Saturday, August 15, 2009

woodstock (20 years) revisited ... by: larry curtis spurlock




Saturday August 15, 2009
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In honor of celebrating the 4oth anniversary of the
Woodstock Music & Arts Festival ...



Woodstock Music & Art Fair (informally, Woodstock or The Woodstock Festival) was a music festival, billed as
"An Aquarian Exposition", held at Max Yasgur's 600 acre dairy farm in the rural town of Bethel, New York from August 15 to August 18, 1969. Bethel, in Sullivan County, is 43 miles (69 km) southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, in adjoining Ulster County.
Thirty-two acts performed during the sometimes rainy weekend in front of nearly half a million concertgoers. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest moments in popular music history and was listed on Rolling Stone's 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll.
The event was captured in a successful 1970 documentary movie, Woodstock; an accompanying soundtrack album; and Joni Mitchell's song "Woodstock", which commemorated the event and became a major hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
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lyrics penned in
1989
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4 14 171 2a

by:
larry curtis spurlock

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woodstock ( 20 years ) revisited


1
it was 20 years ago - when ray warren saw me
on florida avenue in herndon v a
where you going larry - rayzor willie says to me
hell i don’t know i says to ray

2
there's a concert they’re having - in upstate new york
ol’ ray says he wants me to go
ray, i got no money - no car and no job
just how you think i'm gonna show

3
ray is home from viet nam - but he's got another year
and he says he's got plenty of money
he'll pay my way if i'll help drive - he wants me along
cause i'm so damn funny

4
i'm nineteen years old - just six weeks before i’m drafted
this is something i've got to do
we pick up c e smann - my old friend
and we're on the road thursday the fourteenth at two

5
c e smann’s got no bread - ray's virtually footing the bill
but he says he isn't dumb
let's have fun - and do something we'll remember
for twenty years to come

chorus
woodstock
i had no idea what you'd do to me
woodstock
and they said the show was free
woodstock .. woodstock .. woodstock
now i see
woodstock .. woodstock .. woodstock
you had to be - free for me

6
we drove ten hours - but when we got to woodstock
they said the show was fifty more miles up the road
we got to the site - friday morning at eleven and by noon
the music was loud and we were stoned

7
we don't know santana or richie havens – where are we gonna sleep ?
but i know we'll get it done
this weekend is hauntingly surreal - something tells me not to worry
just have fun fun fun

8
so much happened by saturday morning - i lost ray and c e smann
sometime in the night
one thing kept me from worrying then - smiling lilah
and she made everything all right

9
she came there - with a handful of people from connecticut
on an old school vehicle ripe with rust
we spent some time down there - while the who was singing
i want it, i want it, I want it .. i got it - at the magic bus

10
now it's me and smiling lilah - all day saturday
no doubt i sacrificed my soul
the music was great - continuously beating in the background
rumbling down by the washin' hole

repeat chorus

11
we did it all all day - she was calling me smiling larry
her volunteer
i never had this much fun - in just 24 hours
my whole life plan seemed clear

12
but as much as i liked lilah - she just wasn't a part
of my destiny and future plan
coming down - i put my priorities in order
gotta find ray and c e smann if i can

13
saturday night - say no to more drugs
but lilah's brother has some jack daniels, black label
so now here i am - i've run the gamut
passed out in a horse stable

14
as sunday morning's headache - wakes me at dawn
i find i'm plain worn out
but there's something new - lilah says it’s speed
rrr rrr rrrrrr rrrrrr rrrrrrrr - far out

15
sunday's breakfast - has been put on hold
but the music carries on
lilah's talking about me - coming back to connecticut
but lord i'm going home

repeat chorus

16
somehow ray and c e smann find me - talking in tent city
their promise to find me was vowed
i show them lilah - and she goes on about me
a different me emerges from that crowd

17
in 48 hours - the line has been drawn
right down the middle of the road
psychedelic surprise - the good old boys are splitting in two
as i develop a new code

18
so there you have it - three dudes go to woodstock
one an unlikely show
but some mind altering later - funny how it happens
that was the one who had to go

19
boys talking trash - on their way home
two say it was quite a whim
one is thinking of lilah - and what's to come
and what the army will do to him

20
i can tell you now - i didn't need that festival
to make me who i am
but it's funny how it guided me - to be who i am
20 years later as a man

chorus (3x) - out

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Schedule of performing Acts
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Friday, August 15, 1969
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Saturday, August 16, 1969
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Sunday & Monday, August 17 & 18, 1969
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Declined invitations:
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The Doors - were considered as a potential performing band, but canceled at the last moment; the cancellation was most likely due to Jim Morrison's known and vocal distaste for performing in large outdoor venues. Doors drummer John Densmore attended, however, and in the film, he can be seen on the side of the stage during Joe Cocker's set.
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Led Zeppelin - was asked to perform, their manager Peter Grant stating:
"We were asked to do Woodstock and Atlantic were very keen, and so was our US promoter, Frank Barsalona. I said no because at Woodstock we'd have just been another band on the bill".
Instead the group went on with their hugely successful summer tour, playing that weekend south of the festival at the Asbury Park Convention Hall in New Jersey. Their only time out taken was to attend Elvis Presley's show at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, on August 12.
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Jethro Tull - declined to perform. Ian Anderson is reported to have later said he "didn't want to spend [his] weekend in a field of unwashed hippies". Another theory proposes that the band felt the event would be "too big a deal" and might kill their career before it started. However, other artists from the time have expressed the view that, before the festival, there was little indication of the importance the event would eventually come to assume. Although Jethro Tull did not perform, their music was played over the public address system. In the film, during the interview with the promoters (where they are discussing how much money they will be losing on the venture), the songs "Beggar's Farm" and "Serenade to a Cuckoo", from the album This Was, can be heard in the background. Jethro Tull did perform at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970.

The Byrds - were invited, but chose not to participate, not figuring Woodstock to be any different from all the other music festivals that summer. In addition, there were concerns about money. As bassist John York remembers: "We were flying to a gig and Roger [McGuinn] came up to us and said that a guy was putting on a festival in upstate New York. But at that point they weren't paying all of the bands. He asked us if we wanted to do it and we said, 'No'. We had no idea what it was going to be. We were burned out and tired of the festival scene. So all of us said, 'No, we want a rest' and missed the best festival of all.'"
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Tommy James and the Shondells declined an invitation. Lead singer Tommy James stated later: "We could have just kicked ourselves. We were in Hawaii, and my secretary called and said, 'Yeah, listen, there's this pig farmer in upstate New York that wants you to play in his field.' That's how it was put to me. So we passed, and we realized what we'd missed a couple of days later."
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Bob Dylan was in negotiations to play, but pulled out when his son became ill. He also was unhappy about the number of hippies piling up outside his house near the originally planned site. He would go on to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival two weeks later.
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Mind Garage - declined because they thought it would not be a big deal and had a higher paying gig elsewhere.
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The Moody Blues were included on the original Wallkill poster as performers, but decided to back out after being booked in Paris the same weekend.
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Spirit also declined an invitation to play, as they already had shows planned and wanted to play those instead, not knowing how big Woodstock would be.
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Joni Mitchell was originally slated to perform, but canceled at the urging of her manager to avoid missing a scheduled appearance on The Dick Cavett Show.
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It's A Beautiful Day cancelled at the last minute.
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.LARRY..CURTIS..SPURLOCK
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