The Art of Woodstock #WordlessWednesday

Today, some art and monuments associated with the Woodstock music festival of August 15-18, 1969.

The modern Woodstock Festival Monument, town of Bethel, New York.

Outside the Woodstock Museum at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, town of Bethel, New York.

A paving stone on the walk outside the museum.

A poster (picture also taken at the Woodstock Museum at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, town of Bethel, New York.) This poster predates when the festival lost its original site in Wallkill, New York.

Now, the Town of Bethel features a heritage trail.  We didn't have time to do it, but maybe one day.
 

There is a Dove Trail throughout Sullivan County (the county where the festival took place). One of the doves is on the museum grounds.

One more dove, on the grounds of the Do Good Distillery in Roscoe, New York. (Veteran owned, and they offer free tastings - a donation, which will go to vet causes, is requested.)

If you want to see more of the Woodstock Music festival grounds:

We Were Golden 

Woodstock Artists 1970's Playlist 

The Message Tree

 

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for #WordlessWednesday.

We Were Golden

Here's the rest of a story I started on my blog last week, tying in to the anniversary of the Woodstock festival of 1969.

My spouse and I finally made it, after all these years, to the site of the Woodstock Festival of 1969.  I think I've told the story of how I had wanted to go so badly.  I was 16, and there were posters up on New York City mass transit (where I grew up). The lineup of acts was incredible. But my father wouldn't let me go.  It only took 52 years, but I made it.

I don't know how I even would have gotten there in 1969, but 16 year old adolescents aren't noted for their logical thinking.

But here we were, spouse and I.  We had decided to walk the grounds before going to the museum that's on the site of what is now known as the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.  That was somewhat like not knowing what we were doing or where we were going, especially as we hadn't downloaded a map of the grounds, but 68/69 year old people...oh, never mind.   We assumed there would be lots of signage pointing us to places of interest.  Then, we could don masks and visit the museum.

We were wrong about the signage, and just kind of wandered around for a while.  It was a nice mid-June day, sunny, low humidity. And, being a Wednesday, there weren't too many people around. 

Grounds around the Woodstock festival site, June 2021

We decided to embark on a trail leading to the Bindy Bazaar trails that were part of the festival, and managed not to find those trails, either. But all wasn't lost.  A bit ahead of us was a woman, walking confidentially, as if she knew exactly what she was doing.  We followed her.

And followed her.

Finally, the woman stopped, and waited for us to catch up.

She greeted us warmly:  "Are you trying to find what I am trying to find?" she asked, and we introduced ourselves to each other. (I don't remember her name.)

What she was trying to find was the original Woodstock historical marker.  Well, why not?  We finally had a purpose, and as we walked together, she told us her story.

She was from Brooklyn (a borough of New York City).  She was six years old in the summer of 1969. Her parents owned a summer cottage not that far from the road leading to Max Yasgur's dairy farm. In fact, she said, one of the local roads is still named for him.  Dairy farmer Max Yasgur, as you'll recall, rescued the festival at the last minute, after it lost its original site in Wallkill, New York, offering his property.

How could he know how he had just changed history?

Our walking companion was up at the cottage along with her older sister, a teenager..  Her Mom needed to run an errand and took her along.  They got close to the main road.  As far as the eye could see, were people.  Masses of people,on foot.  Walking. All in the same direction.

"Stay away from those dirty people!" her mother warned.

She has never forgotten the sight of all those people, she said.

At some point, her older sister snuck away to check the scene out. Our new walking companion confided that she was still a bit angry at her sister for not taking her to what (of course) was Woodstock, but it was all good - in fact, she was supposed to go shopping with her sister and was running a little late.

Our new acquaintance went on to tell us about visiting the site of the concert about 10 years ago.  Locals didn't want masses of people coming to check it out, so signage was limited and you needed to know exactly where you were going.  She did find the historical marker and wanted to see it again.

She told us that some locals were so angry at Max Yasgur for leasing his farm to the festival organizers that he had to leave the state. (He died, in Florida, from a heart attack in 1973.)

A couple of times, she saw what looked like familiar places but we never did find the marker.  We finally parted ways.

On the way back, we found this, which I never did find out what this meant, because there was no signage to explain it.

And then, we found the marker, which had been moved.  Its story is interesting - it was erected for the 15th anniversary of Woodstock.  Louis Nicky and his companion June Celish, at the time, were the owners of the former Max Yasgur farm acreage.  They had purchased the farm property from the estate of Max Yasgur. When June Celish died in 1997, the property was sold to a billionaire, Alan Gerry (now 91), and the rest, so to speak, is history.

In researching the marker, I also found a story on how the Woodstock acreage was in danger of development and another take on the Alan Gerry story.

But without talking to the mystery walking companion, I never would have been inspired to find out "the rest of the story". 

I hope our New York City walking companion and eyewitness to a  moment of history, now 58, ended up finding what she was looking for.  Perhaps I should have left a message on the Message Tree for her.

This is an alternate version of the Crosby, Stills, and Nash and Young song "Woodstock" from 1971.

I devote this post to the memory of my Aunt Mary, who died on August 17, 2003.

Woodstock 70's Playlist #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday, and that means Music!  Welcome to another edition of Music Moves Me, brought to you by these fine bloggers:

Who are the Music Moves Me bloggers? 

We are bloggers who blog about music each Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video, please!)   First, there is XmasDolly.  Her co-hosts are: Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, Cathy from Curious as a Cathy, and me. 

Each month we have a guest conductor. Today, we again welcome - ME!

My theme for today is "Because it was so much fun last time we did it, how about we build a playlist of one decade?"

When I created the themes for August, I did not dream that my spouse and I would visit the site of the iconic Woodstock concert in the town of Bethel, New York, held August 15-18, 1969.  We have passed within perhaps 10 miles of the site so many times over the last 30 plus years.  In mid June, we finally decided to take the two hour trip and actually see it.

And we're in the middle of the 52nd anniversary today.  So let's take a little detour before the music, shall we, and see a little of the Woodstock festival site? (I also invite you to come back tomorrow, when I blog about an unplanned meeting with an eyewitness (sort of) to Woodstock.

The land.  It's beautiful rural country.  After all, this was once a dairy farm, the largest in Sullivan County, New York, owned by one Max Yasgur.

Where the musicians played, August 15-18, 1969.

The museum on the site, which is devoted to the history of the festival, and temporary exhibits related to the 1960's and early 1970's. Concerts are still held (paused for COVID-19, but back now) on the site several times each summer.

Why was the event called Woodstock when it wasn't held in Woodstock?  Well, they were driven out of the original site because "hippies" weren't wanted there, and, as you can see, there was no love lost between those folks and the organizers of the festival.  But the name remained the same because this was almost a last minute scramble.  Literally, they found a new site a month before the festival took place.

 Actually, it was a miracle the festival took place at all. 

(Incidentally, in case you are wondering, you will see the word "kill" in many place names in the area. It means "body of water" in Dutch.)

Sign by an exhibit in the museum

This modern sign, though, is just a little..let's hope it is past history soon.

Interested in all the songs played at Woodstock?  Here's a list of artists and songs. 

I might be shorting myself, in a way, with my theme for today.  For some of these groups, their best music was in the 1960's.  I had decided on another 1970's playlist.

But I don't want to do a Woodstock playlist - I did that last year.  So what I decided to do is build a 1970's playlist, but include artists/groups who performed at Woodstock.  So, it's like taking these people and looking into their future.  Shall we begin?

Some say that Woodstock never would have happened without Creedence Clearwater Revival, as they were the first major group to sign on.  So, a couple of 70's hits from them starts us off.

Some consider Fortunate Son, from 1970, as their best song.  Contrary to some popular opinion, this song is not a paean to draft dodgers. 

Also from 1970, Have You Ever Seen the Rain" is one of my personal favorites.  I may have had this on my blog before.  I don't care.

Then, there was Santana. 

An instrumental from Carlos Santana - 1971's Samba Pa Ti.

Also from 1970, Oye Como Va.

Next, there is Melanie Safka.  My spouse can't stand her.  I like her.  What can I say?  I admit, her voice is a bit "different".   I'm choosing "What Have They Done to My Song, Ma" from 1970.  It starts kind of fun, and then...I so love when she switches to French.

Arlo Guthrie comes next, and I must include his cover of "City of New Orleans", a 1972 hit, because I love it so. I chose a later live performance where he explains how he came to first hear the song.

Next up, The Who.  Their setlist at Woodstock was mainly their album Tommy, and that album is not my favorite of theirs.  So, a couple from The Who in the 1970's.  First, from 1971, Behind Blue Eyes.

Then, from 1971, Baba O'Riley.  Oh, that beginning...I just love it.

Blood, Sweat and Tears was one of the few Woodstock bands I saw in person, and I say "Long live horn bands!"  Here, from 1970, two songs.  The first, Hi-De-Ho, was co-written by Carole King.

And their big hit, also from 1970, Lucretia Macevil.

 

Last but not least, for my Woodstock but 1970's Playlist:  the Grateful Dead and Sugar Magnolia, from 1970.

And that is a wrap!

Join me again, same time, same place, next week, for more music (and maybe, more peace and joy, too.)

The Message Tree #ThursdayTreeLove

 Peace, love, and a red maple tree.  A Witness Tree.

What is a witness tree?  

Let me tell you a quick historical story about a concert weekend held in upstate New York, in the United States, in August of 1969, that became famous in a lot of the world.  I hope my non-U.S. readers enjoy this post.

52 long years ago, the world of rock and roll changed forever on the grounds of a dairy farm in Swan Lake, in the town of Bethel, New York, owned by one Max Yasgur. 

No one could have dreamed of what happened on the weekend of August 15-18, 1969, when some 450,000 people (way more than expected) gathered to listen to a rock concert.  Overcrowding, drugs, mud.  Also, incredible acts of generosity, patience, and love. And yes, music.   This concert, and the happenings during it, have gone down in history for so many reasons.

Sadly, Max Yasgur died in 1973, at the age of 53, from a heart attack, in Florida.   

I have blogged about Woodstock before, and have told a couple of its stories.  Today, my topic for Thursday Tree Love is a tree that witnessed Woodstock and, in a way, participated in it.

During the four days when unimaginable crowds descended on this small dairy farm in a rural town in Sullivan County, New York, people got lost.  They got separated from people they came to the concert with, or they tried to find people they had met and then lost.  So what did they do? There were no cell phones back then.

 They wrote notes and posted them on a red maple tree.   I suspect the rocks with messages came later.

Photos taken June, 2021

The tree is now known as the Message Tree, and is still on the grounds, although it is old and ailing.  However, it is being cloned and will live on as new trees through its cloned cells.  That's the hope, anyway.  Strangely, I never took a picture of the top part of the tree.

Here are my plans to commemorate Woodstock this year: I plan to have music of  the 1960's (mainly artists who played at Woodstock) on Monday, then another Woodstock story, an eyewitness (sort of) story, Tuesday.   If life doesn't intervene, that is.

 I hope you will join me.

Joining with Parul at Happiness and Food and other tree loving bloggers for #ThursdayTreeLove.

Root Beer #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday and it's time for #MusicMovesMe.  

Who are the #MusicMovesMe bloggers? We are bloggers who blog about music each Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only on this music train, please!)   First, there is XmasDolly.  Her chief co-conductor is Cathy of Curious as a Cathy. Her other co-conductors are:   Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, and me.  

John from the Sound of One Hand Typing is our guest conductor for today.  His theme needs a little bit of explanation:

Musical Acrostics! In honor of the birthday of Charles E. Hires (1851-1937), the first commercial brewer of root beer, build a playlist in which the first letters of the songs spell out ROOT BEER.

I love root beer!  I was thrilled, too, when I lived in rural Arkansas with my spouse, that we had a couple of sarsaparilla trees.  Their roots smell like root beer.  A root beer float would refresh in the coming heat wave ahead.  But enough of that.

So, anyway,- what I wanted to do is feature more music from the iconic Woodstock concert of August 15-16-17, 1969.  I tried to do a Woodstock playlist as much as I could.  I didn't completely succeed, but perhaps that was part of the fun the fun.

I rarely do playlists, so after spending about 20 minutes trying to add it to my blog,, I gave up.  I used to be able to do this and it seems I can't anymore.  So I tried this other method and "I think" it worked.  For me, anyway.  You'll have to click on the three lines on the right, I suspect.

I worked on part of this playlist with my spouse, so thank you, spouse, for some of your inspiration.

This is the Woodstock or Woodstock related playlist I hope plays for you:

Rock and Soul Music - Country Joe and the Fish
On The Road Again by Canned Heat.
Overture by The Who (not played at Woodstock) 
Tommy, Can You Hear Me (not a Woodstock recording) from The Who, also from the Tommy album.

Born on the Bayou. Creedence Clearwater Revival Eskimo Blue Day - Jefferson Airplane (audio from Woodstock only)
Everything's Gonna Be All Right - Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Rainbows All Over Your Blues - John Sebastian(of the Lovin' Spoonful).

Thank you again, spouse.  Now, after all that, I hope people can access the playlist.  If they can't, I'll have to come back tonight and post the videos separately.

That's a bubbly musical wrap.  See you next week - same time, same blog!

Love Story

Erich Segal's "Love Story" was a best selling romance novel in 1970, a year after the iconic Woodstock music festival.  What follows is a real life love story.

A headline I read today reminded me of this post I first wrote in 2015.

From August 15 to August 17, 1969, a music festival was held in upstate New York that became one of the most famous music events of the 20th century.  This Thursday will mark its 50th anniversary.

This museum is on the site of the concert, which was not held in Woodstock, New York

Almost every week in the summer of 2015, I passed the exit for where Woodstock took place on the way to my long distance care giving duties in a suburb of New York City.

I remember seeing posters advertising Woodstock on New York City subways in 1969.  I had a summer job in Lower Manhattan, not far from the late World Trade Center, and commuted back and forth on the #5 subway from my home in the Bronx.  The concert sounded so good and I wanted to go but my father forbade me.  I was 16 and couldn't do much about it, as I blogged yesterday.

But a couple who did go to that concert had their picture taken and, on the 40th anniversary of that photo, were still together.

So, about that couple: Nick and Bobbi Ercoline went to Woodstock, and ended up on the cover of its record album. They fell in love, and married in 1971.  They have two grown children.  Bobbi is (or was) a school nurse in Pine Bush, New York, where they live.  Nick worked for the Orange County Department of Community Development until his retirement in 2014.

Now, fast forward from 2015 to today. What about Woodstock's 50th anniversary?  Is the love story still alive?

YES.

This couple is still together, married nearly 48 years, and now have four grandchildren.  But it's a sad anniversary for them because the man who drove them to Woodstock passed away last year.  That's how life is: happiness and sadness all mixed together.

What a love story!  May the Ercoline's experience many more years of happiness.

 I can feel joyful that Binghamton University (some of their buildings are blocks from where I work), incidentally, is doing some archeological work at the site, which is now a museum and arts center.   

The little things.  They make the world run.

By The Time We Got To #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday and it's time for #MusicMovesMe.  

Who are the #MusicMovesMe bloggers? We are bloggers who blog about music each Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only on this music train, please!)   First, there is XmasDolly.  Her chief co-conductor is Cathy of Curious as a Cathy. Her other co-conductors are:   Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, and me.  Callie of JAmerican Spice blogs from time to time. 

 John from the Sound of One Hand Typing is our guest conductor for today.

<! His theme for today is "Your Pick".

We are coming up quickly on the 50th anniversary of Woodstock and I wanted to find some songs from that iconic festival to feature today because the official Woodstock 50 festival - well, it never happened.  It's a long, strange story (I won't say "trip") and it really isn't worth discussing.

Fun fact: Woodstock (1969) was not held in Woodstock, New York, but rather, on a farm near Bethel, New York, which is now the site of a museum and performance site called the Bethel Woods Center of the Arts.  Another fun fact:  I wanted to go (the concert was advertised on New York City buses and subways), but my father wouldn't let me go (I was, incidentally, 16 at the time.).  Maybe I should have snuck away and gotten there somehow but I'm secretly happy I didn't.

Later this week, there will three nights of concerts at Bethel Woods (as it is called now) featuring Santana with the Doobie Brothers (Santana was at the original Woodstock), Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band, and John Fogerty (formerly of Creedence Clearwater Revival, a band that also played at Woodstock).  Canned Heat, another Woodstock band, will be there in mid-September.

So, Jefferson Airplane and "Somebody to Love".

Richie Havens and "Freedom". When you listen to this, know that this song was made up on the spot.  Havens was the first act to play, and many of the festival goers were stuck in a 10 mile traffic jam trying to get to the festival site.  So he played and played, for some three hours, and finally ran out of songs he knew.  So he had to make this song up as he went.  Would you have ever guessed?

Joe Cocker and his cover of the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends".

So, got time for one more?  We can't forget the closing act: Jimi Hendrix, and his encore:  "Hey Joe"., but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be available on You Tube.

So instead, The Who and "My Generation".

Have a great week - see you next Monday, same time, same place.