Woodstock Essay

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.

Jimi Hendrix is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer who is widely considered to be the most important electric guitarist in the history of music. Although Hendrix is known for his outstanding ability to play the guitar, he is also a very famous name in Blues music. He played the acoustic guitar but is known for his outstanding ability to play the electric guitar. With songs such as Red House, Here My Train A Comin', and Born Under a Bad Sign, Hendrix is considered to be in the Chicago category and quickly made his way into the history of Blues music.

The Motown Museum in Detroit is truly a motivational part of America’s history; it stood for another way for African American voices to be heard on a much greater scale both national and even world wide. Motown has become America’s pop soul music for anyone and everyone.

Music soared through the air and into the ears of the more than 450,000 hippies that were crowded into Max Yasgur's pasture. "What we had here was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence," said Bethel town historian Bert Feldmen. "Dickens said it first: 'it was the best of times, it was the worst of times'. It's a mixture that will never be reproduced again" (435). It also closed the New York State Thruway and created one of the nation's worst traffic jams (Lehrman eLibrary). Woodstock, with its rocky beginnings, epitomized the culture of that era through music, drug use, and the thousands of hippies who attended, leaving behind a legacy for future generations. The lack of planning gave Woodstock the potential for disaster. Volunteers from inside and outside the festival helped relieve any possible problems. Helicopters were used to fly in food, doctors, medical supplies, and even music acts scheduled to appear (Sitkoff eLibrary).

The Grateful Dead was a band that toured continuously for 30 years until the death of lead man Jerry Garcia. They were known for free flowing jams and bluegrass roots. Phish is a band that has toured consistently for the last 17 years and has in time made themselves into stealth multi-millionaires. Both are very talented bands, who have and in the Dead's case, had, created big names for themselves. Many people make wrongful association with these two groups of musicians. It is said that Phish is trying to be the Dead of this generation. This statement is very untrue. Phish is not a Grateful Dead take-off. Phish and the Dead have much more differences than similarities. There are of course a few similarities between

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.

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.

One of the most influential groups of the 20th Century—the Beatles revolutionized rock and roll into what we know it as today. Not only were they great musicians, they wrote and composed each of their songs. The band proved to be popular and exciting causing mass hysteria at each of their public performances. The “Fab Four’s” talent was so great that the phenomenon was termed “Beatlemania” in Britain and eventually erupted in the United States being called the British Invasion of the Beatles (Britannica Online, 2005).

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.

Throughout history there have been many musical "influences". One extremely important influence to modern music is The Grateful Dead.

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

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.