Happy 40th Woodstock

With the 40th anniversary of Woodstock this weekend, I've been reading and watching a lot of material during the last couple weeks about the landmark rock festival ...

I've known for a long time about the magic of the musical performances -- Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix -- and the tales of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll coming together on a rural New York farm ...

But I guess I'd never fully realized the cultural impact and magnitude of the festival until now. The way it was practically thrown together by a couple promoters during the summer of '69. All of the stars aligned ... and when the crowd of a half million showed up, they formed a community, were surprisingly peaceful, shared food and space and enjoyed the music -- among other things.

Last night, I watched "Woodstock: Now & Then," a fascinating, well-done documentary that aired on VH1 and will air again Monday on the History Channel ... and I was charmed by, again, the stories of how the festival came together in the preceding days. The observations of the now "twinkly eyed senior citizens" who were there. The rain. The way Max Yasgur, the owner of the property, opened his arms and welcomed the festival as the young generation's right to express themselves ...

"Now & Then" also featured some great insight into the performances by Santana (oooh, that drum solo!) and Crosby, Stills & Nash (It was just their second performance as a band!). I was charmed, too, by the the "School of Rock" kids and seeing the glow in their eyes as they discussed their studies of Woodstock and the music that surrounded it ...

Aside from the documentary, The New York Times also posted some good material this week, including this home movie, which as far as I can tell from the description and the clips appears to be groups of kids leaving the festival and driving past one bemused family's home ... It's just as fascinating to see the cars and the behaviors of the people driving by.

I'm mesmerized. I wish I could have been at Woodstock. If only time travel were possible. ... More realistically, I'd love to at least visit the site and museum there someday.

I also can hardly wait, now, to see "Taking Woodstock."

Like Gail Collins, one of my favorite columnists, who also appeared in the VH1 documentary, writes this weekend: "Whenever anybody asks you to do something off the wall, you should really try to do it."

More good reads ...
a 40 years after Woodstock, generation gap finds harmony, poll shows
a 40 years later, Woodstock still fascinates