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Essays on the history of Woodstock
Woodstock music festival
Woodstock music festival
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Many times, people have very different ideas about what makes an icon. Our icons may be singers, dancers, athletes, actors or politicians. We may not even know what the criteria would be for an icon, but we know one when we see it. One of the greatest American icons in history is the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival. To say that Woodstock isn’t an icon would be like saying that the music wasn’t a dynamic character in the movie “Star Wars” or “The Phantom of the Opera”. An Icon must encompass a distinct ideology, and nothing ushered in our generation’s journey to the end of the innocence like Woodstock.
Woodstock started out as the brainstorm of a pig farmer name Max Yasgur. He owned a 600 acre farm in Bethel (White Lake) New York, and offered it free of charge to promote a rock/folk concert dedicated to three days of peace and music. He did this after learning that the town of Woodstock, New York turned down the offer because they didn’t want 60,000 hippies and acid heads converging on their town. Why the festival kept the name “Woodstock” is still a mystery to this day. Woodstock does have a better ring to it than the “Bethel Music Festival”.
Once August 15 finally arrived, all the pieces were in place for this monumental undertaking. It was to go on for four days instead of the three that it was advertised. It was to start on Friday, August 15th and end on Monday, August 18. The promoters had printed up 60,000 tickets to be sold making it the biggest concert event of it’s time. There was very little promotion of it
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and the event promoters could only afford to pay $1500.00 to each of the 25 bands that performed. That didn’t seem to matter to David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, and Nash. He was quoted as s...
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...g force. One thing that I am certain of is that Woodstock, like any icon, should have never been duplicated. They attempted this in 1994 and again in 1999. Sequels never measure up to the original. People even try to imitate icons with no success. Madonna and Anna Nicole Smith both tried to be Marilyn Monroe, but there is only one Marilyn. To be able to recreate Woodstock, you would also have to be able to recreate Vietnam, The Civil Rights Movement, and the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. The fact that Woodstock can’t be copied is what makes it an Icon. I only wish that I could have been there.
Works Cited
Young, Jean and Michael Lang. Woodstock Festival Remembered. Ballantine Books: 1979
Landy, Elliott. Woodstock 1969-The First Festival. Square Books: 1994
Tiber, Elliott. Knock on Woodstock. Festival Books: 1994
Tickets ran anywhere from $40.00 to $55.00 for the five hour long show. The wait to get in was some what frightening due to a check point like station everyone had to be searched at. Police and security guards patted each and everyone down for drugs, weapons, and what ever else they could try and stop.
... around famous band. They were an icon to the U.S by trying to send a message in their music that says drugs aren't bad, to the people. Jerry Garcia was a main part in this band and they wouldn't have been this successful without him. The Grateful Dead made rock and roll history from all of these points.
The hippie aesthetic era was an important time in rock and roll during the late 60’s and on into the early 80’s. It was a time were rock had a sense of purpose. They sung about the issues that plagued the country. It was also a time where technology would play an important roll in the sound of music, with the advancement in recording and synthesizer technology (Covach, “The Hippie Aesthetic”). The hippie aesthetic was not immune to the advancement of music. This essay will go over three songs that represent the different aspects of this era. It’ll will review a song that is predominately hippie aesthetic, a song that is a little of both, and finally a song that has no trace of hippie aesthetic.
Hippies were often portrayed as criminals, subversive to the morals and best interest of the public. Although misunderstood, the hippie had a great impact throughout the country, still surviving today in American culture. The term “hippie” itself became a universal term in the late 1960s. It originated in a 1967 article in Ramparts, entitled “The Social History of the Hippies.” Afterward, the name was captured by the mass media as a label for the people of the new movement.
It goes on every year. Two million (and more) go to it each year. People go to it to see/meet their favorite people. Not just for bands. Bands, Interviewers, photographers, etc.
Woodstock became a symbol for a whole generation by the coming together of the political environment, the pop culture, and the current events of the time. The ‘baby boomers’ were searching for ways to separate themselves from their parents’ generation and see themselves as a more loving, compassionate, tolerant group of people. Woodstock came at a time of the youths desperation for authority and gave them beliefs they could live with. They wanted to revolt against the political chaos that they had been enduring during this memorable decade, and Woodstock was a symbol of this for the youth.
Although considered the day Rock ‘n’ Roll was born, many other events in American history have given foundation to this much loved idea. Rock ‘n’ Roll is much more than just music, rather it is the movement which underlines cultural imperialism. Rock had been promoting a culture of comfort and freedom from social constraints as well. Although the style of ‘Rock music’ is easily adaptable into many different sounds, it is still thoroughly identified by its definingly amplified rhythm. The sudden worldwide popularity of rock and roll resulted in an unparalleled social impact. Rock ‘n’ Roll influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language in a way few other social developments have equaled. The social impact is so large that rock stars are worshipped worldwide. In its early years, many adults condemned the style of music, placing a stigma on its name, and forbid their children from listening and following its ways. Many considered Rock ‘n’ Roll culture as a bad influence to all people, but as the genre aged and the now not-so-young crowds had matured, Rock was respected and
Despite people’s desire to bring back the feeling of the original Woodstock, all that can remain is its effect on the people who experienced it and the affect on the culture they lived in. The concert was necessary to have because it eased tension in a time of history that was full of war and prejudices. Its stories will be told, some good, some bad, but the desire that people feel to experience it firsthand will never be lost.
Kiyah Sewell Mr. Downey English 11CP 22 May 2014 HIR Paper 400,000 people, 32 bands, and 3 days of Peace, love and Rock and Roll (Gerdes, Louise). Woodstock was a free 3 day concert held on Max Yasgur's 600 acre dairy farm in Bethel, New York (Statement on the Historical and Cultural Significance of the 1969 Woodstock Festival Site). What was first made to be a recording studio for the community of Woodstock became an iconic American image (Gerdes, Louise 16). Woodstock was a defining moment in American history because it influenced counter culture and changed the lives of the younger generation that we see today.
Throughout the 1960’s, many events that were occurring had a major impact on the lives of Americans. Some events, mainly those that involved violence, were negatively affecting people’s lives. There was a lot of war going on during this time like the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the deployment of over 100,000 troops in Vietnam. Different riots were breaking out all over the country; there was even violence in political affairs. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were both assassinated during the late 1960’s (The Sixties). On the other hand, there were musical aspects of the 1960’s that positively influenced people. In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair took place in Bethel, New York (About Woodstock). Woodstock was able to bring
When the word "Woodstock" is mentioned, what do you think of? Perhaps you think of the little yellow bird from the Peanuts cartoons, or maybe you think of a small town in New York. However, you also might know that Woodstock was the largest and most famous of all rock festivals.
Many large concerts have occurred in the United States, but none have been as symbolic as the three-day music and art fest that touted the slogans of peace and love. This event was identified as such as a result of the peace movement and the emergence of the flower children. Woodstock Music Festival took place near Woodstock New York on August 15, 16, and 17, 1969, and became a symbol of the 1960s American counterculture.
...rant which depicted the current generation as hopeless. The music of the sixties was shown during films like the 1970s Woodstock which was a documentary on the music festivals that were usually attended by youngsters.
Along with the peak of several movements music began to reach a point of climax. Rock specifically began to flourish in the 1960’s, while expressing the voice of the liberated generation. It is the power of such trends that overall lead to what is known as the greatest music festival of all time: Woodstock Music and Art Fair. The festival started on August 15, 1969 on Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, New York. Appealing to the time period, Woodstock was designed to be Three Days of Peace and Music. However, many argue that it was more than just a musical art fair of peace, but a historically significant event that shifted American culture. While some regard Woodstock as the beginning of a cultural advancement and the end of a naïve era, others view it as ridiculous hippy festival infested with illegal drug usage. Woodstock cost over $2.4 million and attracted over 450,000 people (Tiber, 1). Despite the debate of whether Woodstock produced a positive or negative effect, it is clear that a note worthy impact was made. When discussing the overall impact of Woodstock it is important to look at the influences and creative plan and the positive and negative effects produced from the festival.