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40th Anniversary of Woodstock
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Acts confirmed with more to come: Denny Laine (of Paul McCartney, Wings, Moody Blues); Lester Chambers (the Chambers Brothers); The Original Lowrider Band (with Lee Oskar); Greg Errico, Jerry Martini, Cynthia Robinson (From Sly and the Family Stone); Harvey Mandel and the Snake band; Barry “The Fish” Melton; Alameda All Stars (Gregg Allman’s Band); Michael McClure (Beat Poet) and Ray Manzarek (from the Doors); David Denny (from Steve Miller) with Prairie Prince of “The Tubes”, Diana Mangano (formerly of The Jefferson Starship), Greg Douglas, Carlos Rios; PF Sloan; Jimmy McCarty (from Detroit Wheels); Peter Kaukonen (from Jefferson Airplane); Terry Haggerty (from the Sons of Champlin); John York (from the Byrds); Leigh Stevens (from Blue Cheer); Narada Michael Walden; The Great Jeffersonian (members of the Original Jefferson Airplane); Kathi McDonald and Friends; El Chicano; Cathy Richardson band; David and Linda La Flamme (It’s a Beautiful Day); Lydia Pense and Cold Blood; Lost Creek Gang and the Merry Pranksters with Ken Babbs, George Walker, and Mountain Girl; Volenti and Saunders; Mitchell Holman, Jose Neto and Friends; The Mutaytor; Rock Hendricks (Bobby Womack); Edwin Hawkins Singers “Oh Happy Day” 40th Anniversary; Scoop Nisker – KFOG; David Harris – speaker; Matthew Rosenthal – Prevent Hate; Bettina Aptheker – Free Speech Movement; Ben Fong -Torres (Rolling Stone); David Hilliard – Black Panther Party; Benjamin Hernandez – Harts and Hands elders; Blue Thunder Dennis Banks – AIM Wounded Knee; Dennis Peron and Richard Eastman (Marijuana Initiative); David Rovic; Rabbi Joseph Langer ; Terrance Hallinan (Former SF DA); Paul “Lobster” Wells (DJ), Aron “Pieman” Kay (from the Yippies); Some acts can not be advertised until 30days out. Poster series: Stanley Mouse, Arnold Skolnick (original Woodstock 69 poster artist), Chris Shaw, Mike Dolgushkin, Wendy Wright, David Singer, Mark Henson, Carlon Ferris, Dave Huckins, Lee Conklin, Bob Masse, Andrew Annenberg, Victor Moscosco, Michael Moss, Thomas Yeates, Chrissy Costello, Gilbert Johnson and Dusty Hughston, Michael V. Rios, Burry Olsen, Pat Ryan, Ron Donovin – Fire House Crew. In honor of Jimi Hendrix, who headlined the festival in 1969, 3,000 guitar players will attempt to break the World’s Record for the Largest Guitar Ensemble playing “Purple Haze” — all at the same time!
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HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT
There are moments in time when a word or thought has such power that it changes history; a generation so involved in the moment it becomes unstoppable and a spiritual awakening so profound that its very conception shatters perceptions, halts the world and makes people from all nations take notice.
It began with a simple four-letter word: LOVE! In the 1960’s, this word became synonymous with a generation and a city call San Francisco. It was a concept, a belief deep in the hearts of all who were there (and those who wished they were). It began with Ken Keasey, the Merry Pranksters, and their bus “Further, ” Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the Beat Generation.
They gathered in places like North Beach, Haight Ashbury, Palo Alto, Berkeley, Seattle, Portland, New York, and LA. These pockets of anti-social, anti-establishment individuals questioned authority and their surroundings while searching for the real meaning of life and the deeper truths.
These small communities of like-minded individuals and “families” of communal creativity focused on poetry, art, folk music, jazz and rock ‘n roll, demanding to be free of societal restrictions, restraints, and hang-ups.
Then one summer – it happened! We Were Everywhere. The pureness of thought exploded exponentially and now there were millions of us. This event, this historical moment, which included most of 1967, became known as the “SUMMER OF LOVE“.
During this period, the Peace Movement was born with the “Human Be-In’s” in San Francisco and then the “Love-In’s” in New York. Anti-war demonstrations occurred everywhere and college campuses erupted with thousand of people refusing the draft. This startled the government as presidents were impeached, wars were stopped, and an entire generation stood up and said “Hell No. “
Social change was occurring and continued on multiple levels. Out of this orderly chaos came “The Movements”: The Free Speech Movement, the Free Love Movement, the Farm Workers Movement, the Women’s Movement, the Gay Rights Movement, the Environmental Movement, the Ecology Movement, the Animal Rights Movement, the Sexual Revolution, the Spiritual Movement, the Student Movement, the Civil Rights and the Anti-War Movement.
The message was clear – that the world was uniting behind one principle and one thought – LOVE! And its affirmation of PEACE, COMPASSION AND UNDERSTANDING. The world was brought forth by musicians such as Peter, Paul and Mary, the Mamas and the Papas, Donovan, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane and then carried on by many of the English musicians like Eric Clapton, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones.
Because of this free-thinking environment a renaissance of gifted geniuses occurred with the likes of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison. New concepts and inventions touched every segment of society. The transistor, the calculator, the computer, and the internet all had their inception in the 1960’s. A whole new creative sector of the economy developed within and took hold to become Silicon Valley.
The international community was in awe of this explosion of creativity. Even athletes showed their solidarity by uniting with the winds of change. All of this started with a simple word, a simple thought – LOVE, and a generation of free thinking people willing to stand up and be counted and their willingness to be different.
Woodstock was not just an event, a happening or a concert with 400,000 people; it was a pivotal moment of realization for an entire generation. It marked an epiphany for the entire country. Woodstock was a statement to the world – “humanity had evolved” coming together through peace, love spirituality and rock ‘n roll.
An event originally intended for profit became the largest free event in history. The “Hip Movement” had come of age and was recognized by the world. The principles of love swept the country and we had become the “WOODSTOCK NATION”.