Merchants were stunned by their politeness. Polite. That is about what i can say. Did not sell any shoes . Not too many, but they were happy here. I think they are a Wonderful Group of kids. I have never met so many that were so patient, so courteous, and understanding under the conditions we had here the last three days. In the beginning, there was a great deal of apprehension, but right now, i can say that the attitude of the town has changed for these young men and women. They took a lot of aggravation and inconvenience of the average person that they would not take. Unfortunately, because of the press coverage being so jaundiced, not many people would learn what monticello learned. Suffice it to say it was not a disaster area. There were 450,000 young people here with no conveniences, a few police, but no violence, not even arguments in the midst of a 12 hour traffic jam. Abc News Coverage from august of 1969. Joining us from lawrence, kansas, david farber, professor of history at the university of kansas. We appreciate you being with us. Lets talk about ethel, pennsylvania, 50 miles from new york city. What was woodstock . Was a i think woodstock surprise to the entire nation. It started one way and ended in a different way. It started as three days of peace and music. It was going to be a fourprofit using festival, starting some of the biggest names in rock n roll. It was like many other festivals in the minds of promoters, but two days and, it became different, a free concert in which some 150,000 people showed up, almost all of them young people 450,000 people showed up, almost all of them young people who traveled over rain, gridlock, lack of food, and it showed the nation what young people were capable of. Host why was this dairy farm in new york selected for the site . Well, that dairy farm in new york outside of bethel was not supposed to be what was happening with woodstock. The festival was first maybe going to be in the woodstock area, then down in the neighborhood not too far from woodstock, permits were not given, town people decried what was happening, and with less than a month ago, a dairy farmer in new york said, alright, i am willing to let you use my farm. With one month to go, they had to build a stage, sound systems, lighting, figure out how to create fences, and in a spontaneous way, created the woodstock Music Festival. Host what did the neighbors think of the dairy farmer . Guest [laughter] well, i think a lot of people in that vicinity were not sure what to make a what would happen at maxs dairy farm in new york city, outside of new york city. There was a lot of concern. There was a lot of fear. There was a sense of what the unknown could bring. I think a lot of neighbors were furious with max for agreeing to do this, but over time, i think most of those townspeople and Community Residents were won over, but not at the beginning. Host our guest is david farber. We will get to your calls in a moment. Look at one of the moments that became part of the Counterculture Movement. Miles northeast of here. Woodstock, new york was a bohemian community. A lot of musicians lived there ,ff and on, including Bob Dylan Richie havens, van morrison. They call the Company Woodstock ventures. They started looking for a place for the festival. They could not find a place in woodstock that was large enough. They found an Industrial Park in the town of wallkill. They started advertising. Creating art installations and everything was going smoothly. The locals found that what they were doing and it wasnt going to be a 50,000 person festival after all. The town of wallkill rewrote its laws to outlaw the festival. That left Woodstock Ventures with about four weeks to find another location. When they came to this property, it was a perfect shape, perfect size for the rock festival they wanted to have. The rest is history. Host the background on woodstock. Theou look at the names of people who performed, arlo guthrie, the grateful dead, janis joplin, Creedence Clearwater revival, jefferson airplane, what rot all of these musicians to this location . All of these musicians to this location. Guest it was an allstar roster. It was a Music Festival not far from new york city that many thought would be a great launching pan and put them in front of a lot of people. They hoped to make some money performing. Signed up musician and it lowered another. There was a snowball effect, a few of the most major names, the stones and the beatles, were not there. Myths by people who think about woodstock is it became a place of violence and disruption. That wasnt the situation, was it . Nationwhat surprised the and went against what the mass wasa had been promoting woodstock turned out to be despite some dire conditions and incredibly peaceful assemblage of 400,000 people who figured out how to get along, not let the tensions around, the lack of water and lack of food, they shared what they had. They worked with each other. They made an incredible event that became something they never forgot. Host what is remarkable is how this spread it to nearly half a Million People. You can see the crowds in the film was shot. They expected 200,000 people to travel to bethel, new york. There was no social media, no cell phones. How did word spread about this event . Testament to real how the countercultural and use culture were organized at the time. There were no advertisements in the mainstream media. A lot of the word got out through the alternative press. There was an underground press at that point. Any College Towns had them. They did advertise in those places. It was talked about on fm radio stations. Young people had their own media and it worked. Word got out far faster and spread wider than promoters ever expected. Host what was the Counterculture Movement . It did not have membership cards and there was no roster. Different things at the same time by 1969. It was the protest culture, ranging from people seeking racial justice, against the war in the at the environmental movement. They were creating an alternative politics. Even more, it was a celebration of alternative values or just america living up to the values it proclaimed. What should it freedom feel like . What does social justice live like . This is what they wanted to build, a different america built on core values. Host for those watching on an oral there is history. Who was he . Guest already cornfield was one of the most important people at putting woodstock together. He was already in his mid20s. They were all in their mid20s. He had good connections in the Music Industry despite his age. He was in for goal to them signing up some of the big names. He had those connections. Host here is part of that oral history as he reflects on what they put together in 1969. Guest the legacy of woodstock in 500 years, they are going to remember the event. Top 20ey listed the events of mankind, woodstock was number two. Was second to the man landing on the moon. Host as you hear that, what is your reaction . Is right tonk he take pride in what he helped accomplish. We can have an interesting debate about that. 1969, it felt to Many Americans like an extraordinary event. Polarization,of when violence was starting to become the norm. 500,000 younge, people peacefully assembled, trying to do Something Wonderful. It really did surprise the people who attended and it shared up a lot of americans that young people could gather together like that and create history in a peaceful way. Host we have divided our phone lines. If you attended woodstock, 202 7488000. 55 and over and may not have attended but she remember the conversation about woodstock, 202 7848001. All others, 202 7488002. What is the most important thing as a historian that we need to understand in regard to what happened in bethel, new york . Guest i think woodstock has remained an important historical event for two reasons. It was a hallmark of music history. If youve seen the movie, if you watched those bands perform, this was incredible event. Thate havens played freedom peace. The jimi hendrix starspangled banner, these are Musical Moments that will live on and on. It was an event that marked in some ways the Comingout Party for the counterculture across america. People knew about hippies in San Francisco and the use culture of music, many were fearful of the drug experiences regarding marijuana and lsd. People saw another side of the counter culture. Here were young people who were trying to live different values, who were trying to share and cooperate. This was the best face the counterculture could show america. We have the trailer from the film that was released in 1970. Lets watch. An incredible film about an incredible event is back. Can you dig that . Its really amazing. An unbelievable thing. Woodstock, with a cast of half a million outrageously friendly people. Its a dirty mess. Woodstock, where it all began. Host casey kasem has since passed away. He was an iconic voice of radio. The film came out in 1970. The organizers sold 185,000 tickets. What were the prices . What did they do win half a million showed up . When half a million showed up . Guest thats one of the most important things to ponder. It was just supposed to be a music concert. I think it was 18 if you wanted to attend all three days. The audience came from new york in the midatlantic area. What the promoters didnt expect was another 300,000 people showing up. The promoters werent prepared for those numbers because of the lastminute preparations. They didnt have fencing and ticket booths you would see in a Music Festival today. People came from all directions. The promoters just didnt even try to collect fees. They announced from the stage that this would be a free concert. There had never been a free concert of this scale. Transition from a commercial forprofit concert to a free event where hundreds of thousands of people showed up and had to take care of themselves, thats when woodstock became woodstock. Host lets bring in our viewers. Were you there 50 years ago . Caller i was. I was 16 years old. I was working at a summer camp. Rea we all quit and said we are going to woodstock. Let me come. I have seen the documentary in the 1980s. Noticed inng that i the documentary, it did not grasp the real hold of what was going on. It was a vietnam war protest for the most part. I was kind of disappointed about that. Host we will get a response from our guest. Do you remember what you ate and were you slept . Caller Peanut Butter sandwiches. People had like its. We slept right there. Host your response . Guest what bob said about the Peanut Butter sandwiches rings true. People brought what they could. The larger context is interesting. Hallmark of the polarization of the war in vietnam. There were massive demonstrations. Fundamentallynot political. Abbie hoffman tried to get on stage. The bands in the festival organizers did not treat this as a political event. Fundamentally about the war in vietnam, even though that overshadowed what happened. It was a counterpoint to the anger and frustration and fears Many Americans had. It was set up as a nonpolitical event. Host and is in charlotte. Good morning. Cspan. Thank you for i have one question. One of my great regrets is i did not make it to woodstock. I had an understanding there was a group called 10 years after and they did a song called going home. I dont think was ever listed. Can you clear that up . So askthere were 30 or that performed. Acts that performed. People get the two things mixed up. Forow the grateful dead reasons that might have had to do with what substances they were ingesting did not sign the waiver to be in the film. Some did not get into the documentary film. I dont know the particulars of 10 years after. Thats why some favorite bands dont show up in the documentary. Host drugs were prevalent woodstock . The use of drugs were prevalent . Guest yes. Of marijuanaot smoked. You only had to be within 100 yards of the stage to get high. Marijuana so many joints being passed around. Cannabis was omnipresent. It was being shared extensively. There was a famous story about lsd at the concert. 1969, it wasnt something most gun people had ever tried. It was fairly easily available and a lot of people tried it for the first time at woodstock. It was an incredibly powerful hallucinogenic. Some people have a hard time with those acid trips. Some people had bad experiences. The majority people did not have bad experiences. Marijuana was omnipresent the concert. Host the official name was the woodstock music and art fair. We are looking back 50 years later. We have some aerial views of what the area looks like today. There is a wonderful museum, it is wonderfully run and curated. You can come and relive the experience. It is really quite special. Host we will show that to you in just a minute. You were there 50 years ago . Caller yes, i was. I was 18 years old. New jersey from after work friday night at midnight. We missed friday. That was ok. We wanted to rock n roll. Ar 18, it was a bargain with starstudded cast of great rock n roll acts. We didnt know there would be half a Million People there. Host what do you member about trying to get to bethel, new york. The traffic was backed up eight miles to get there. Had to our our car on the side of the road. We had to walk for miles on to get to the festival site. The local people were friendly, giving us water and sandwiches and being very nice to us. Host how did you hear about it . No sociallking about media, where did you get the information about the concert . Caller it was close to new york city. It was advertised and we just want our tickets in advance. Host what are you hearing from his comments . Guest bobs comments ring so true. Its very representative. He was 18 years old and the other caller was 16. You realize how young so many people were. Olderwere a few people and a handful of children there. These were really teenagers and people in their early 20s. These were young people who braved all sorts of bizarre conditions to get there, to figure out how to get do on a jar of Peanut Butter. They rose to the occasion. They had an incredible time under incredible circumstances. Thats a great story bob just told us. Host how old were you when you went to woodstock . Caller 17. Host how did you get there . Caller we drove. Me and three other girls. I just remember all the people. The best thing in the world was jimi hendrix playing the starspangled banner. Host thank you for the call. Guest thats a really nice story. People came from all over the country. Some people came from europe. I would bet you all 50 states were represented. Its marvelous that she remembers jimi hendrix. One of the things that is striking is when you in the film watch him perform and you look people had left by that time. It was early monday morning and the audience was very small. A lot of people say i was there the day this happened. Did. She she was from kansas and waited till the last. Very few people were in the audience when hendrix did his overwhelming rendition of the starspangled banner. Host joe from florida, how old were you when you attended woodstock . Caller i was 19 years old. Mustang as far as i could did i lived in new york at the time. Correctlyry serves me even though it was only 60 miles north of where i was living, it took eight hours to get to the actual site. I mustve parked five miles and walked in the rest of the way. It was a field of mud. There was some great music. The people were just fantastic. I think that was instrumental in forming my political views. People could get along together. There could be love and peace and happiness. I think we could use more of that today. Host is that the message of what stock . Love and peace . Caller as far as i recall. I am 69 today. Im still something of a hippie. Residents ofhe few this retirement village that still has a ponytail. I think the message should resonate today. We dont have to be at odds with each other. I dont want to be political about it. I think thats where our current president is doing his best to undo, to divide us rather than to unite us. Host thank you for the call. Thingsone of the other that is really worth thinking about and remembering is most people came to woodstock to hear the music. They were kids, they were interested in youth culture. They didnt come there thinking this will be an Incredible Opportunity to live the values that we claim we believed then. It was the actual lived experience of what stock that was transformative. Drove most people to come to woodstock. Thats what was so transformative. It became visible to the people there. There were immediate coverage showed it. The movie hammered home that message. That is why woodstock lives on in memory. Had over one Million People show up at a concert one time. It was a lived experience of young people at woodstock. Host tom in new york, good morning. Caller good morning. Host what do you remember about woodstock . A 1964 i drove up in barracuda. That allowed me to put a mattress in the back of the car. I went up a week earlier to see what was happening at the concert site. There were a lot of people already there. I decided i should go up as early as possible. I got out of work early on friday. I drove up that day. The delaware on the west side. I got to be within one mile of the concert. When i came over the last hill, i got to the intersection where the state police and put up barriers. As far as you could see, the cars were parked five and six deep on both shoulders and both lanes of the highway. Everyone got out of their cars and walked into the concert from there. More food, a few mainly Peanut Butter and jelly sandwiches. I went back and forth between my car in the concert to change my clothes and eat. Host let me ask you, you mentioned the new York State Police troopers. What other infrastructure . Where their facilities for bathrooms, places to eat . Caller initially, the workplaces to eat at the back of the concert. You could walk up to the back of the au