Woodstock. Coachella Could Never.
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Please welcome back to another episode of Write Answers Mostly, a history of women having shit.

on what you didn't learn in history class but wanted to. That's Tess Palomo. And that's Claire Donald. If we have any new listeners, I'm so sorry. Just start from the beginning. That's right, that's right. Go back. Well, actually, it's appropriate that we're talking about music and it's obviously appropriate that we're high because today we are talking about three days of music and peace. Let's talk. Ah!

You guys wanted it. You guys wanted it. Yeah, this was one of our top voted for episodes. And I can see why. I can see why too. Before, I don't know, there was like some resistance in me for researching this. And I don't know why because it seems right up my alley.

Why do you think? I don't, I think it was just because I was like, I feel like how interesting could it be and how wrong was I? Because it is so interesting. Sometimes I think that too with our episodes of like, I'm reluctant to do something where I'm like, well, nothing happened. There wasn't one big climax of an event, but like, that's not always history, is it? And well, there it is. There it is. And also, I just don't think I realized how much Woodstock meant to people. Wow. Wow. Oh my God. I'm so excited.

I am too. Well, so my citations to start it off is the 2019 documentary, Woodstock, Three Days Set to Find a Generation. History.com article. Shout out to history.com. We love you. And there was a New York Times article with Santana that I will discuss. But the documentary is amazing, guys. Check it out. It's on HBO? Amazon. Oh, nice. Well, I think you might have to rent it, but like, you know.

It's worth it. You know, I love renting and buying movies on Amazon and iTunes. That's right. Okay, so in August 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair took place on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York.

50,000 people were expected to attend, but around 400,000 came to a 600-acre farm to hear 32 acts play over the course of four days, which was August 15th to August 18th. Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, The Who, Janis Joplin, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were among the lineup.

Woodstock is known as one of the greatest happenings of all time and perhaps the most pivotal moment in music history. Damn, I didn't know there was only 600 acres. Isn't that really small for like half a million people? It's crazy when you see the amount of people in one place. Oh, God. They were not ready. They were not ready, but man.

They had to be. So let's just lean into the journey of Woodstock. Yeah. So the Woodstock Music Festival was the brainchild of four men, all ages 27 or younger. Really? Who put this on. I feel like it's like Studio 54. They were like also 27, 28. I just can't imagine. I imagine these like older hippie men that were the ones that did it. It's just such a big...

Wow. For such young people. Damn. John Roberts, Joel Rosamond, Artie Kornfeld, and Michael Lang were the men who started it. So John Roberts grew up in a pretty wealthy family in New York City. His mother died when he was young. So when he was 21, he inherited a quarter of a million dollars. Nice. Yeah. He then starts working on Wall Street. So he does pretty well. This guy, Joel Rosamond, meets John right out of law school and he's playing music in the clubs.

But neither one of them are kind of on a career path. They're like wanting something greater with their life. So their first venture, they decided to work together, was a recording studio in Midtown Manhattan called Media Sound. And it's very successful. Also, they decided to use all the money that John inherited to just invest in companies and stuff. Like, that must be nice. Yeah, seriously. And through this sound recording studio, they meet Michael Lang and Artie Kornfield. And Michael had a head shop. Do you know what that is? Yeah.

It's like a smoke shop, I guess. What's it called? A head shop. That sounds familiar. I'm familiar, I guess. Yeah. So I don't look it up. So he had a smoke shop in Miami in the Coconut Grove, which is where all the hippies were. But in 1969, Michael moves to Woodstock, New York, which is about 100 miles from New York City and was introduced to Artie, who was the vice president of Capitol Records. Wow.

So we have two dudes who work together and two dudes who work together. Got it. And they meet because of the recording studio. Community. Community. So Artie and Michael call Joel and John and they say they want to set up a recording studio in Woodstock and what they meet. And so they meet and they're like, look, Woodstock is the center for all the artists and a recording studio would be perfect because at this time, like,

Bob Dylan was living in Woodstock. Like all these cool musicians that didn't want to live in the city. So they looked through the contract and in the contract, they noticed a proposal idea for an opening day party where musicians who lived in the area, Tim Harden, John Sebastian, Bob Dylan would perform. And so the guys were like, wait, wait, wait, forget the recording studio. Let's do a big concert where all these guys perform and make a lot of money. So late January, 1969,

The four of them shake hands and start brainstorming what Woodstock could be. So outdoor rock festivals were a pretty new concept at the time. They started with Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, which was started by Lou Adler, who was our friend Ike Adler's dad.

Crazy. It was in the Summer of Love in Monterey and it was just this huge success of all this counterculture and like police officers getting along and it was like all because of the music. Monterey, California? Oh, wow. Yeah, like Otis Redding played and Janis Joplin and the Mamas and the Papas. It was just like amazing. Norah Jones' dad. And that was the first time like multiple musicians came out at once sort of thing? Yep. That's crazy, isn't it? I know, right? Because it's such a normal concept now. Coachella could never. But

Really? The Monterey Pop Festival walked so that Woodstock could run. It was the first of its kind. Oh, wow. Yeah. That was like the new concept. But Michael Lang, one of the guys, actually had experience with these outdoor concerts after Monterey Pop because he helped produce a festival in Miami.

That was essentially like our fire festival. Like it was a huge disaster. So he had experience, but like not well. But they were like, let's go. We're in. So they look at land in Woodstock, but the town was like too many hippies, too much chaos. We don't want you to have a festival here. Then they find this huge plot of land that there's really not much to it. And it's in this town called Wallkill, New York, about 40 miles from Woodstock.

But they're like, we love the name. We'll keep the name. Change the location. Yeah, chic. Yep. So they're in Wallkill, New York. The town signs off on the festival as kind of an art fair where kids would look around, look at some art with some light background music. So they think it's going to be super chill and wholesome. An Aquarian Expedition is what the foremen call it, which I don't actually know what that means.

I think it's like the dawning of the age of Aquarius. Oh. Whatever that means. Wow. From that musical hair. Right. Oh, right. Like that vibe. Oh, okay. So an Aquarian expedition. And they wanted to make you feel like you were visiting another world. A world that you would dream about if you were a younger person. So a place you could go and belong if you were a misfit and not feel like you were under the eyes of the authorities. Yeah.

That's what they wanted, which I love. Like the counterculture is so funny and I love it. I love it too. We're here for it. Down with the man. So let's set the scene of the world at that time. Of course, the Vietnam War is like,

raging at this time. They showed this draft physical. Don't you know someone who got a draft physical for Vietnam? I think my uncle did. And my grandma like fed him a bunch of like sodium water so that he like wouldn't pass the test. Yes. Okay. So that's what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Draft physicals, people would do anything to like, so this guy, you could put medical conditions down that you might have. He has bed wetting,

Compulsive masturbator. Heroin addict. Planter's warts. Like he was just making up all this shit to put down. Compulsive masturbator. I should be an excuse to get out of anything. Sorry, too. I am. Wow. So people are terrified. Obviously, if you were a 17 year old boy, you knew Vietnam was your fate. Oh, God. You know, that's something I've never thought about. It's like that you're drafted multiple times. It's not like once you can be like, oh, I have this condition. Like, then you're good. Like they're going to come for you later. It's.

such a scary time. If you guys haven't checked out the Watergate episode, we talked about Vietnam and all that happening. It's just, it's terrifying. The draft is so scary. So scary. I feel like we talk about the draft once every two weeks. That's why we should do an episode on the draft. I think we have to. Because it's like, it is a fast and

That's a fascinating subject. We won't be high for that one. No, no, no, no. I'm like, are you regretting it? No, it's fine. It's fine. So the youth was fighting the war. And on top of all of that, MLK was assassinated. And then right after Bobby Kennedy was assassinated, all the peacemakers are going and it's a scary time. So the youth is like, enough.

The youth is like, we just need to dance. Yeah, we just need to dance and like feel something. I think we always think this is the scariest time that anyone's ever gone through. And I think every generation has kind of felt that way. That's so true. And it's hard to compare traumas. Oh yeah, 100%. But it's so true. But where they found...

solace and connection was music. You know, there's no social media at this time. So there's no connection and voice in that way. And of course, all the adults hated the music. Also around this time in the counterculture movement, drugs are playing a really big part in it because you have the mind expansion drugs with weed and with LSD. So people are really exploring that. Also, the pill is

making its way downtown walking fast faces past and I'm homebound and so people are exploring free love no the birth control pill what a combination of beautiful things so mind expansion and free love is like starting to take off around the

time in the country. Wow, what a time to be alive. What a time. And the youth are pissing off their parents and they love it and that's nothing new. And by 1969, the youth felt like they were finally winning some culture war against the establishment. Damn. Yeah. Must have been a good feeling. Must have been a good feeling. Some, like, progress. Yeah, exactly. What's that like? Yeah.

It's a lot to keep from crying. Okay, so once they get the permits they need, they assemble their core team to produce the festival. They hire this Jew, Mel Lawrence, for the director of operations, and he had a plan for all the functions of the festival besides the actual music. So he had a plan, fences, food,

transportation, fire security, water, plumbing. The porta potties. I just was thinking about how many they probably did not have enough, did they? Well, that was like one of the main concerns and they didn't know how much to get. So they would go to huge events like Madison Square Garden and baseball games and he would go with a timer and he would time people going in how much time it took for them to come out and

and multiply that by the size of the crowd. What a dark job. Also, like, can you imagine coming out of the bathroom and seeing a man with, like, a stopwatch? So they come up with this outrageous number of toilets, and they're like, there's no way we'll ever be able to get that many.

So they just ordered as many porta potties as they possibly could. Everyone in the country. John Morris was in charge of booking and Credence Clearwater was the first band that they booked for Woodstock. And then Jefferson Airplane, which I'm not very familiar with a lot of their work. Yeah. And then Joe Cocker after that. So they're getting their bands. They didn't get the Stones. They tried to get the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan or the Doors. But they got a lot of other acts they wanted, including Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, The

Or did I say? Yeah. And who? Oh, my God. Okay. So and as well as a new band at the time, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Wow. I wonder if all the other ones regret that they didn't do it. I know. That's what I was thinking, too. I'm like, does Bob Dylan wishes he would have done Woodstock? He'd probably never admit it. No, he definitely would never admit it. You know, that's the truth. So they spread the word through alternative press. So like the cool alt newspapers and the Rolling Stone and like all that stuff. You could do. Is this conversion? Yeah, it is.

It is. It's my favorite thing. And now, what was it? The Clericulator. Clericulator. And now, the Clericulator. Thank you, Tess. So you could do one day for $6 or three days for $8. Or sorry, $18. I was like, is this the 1800s?

But still, you do one day for $6 or all three for $18. So two days money, one day pass would be $41. And for a three day pass, it'd be $141. Why is that so cheap? Because festivals aren't a thing yet. Oh, they didn't know. No, like it wasn't. And

I don't know. It's just all different. Isn't that crazy? Yeah. There wasn't like a celebrity culture yet. It was just like the music. That's so wild. Now it's like $500 for three days. At the least. At the least for like general admission. Crazy. Yeah, truly. Coachella is like, it's insane. Wow. That's wild. Wild. So $141 for three days of like some of the biggest acts. Yeah. I'll be there. Evan will be there. Evan. Oh, this goes out to our friend, Evan Vaughn, who is the festival host.

King, legend. He's been to every single one in the world. And he does it right. So early June, they start to build the Wallkill site. They bring in electricity. They start building the stage and they hired a couple hundred kids to help out. Tess, do you know what I put in my notes in asterisks? I want to build. Remember the other day we were talking about action workers. You put this before? Before. I was rereading my notes yesterday and I was like...

I'm telling you, like I look at construction workers and I'm like, I would love to try it. Same, just for a day. Just like be up on the roof, watching the sunset, hearing the crows. You always have. Or they call it not crows. Crows are out there. Yeah. Sure are. Hearing the crows. Having like music on, you're like building something with your hands. Yeah. Well, that's what these kids were doing. Claire and I share this passion. We didn't even know until Sunday. We wanted to be construction workers. Yes. And we realized it on Sunday when Tess said, have you guys ever like wanted to do construction? Yeah.

I felt heard and seen. And I do as well now. Same. So the kids who were building the stage were a lot like the ones who attended. Long hair, listening to rock and roll music. All of a sudden the town is like, oh, no, oh, no. Oh, like these kids are hippies. These kids are hippies and we don't want hippies in our town. So the Concerned Citizens Committee passed an ordinance that they can't have a festival over 5,000 people.

So there's no way that Woodstock is going to have less than 5,000. Like they always knew they were going to do at least like what Monterey Pop was, which was 28,000. Yeah. So it's like a trap for them to be like, you got to get out. They've already sold so many tickets and books like

all the bands. So they're like, what do we do? Because we don't have a location anymore. This is the point where I would have a mental breakdown and be like, it's all over. It's making me anxious even thinking about it. Oh, and it turns out to be like the best moment in history. So we've just got to always push on. That's true. Good lesson. They're about five weeks out and they're just driving all over upstate New York looking for fields to be able to have this on. They get in a helicopter and they're looking around and

Then they meet Max, I believe you say his last name is Yazger, who there's this Woodstock movie and Eugene Levy plays him. Perfect casting. Oh my God. Perfect. So this is exactly how that man looks. So he's a dairy farmer in Bethel, New York. They see his land. It was perfection. And they make a deal with him right on the spot. And it's kind of crazy. He was like a conservative dairy farmer and was like, sure, you can have like your music festival here. What?

Why not? I wonder how much they paid him. I forgot how much they said they did. Probably not much. I mean, I don't know. They're desperate.

And they were using that one guy's inheritance to like fund all of this too, which is crazy. Yeah. Wow. Four weeks before the festival, they have to fill out their permits so they don't run into the same problem. For the attendees, they estimate Monterey Pops numbers as a baseline, which was again, 28,000 and multiplied it by two because they were like, in our wildest dreams, maybe we'll get double the amount of Monterey Pop Festival people. It's like 60,000 in our wildest dreams. Wow. The permit gets approved and they're ready to go. They have to start all the way

over on the stage and build it. And it has to be this huge stage that they have to build in like three weeks now. Now I don't want to build. I don't want to do it under pressure. I just want to

Purely for pleasure. And the tickets were starting to look more like 100,000 people. So, okay. They also have to figure out 100,000 people on drugs. Like things could get really dicey. And things apparently had been getting dicey at different festivals across the country. Like there was one in Denver where they had to use all this tear gas on people. Oh, God. Yep. So...

They were like, you guys need to get a ton of security for safety. But the guys producing the event were like, all the cops in the world are not going to prevent violence at this thing, like if there's going to be. But they also knew there was going to be drugs and people who are not going to be able to handle the drugs. So they have both of those problems.

And one guy suggested, one guy named Stu Goldstein suggested that they call this commune community called the Hog Farm. And that, the Hog Farm is where Diane Lake from Charles Manson, the youngest member, grew up in that commune. Same commune. Which doesn't put a good taste in my mouth, but these people actually seemed...

Why did they want to bring him? They wanted to bring them because they said that they would know how to peacefully deal with people because they had traveled across the country playing shows. Oh, and they'll have experience dealing with people with drugs. So they'll like cover all the bases. Well, I guess that is really fine. A girl who can do both. Yeah, exactly.

So they call the hog farm people. The hog farm people are like, we'll help you out, but we're going to be in New Mexico at that time. So they fly the 85 members of the hog farm commune on an Astrojet, on the American Airlines Astrojet. And the hog farm people said that the flight attendants locked themselves in the small room because they were up too much.

Oh, my God. So they fly on an Astrojet. There should be a movie about that. I know. It's just that. It's just that whole flight from New Mexico to New York. And as soon as they get off the flight, the press is there because they heard that this commune is going to be security for this music festival. The leader of the commune's name was Wavy Gravy. This man has no front teeth. Yeah.

And the press is like, so why are you here? And Wavy Gravy goes, we're here to be groovy and spread our grooviness. And the press guy is like, I thought you were supposed to be security. Wavy Gravy replies, I don't even know what security means. Dot, dot, dot. You're the first person to call me that. And then he goes, I feel secure. Do you feel secure, man? Yeah.

That is an iconic quote. I'll put the video on our Instagram. Please do. Because it is hilarious. And apparently one of the guys who was starting the festivals, dad called him and was like, have you guys lost your minds? This is going to be your security. He's like, look at this man. Look at him. He's like smiling at the studio. He is. It's amazing. So yeah, Wavy Gravy and the Hog Farm made their way to BeSecurity app.

They're just trying to be groovy. That's right. I'm feeling groovy, man. New Instagram bio for Ram. We're just trying to spread grooviness. Just for the week. We're just trying to spread grooviness. That's so cute. We're the groovy girls. Oh, that's too funny. So August 8th, 1969, they're about a week out from the festival and all of a sudden people just start showing up.

Small groups of people start camping and nothing was ready. If you saw the state of everything, you knew that it wasn't going to be ready on time. They were roughly on schedule to begin in November at that point. And it's a week out from the festival in August. Okay.

Oh, God. So all the legitimate food people, vendors dropped out when the Wallkill town backed out. So they had no food members except for three guys that had this place called Food Love. And only one of them had experience in the food industry. Yeah.

So it's just really shaping up to be a shit show. But they were like, we'll set up stands. We'll make it happen. How did people that started camping eat? Like, could you make your own food? Yeah, you could go to the grocery store. That's also the thing is Walcott was a town of like, or sorry, Bethel was a town of like a thousand people. And all of a sudden these kids from across the country just start piling into your small town. Oh God. Okay. Well, at least they could eat. I was starting to feel like a little Donner party. Like I was starting to get a little scared of food anxiety. Yeah.

Food anxiety is so real. I'm like, oh, hungry thinking about it. When you picture it, it's so real. Two days before the first day, the construction foreman was like, we don't have enough time, resources, or men to finish this job. So you have to pick one. It's either we finish the gates or we finish the stage. And if they didn't finish the gates, that means they're basically going to go bankrupt on this event because everyone is just going to pile in whether they bought a ticket or not.

But if you don't finish the stage, you don't have a festival. What would you choose? Well, they picked the stage, which I would agree because if you don't have the music, what do you have? Exactly. So the stage it was. Wow. They did it all for the music. Yeah. Build the gates. Keep them out or nothing.

For nothing. They built it. It looks so sketchy. Like it looks just like it could blow in the wind. Oh my God. And they're working 24 seven on just building this like in the middle of the night. And then people start to pour in. One guy said he quit his job when he heard about it and was just like, I'm going to, I'm going to Woodstock. Good for him. I'm like, doesn't time just seem so much, and maybe I'm just looking at the past with rose colored lenses, but just so much simpler. I think.

I think it was in some ways. I think it was too. I really do. I think we have too much now, too much access. Too much of everything. Of everything. I totally agree. So traffic went on for miles in Bethel and it was just crawling. One attendee said she never in her life has felt such anticipation. Cars were just piled and traffic was stopped for hours. So people would just get out of their cars and hang out with other people and make new friends.

They started announcing on the radio, there's no way you can get into the town, so you shouldn't even show up anymore. Like people, but that grew the anticipation and people wanted to go more. Exactly. Crazy. Can you imagine trying to coordinate all of this without cell phones?

How do you meet up with anyone? How do you know where they are? How do you know where to go? I guess look at a map before you go. No, but they don't know what the festival looks like inside. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. They give you an address. How do you find an address from a map? I don't know. I just, I guess you have to look out. Just look out. Like, just wait to see a crowd. I'm sure our parents are just like, oh my God. They're like, you've disgusted me in this episode.

Like, how do you know? I can't believe MapQuest was like what we had at one point. I can't either. Wow. Never forget. Thank you, MapQuest. Thank you again for your service. Truly. It's our second shout out on this program for MapQuest. Oh, man. So it just would be so hard. So the first day you walk over the hill and it was like just kind of this bowl of land that was just filled with people. Wow.

from all across the country. An attendee said it was just this feeling of complete warmth. She said, oh my God, there's this many people in the world that think like I think. I never knew there was even so many people in the world. Because again, I think we just forget without social media that these are counterculture youth that are finally meeting. Yeah. And

And even to like see a visual of what that's like for someone that has never like felt that before must have been so wild. Like everywhere you look at someone that thinks like you do. Right. And just with social media, our idea of the world is so much bigger because we can see it. Yeah. And talk to a stranger on the other side of it being like, I got you, but not for them. Wow. So this was like the first moment in so many people's lives that they're like, I'm not alone. That's crazy. They said it was, it felt like finding your brothers and sisters. Oh.

I know. But the producers of the event were like, we're kind of in deep shit. People just started trampling the fences because they weren't even put up all the way. So they're like, we're just going to walk in anyway. Anyways, and there was tons of people without tickets there. While people who had bought tickets are like stuck in their car and who have driven for miles. Like people just heard about it and like, we're going. Wow. Wow. So...

One of the founders' idea to get some money back was to dress beautiful women in ethereal dresses with collection baskets. And the other guys were like, no, no. They're like, make them naked. Yeah, everyone was like, all right, no. Any other ideas? Thank you for sharing, but we'll move on. So as a business venture, they said it was a complete disaster. But they said there was just this kind of calm that went over all four of them. And they just knew that the gates weren't important anymore. And that they were there for the music.

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I'm Jalenta Greenberg. And I'm Kristen Meinzer. You may know us from our podcast, By the Book. And together, we also host How to Be Fine. In each episode of How to Be Fine, we dive into the good and the bad side of the wellness industry, from charlatan influencers to science-backed studies on happiness. And all this season, we're going deep on the subject of friendship. Why is it that so many of us have so few friends right now?

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One of the head guys gets on the mic and says, this is a free concert from now on. That doesn't mean that anything goes. What this means is that we're going to put the music up here for free. What it means is that the people who are backing this thing, who put the money up for it, are going to take a bit of a bath, a big bath. That's not hype. That's true. They're going to get hurt. But what it means is that these people have it in their heads that your welfare is a hell of a lot more important and the music is than a dollar. I'm going to cry. I know. I'm going to cry.

So I'm just saying this weekend seems like it was actually magic. Wow. A magic moment in time. We haven't even started. That is like true leadership right there. And after he said that, the crowd just roared. And it was like the capitalist enterprise was liberated. And I think that set the tone for the whole weekend. Yeah.

Jesus. Yeah. Fuck the man. Fuck the man. Stick it to the man. I have stick it to the maniosis. Well, something else that the traffic messed with was the bands because they couldn't get there. So they needed helicopters to get there because there's so much traffic everywhere. Mmm.

But they don't just have helicopters waiting around. No. So Richie Havens shows up and he wasn't supposed to play until way later, but he just showed up and they were like, Richie, we need you. And he was like, huh? He's like, eating chips. Always eating chips. He's like, I'm not scheduled to go until later. And he literally said to them, don't do this to me. Yeah.

Don't do this to me. He was so scared going first because he was afraid that people are going to be angry that the festival is already running late and then he was going to be the first one that they saw. His bass player wasn't even there and they were like, we have no one else. So Richie Havens opens up Woodstock and now to show business. Show biz. The show must go on. And it was beautiful. And his performance is legendary because he was on stage for over two hours because he would just like kind of stop and be like, still going on.

And they'd be like, we still don't have anyone. You have to keep playing. So his set is about two hours. And that song that I sent to you, Freedom, he made up on the spot because he was just vibing with the crowd. Wow. And it's like one of his most famous songs now. And he literally just playing. The food stands open up and people just start to run up the hill to them. I don't think I can listen to this part.

Oh, Jesus. I'd be so scared. I wouldn't get one. I would just be like so angry and like so angry. That's when people start shoving and pushing. But it wasn't really the case. OK, but there was too many people and too many arms reaching out. So they just started handing people burgers and like not even taking money. So they were losing money. And that way again, people.

But people began to shower the food handlers with joints. They said that instead of throwing money, they would just start throwing joints at them for the burgers. And one of the workers said he held them in both pockets on both ears with smoking two at a time. Quote, I got really high.

So just like joints were the form of payment for food that weekend. I love it. Me too. The first day of the festival, there was a lot of people there, maybe 300,000, but that was the folk day. So finally the helicopter rotation begins and they're finally starting to get musicians in. So Richie Haypens doesn't have to just sing the whole time.

They end up spending tens of thousands of dollars contracting helicopters. Sweetwater goes on, followed by the other acoustic acts, Joan Baez. I don't know. She's a beautiful singer. And she said during her set, the night was illuminated by lighters and joints, and it was like gorgeous fireflies. And she closed out the night. Oh, I can just see it. Beautiful. Stunning. Fireflies are all dancing to that. You're like, woo. We know it's so hot in our lives. Yeah.

We cannot smoke before episode. Oh, man. Okay. So Saturday, August 17th, the first day of the festival, there was a lot of people there, maybe about 300,000. But that was the folk day. The second day was the rock and roll day. So that made people really show up. They wanted to see the Who, the Grateful Dead. So the crowd grew by 100,000 people. Wow.

Were people not like suffocating? No, I guess there was a lot of space with the dairy farm. I mean, no one's getting like trampled to death? I don't think so. Also-

I think what helps was weed. You're not really trampling people, unless maybe for food, but no one got trampled for food. That's true. That's true. Yeah. They're just like taking it easy. It's different these days. Yeah, it's true. If you just started walking around, you would see all sorts of stuff. They said it was kind of like walking the boardwalk. There was like crafts and all these different things that people have brought in.

And lots of naked bodies. People were just super open with their bodies. A woman, the attendee said, the good thing about skinny dipping is we all went in fat, skinny. It didn't matter. Nobody looked. Nobody cared. It was just plain fun.

And also the hog farm had a part of lands that people saw a commune life and they'd never seen anything like that before. And they even built a small stage and played music themselves. Remember, they're also security, but they didn't call themselves the police force. They call themselves the please force. They are my new heroes. I love them so much.

We were like, apparently so kind and polite to everybody. Was like making sure everyone's okay at all points. How many were there? 48. Or I think maybe it was 84. It's somewhere around here that I said with the Astrojet. But maybe 85. Okay. But...

But crazy. It's still only 85 people for 400,000. And there was never like any stories that I'm aware of, of like violence at all. Wow. People just truly wanted to be there. For respect. And they said also, they were like, we don't need police officers.

to handle violence, we need to set the tone for the weekend and let people know what this is about. Wow. And like, you're not welcome if it's anything like that. Exactly. Damn. So I wish it could just be that easy. I know. They're so kind and polite. Everyone loves the police force. Cute. Country Joe McDonald plays Saturday afternoon and he has that famous songs like one, two, three, what are we fighting for? He,

So I have my mom's Woodstock records. I feel like we just flew into this and ask each other what we knew about Woodstock. You just have to get right into it. You just have to go. So I have my mom's old Woodstock vinyls. It's amazing. But he opens this set by making the whole crowd spell out fuck with him. Give me a U! C! A! What's that spell? What's that spell?

And also people feel this set because of that song. A lot of these kids are draft age and they're finally singing musician being like, fuck the war. And I'm here for you. And I see you. So powerful. So powerful. So powerful. Santana goes on and goes on stage.

And Santana's performance is legendary. The passion. The passion. And people had literally never heard music like this before. Santana's performance is also legendary because he was so high on mescaline. There's an account that he thought his guitar turned into a snake.

At one point. Oh my God. And I just want to read you a little bit about his experience playing. Please do. Woodstock, which you guys have to look up this performance. It's amazing. The people are like playing drums on the stage. They're like, it's wild. He said, when we landed, the first person I saw was my brother and friend, Jerry Garcia. He looked like one of those yogis in a cave in the Himalayas. He had that beatific, everything is all right already look. For me, he was like assurance, confidence, and a sanctuary. Yeah.

They told us we were going on two bands after the Grateful Dead. He goes, well, man, you better get comfortable because apparently we're not going on until one o'clock in the morning. It's a mess here. And by the way, would you like to take some of this? It was mescaline. And I was like, let's see. It's 1230 in the afternoon by two o'clock in the morning. I'll be all right. I used to take LSD and mescaline a lot. So I knew the timing. After that, I was like, well, man, you better get comfortable because apparently we're not going on until one o'clock in the morning.

After eight or 10 hours, you're into what we call the Omiba state. Your thoughts become very galactic and universal and microscoped. Two hours after I took it, there was a face in my face that said, you need to go on right now. Otherwise you're not going to play. By this time I was really, really on it. You know, I just held on to my faith and what my mom taught me. I asked her, I asked over and over, just help me stay in tune and on time.

I've never heard something as crazy. Crazy.

And that's Santana's performance at Woodstock. And people are just watching him. And it's an incredible performance. Wow. Now, speaking of all these drug tests. Yeah. You know what else they had? Freakout tents at Woodstock. Freakout tents, Wavy Gravy and the Hog Farm set up...

for people that they would go soothe when they were having bad trips. With someone in there, like a shaman? Yes. Literally, they had assigned people where people could go lie down and the hog farm people would hold their hands and guide them through their trip and tell them everything was going to be okay. They would be like, you took a little acid. It's okay. It's going to wear off soon. They should have those still at concerts. No kidding. No kidding. With like a doctor in there. Yeah, probably a doctor, not wavy gravy. Yeah.

But also like the hog farm is really sweet to these people. I wonder how many people do you think went into one? Probably a lot of people went in there because I know there was like about 800 and something drug related things. Oh, really? Yeah. And we'll talk about that later. But yes, they had freak out tents where they and when you would be coming out of your bad trip, they'd be like, all right, now that you're on the other side, you need to stay and help this person go through it because you are going to know best how to calm them down. Wow. Crazy. And so this community. There it is.

Freak out tense. So they also knew that medical stuff was happening and they were way understaffed for medical attention. They ran out of medical supplies by the second or

Second day, early afternoon. And this is 400,000 people just like exposed to the elements. So is it hot? August in New York. Oh God. So it is hot. Oh. Hot. It's like a lot of people, you know, are taking drugs. They're in the heat. Yeah. They don't have like proper food stands. One of their biggest problems. I'm just freaking out.

I know, like the idea of Woodstock sounds amazing. And then you really get down to it and you're like, not for me. I couldn't make it. No, I couldn't do it. Could never make it. They were needing insulin for diabetics even, like at the most simplest thing. Jesus. When the festival was finally over, the New York State Department of Health Records recorded 5,162 medical cases over nearly four days.

800 of which were drug related. Damn. So they're understaffed. So this makes the governor of New York, Rockefeller, be like, again, oh, no, oh, no, this is not OK. What's happening here? So they get a call from the governor saying that we're going to send in the National Guard and shut this thing down. And the guys who were running it were like, that is a terrible idea to send into these kids. Yeah. Oh, God. Yeah. Yeah.

So finally they come around and they actually send military helicopters with 45 doctors without pay for all weekend. The government did.

Leadership. Leadership. That's what I'm saying. It's like, they're like, well, can't do anything about it. Yeah. Well, I just feel like this was a magic moment where it was like there was connection actually at this weekend. Between like two opposing sides. 100%. So in between performances, they had to use the soundstage for communications because again, we have no cell phones and to see a 400,000 people, people would bring messages back constantly.

stage and would hand them to a guy. And in between performances, they would make announcements. One guy said to a man, please come to stage right. I understand that your wife is having a baby. Congratulations.

Okay, so I've seen differing accounts, but apparently I've seen on a few websites that it is recorded that three babies were born at Woodstock. What? Yeah. What, like, nine-month pregnant woman has the... Can't imagine. Has the desire. Can you imagine being, like, someone suggesting that you go anywhere when you're, like, nine months pregnant? So Woodstock of all places. Doesn't make you safe, really. No, not safe at all.

But so they would also have concerned parents calling and he would go on stage and would be like, test Blomo, call your mother at home. Because after Friday, no one had contact with the outside world if you were at Woodstock. Damn. Which I, we don't even, we can't even imagine why that's really like. Can't imagine. Our phone dies for an hour and we're like, how are we going to make it back home? And on the vinyl, they actually have all the information.

All of the announcements like still on that. Really? You can hear all of it, which is really cool. Oh, that's so cool. Yep. Yep. And also parents were so concerned because the New York Times and the New York Daily News were reporting this festival as a natural disaster. So all the parents were like, oh, my God, and my child is there. Wow. Crazy. Like, are they still alive? Yeah. You just don't know. Jesus.

Crazy. So late Saturday afternoon, all the food is gone and delivery trucks couldn't get past the traffic. I'm sorry. I didn't realize. This might be your most stressful episode. And there was also a sanitation and medical issue. But if the food went, the producers knew we're all done at that point. Yeah. But the sweet babies of Bethel, not actual physical babies, but all the...

Adults that were sweet babies. Heard that the kids didn't have any food. So they all went into their pantries and fridges and freezers and contributed. They took it to the school and then it was airlifted in a helicopter. And there was a local farmer that hard boiled tens of thousands of eggs. Oh my God. I was like, how much food can you have in your pantry? Not enough. For like a million people.

people. It's crazy. And yeah, 1,000 people even giving up all their food would still not be enough. Like literally. But they tried. I know. It's amazing. A local resident said, maybe we were hicks, but we did do as the Bible says. Welcome the stranger. They were hungry. We fed them.

Wow. Wow. So like sweet. That's tender. It is tender. The hog farm is also cooking and serving free food and people would offer to serve and attend. So people would stand up and offer to serve themselves who are attendees of the festival.

And people would just pass around what they had to strangers. By Saturday night, people were grooving. So we're in the flow of things now. Credence Clearwater, Revival Play, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone. Something that also sticks out for me with Woodstock is that there's only one stage.

Oh, yeah. I kept imagining like people going back and forth. No, like all the acts were on one stage, which is different at like festivals that we see now. Yeah. So. You can pack more people in. Yeah. And they didn't even have a time schedule. People were playing in the middle of the night. They said that The Who was still playing at dawn. So like 5 a.m. Jeez.

Because it was just unorganized and they would just be like, now go. Wow. And truly, yeah, 5 a.m. people were still just like jamming. On Sunday, August 17th at 6.30 a.m., Jefferson Airplane goes on and they said they don't even remember their performance because it was so early or late for them, I guess.

And people were just falling asleep in the crowd. They were like, we can't do this anymore. We can't. Hold on. That would suck to have that type of sleep. I know. The sleeping situation looked so uncomfortable. I can't even imagine. They're like sleeping on cars, just on the ground.

There are some of you who will be listening to this and can do that. I cannot. I cannot. I can't imagine just camping. I can't either. I need a bed. I know. I just need a little mattress. Yeah, something. If I had a mattress and a blanket under the stars, I'd be fine. Yes, that's gorgeous. There's also no need to start a set at 630. Let these people sleep for a few hours. We can't. We must keep the music, though. Yeah, why didn't they let them sleep? But they also only have so much time. Pick up on the vibes.

And Wavy Gravy that morning also gets on the mic and says, good morning. What we're going to do is breakfast in bed for 400,000. It's not steak and eggs or anything, but it's going to be good food and we're going to get it to you. We're all feeding each other. Let's be in heaven, man. Wow. And the crowd again just goes wild. It's so funny to hear him. He just sounds elated. I think people just thought they were in heaven.

It must have felt like it. And also in the early afternoon, Max Yazger, the dairy farmer, gets on stage to talk to the crowd. And he was basically like, you guys have proven to the world that 500, not 500 million, that half a million kids can get together and have three days of fun and music. And I, God bless you for it.

And the crowd goes wild again. And he like lifts his hands up like a rock star. Everyone's feeling it. Everyone is feeling it. And it's just like truly both sides coming together and like,

the youth was seen and heard for like the first time. Damn. Yeah. Okay. So Joe Cocker gets on stage and starts performing with a little help from my friends. Again, people are feeling it, but then storm clouds, huge storm clouds start rolling in. Oh God. And, um, yeah, there was 50,000 volt cables that had come unearthed and like,

Rain just starts pouring down. People are in like these huge stands and they were saying on the intercom, they're like, get down from there. It's so dangerous. A huge thunderstorm ensues and people are just trying to cover up all the equipment. You have 400,000 people literally just exposed to the elements and people just started playing in the mud.

They were like, might as well. They literally, they chanted for a while, no more rain, which. That's not what I was going to do it. Yeah, didn't, it did not help. And once they realized that wasn't going to stop, they just like, they started doing like slip and slides on the mud. Like they just loved it. I mean, it's kind of like when we got caught in the storm in Austin on the boat. Oh yeah. And you just have to. And it was hailing or whatever. And then all of us were like, you know what? When you're a little fucked up, you then just got to like accept it and like engage with the elements. Wow. So true. Yeah.

But after the rain, the crowd really kind of thinned out and people had it. Some people had to go to work the next day. I know I would have been like, that's it. A Sunday to music festival is always tough. It's such a magical in its own way, but tough. But you're like, this is all coming to an end now. Yeah. But the festival went on and they had great performances that night. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young played their second song or their second set ever at Woodstock. I can't imagine that being your second time to perform live in front of people. Yeah.

And Joni Mitchell was dating Graham Nash at the time, was supposed to perform, couldn't perform because her manager, David Geffen, booked her for a talk show on Monday. And he was like, you got to stay here.

But everyone else made it back on time for that talk show, which makes me really mad at David Geffen. Ew, that's gross. It is kind of gross, right? Let her fucking go. Let her live. But Graham Nash told her every detail like vividly and how magic was. And she wrote the most famous song about Woodstock, which it is a beautiful song. Beautiful. If you guys haven't heard it, check it out. And around sunrise the next morning, the air is filled with the sound of Jimi Hendrix guitar playing.

6.30 in the morning. Just like, wow. Waking up to the Star Spangled Banner. That's crazy. He does his famous Star Spangled Banner performance. And some interpretations say, because there is a time where he really goes crazy with it, that it's like the sounds of Vietnam in the middle that he intended for that to be the sounds. And then coming back in with Star Spangled Banner. Jesus. So much for 6.30 in the morning. Watch the process before you're really awake. Yeah.

It's a lot to process. Hendrix was paid. Are you ready? Yes. Chris, put in the cash. Put in the clear-culator.

Hendrix was paid $18,000 for appearing at Woodstock, which is the equivalent of about $125,000 today. He was the highest paid artist to play at Woodstock. Hendrix later revealed on the Dick Cavett show that he had only gotten eight minutes of sleep the night before he hit the stage and his exhaustion fueled a nervous breakdown later. It's for the music, man!

This episode is for the music. Also, how do you know if you sleep eight minutes? You know, like might as well just be like, I didn't get any sleep last night. The guy who was chiming the bathrooms, he was like time to sleep. Like he's awake. He's awake. But his performance was also legendary. That's gorgeous. Gorgeous.

And then suddenly it was all over. The site afterwards, they said, looked like a civil war, civil war pictures of a battlefield. One of the producers of the event was worried they were going to find someone dead. So he walked around checking and luckily they didn't find anyone dead. But they said it stank. I bet it did. So no one died. So I found people died.

Only three people died, though, out of 400,000. That's not bad odds. Not bad for the elements. Yeah. Two people died of drug overdoses and one person died from being in a sleeping bag and he got ran over by a tractor because someone didn't see him.

Oh my God. So not great deaths, but only three. Okay. So then they start to clean up and there's tons of soggy sleeping bags, tents, cardboard boxes, blankets, and trash. There were quite a few people there to help clean up because they said they just didn't want to leave. They said that they had this amazing three days, but they knew the world wasn't changing with them. And it would be a huge culture shock to go back into the real world.

Yeah. Post-vacation blues. Post-vacation blues. So real. Can you imagine? After all the drugs too. Oh, the comedown must have been so dark. And you're like, now back to the man. Back to the man to be a cog in the machine. Can you imagine being from a small town and like going to this festival and then having to go back to the small town with the small ideas? No, I can't. Horrible. And a festival goer said it was a mark in cosmic time.

As told by the four men who put on the event, they spent nearly $3.1 million, 15 million in today's money, on Woodstock and took in just 1.8 million. Robert's wealthy family agreed to temporarily cover the enormous cost provided they were repaid, but it wasn't until the early 1980s that they were finally able to pay off their last debt.

Thanks to album sales and movie ticket sales. Wow. From the documentary on it. Thank you for your services. Yeah, no kidding. So, I mean, yeah, that's Woodstock. I have no idea what just happened. I loved every second of it. I'm like, I feel like I was there. I do have, if we have just a moment, a few little short stories from people who were there. Yes. Okay.

Okay. This is from, this is all from Reddit, but it was from an article. I didn't actually go on Reddit because I don't have the mind capacity. I don't either. I wish I did. So these are stories from Redditors. I was there personally along with my friend Mike. It was shortly after my 20th birthday. We saw the small ad in the Chicago seat, the local underground newspaper. We had tickets, but I have no idea where they went. I know, epic fail. Actually, no idea sums up a lot of my experience there because we were doing drugs at Tom's

Thompsonian level. Fortunately, we didn't get any of the bad brown acid because we showed up with our own 80 tabs of orange sunshine. Ah, now that is great acid. What?

Actually, I found a few stories of people being like, I went and I honestly couldn't tell you anything about it because I was on so many drugs. I bet. Just like, what do you really say? So crazy. Let's see which one. Okay. And then last one. My wife and her sister went. My wife was still pre-senior of high school, 16 at the time.

And they got separated from the people she went with and spent most of the time fairly miserable in the rain and knee deep in mud. But remembers hearing Joan Baez, who she adored, saw people bathing naked in the creek and doing naked yoga on a hilltop. Saw an acid freak out, take his clothes off and climb one of the lightning towers.

Oh my God. What a time. It's like, part of me is like, I wish I could have gone. I know. Maybe if I had a different personality. I could have really enjoyed it. Literally same. If I had a different personality, I would have loved it. Yeah. Like, but you know, I mean, people camp at Coachella. It's like, obviously we have different,

We have more things now, showers and phones and heating, like all this stuff. But like, it's kind of the same thing. I came to Bonnaroo, but I still had a shower. Like they didn't even have showers. And I had a bathroom. Like I definitely had porta potties. But again, like some people love this shit.

Some people really do. And it's like adrenaline rush. Right. I think it's beautiful. I think it's a beautiful story. I agree. I love the idea of it. Me too. And I love that like everyone came together, all the people that felt like misfits, but then also the government then helped out. Yes. And like, it just shows like when we all do come together, good things happen. Good things can happen. Causing like chaos. Yeah. And harm to other people. Yeah. And going in with the mindset that we're going to be peaceful with each other. Yes. Wow.

Damn. What a time. I can just see it. I can imagine it. I can like feel the energy. And I love this summer heat. God, I know. Until it rains. I'm not happy. Not happy at all. But even like in that, it's just like they all made the best of it. They did. No one got electrocuted. No. And check out our Instagram at Right Answers Mostly. I'll post pictures and videos of the whole shebang. Yes. We should like that week play a bunch of like Spotify links. I would love that. The sets. Yes. Love that. We'll do it.

Oh, gorgeous. Thanks for sticking with us in this episode. I'm scared. I know you're going to be spiraling. I am. I can tell. But I don't, I truly don't know why. It was so, so fun. I just like, feel like I didn't even give you a chance to talk. Oh, we won't do this in front of the children again. Mommy and daddy need to go talk outside.

I was mesmerized. I was mesmerized. That's the only way I can put it. Great. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed too because I loved my research. I loved it. I really, really did. Well, thanks, Rammies. We love you guys. See you next week as always. As always. XOXO. Red answers mostly.