Boom! Woodstock Was A Turning Point

It was on this date in 1970 that the Woodstock documentary was released. For those kids who WISHED they had gone, it was a wistful glimpse of the fun (and mud) they missed. For adults/parents, it was just further confirmation that the country was going to hell in a hand basket.

I’m reading Tom Brokaw’s book, “Boom!” a look at the 60’s as a whole. I highly recommend this book for anyone who lived through the decade-and for those who want a deeper understanding of the events that shape us even today. For Brokaw, his definition of the “60’s” starts in November of 1963 with the assassination of President Kennedy-and ends with the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974.

Woodstock was just ONE of the seminal events of that troubled decade, fueled by massive dissatisfaction over the war in Viet Nam. Cynicism that grew out of the deaths of both Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King, Jr, combined with the changing attitudes about women, sex and race made for a powerful mixing bowl in which the sociological experiment known as Woodstock took place. A veritable Petri dish in which was combined over 500,000 youth, not enough sanitation facilities—and an unhealthy amount of drugs—and, it must be said, some pretty damn good music.

The result was an uncommonly peaceful (if not smelly) cultural event the likes of which had never been seen. I was only 11 at the time, but I wish that I had been on Max Yasgur’s farm those days—to see and experience for myself what I can only see now through film.

The documentary itself is too long, but the following short video clip/slide show gives some interesting background on Woodstock:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RbD9B-pL50

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Peace!