Essay about Woodstock 1969

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.

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

Have you seen those weird music festival T-shirts that people wear and wonder what someone could possibly want to wear that for? While they’re sometimes meant to catch attention of people so they may want to look up the festival, it also serves as a reminder for many amazing memories for the two or three-day event. For a long time now music has changed people’s lives in many ways. It has brought people to fame and lifted many out of depressions. But, to those who haven’t experienced a festival, or even live music in general, you have been missing out an amazing social experience like no other. From the kings of festivals like Woodstock or Coachella to the lesser known ones like Rock on the Range (Hard rock/metal based) and Day for Night (variety) there are hundreds to pick from. One of my favorites is Carolina Rebellion which takes place right in this state.

“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).

The Woodstock Music Festival is the most famous 1960s rock concerts, made by four promoters who did not know what exactly they were doing. Even with no experience they still managed to create an impressive masterpiece of a concert that truly captured the feel of the 1960s, with acts by Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix.

experience for me. It was far different from a rock concert held in some big

They knew that they were all on our way to the same place to enjoy "three days of peace and music." Had the festival lasted much longer, as many as one million youths might have made the trip to Bethel. What started off as a promotion for a music studio, ended up as one of the most significant political and sociological events of the age. The main attraction of the festival was an all-star cast of top rock artists. Some of the greatest musicians of the 1960s performed, including singers Janis Joplin, Ravi Shankar, Arlo Guthrie, and Joan Baez as well as the bands The Stone; and Creedence Clearwater Revival (Sandow, 1). Singer Joe Cocker and guitar player Carlos Santana, up to then unknown, became overnight stars. Some performers who were scheduled to appear could not due to traffic problems. Jimi Hendrix ended the event with a freeform solo guitar performance of "The Star Spangled Banner." The dictionary defines a hippie as one who doesn't conform to society's standards and advocates a liberal attitude and lifestyle. Most of the people at Woodstock were not hippies in the commonly accepted sense: a good half of them, at least, were high school or college students from middle class homes ("The Big Woodstock, 33"). But at Woodstock they exhibited to the world many of the hippie values and life styles, from psychedelic clothing to spontaneous, unashamed nudity to open and casual sex, and also illicit drugs. Youthful imaginations were

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.

These concert goers enjoyed no rules, drug use, sex, and loud rock music. Some of the best known artists from this concert were; Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, Sly & the Family Stone, and Jefferson Airplane.

The Woodstock festival descended on Bethel, New York promising three days of peace and music. Event organizers anticipated 15,000 people would attend but were overwhelmed by the 300,000 people that flooded this rural area of New York state from August 15 -17, 1969. While these facts are well known and indisputable, the festival itself has proven to be a controversial endeavor. What began as a small business venture was soon brimming with the controversy of an entire decade. It becomes clear when examining the strikingly different accounts of the festival that reactions varied depending on the fundamental values and personal circumstances specific to each observer and to the

trace of the concert ever being there. A concert can entertaining and exhilarating because one gets to see their favorite artist and experience something

A risk we were concerned about was that some of us may be denied entry for not being dressed correctly, someone being too intoxicated or the venue reaching full capacity early on, meaning the bouncers could simply pick and choose who they wanted and as we weren’t familiar with any of the staff this probably wouldn’t have been us.

looking for causes, how listeners make their decisions to attend and how they critique or respond to performances. Secondly, their approach is correlational that to seek qualitative insight on the experiences of the EJBF audiences. Lastly, they focus on attendances’ perceptions and observe behavior by participating in the events and gaining first hand experiences. Broadly speaking, the authors conduct qualitative research although there are still small amounts of quantitative data of showing ages of respondents and previous festival attendance.

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