1606 01:26:37,005 --> 01:26:39,353 So, you know, like a lot of people, 1607 01:26:39,387 --> 01:26:41,527 we hiked back to where the car was 1608 01:26:41,562 --> 01:26:44,047 and went home. 1609 01:26:46,739 --> 01:26:49,535 SPITZ: For everybody at the festival, 1610 01:26:49,570 --> 01:26:53,159 battling the elements was a constant struggle. 1611 01:26:53,194 --> 01:26:56,128 They were plagued by weather from the get-go. 1612 01:26:56,162 --> 01:26:59,890 Then after the Sunday storm, the site was a mess. 1613 01:26:59,925 --> 01:27:02,410 But the festival went on. 1614 01:27:04,067 --> 01:27:05,206 Marijuana! 1615 01:27:05,241 --> 01:27:07,760 SPITZ: Country Joe and the Fish was first up. 1616 01:27:13,939 --> 01:27:16,838 There were a lot of great performances that night. 1617 01:27:16,873 --> 01:27:19,496 But I think the one that really stood out for most people 1618 01:27:19,531 --> 01:27:21,360 was Crosby, Stills, and Nash, 1619 01:27:21,395 --> 01:27:23,500 because it was their first time 1620 01:27:23,535 --> 01:27:24,881 they had ever performed together. 1621 01:27:24,915 --> 01:27:26,469 MAN : ...Stills, and Nash. 1622 01:27:27,953 --> 01:27:30,300 CROSBY: I remember being terrified. 1623 01:27:30,335 --> 01:27:33,510 Nobody had seen us get up and sing harmony together. 1624 01:27:33,545 --> 01:27:35,305 Nobody had seen it, this was it. 1625 01:27:35,340 --> 01:27:37,721 This was the first time. 1626 01:27:37,756 --> 01:27:40,655 1627 01:27:40,690 --> 01:27:45,315 1628 01:27:45,350 --> 01:27:52,149 DATE: There were moments where the music was so mesmerizing, 1629 01:27:52,184 --> 01:27:54,807 so internalized, 1630 01:27:54,842 --> 01:27:59,329 that I became the music I was listening to. 1631 01:27:59,364 --> 01:28:01,538 I remember sitting in the mud 1632 01:28:01,573 --> 01:28:03,747 listening to Crosby, Stills, and Nash, 1633 01:28:03,782 --> 01:28:06,578 looking at the sheer beauty of the night sky, 1634 01:28:06,612 --> 01:28:11,065 wrapped in a blanket of music. 1635 01:28:11,099 --> 01:28:14,758 It was the feeling of oneness with it all. 1636 01:28:32,397 --> 01:28:35,054 WAVY GRAVY: The last morning of the festival, 1637 01:28:35,089 --> 01:28:38,748 I'm wandering through people rising up out of the mud. 1638 01:28:38,782 --> 01:28:41,751 And this amazing music, suddenly... 1639 01:28:43,994 --> 01:28:47,032 It was Jimi Hendrix just filling my ears 1640 01:28:47,066 --> 01:28:51,416 with the wonder of the national anthem. 1641 01:29:00,977 --> 01:29:05,499 COLLIER: I was backstage writing up some notes, 1642 01:29:05,533 --> 01:29:11,297 when suddenly, into my head stabbed this sound. 1643 01:29:14,266 --> 01:29:19,271 It sounded exactly like rockets, missiles, 1644 01:29:19,305 --> 01:29:20,548 and bombs bursting in air. 1645 01:29:22,723 --> 01:29:27,003 I'd never heard anything like that in my life. 1646 01:29:32,871 --> 01:29:35,287 LAW: We're at the most peaceful gathering 1647 01:29:35,321 --> 01:29:38,117 that was probably happening on the planet at the time. 1648 01:29:38,152 --> 01:29:41,258 And he hooked us up with Vietnam. 1649 01:29:41,293 --> 01:29:46,367 It was the devastation and the brutality and the insanity. 1650 01:29:50,095 --> 01:29:52,615 That was a quintessential piece of art. 1651 01:30:09,390 --> 01:30:11,910 GREEN: There was an essence that is indescribable. 1652 01:30:11,944 --> 01:30:13,981 You can feel it in your body, 1653 01:30:14,015 --> 01:30:16,570 you can feel it right here in your heart, 1654 01:30:16,604 --> 01:30:18,675 when you know that this is life. 1655 01:30:18,710 --> 01:30:21,402 This is the essence of life. 1656 01:30:21,437 --> 01:30:25,130 He had it, and he gave it to us. 1657 01:30:38,971 --> 01:30:41,077 DILTZ: Everybody was so still. 1658 01:30:41,111 --> 01:30:45,564 Most of the crowd had left. 1659 01:30:45,599 --> 01:30:47,152 I was onstage. 1660 01:30:47,186 --> 01:30:49,257 I was shooting right next to him. 1661 01:30:49,292 --> 01:30:51,950 Just, God, it was just a moment, you know, 1662 01:30:51,984 --> 01:30:53,779 that was just wonderful. 1663 01:30:53,814 --> 01:30:55,298 It's his guitar ringing out. 1664 01:31:01,028 --> 01:31:03,651 And then suddenly, it was all over. 1665 01:31:12,384 --> 01:31:18,735 MORRIS: The site looked like Civil War pictures of battlefields. 1666 01:31:18,770 --> 01:31:23,464 I was terrified I might find somebody dead. 1667 01:31:23,499 --> 01:31:27,468 And so I walked all of the site. 1668 01:31:27,503 --> 01:31:31,299 And it stank, it really stank. 1669 01:31:31,334 --> 01:31:34,475 There were just a few people wandering around. 1670 01:31:34,510 --> 01:31:35,787 Nobody injured, nobody dead. 1671 01:31:35,821 --> 01:31:38,652 A great relief. 1672 01:31:38,686 --> 01:31:42,276 And then we started the cleanup. 1673 01:31:42,310 --> 01:31:45,003 DILTZ: What was left behind was this incredible sea 1674 01:31:45,037 --> 01:31:49,283 of soggy, wet sleeping bags and cardboard boxes 1675 01:31:49,317 --> 01:31:50,767 and tents that were all, you know, 1676 01:31:50,802 --> 01:31:52,631 knocked down and trampled on. 1677 01:31:52,666 --> 01:31:56,980 All this flotsam and jetsam. 1678 01:31:58,223 --> 01:31:59,914 GEORGE: We stayed for a while, 1679 01:31:59,949 --> 01:32:02,227 helping clean up trash. 1680 01:32:02,261 --> 01:32:08,164 There were a lot of people out there helping clean up. 1681 01:32:11,132 --> 01:32:14,688 STAROBIN: We so did not want to leave. 1682 01:32:14,722 --> 01:32:18,208 We kind of sensed that, you know, 1683 01:32:18,243 --> 01:32:21,004 we could change the world for three days, 1684 01:32:21,039 --> 01:32:23,593 but the rest of the world wasn't with us, 1685 01:32:23,628 --> 01:32:27,597 and we knew that it was going to be a real culture shock 1686 01:32:27,632 --> 01:32:30,324 coming back into society. 1687 01:32:30,358 --> 01:32:36,019 REPORTER: More than 350,000 people came looking for peace and music. 1688 01:32:36,054 --> 01:32:39,367 Many said they learned a lot about themselves 1689 01:32:39,402 --> 01:32:42,508 and learned a lot about getting along together 1690 01:32:42,543 --> 01:32:43,993 and priorities. 1691 01:32:44,027 --> 01:32:47,721 And for most, that alone makes it all worthwhile. 1692 01:32:50,551 --> 01:32:55,694 WAVY GRAVY: We realized that we were part of this amazing event 1693 01:32:55,729 --> 01:32:59,698 that nothing like it ever was before. 1694 01:32:59,733 --> 01:33:04,703 LAW: The festival became a symbol of intelligence and humanity 1695 01:33:04,738 --> 01:33:09,881 and cooperation and love and affection. 1696 01:33:09,915 --> 01:33:14,057 It was the start of a phenomenal change 1697 01:33:14,092 --> 01:33:17,509 in a lot of people's lives. 1698 01:33:17,543 --> 01:33:21,030 MAX YASGUR: When I realized, Friday night and Saturday morning, 1699 01:33:21,064 --> 01:33:24,896 that we were getting up close to the half-a-million mark, 1700 01:33:24,930 --> 01:33:28,589 and there was a sea of people here, 1701 01:33:28,624 --> 01:33:30,833 I became quite apprehensive. 1702 01:33:30,867 --> 01:33:32,248 Uh... 1703 01:33:32,282 --> 01:33:35,044 Thoughts flashed through my mind 1704 01:33:35,078 --> 01:33:39,393 of some other problems that they have had throughout the country. 1705 01:33:39,427 --> 01:33:41,326 And these kids, 1706 01:33:41,360 --> 01:33:44,709 these young people made me feel guilty today, 1707 01:33:44,743 --> 01:33:46,296 because there were no problems. 1708 01:33:46,331 --> 01:33:50,404 They proved to me, and they proved to the whole world 1709 01:33:50,438 --> 01:33:51,888 that they didn't come up for any problems. 1710 01:33:51,923 --> 01:33:53,372 They came up 1711 01:33:53,407 --> 01:33:54,857 for exactly what they said they were coming up for, 1712 01:33:54,891 --> 01:33:57,963 for three days of music and peace. 1713 01:33:57,998 --> 01:34:04,314 DAYE: It was a mark in cosmic time. 1714 01:34:04,349 --> 01:34:06,903 I have no doubt about that. 1715 01:34:06,938 --> 01:34:09,319 I'm not saying it never happened before 1716 01:34:09,354 --> 01:34:12,150 or that it couldn't happen in the future. 1717 01:34:12,184 --> 01:34:18,915 But that, that stopped the clocks for three days. 1718 01:34:18,950 --> 01:34:22,988 GEORGE: I felt like I had finally gotten to fully experience 1719 01:34:23,023 --> 01:34:28,614 what I was hoping the counterculture meant. 1720 01:34:28,649 --> 01:34:31,272 Woodstock was a very powerful confirmation 1721 01:34:31,307 --> 01:34:33,447 that, "Yeah, this is what you're looking for, 1722 01:34:33,481 --> 01:34:38,210 and that you're headed in the right direction." 1723 01:34:40,454 --> 01:34:42,456 STAROBIN: Everyone looking after one another, 1724 01:34:42,490 --> 01:34:44,665 everybody caring about one another. 1725 01:34:44,700 --> 01:34:48,427 I mean, once I experienced that, 1726 01:34:48,462 --> 01:34:53,294 I made it the basis for the whole rest of my life. 1727 01:35:01,406 --> 01:35:05,272 ROSENMAN: At Woodstock, we tried to let the audience know, 1728 01:35:05,306 --> 01:35:06,998 in every way that we could, 1729 01:35:07,032 --> 01:35:09,828 that we believed in them. 1730 01:35:09,863 --> 01:35:13,659 That inside them was a loving nature, 1731 01:35:13,694 --> 01:35:19,113 a decency, and a fineness of spirit. 1732 01:35:19,148 --> 01:35:21,219 You can forget it sometimes, 1733 01:35:21,253 --> 01:35:27,190 but very few of us want to be other than that. 1734 01:35:27,225 --> 01:35:29,227 You just need the opportunity. 1735 01:35:52,595 --> 01:35:58,566 and minutes of uncertainty 1736 01:35:58,601 --> 01:36:07,886 of your loving mind 1737 01:36:07,921 --> 01:36:12,339 1738 01:36:12,373 --> 01:36:16,826 along the sand 1739 01:36:16,861 --> 01:36:24,834 and catch the wind 1740 01:36:24,869 --> 01:36:29,356 1741 01:36:29,390 --> 01:36:32,428 behind your smile 1742 01:36:32,462 --> 01:36:38,710 your eyes I'd find 1743 01:36:41,678 --> 01:36:47,892 would be the sweetest thing 1744 01:36:47,926 --> 01:36:49,548 1745 01:36:49,583 --> 01:36:57,177 and catch the wind 1746 01:37:09,430 --> 01:37:12,433 with tears 1747 01:37:12,468 --> 01:37:17,369 to kill my fears 1748 01:37:17,404 --> 01:37:21,580 all my blues behind...