The Real Woodstock ’69: It Wasn’t About the Music

I wonamp8217t be buying it amp160And I wonamp8217t be watching The Directoramp8217s Cut of Mike Wadleighamp8217s original documentary or reading the new coffee table book that breathlessly runs down the acts on stage band by band amp160Remember Quill amp160They came they playedYou canamp8217t package Woodstock into a nice barcoded package amp160It wasnamp8217t a marketing phenomenon it was an authentic happening which is why attempts to repackage its magic even by the original promoter Michael Lang have mostly failed amp160I was at Woodstock amp821794 too and it was a debacle with lousy music ripoff food prices and zero tribal spirit amp160Woodstock 50 amp160It has already canceled and I would have given it a miss in any case amp160My lack of interest in seeing the amp821660s warhorses is equaled by a similar antipathy to many of the acts that were booked for the reunionamp160 Miley Cyrusamp160 ReallyLang and partner Artie Kornfeld didnamp8217t plan on making history amp160They planned a ticketed threeday rock festival one of many that were happening around that time amp160I read about it in Rolling Stone amp160Yes it was amp8220peace and musicamp8221 but despite the war raging at that time I donamp8217t remember activism being a big part of itI was 17 newly licensed amp160My brother John and I drove up to Monticello in our beatup 1962 Nova convertible amp160We went early didnamp8217t encounter much traffic and parked in a muddy field right next to the infamous skinnydipping pond amp160Later after the rains and the car sinking up to its axles in the mud we had to be towed out by a farmeramp8217s tractorNow hereamp8217s the thing amp160Everyone asks me about the music but itamp8217s not what I remember best amp160Sure I heard Janis Joplin the only time I heard her actually saw Jimi Hendrix play the amp8220StarSpangled Banneramp8221 and Grace Slick of the Jefferson Airplane proclaim amp8220Youamp8217ve heard the heavy groups now hereamp8217s morning maniac musicamp8221 amp160I remember the amp8220bad acidamp8221 stage announcementsBut for the most part I wasnamp8217t staring at the stage in aweamp160 I was wandering the site reveling in was later dubbed Woodstock Nation amp160amp8220A lot of freaksamp8221 Arlo Guthrie proclaimed amp160amp8220Hippiesamp8221 preferred being called amp8220freaksamp8221amp160 Itamp8217s a cultural thing no one remembersThat weekend we were the third biggest city in New York State amp160We felt proud to have virtually shut down the New York State Thruway amp160There were 300000 to 400000 freaks in one place the biggest sign yet that the Age of Aquarius was going to take over the world and stuff flowers into the gun barrelsamp160 Before that we felt isolated in our little pockets of dissent unsure of our numbers amp160This was decades before digital technology the internet smart phones and social mediaAt Woodstock everyone walked around amazed at all the long hair which still meant something then Everybody was nice to everybody else amp160Food was shared as were sleeping bags amp160Nobody got murderedamp160 amp160Precious few were ripped off amp160It was a shortlived dream this idea that harmony could reign shattered only a few months later at the Rolling Stonesamp8217 Altamont Speedway amp8220free concertamp8221 in California where a man named Meredith Hunter actually was murderedEven though she wasnamp8217t actually there Joni Mitchell wrote amp8220Woodstockamp8221 the song and it resonated with its words about amp8220getting back to the gardenamp8221 amp160Had we created Eden maybe a modern Camelotamp160 amp160Sure Iamp8217ll go with thatBut no amount of marketing magic is going to recreate it amp160Woodstock became a free festival not because we were hippies and money didnamp8217t matter but because they couldnamp8217t contain the crowds amp160It became a resonant symbol of all that was good in the counterculture despite its base in the then despised hippie capitalismStuff like this happens but itamp8217s never planned and it canamp8217t be hatched with charts and graphs in a corporate boardroom amp160Letamp8217s wave goodbye to Woodstock Nation for a minute and look at a more contemporary example amp160Iamp8217ve been a blogger for CarTalkcom since 2008 amp160The show featuring Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi didnamp8217t emerge from demographic studies and it wasnamp8217t planned in advanceTom Magliozzi appeared as a guest circa 1977 on a WBUR program in Boston his hometown amp160People called in they thought he was funny amp160He appeared again this time with his equally funny younger brother Ray amp160They got their own WBUR car talk show and it was insanely popular so it went viral on the NPR network in 1986My point is that the idea of a carbased talk show featuring brothers with strong Boston accents would never have been greenlighted by MBAs amp160It had to be on the air and tested in front of audiences before the marketing team could see its potentialBut even then when the brothers could have signed marketing and endorsement deals left and right they mostly didnamp8217t amp160It wasnamp8217t themamp160 It wasnamp8217t Car Talk amp160They made the right decision amp160Bob Vila fell from grace at This Old House on PBS simply because he went too far down the endorsement rat holeAfter the death in 2014 of Tom Magliozzi who just posthumously received a plaque in Harvard Square the show could have gone on with new hosts other funny people who talked about cars amp160But all concerned seem to acknowledge that it was a unique confluence unlikely to be recreatedSo I didnamp8217t watch Woodstock I lived it for three glorious days amp160I still have the photos I took there and printed in my darkroom in a box somewhere Unpublished Should I cash in and sell them in an exclusive portfolio of 1969 editions printed on acidfree paper made from the muddy sleeping bags with untorn Woodstock tickets a special incentive for the deluxe version amp160Nah amp160Iamp8217m going to let that one lie amp160Anyway I lost those tickets in a move many years agoPhoto at top provided by Jim Motavalliamp160 Taken at Woodstock amp821769amp160 Is it Jim or brother JohnClick on the social media tiles above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively those of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggersamp160amp160

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The Real Woodstock ’69: It Wasn’t About the Music

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Jim Motavalli

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The Real Woodstock ’69: It Wasn’t About the Music

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