Did anyone here go to Woodstock 69?

[nosebone]

I watched an excellent documentary titled Creating Woodstock (2019) on Netflix last night .

I was seven in 1969 and couldn't afford a ticket, but was anyone there?

[progeezer]

Guilty, Chris, and I think that Mo (grooves) was there as well.

That is indeed a superb documentary!

When my kids were old enough to understand its significance and they had seen the original film, the first question was, "Did you get naked, Dad?" (kept my briefs on).

[rcarlberg]

I was 14 and WANTED to go, but I had no way to get across the country.

[nosebone]

Guilty, Chris, and I think that Mo (grooves) was there as well.

That is indeed a superb documentary!

When my kids were old enough to understand its significance and they had seen the original film, the first question was, "Did you get naked, Dad?" (kept my briefs on).

Any highlights to share Geez?

[GuitarGeek]

I remember reading about how the stage nearly collapsed while the Dead were playing. Apparently, the giant psychedelic light show screen turned into a sail when the wind started hitting it, causing the stage to slide backwards. Phil Lesh said his bass amp started picking police CB signals. He said he almost crapped himself laughing when he saw the Air Force base scene in This Is Spinal Tap.

Santana were an unsigned band at the time, booked only to appease Bill Graham, who apparently Michael Lang had to go through to get the Dead, the Airplane, and Janis onto the bill. Carlos said he just taken a hit of mescaline, because they weren't scheduled to go on later in the evening, and just as it started to kick in, he was told they had to go onstage and play. So apparently, he was flying high (much higher than you're meant to be?) during the performance.

[Joe F.]

I remember reading about how the stage nearly collapsed while the Dead were playing. Apparently, the giant psychedelic light show screen turned into a sail when the wind started hitting it, causing the stage to slide backwards. Phil Lesh said his bass amp started picking police CB signals. He said he almost crapped himself laughing when he saw the Air Force base scene in This Is Spinal Tap.

Santana were an unsigned band at the time, booked only to appease Bill Graham, who apparently Michael Lang had to go through to get the Dead, the Airplane, and Janis onto the bill. Carlos said he just taken a hit of mescaline, because they weren't scheduled to go on later in the evening, and just as it started to kick in, he was told they had to go onstage and play. So apparently, he was flying high (much higher than you're meant to be?) during the performance.

That seems unlikely, since their first album came out on August 30th, 1969

[progeezer]

Any highlights to share Geez?

After 50 years, I would say that the 2 things I remember most are that the number of strangers sharing food, drink, drugs and even bodies was, in retrospect, beyond belief (tho' it seemed normal in 1969), and that I got "Bear" Hite from Canned Heat high as he was waddling through the crowd.

[moecurlythanu]

^ And it was likely acid, as mescaline is difficult to extract or synthesize, and the overwhelming majority of what was sold on the street as mescaline was actually LSD.

[ronmac]

^ And it was likely acid, as mescaline is difficult to extract or synthesize, and the overwhelming majority of what was sold on the street as mescaline was actually LSD.

I've seen an interview with Carlos and he stated it was mescaline and his guitar neck was wiggling like a snake.

[moecurlythanu]

^ You're missing my point. It was undoubtedly presented to him as mescaline. Doesn't mean that that's what it was.
I supposedly did blue barrel mesc in 1980 before the Journey concert on their tour in support of Departure, or at least that's what it was sold to me as. One of the best concert experiences of my life. However, extracting mescaline from Peyote is difficult, as is synthesizing it in a lab. Doing so, if successful, would add significant cost on the production end, and make the end product expensive. It generally wasn't done. Nonetheless, LSD was sometimes sold as mescaline due to a perceived extra level of "exoticness."

Oh, and LSD will snake wiggle your guitar neck, among other things.

[GuitarGeek]

That seems unlikely, since their first album came out on August 30th, 1969

Point taken. Does anyone know exactly when Santana inked their deal with CBS? Anyone know when the Woodstock guys agreed to take them on, so they could get the other San Fran superstars onto the bill? I

At any rate, my point was, Santana were an unknown band to anyone outside of the Bay Area, and it was only because of Bill Graham's insistence on the package deal that they got on the bill.

As for the other matter, whether Carlos was on LSD or actual mescaline during his Woodstock set is really besides the point. The point was, he was on...something that changed his perception of what was going on around him. He said as he went onstage, he prayed to God to "play in time, and play in tune".

[moecurlythanu]

^ That's true, Chris. I was merely pointing out a fact that many people would not be aware of unless they had done some research into psychedelics. Some may be interested in the distinction, others not.

[Frankh]

The real question is what was Michael Shrieve on? lol

[GuitarGeek]

The real question is what was Michael Shrieve on? lol

I saw a thing where he was discussing that solo with some younger drummer, like the guy from Pearl Jam or whatever. Anyway, Michael seemed to feel it wasn't a very good solo, he says something like "I had the nerve to break the groove...", and the guy he's talkign to is like, "No, man, trust me, that was an awesome solo!"

[Lopez]

(kept my briefs on)

Speedos?

[zappaeverafter]

Santana were an unsigned band at the time, booked only to appease Bill Graham, who apparently Michael Lang had to go through to get the Dead, the Airplane, and Janis onto the bill.

I encountered somewhere in the past (and I don't recall the source - one of the documentaries perhaps) that Graham did have some requirement for one of his newer bands to appear and the choice made to Lang was either Santana or It's a Beautiful Day. I have often wondered how the careers of the two bands would have changed if IaBD were signed instead. Being speculative, given the recorded output of IaBD subsequent to the first album the boost from the film would have increased their popularity for a while but may have diminished to the level achieved by the third or fourth albums. Santana's popularity would have been somewhat less.

[nosebone]

Another great documentary on Netflix last night - The Sunshine Makers (2017)

It's the fascinating story of the biggest LSD chemists of the 60s.

[SteveSly]

I read Michael Lang's book a few years ago and it was very interesting. Highly recomended for people interested in Woodstock.

[moecurlythanu]

Thanks for the h.u. Chris.

[progmatist]

I was 4, so if I did, I don't remember. Then again it's been said, "if you remember the '60s, you weren't there."

[GuitarGeek]

I was 4, so if I did, I don't remember. Then again it's been said, "if you remember the '60s, you weren't there."

Apparently, at the time of one of the Woodstock anniversaries (probably the 30th), Gary Trudeau did a thing in Doonesbury that hinged on Zonker saying he didn't go to Woodstock, only saw the movie. Someone then wrote in and complained that Zonker is the quintessential hippie, and therefore, "How could he have not been at Woodstock?". Trudeau responded, "You know how they say if you remember the 60's, you weren't there? Trust me, Zonker was there!"

I always liked Paul Kantner's version, "If you remember the 60's, you either weren't there, or weren't having any fun!"

[headcrash]

I was only 13 in 1969, so the closest I was able to get was to see the film when it came out the next year. Since the theater in my NJ neighborhood was pretty strict about proof-of-age, I had to cajole my mother to go with me. She was okay with the music, since she was only 34 at the time. But the skinny-dipping scenes were just too much for my Catholic church-going mom, and we were out of there like a shot. Believe it or not, I was more disappointed about missing the rest of the music than not being able to ogle the naked hippie chicks.

[pb2015]

Phil Lesh said his bass amp started picking police CB signals. He said he almost crapped himself laughing when he saw the Air Force base scene in This Is Spinal Tap.

In the Hendrix set from Isle of Wight, there's a part of "Foxy Lady" where he stops playing and for a few bars there are CB radio conversations over the bass and drums.

[adap2it]

Well I was plenty old enough to go..unfortunately, I was already a prog snob

[GuitarGeek]

In the Hendrix set from Isle of Wight, there's a part of "Foxy Lady" where he stops playing and for a few bars there are CB radio conversations over the bass and drums.

If I remember correctly, you can hear the "phantom voices" during Machine Gun also.

I gather that RF interference was a big problem back in those days. When i first started playing guitar, I used to go to a guitar shop that was across the street from a radio station, and the amps would regularly pick up the radio signals.

I also remember an old interview in Guitar Player, where Joe Perry was talking about how he had his guitars fitted with XLR cannon jacks so that he could low impedance cables, which allowed him to have like a 200 foot guitar cord with no signal loss. When he was asked why he didn't just use a wireless system, he said it was because they picked up too many CB signals.

And I think it was David Gilmour who mentioned in one interview that sometimes he'd play a venue where he picked up RF signals on his wireless, and would have to switch to a regular guitar cord for the night.

I also recall that Ed Wynne's vintage Marshall was picking up RF signals during Ozric Tentacles' Progday set back in 2009, was it? You could only hear it between songs, once he started playing, it would drown out the radio signal.

I have a a Colorsound wah wah pedal and a Danelectro French Toast octave fuzz. When you use the both of them together, with the octave switch activated, it turns the your rig into an antenna, I've got some tapes of me doing sort of slightly noisy, slightly ambient music, where I was playing around with using the radio interference. As you moved the wah pedal back and forth, radio signals would fade in and out.