Danielle Krum May 30, 2011 Research Final Woodstock 1969 Every memory of the summer of 1969 is connected to, in one way or another, the historical event, Woodstock. The festival could not have left more of an impact on the “hippie” generation anymore than it did those three days of music and peace. The generation of the time wanted nothing more than what they got out of Woodstock. Today, people still look back on the festival and think of how well it made history without the expectance of doing so. Woodstock, one of the most important cultural events of the 20th century, combined iconic musical acts with interesting social behavior. In 1969, a group of men set up a music festival, known as Woodstock, which lasted for three, …show more content…
“Many commentators have since claimed that peace and good will arose not in spite of disaster, but because of it. The hunger, rain, mud, and unserviced toilets conspired to create an adversity against which people could unite and bond” (Cooke 178). Most of the fans present expressed how they felt about the war in riots and violence. “Woodstock Ventures retained its exclusive rights, but the memory of Woodstock Nation belongs to the world; it is irrevocably imbedded in American culture” (Cooke 179). Not only was the war an influence, but the gathering itself influenced the historical outcome. “The most common feeling among all parties-producers, musicians, audience, town, and nation-was the sense of history in the making. It was the largest group of people ever gathered, and the greatest roster of musicians ever assembled, and it became the defining moment of a generation” (Cooke 178). At the time, teens and young adults were looking for ways to rebel against their religious and strict parents, but in a way that would affect the world in a positive way. “Woodstock was, in many ways, a symbolic high point for the 1960s generation, proving that peace and love were possible in the world, if only for a moment” (Berg 863). The war in Vietnam was a huge event that was taking place at the time of Woodstock. Many of the fans that were present, were
In the 1960s, Rock ‘n’ Roll was replaced in popularity by other branches of rock such as Acid Rock, Psychedelic Rock and Hard Rock as a hippie counter culture arose, mainly to protest against the Vietnam war. These new forms of rock provided social commentary on the wide range of assassinations and anti-civil rights actions that infested the country, and united those that wanted to end them. They too celebrated anti-authority actions, but now they were used to promote peace and drugs. Americans—mainly college students—were still rebelling against societal constraints, but instead of fighting against the conformity of white suburbia and their parents, they were uniting to fight against U.S. governmental authority. Rock in the 1960s still mainly appealed to the younger generations, but its influence was spreading. Folk Rock (Bob Dylan) was playing in protest, reminding the individuals there that they were fighting for peace, and Psychedelic Rock—which replicated or enhanced the mind altering experience of psychedelic drugs—created a soothing and new atmosphere in the U.S. Music festivals such as Woodstock in 1969 sprung up to promote peace, do drugs, listen to music, and enjoy being alive and young.6 However, this element of extreme partying and pleasure, eventually brought a few stars to early deaths, such as Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. In the
The cultural process of Woodstock consisted of rejoicing in the different styles of music and in each individual that came. The festival included many social dramas. Individuals, in that number, are bound to have differences. Woodstock taught people, approximately 400,000, how to resolve their issues by sharing a common goal. The celebration helped to advance the ideas of peace and unity throughout the generation.
The 1960s was crammed full of many impacting events and important figures. From Hitchcock releasing one of the greatest thrillers of all time, Psycho, to Marilyn Monroe’s untimely death, to the infamous Woodstock festival. This era changed history completely and made the United States think twice about its youth. Events of the 1960s are still impacting our country as we know it today. The sudden pull from the conservative ‘50s changed America’s views on all aspects of life, including fashion, entertainment, and lifestyles.
In the summer of 1969, a music festival known as “Woodstock” took place for three straight days in Upstate, New York with thirty-two musical acts playing, and over 400,000 people from around the world coming to join this musical and peaceful movement. Woodstock started out being a small concert, created to promote peace in the world. Now, Woodstock is still being celebrated over 40 years later. This three day music festival represented the perfect concert for the “baby boomers” during a messy political time. Woodstock significantly impacted the counterculture era of the 1960’s in a number of ways; how it began, the ideas of the concert, the sense of union and love it represented and it
On this somewhat rainy weekend, nearly 500,000 people came together for the largest music festival of its time on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, and was simply known as Woodstock. The festival included 32 acts and was “widely considered to be the definitive nexus for the larger counterculture generation”. This was a weekend in which peace and acceptance throughout the country was celebrated and communicated through love and music, just like during the Watts and Altamont music festival. The man who owned the dairy farm even mentioned that “the near half million group of young people that came to Woodstock proved to the world that they can get together for fun and music, nothing but fun and
The rise of counterculture in the 1960s was caused in large part by the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, military conscription, and the teenagers of affluent middle-class parents. The teenagers of those families wanted more than anything else to experience life to its fullest, before it was too late. The irony was that “ behaviors by counterculture youth were and are an easy target for criticism, especially on the part of those eager to belittle the decade’s significance ( Morgan; 170). There were two waves of the counterculture (hippie) movement; the first dealt with the shock of JFK’s assassination, government aid to Vietnam, the student sit-ins and the militant stance of the Black Panthers. All of which caused a weariness to hippie-dome
A three day concert that rolled into a fourth day, involved a lot of drugs, music, and mud. It soon became a symbol of what is known as “Woodstock Nation”, which is the term used to describe young people who distrusted authority and standard American values. In the sixties the word “hippie” had a negative connotation to it, making this festival more frowned upon than anything. This festival was also considered a reaction to conservative attitudes of post World War I.
Let It Be, Strawberry Fields Forever, Revolution, and many other songs by the British rock band, The Beatles, helped shape the counterculture movement. Many songs by The Beatles supported the ideas of rebellion, freedom and drug use. The Beatles were the most popular musical group in the 1960s, and they were loved and idolized by many. They are still considered to be one of the greatest, if not the, greatest musical group ever. Although the Beatles were the most popular and influential rock group of the time, eclectic groups and singers of all different genres helped shape the music scene in the 1960s, such as: Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and the Who. Music by all of these artists “reflected the new sexual permissiveness and drug trends” (The American Experience 2). In 1969, a music festival called “Woodstock” was put together. It lasted for over three days and around 500,000 people came to listen to the music. Artists like the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. The majority of the people that attended the festival were hippies. Hippies wore loose clothing, for the most part advocated drug use, and promoted peace and love. Woodstock showcased a moment in time where an entire generation became empowered and realized that they needed to break away from the status quo. Music had a huge influence on the baby-boomer generation and the counterculture of the 1960s as a whole.
Woodstock has been portrayed by the media to be the most important and influential festival of the sixties, however that may not be the case. The Monterey Pop Festival is one of the pre-Woodstock festivals that had the same or more effect on the culture of the 1960s. The Monterey Pop festival took place directly in the center of the counter culture seen during the movements’ most important year, 1967. The summer of 1967 is the most important year of the hippie movement because it gave the movement nationwide awareness. It may have also led to the demise of the Cultural Revolution. The best example of the summer of love was where it originated at the corners of Haight and Ashbury Street in the bay area of San Francisco, California. This would be the location of the year’s most important rock festival (Perone 1). The narcotics LSD and Marijuana were the fuel for the Bay Area music scene. The drugs were at the height of their use in 1967 influencing the various psychedelic acts that were then becoming nationwide hits. Some of the area bands that would soon gain importance in the music world were The Grateful Dead, The Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Steve Miller Band, and Santana. In the striving music and cultural scene America’s first
The 1960’s was one of the most controversial decades in American history because of not only the Vietnam War, but there was an outbreak of protests involving civil and social conditions all across college campuses. These protests have been taken to the extent where people either have died or have been seriously injured. However, during the 1960’s, America saw a popular form of art known as protest music, which responded to the social turmoil of that era, from the civil rights movement to the war in Vietnam. A veritable pantheon of musicians, such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan sang their songs to encourage union organizers to protest the inequities of their time, creating a diverse variety of popular
Woodstock Woodstock was a rock music festival that took place near Woodstock, New York in a town called Bethel. The festival took place over three days, August 15, 16, and 17, 1969. The original plan for Woodstock was an outdoor rock festival, "three days of peace and music" in the Catskill village of Woodstock. The festival was expected to attract 50,000 to 100,000 people. It was estimated that an unexpected 400,000 or more people attended. If it weren't for Woodstock, rock and roll wouldn't be where it is today. Woodstock became a symbol of the 1960s American counterculture and a milestone in the history of rock music. The original plan for Woodstock had been to build a recording studio in the town of Woodstock (Sandow,
John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfeld, and Mike Lang were the minds behind the creation of these “Three Days of Peace and Music”, the oldest of which was only 27. This festival, and all the music played during this time, was extremely influential. Americans at this time needed a weekend of peace, for tension was high. At this time Nixon was threatening to bomb North Vietnam, over 35,000 U.S. military personnel have died in the line of duty, and communism was terrifyingly close to America. Friends and family were overseas, and this music festival was a way to spread the idea of peace and love through a medium that was understood by all: music. This festival would not have occurred if it was not for the high tensions and influence of countureculture through popular music at the time.
The “hippies” of the 1960s had many effects on the American society. The visual appearance and lifestyle of the hippies were in sharp contrast to the conservative nature of the older generation, which defined them as a counterculture. The hippie lifestyle was based on free love, rock music, shared property, and drug experimentation. They introduced a new perspective on drugs, freedom of expression, appearance, music, attitudes toward work, and held a much more liberal political view than mainstream society.
By 1965, hippies had become an established social group in the United States, which eventually permeated worldwide through music, literature, the dramatic arts, fashion, and the visual arts. By June 1966, around 15,000 hippies moved into the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. On October 6, 1966 California declared LSD a controlled substance making it illegal. In response, San Francisco hippies gathered in the Golden Gate Park and called the protest the Love Pageant Rally, which attracted 700-800 people. Later in 1967, the Human Be-In in Golden Gate Park led to the legendary Summer of Love on the West Coast, and the 1969 Woodstock Festival on the East
Two days after the YIPPIES were informed of the curfew the “Festival of Life” officially began. Thousands eventually attended, but only one band arrived and they feared their sound equipment would be destroyed by the police. Flowers were passed out, people smoke pot, made-out, listened to poetry and were having a virtually peaceful and harmless time.