-
Hugh "Wavy Gravy" Romney: Good morning! What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for four hundred thousand.
-
Hugh "Wavy Gravy" Romney: We must be in heaven, man!
-
Hugh "Wavy Gravy" Romney: There's always a little bit of heaven in a disaster area.
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Max Yasgur: [to crowd, puts up the peace sign] I'm a farmer. I don't know - I don't know how to speak to 20 people at one time, let alone a crowd like this. But, I think you people have proven something to the world! Not only to the town of Bethel or Sullivan County or New York State, you've proven something to the world. This is the largest group of people ever assembled in one place. We have had no idea that there would be this size group. And because of that, you had quite a few inconveniences, as far as water and food and so forth. Your Producers have done a mammoth job to see that you're taken care of. They enjoy a vote of thanks. But, above that, the important thing that you've proven to the world is that a half a million kids, and I call you kids because I have children not older than you are, a half a million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing *but* fun and music, and I God bless you for it!
-
Jerry Garcia: [holding a joint into camera] Marijuana! Exhibit A.
-
David Crosby: This is our second gig.
Stephen Stills: This is the second time we've ever played in front of people, man, we're scared shitless.
-
Country Joe McDonald: Gimme an F!
Crowd: F!
Country Joe McDonald: Gimme a U!
Crowd: U!
Country Joe McDonald: Gimme a C!
Crowd: C!
Country Joe McDonald: Gimme a K!
Crowd: K!
Country Joe McDonald: What's that spell?
Crowd: FUCK!
-
Jimi Hendrix: [beginning his set] I see that we meet again, hmmm...
-
Arlo Guthrie: Lotta freaks!
-
Interviewer: What do you think about the kids?
Police Officer: From what I've heard from the outside sources for many years I was very, very much surprised and I'm very happy to say we think the people of this country should be proud of these kids, not withstanding the way they dress or the way they wear their hair, that's their own personal business; but their, their inner workings, their inner selves, their, their self-demeanour cannot be questioned; they can't be questioned as good American citizens.
Interviewer: That's kind of surprising coming from a cop.
Police Officer: [smiling] I'm not a cop, I'm the Chief of Police.
-
Santana: We have one more tune for you, It's called "Soul Sacrifice !"
-
[first lines]
Interviewer: Okay. Go ahead.
Sidney Westerfield, Local merchant: My name is Sidney Westerfield. I'm the owner of this antique tavern, Mongaup Valley, New York State. I was here when this crowd really came. We expected 50,000 a day and there must have been a million. I, myself, was hungry for two days because I couldn't get any food! I couldn't go out to buy any food.
[laughs]
Sidney Westerfield, Local merchant: I was eatin' cornflakes for two days. And the kids were wonderful. I had no kick. It was, "Sir, this" and "Sir, that" and "Thank you, this" and "Thank you, that." Nobody can complain about the kids. This thing was too big.
[laughs]
Sidney Westerfield, Local merchant: It was too big for the world. Nobody has ever seen a thing like this. And when they see this picture in the news-, in the, well, over the, moving pictures, they'll really see something.
-
Interviewer: Are you in charge of the whole thing?
Micheal Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival: Yeah.
Interviewer: But, you got backers.
Micheal Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival: Yeah. Partners and backers.
Interviewer: Yes. Where are you gonna go from here? I mean, are you gonna do another one?
Micheal Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival: If it works!
-
Bob 'The Bear' Hits, Canned Heat: Thank you! Oh, you're really good tonight. You know, this is the most outrageous spectacle I've ever witnessed. Ever! There's only one thing I wish. I sure gotta pee. And there just ain't nowhere to go. I believe we're gonna go "Up the Country" a little bit right now.
-
Male Townsperson #1: It's a great shot for Sullivan County - business wise. It's somethin' we needed. As far as whether it'll leave a favorable affect later, besides the money, we'll know when the festival is over.
-
Jerry Garcia: It's really amazing, man, it looks like some kind of biblical, epical, unbelievable scene. They're all, you know, you see these cars, they're all like strewn on the sides of the roads, from the helicopter, in all different angles. They look like jack straws and stuff like that. There's just this continual flow of people, just right in the street, just going along.
-
Interviewer: About numbers, tell me, about how many do you expect?
Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival: Two hundred thousand.
Interviewer: Two hundred thousand people here over the three days.
Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival: Right.
Interviewer: Where will you put 'em?
Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival: We have contracted for land surrounding the area. Setting up camp grounds, water facilities, toilets, electric. food.
Interviewer: What does it cost to put one of these things together?
Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival: A fortune!
-
Interviewer: You have to make two million dollars to break even?
Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival: Well, if we are going to break even, you know. The point is that it's happened and it's working, you know.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival: And that's enough for now.
-
Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival: Music has always been a major form of communication, only, now, the lyric and the type of music is a little bit more involved in the society than it was.
-
Interviewer: If you could tell me that if I could run your voice over while this music's playing, what that music is saying, kind of, what that music's about?
Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival: It's about what's happening now. If you listen to the lyric and you listen to the, to the rhythm, and what's in the music, then you'll know what's going on with the culture. I gotta split on you.
Interviewer: Great. Groovy. Thanks.
-
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: We apologize for the, em, the noise of the choppity-chop... It seems there are a few cars blocking the road. So, we're flying everybody in! I almost made the worst pun of the world about high musicians, but, we'll skip that.
-
Friend of Artie: Good to see you man.
Artie Kornfeld, Music Promoter: Glad you could make the party.
[laughs]
Friend of Artie: It's going beautiful.
Artie Kornfeld, Music Promoter: Well, man, I wouldn't have it any other way. It's really together. Look at the way - it really worked out nice, didn't it?
Friend of Artie: It looks fantastic.
Artie Kornfeld, Music Promoter: Yeah, man, the vibes are so beautiful here, man.
-
Artie Kornfeld, Music Promoter: How can I ever live in the east side of Manhattan now after this scene?
[laughs]
-
Joe Cocker: It smells like strawberries.
-
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: Can those of you in the back - hear well? Raise your hands, please. It's alright? Thank you.
-
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: The Daily News, in a rather large headline, still costing ten cents, "TRAFFIC UPTIGHT AT HIPPIEFEST."
-
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: The warning that I received, you may take with however many grains of salt you wish, that the brown acid that is circulating around us, is specifically not too good. It's suggested that you do stay away from that; of course, it's your own trip, so, be my guest. But, please be advised that there is a warning on that one.
-
Richie Havens: There are a hundred million songs gonna be sung tonight. All of them are going to be singing about the same thing, which I hope, everybody who came, came to hear. Really. And it's all about you. Actually. And me and everybody around the stage and everybody that hasn't gotten here and the people that are gonna read about you tomorrow. Yes! And how really groovy you were. All over the world! If you can dig where that's at.
-
Richie Havens: [singing] Freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom, Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, A long way from my home. Singing freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom...
-
Artie Kornfeld, Music Promoter: Just to see the lights go on last night, man, and to see the, to see the people stand up, man, it makes it worth it. It's a, you know, I mean, you know there will be, I mean, there's people out there that really don't dig it. Very few of them man. But, you know, it really is to the point where it's just family, man.
-
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: I was gonna wait awhile, but, before we talked about it. But, maybe we'll talk about it now so you can think about it. Its a free concert from now on! That doesn't mean that anything goes. But, what that means is we're gonna put the music up here for free. What is means is the people who are putting, backing this thing, who are putting up the money for it are gonna take a bit of a bath - a big bath. That's no hype, that's truth! They're gonna get hurt. But, what it means is these people have it in their heads, that you're welfare is a hulluva lot more important and the music is, than a dollar.
-
Hugh "Wavy Gravy" Romney: Yeah. Yeah. My name is Hugh Romney. I'm with the Hog Farm. And I'm workin' on a scene some people call it bum trips. I don't think there's such a thing as a bum trip. We're working with hobo voyages. A half an hour after we release anybody from our section we turn them into doctors and they care for people that were trippin' like they were when they came in.
-
Hugh "Wavy Gravy" Romney: Now, people been sayin' that some of the acid is poison. It's not poison! It's just bad acid. It's manufactured poorly. So, anybody that thinks they've taken some poison: forget it! And if you feel like experimenting, only take half a tab, okay? Thank you.
-
Bob 'The Bear' Hits, Canned Heat: [singing] I said I believe yeah I feel a change sure is gonna come, I said I believe yeah I feel like a change will surely come, We'll all have good peace of mind, lord, freedom will, surely, surely come...
-
Joan Baez: Who's on?
Festival Staff: I guy named Bert Sommer and, I think, Timmy Hardin is going on next.
Joan Baez: So, the order of everything is just kapooey?
Festival Staff: You close tonight. You're closing.
Joan Baez: Okay. Maybe they'll be a few more people here by then. I don't don't want to close a puny gathering like this.
-
Joan Baez: [Talking to the audience about her husband] I was happy to find out that after David had been in jail for two and a half weeks, he already had a very, very good hunger strike going with 42 federal prisoners, none of whom were draft people.
-
Roger Daltrey - The Who: [singing] Heal me. Listening to you - I get the music, Gazing at you - I get the heat, Following you - I climb a mountain, I get excitement at your feet, Right behind you - I see the millions, On you - I see the glory, From you - I get opinions, From you - I get the story...
-
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: Maybe the best thing for everybody to do, unless you have a tent or some place specific to go to, is carve yourself out a piece of territory, say goodnight to your neighbor, and say thank you to yourself for making this the most peaceful, most pleasant day anybodies ever had in this kind of music.
-
Jerry, Festival Goer: That's a basic thing, you know, like there's a lot of girls here and they're probably a lot freer than, you know, other places. And I'm sure there is going to be a lot of balling.
[laughs]
-
Interviewer: Are you two going together or are you just hitching together?
Eleanor, Festival Goer: Eh, no, eh.
Jerry, Festival Goer: We've lived together for about four months or five months and eh...
Eleanor, Festival Goer: With a lot of other people.
Jerry, Festival Goer: You know, with a lot of other people. Kind of what you call a communal thing or someone else would call a communal thing. But, it's just, eh, we just live together, so, we just decided to come down together, because we were coming here.
Eleanor, Festival Goer: And like, but, there's nothing, no definite thing that we're not necessarily going to be together through out the whole thing.
-
Interviewer: Are you two going together?
Jerry, Festival Goer: No.
Eleanor, Festival Goer: No.
Interviewer: But, you come up here together.
Jerry, Festival Goer, Eleanor, Festival Goer: Yeah.
Interviewer: You like that.
Jerry, Festival Goer: Yeah. I like her. I love her. I enjoy her.
Interviewer: What do you think about, Eleanor?
Eleanor, Festival Goer: Well, the way I look at it, eh, like, I've known Jerry for what, four or five, six months now when he moved into the, like, the family group that I was already, that I already knew for quite awhile. And, eh, in that time I got to know him real well and I've grown to love him. And, um, like we ball and everything, but, like, it's really a pretty good thing because I have, there's plenty of freedom, because we're not going together and we're not "in" love or anything like that, you know.
-
Interviewer: Do you communicate with your parents?
Eleanor, Festival Goer: I can communicate with them at one level and that now that I'm away from home for two years and at first it was very rough. Now, um, they, you know, they're beginning to mellow about it, you know. And, like, it's not so hard on them that I'm the way I am. But, I can't really communicate to them about anything that's really important, because, they just could not understand it. Like, my mother's really, really, eh, lives in a lot of pain because she's sure I'm gonna go to hell. And there's nothing I can do to tell her that, you know, there is, that it just doesn't exist for me, you know. So, I, there's no communication on those levels.
Jerry, Festival Goer: My father once asked me whether I was in a Communist training camp or something in the house that I lived in. And, eh, you know, like I could understand, you know, where he's coming from, because when he, well, he's an immigrant, you know. So, he came over here to better himself, economically and socially and all that other rot. But, um, make it better for me and he can't understand why I didn't play, you know, he said, he's saying, you know, "Why aren't you playing the game?" you know. Here's all this opportunity, here are all these things which should have so much value. But, they only have value to him and he can't understand why they don't have value to me. But, then again he does have wisdom enough to know, allow me to be who I am.
-
Jerry - Festival Goer: I used to be into drugs. I almost, eh, I was very heavy on drugs; but, now it seems like it's almost contrived. It's like, eh, drugs and revolution and the United Front and all, you know, I just, I'm a human being and that's all I want to be and I don't, I don't want to, you know, I don't want to have a mass change because a mass change only brings around mass insanity and, you know, I just want to be myself and find a, find a place where I can, you know, maintain some kind of balance within myself, you know, and kind of, like, you know, the Hamlet trip, "To be or not to be."
-
Interviewer: Do you have tickets to this thing?
Eleanor, Festival Goer: No.
Interviewer: How are you going to get in?
Eleanor, Festival Goer: Well, I don't really know.
Jerry, Festival Goer: That's what we're thinking about.
Eleanor, Festival Goer: I figure, you know, once I got here I'd see whatever happens and go along with it.
-
Jerry, Festival Goer: People that are nowhere are coming here cause there's people they think are somewhere. So, everybody is like really looking for, you know, some kind of answer, you know. Where - there isn't one. I think, you know, why would, why would 300,000, 120,000, 60,000, 70,000 people come to anything, you know, like just because it's music, you know. I mean, is music all that important? I don't really think so; but, people don't, people don't know, you know, they don't know how to live and they don't know what to do and they think that if they can come here they can find out, you know, what it is or how to main, maintain with it. It's just like people are very lost.
-
Swami Satchidananda - Guru: America leads the whole world in several ways. When I was in the East, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi met me and asked me, "What's happening in America?" And I said, "America is becoming whole. America is helping everybody in the material field; but, the time has come for America to help the whole world with spirituality also."
Sha-Na-Na: [singing] Bah-bah-bah-bah, bah-bah-bah-bah, Bah-bah-bah-bah, bah-bah-bah-bah, at the hop! Well, you can rock it you can roll it, You can stop and you can stroll it at the hop...
-
Yoga Instructor: Yoga means union! It's the same energy that drugs give you and force a rush on - with. Right? It's the same channels; only, drugs do it for ya and this way you can do it yourself. And you can do it when you wanna and you don't have to score to be able to do it. All you got to score is some clean air. We even - I learned it in Los Angeles and there was only a couple of months of clean air when I was learning it. So, you know, that's hard too these days. But, while there's still some clean air left, if you're groovy too, eh, experiment with it like these guys who have been experimenting for at least 6,000 years and getting very high behind it.
-
Joe Cocker: As I've said to many people, this title just about, eh, puts it all into focus. It's called, "With a little help from me friends." Remember it.
[singing]
Joe Cocker: What would you do if I sang out of tune...
-
The Grease Band: [singing] Do you need any anybody?
Joe Cocker: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
-
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: It looks like we're going to get a little bit of rain; so, you better cover up.
-
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: Alright, everybody, just sit down, wrap yourself up, we're going to have to ride it out. Hold on to your neighbor, man. Please get off those towers. We don't need any extra weight on 'em.
[sound of thunder]
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: Please move away from the towers. The lamps might give us a problem. Everybody who's in the back, please move back! Please move back. We have to get away from these towers. Please move away from the towers.
[to the roadies]
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: Put that mike stand down on the floor. Cover all the equipment.
-
Barry Melton - Country Joe and the Fish: Hey! If you think really hard, maybe we can stop this rain!
-
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: Like Barry says, let's think hard to get rid of it, please!
Barry Melton - Country Joe and the Fish: No rain! No rain!
Barry Melton - Country Joe and the Fish, The Fish: No rain!
Barry Melton - Country Joe and the Fish, The Fish, Woodstock Audience: No rain! No rain! No rain! No rain! No rain!
[Thunderstorm hits. Rain pours down]
Barry Melton - Country Joe and the Fish, The Fish, Woodstock Audience: No rain! No rain! No rain! No rain! No rain! No rain!
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: Keep thinkin' it!
-
Conspiracy Theorist Festival Goer: I got somethin' to say. I want to know how come the facsist pigs have been seedin' the clouds? There's 16 airplanes going over twice and with all, with all the smoke comin' outta 'em, seeding the clouds, and I want to know, you know, why that stuff is going down, man? And why doesn't the media report that stuff to the people, man!
-
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: The forecast for this afternoon is: intermittent entertainment between intermittent showers.
-
Artie Kornfeld - Music Promoter: Somebody was saying this is the second largest city in New York. There's been no police. There's been no trouble. If you check the statistics out, you'll find out these people at three hundred plus thousand people have lived together peacefully.
-
Interviewer: What are they doing?
Artie Kornfeld - Music Promoter: They're dropping, they're dropping flowers and dry clothes.
Interviewer: From the helicopter?
Artie Kornfeld - Music Promoter: Out of the helicopter.
-
Michael Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival: What you have here is this culture and this generation away from the old culture and the older generations, you know. And you see how they function on their own. Without cops. Without guns. Without clubs, Without hassles. Everybody pulls together and everybody helps each other. And it works! Its been working since we got here and its going to continue working. And no matter what happens when they go back to the city, this thing is happening and it proves that it can happen! That's what its all about.
-
Interviewer: You're in the red?
Artie Kornfeld, Music Promoter: Oh, the company? Financially, it's hard to think on those terms, when you're talking about something like this. Financially, this is a disaster.
Interviewer: But, you look so happy?
Artie Kornfeld, Music Promoter: I'm very happy.
Micheal Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival: Look what you got there, man. You couldn't buy that for anything.
Artie Kornfeld, Music Promoter: Sure. This is really beautiful, man.
Micheal Lang, Exec Producer of Woodstock Festival: These people are communicating with each other. That rarely happens anywhere, anymore.
Artie Kornfeld, Music Promoter: It's got nothing to do with money. It has nothing to do with tangible things.
-
Artie Kornfeld, Music Promoter: What's really important, the fact that, that if we can't all live together and be happy, if you have to be afraid to walk out in the street, if you have to be afraid to smile at somebody, right? Well, what, what kind of a way is that to go on through this life?
-
Country Joe McDonald: [singing] Sock it to ya, Sock it to ya, Sock it to ya. Ah! your love is like a rainbow, Your love is like a rainbow darling now, Your love is like a rainbow I said, Your love is like a ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
-
Arlo Guthrie: [singing] Coming in from London from over the pole, Flyin' in a big airliner, Chickens flyin' everywhere around the plane, Could we ever feel much finer? Comin' into Los Angeles, Bringin' in a couple of keys, Don't touch my bags if you please, mister Customs man...
-
Arlo Guthrie: It's incredible! I heard the New York Freeway's closed.
Festival Staff: Closed? This morning we heard that they were backed down Route 17 with an eight hour delay.
Arlo Guthrie: Right. Well, the New York State Freeway is closed. Isn't that far out?
-
Arlo Guthrie: I don't if you can, I don't know if, like how many of you can dig how many people there are, man? Like I was rappin' to the fuzz, right, can you dig it? Man, there's supposed to be a million and a half people here by tonight. Can you dig that? The New York State Thruway is closed, man! That's far out, man.
-
Stephen Stills: Hey, man, I just gotta say, that you people have gotta be the strongest bunch of people I ever saw. Three days, man! Three days! We just love ya. We just love ya.
-
Stephen Stills: A little less bottom end on the guitar, please.
Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Graham Nash: [singing] Remember what we've said and done and felt about each other.
Stephen Stills: Oh, babe, have mercy.
Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Graham Nash: Don't let the past remind us of what we are not now.
Stephen Stills: I-I am not dreamin'.
Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Graham Nash: I am yours, You are mine, You are what you are...
-
Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Graham Nash: [singing] I've got an answer. I'm going to fly away.
Stephen Stills: Hey.
Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Graham Nash: What've I got to lose?
-
Grace Slick - Jefferson Airplane: [starting their the set at 8:00 am following a nighttime of other performers] Alright friends, you have seen the heavy groups and now you will see morning maniac music. Believe me, yeah. It's a new dawn.
-
Male Payphone Caller #1: Yeah, there's some toilets around here - some of those rolling outhouses like they had at Newport.
-
Interviewer: Why are you calling?
Male Payphone Caller #2: Why? Because my mother wants to make sure I'm alright.
-
Female Payphone Caller #1: I'm going to call my mother and father. Because, oh, they think that this is gonna be like another Chicago, you know, like I'm gonna get my head beaten in and they're terrified. So, I'm going to call and tell them, "Ha ha. I fooled you. I'm alive."
-
Male Payphone Caller #3: You don't even have to bother to bring your tickets or anything, because, they're not going to collect them. There's no way they can. They gotta fence that's like half up and they're people just sitting in that field. It's really beautiful.
-
Female Payphone Caller #1: You don't know how crowded it is here. It's, it's just swarming. What? Out, out on the ground. Yeah. It was nice. We got wet. Yeah. All I miss is a bathtub.
-
Female Payphone Caller #2: There is no water. There's no water, no food, no medical supplies.
Male Payphone Caller #4: Why don't we pray for rain.
Female Payphone Caller #2: They're telling everybody to go home. They called it a disaster area.
-
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: Somebody may have noticed or all of you may have noticed, our familiar colored helicopter over there. The United States Army has lent us some medical teams and giving us a hand. They're with us, man! They are not against us! They're with us and they're here to give us all a hand and help us.
-
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: There are 45 doctors or more. I know of at least 45 who are here without pay, because, they dig what this is into.
-
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: Dr. Jack Bademan, please, with full suturing equipment, your presence is requested. You've got a delivery to make.
-
Chip Monck - Stage Announcer: Marilyn Cohen, wherever you are, Marilyn Cohen, Greg wants you to meet him at the information booth cause he wants to marry you. - - There goes Marilyn!
-
Blue Bandana Girl: Before it was backed up eight hours and they say they're working at it. And they're still some cats that think they can come here for Sunday, you know. And like they're stopping them at Monticello and all that. You know, so, like, it's really getting to be a mess. So, you know, like, what I'd do, I'd wait. Cause, like, there's no gas in the gas stations. Cause, like, this is the third largest city in the world. So, like, I would wait. You know, till this traffic starts clearing up. You, like, Monday morning. It'll be clear.
-
Blue Bandana Girl: This has been declared a disaster area. Cause, I called on long distance to Buffalo and asked some cats there and, like, they said that it definitely has been declared a disaster area.
-
Crying Girl: I have to get out of here because there's just too many people. And I can't leave, because, my friends will be lost. And I can't, I can't stay here any more. It's just too crowded.
-
Blue Bandana Girl: About 30 hours at least.
Interviewer: Thirty hours straight? No naps?
Blue Bandana Girl: No naps.
Interviewer: Are you on speed?
Blue Bandana Girl: No. I'm not on anything.
Interviewer: On blind faith.
Blue Bandana Girl: Blind Faith is a groovy group.
-
Jorma Kaukonen - Jefferson Airplane: [singing] You know I'm headed off for war, Well, now I'm gonna do some fightin', Well, no one knows what for, Well, Uncle Sam ain't no woman, You know he sure can take your man...
-
John Sebastian: Oh, boy, this is really a mind-fucker of all times, man. I've never seen anything like this, man.
-
John Sebastian: Wow! Just love everybody all around you and clean up a little garbage on your way out and everything gonna be alright.
-
John Sebastian: The press can only, can only say bad things, unless there ain't no fuck-ups. And it's lookin' like there ain't gonna be no fuck-ups. This is gonna work!
-
John Sebastian: I'd like you to hear a tune about, I guess, about those discussions that I was talkin' about that, I seem to have had in so many small circles of friends around living rooms, around pipes, when they weren't sellin' no papers on the street and we went walkin' around this beautiful green place, smokin' and not bein' afraid.
-
John Sebastian: There's a cat and I really don't even know his name; but, I remember that Chip said that, that his old lady just had a baby! And that made me think, wow, it really is a city, here. But this is, this is for you and your old lady, man, and - whoo - that kid's gonna be far out.
[singing]
John Sebastian: Why must every generation think their folks are square...
-
John Sebastian: [singing] But whats the matter Daddy, how come you're looking mean? Could it be that you can't live up to your dreams?
[stops singing]
John Sebastian: No it's not true! Because we're doing it.
-
Country Joe McDonald: [singing] Well, come on all of you, big strong men, Uncle Sam needs your help again. He's got himself in a terrible jam, Way down yonder in Vietnam, Put down your books and pick up a gun, We're gonna have a whole lotta fun...
-
Country Joe McDonald: Listen people I don't know how you Expect to ever stop the war If you can't sing any better than that. There's about 300,000 of you fuckers out there. I want you to start singin'. Come on.
[singing]
Country Joe McDonald: An' it's...
Country Joe McDonald, Woodstock Audience: One, two, three, What are we fighting for? Don't ask me, I don't give a damn, The next stop is Vietnam; An' it's five, six, seven, Open up the pearly gates, Well ain't no time to wonder why, Whoopee! we're all gonna die...
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Male Bethel Resident #1: It's a disgraceful mess, if you want to know the answer.
Interviewer: What specifically has happened to you?
Male Bethel Resident #1: My fields - they're all cut up. We got a second cut of hay is gone. Our cows - if the milk truck doesn't get here the milk has to be thrown out.
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Male Bethel Resident #2: Saturday night we got word over at WVOS that a lot of kids in town didn't have anything to eat. Word went out that everybody should contribute food. We went over to the park and the village permitted them to camp there. A police car come up the street here with loud speaker and told the kids to come up there. And we fed them Saturday night and all day Sunday. Excess stuff was taken over to the school and they flew it to the site.
Interviewer: How do you feel about it?
Male Bethel Resident #2: Very good. I have a 19 year old myself. He's out on the coast and I felt you gotta give 'em a fair shake here. If kids are hungry, you gotta feed 'em.
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Male Bethel Resident #3: They were all high on pot!
Male Bethel Resident #2: Well, maybe if pot made them peaceful, we all should take pot.
Male Bethel Resident #4: I was given 'em water all along the road here, right up on the bridge, and they were not on pot. Very lovely children. Believe me.
Male Bethel Resident #2: There was enough, there was enough stuff there. No doubt about it. They had hundreds of kids . What? if you have, if you have 450,000 kids and you've got two or three hundred and somebody was taking - they were selling these, what, my kid, with blue acid tablets - which are bad - and they were selling 'em. True. But, figure the law of averages. If you took 500 adults and brought 'em together and had plenty of booze, you know what would have happened? There was no fighting. Nobody stealing. This - we had to feed them. What the hell else was there to do? There was nothing else to do.
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Male Nude Swimmer #1: About a year ago I wouldn't have believed that this is the way to swim; but, this is the way to swim. It's the way to go all the time, actually.
Interviewer: You think that's going to happen?
Male Nude Swimmer #2: Yes.
Male Nude Swimmer #1: It's gotta happen.
Male Nude Swimmer #2: Got to!
Male Nude Swimmer #1: You go up and down the street where all the cars were coming in, it was the first day and it was just beautiful. Everybody's free. Everybody's talking. Everybody's really nude.
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Female Nude Swimmer: They come here to dig what's going on. And even if they don't get into a festival, its just a good thing with all the people. You know, you realize, all over the country they're coming together. You realize that you're not the only people in your city that are doing the things you are. That they're everywhere. We're taking over!
[laughs]
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Female in Sunglasses: I think the body is beautiful. I think skinny dipping is just beautiful, if you want to do it. You can do it; but, um, some people can't. Because, all their environment made them, you know, feel that it's wrong. Even though they know in their subconscious that it's right, you know. It's good and normal and natural. But, eh, we've been made to feel that it's wrong.
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Sly Stone: [singing] I want to, I want to, I want to take you higher, Take you higher, Baby baby baby light my fire, I want to take you higher, Boom laka-laka-laka Boom laka-laka-laka...
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Sly Stone: What we would like to do is sing a song together. And you see what usually happens is you got a group of people that might sing and for some reasons that are not unknown anymore - they won't do it. Most of us need approval. Most of us need to get approval from our neighbors before we can actually let all hang down. But, what is happening here is we're going to try to do a sing along. Now, a lot of people don't like to do it. Because they feel that it might be old fashioned. But, you must dig that it is not a fashion in the first place. It is a feeling. And if it was good in the past, it's still good. We would like to sing a song called, "Higher." And if we could get everybody to join in, we'd appreciate it. Everybody do it can on.
[singing]
Sly Stone: Want to take you higher!
Sly Stone, The Family Stone: Higher!
Sly Stone: [talking] See, like that what we do. Is to say higher and throw the peace sign up it'll do you no harm. Still, again, some people feel that they shouldn't, because, there are situations where you need approval. You get in on something that could do you some good.
[singing]
Sly Stone: Want to take you higher!
Woodstock Audience, Sly Stone, The Family Stone: Higher!
Sly Stone: [talking] If you throw the peace sign up and say higher, you get everybody to do it. There's a whole lot of people here and a whole lot of people that might not want to do it, because, if they can some how get around it, they feel there are enough people to make up for it. On and on. Et cetera. Et cetera. We're going to try higher again and get everybody to join in we'd appreciate it. It'll give you no harm.
[singing]
Sly Stone: Want to take you higher!
Woodstock Audience, Sly Stone, The Family Stone: Higher!
Sly Stone: [talking] Way up on the hill, what's happening. Let's give it up.
[singing]
Sly Stone: Want to take you higher!
Woodstock Audience, Sly Stone, The Family Stone: Higher!
Sly Stone: Want to take you higher!
Woodstock Audience, Sly Stone, The Family Stone: Higher!
Sly Stone: Want to take you higher!
Woodstock Audience, Sly Stone, The Family Stone: Higher!
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Interviewer: Well, you're doin' a good job here.
Port-O-San Maintenance Man: Thank you very much. Glad to do it for these kids. My son's here too and I got one over in Vietnam too. He's up in the DMZ right now with all the flying helicopters.
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Jimi Hendrix: [singing] Purple haze, all in my brain, Lately things don't seem the same, Actin' funny, but I don't know why, Excuse me while I kiss the sky...
Woodstock Quotes
Extended Reading
