WI: No Woodstock

I think it affects how the hippy generation is remembered. They will be seen as more anti-war and anti-establishment than actual counter culture. My father was 14 in 1969 and (probably made up) claims he helped build fences that were used in Woodstock along with other goombas from the Bronx. He wanted to go up there and party with his older friends, but my square grandfather forbade him...as the story goes.

Both my parents, (one 14 the other 17 in 1969) view the Hippy Generation as a time of partying. They were teens, and did not really perceive the political ramifications. Furthermore, my father even said that "the older people ruined it" and were "commies." This is why the "young" hippies really were just the coked out disco people a few years later. They were just there for the parties, the fun, and the drugs.

Woodstock, ultimately, was a massive party where several big stars were seen on a huge stage before dying. Without this, the hippy generation is less of a "we had a bunch of sex and partied" thing and more of a political, countercultural thing (which it really was.)

In short, without woodstock, we would have less apolitical bandwagoners that just liked the clothing, music, and pot.
 
The biggest thing about Woodstock and what it did for music was the film.

The film preserved Woodstock. Lack thereof sentenced the Ozark Music Festival to obscurity.

Wolfman Jack hosted the event. The lineup included Jefferson Starship, Joe Walsh, Aerosmith, Blue Oyster Cult, America, The Eagles, Boz Scaggs, Ted Nugent, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, The Sweet, Joe Walsh, Charlie Daniels Band, Peter Sinfeld, Marshall Tucker Band, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, David Bromberg, Leo Kottke, Cactus, The Electric Flag, Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, Jimmie Spheeris, Babe Ruth, Shawn Phillips, Spirit, REO Speedwagon, Elvin Bishop.

It was five years after Woodstock; the hippies and the counterculture had already faded. Film crews covered the event, from WDAF-TV I believe, only to have the recordings confiscated by authorities. I find it amazing that an event this size, that drew over 300,000 people in three days, seems so completely erased from music history. I remember it because for me, it was local news.
 
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