Woodstock Begins

It's a Sunday afternoon on June 22nd, 1969, at the Newport Pop Festival in California.

Inside the venue, the biggest names in rock and roll are performing for a packed crowd.

But outside, along the fence and circling the festival grounds, thousands are gathered, ticketless, broke and desperate to get inside.

Among them is a 16-year-old kid with long, dirty hair.

He also doesn't have a ticket, or the $7 needed to buy one, but he's not going to let that stop him.

As he waits for the perfect moment to sneak in, the crowd suddenly bursts into cheers.

He glances over and sees another young hippie nearby sprinting for the front entrance.

Security guards swarm and tackle him to the ground.

And at that moment, the 16-year-old realizes this is his moment.

He needs to make a move while the guards are distracted.

So the 16-year-old takes a deep breath and makes a run for it.

He quickly scales the fence and lands on the other side.

As he smiles and holds his fists in the air in triumph, the crowd outside the fence roars their approval.

But immediately, the young man feels two strong hands grabbing by the shoulders and throw him to the ground.

The young man looks up to see several security guards towering over him.

One of them steps forward and raises his fists in the air.

The boy closes his eyes and winces, bracing for what he knows is coming.

But then a bottle smashes nearby, then another and another.

The boy opens his eyes to see members of the crowd hurling glass bottles and rocks at the security guards who begin to back away as more and more projectiles rain down from the sky.

On the third and final day of the 1969 Newport Pop Festival, thousands of gatecrashers showed up without a ticket or the means to buy one.

Throughout the afternoon, the growing desperate crowd attempts to scale the fence and break inside.

Each time, they're repelled by security, often with brute force.

Eventually, the crowd decides enough is enough and begin pelting the security officers with bottles, bricks and anything they can get their hands on.

A riot ensues, and before long, the police arrive as the chaos spreads out into the local community.

During the so-called Newport riot, more than 200 people are injured, 165 are arrested, and over $10,000 of property is destroyed, over $80,000 today.

But that doesn't stop the gatecrashers who continue to show up well into the evening, determined to break in and see the likes of Joe Cocker, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Jimi Hendrix perform.

Sunday night, desperate to put an end to the unrest, the concert organizers finally open the gates and let the people inside free of charge.

This decision leads to over 200,000 people attending the Newport Pop Festival, making it the largest pop concert ever.

But soon, Newport will be eclipsed by an even larger festival, one that will attract almost half a million people, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, an aquarium experience.

But the violence and destruction of the Newport riots casts a large shadow over Woodstock, an unprecedented celebration of peace, love and rock and roll that begins on August 15, 1969.

From Noiser and Airship, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily.

History is made every day.

On this podcast, every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is August 15th, 1969.

Woodstock Begins.

It's late July 1969 in Bethel, New York, less than a month before the first day of the Woodstock Music Festival.

Max Yazger, a middle-aged farmer, is relaxing at home when he hears a knock on the door.

He's not expecting visitors, but he thinks he knows who's outside.

Max has heard a rumor that some concert organizers want to use his property as a location for their upcoming music festival.

For weeks, the local news has been dominated by stories about the event.

Woodstock is the first concert to be advertised nationally.

Its promoters are promising performances by the era's most popular musicians.

But there's a problem.

The concert organizers lost their venue at nearby Wallkill, New York.

The locals there were not eager to host a concert, especially after news of the Newport riot broke last month.

So now the Woodstock organizers are desperately looking for a new venue, preferably at a remote location like Max's farm.

When Max opens the door, he sees two young men, not much older than his son.

One of them has wild, long, curly hair.

He introduces himself as Michael Lang, one of the co-creators of Woodstock.

Max is no hippie himself, but he believes in giving everyone a fair chance.

So he hears Michael out, and offers to give him and his colleague a tour of the farm.

After inspecting the place, Michael tells Max it's perfect.

But Max isn't sure he wants to go through with this.

He could certainly use the money, and they're offering him a lot, but he wonders if it's worth the trouble.

The next morning, Max wakes up and looks outside his bedroom window.

Apparently word of his meeting with the Woodstock organizers has gotten around.

Across the main highway, he sees his neighbor has put up a sign.

Don't buy Yasker's milk.

He loves the hippies.

Max grits his teeth.

He may not love the hippies politics, but he believes they have a right to express themselves.

He decides to send a message of his own to any neighbors who think they can bully him and silence these young people.

He agrees to rent his farm for the festival.

Woodstock has a home again, but with just weeks before the first day.

The festival's founders and their employees will have to race to get the site ready.

On the morning of August 15th, 1969, the first day of Woodstock, John Morris stands in a field looking out at an enormous crowd of young people.

John is the production coordinator for the festival, and he's had a busy few weeks.

With barely a month to prepare, John and the rest of the staff struggle to get the festival site in order.

Despite their tireless work, a lot didn't get finished in time.

Critically, the fences and gates surrounding the concert grounds that were meant to control the flow of entry.

John and his team were expecting at least 100,000 people to show up this morning with tickets in hand.

Instead, tens of thousands of young people showed up days early without tickets and with no intention of buying any.

And because the fences weren't up, these young hippies simply strolled onto the festival grounds and set up camp.

John knows he can't make these kids pay.

So John reaches out to the festival organizers and explains the problem.

If Woodstock staff try to force the crowd off the property, they are likely to riot, just like they did at Newport.

John believes their only choice now is to make the event free.

That makes the finances untenable, but the organizers don't want violence on their hand.

So they tell John to make the announcement.

So climbing up the stairs to the stage, John looks out over a sea of people, clears his throat and announces that Woodstock is a free concert from now on.

The crowd roars with approval.

And soon, word of John's decision begins to spread.

More and more young people come pouring in from all over the state.

Traffic clogs the roads into the concert area, leaving many people to abandon their car and hike to the festival on foot.

At the concert grounds, John and his crew get ready for the massive influx.

He's hearing reports that as many as 400,000 may show up at Woodstock today.

John needs to be ready for anything.

Trying to stay one step ahead, making sure Woodstock doesn't go the way of Newport and evolve into violence.

It's the evening of August 15th, 1969.

The famous folk rock singer Richie Haven stands nervously backstage.

The concert is supposed to start any moment now, but the opening act, the rock group Sweetwater, is delayed.

With traffic jammed for miles in every direction, there's no telling when or if they'll show up.

Richie has agreed to fill in for them.

But now, as he waits to go on, he's a bundle of nerves.

He's never played for a crowd this size, nobody has.

But Richie knows the show must go on.

So he walks out on stage and takes a seat with his guitar in hand.

He looks out at the sea of young people stretched out in front of him.

Then he breathes deeply, exhales, and strums his first chord.

When Richie hears the roar of deafening cheers, his nerves fade away.

But as Richie wraps up his set, the organizers ask him to keep playing.

Sweetwater still hasn't arrived.

He keeps adding on songs until eventually he runs out of material.

But again, the organizers tell Richie that he needs to keep playing.

Richie is out of songs, but he starts strumming anyway.

Deep in thought, Richie sings the first word that comes to his mind, freedom.

And as he plays, he keeps chanting the word over and over until he thinks of something to play, a traditional black spiritual he remembers from his childhood.

Richie Haven's impromptu song saves the day and goes on to become a classic.

Eventually, Sweetwater will arrive by helicopter and play their long-awaited set.

The first ever Woodstock is officially underway and off to a peaceful, positive start.

At the end of the day on Friday, a staff member named Lisa Law surveys the long line forming outside the Food for Love concession stand.

Lisa's job is to assist with a wide range of logistics at the festival, including crowd control.

There are hundreds of thousands of people at Woodstock, and most of them have nothing to eat.

For many, this concession stand is their only option.

As the sun sets on the first day of the festival, Lisa can tell the people in this extremely long line are tired, hungry, and ready to explode.

She fears that if they're not pacified soon, they could start a riot.

Quickly, Lisa and other staff members disperse into the throng.

They light incense and pass the burning sticks as they offer words of comfort and reassurance that there is plenty of food and everyone will get a chance to eat.

Her efforts pay off.

Soon the crowded line begins to calm down, and the aura of peace and love at Woodstock is preserved.

She gets to work quickly setting up a free kitchen, but in order to make it work, they have to find food and supplies.

As news begins to spread of the horrible conditions at Woodstock, the local community steps in.

Many of the locals don't like the music, drugs or politics of these young people, but it's clear they're in trouble.

So farmers, church groups, community organizations, even the National Guard start sending food to Max Yasker's Dairy Farm.

Together, the festival staff and the surrounding community stop the food shortage from spiraling out of control.

Lisa is grateful for the help, and she hopes the crowd can set their anxiety aside and just focus on enjoying the music.

The next day on Sunday, a British rocker with bushy sideburns stands on stage.

Joe Cocker and his band are about to open the final day of the Woodstock Festival.

Joe's at the end of a long tour, and he's exhausted, but he's also a professional, and he's determined to show these people a good time.

Joe plays his set, including his cover of With a Little Help from My Friends by the Beatles.

Crowd eats it up.

They leap to their feet, dance and have the time of their lives.

Joe is loving it too, but then the smile fades from his face when he notices the massive storm clouds rolling toward the festival.

In a matter of moments, the sky opens up into a torrential downpour.

The audience screams as intense wind blows throughout the concert grounds.

The crowd scrambles for shelter, but there's none to be found.

The stage crew fights to protect the musical and sound equipment from the rain, and the towers holding heavy lights and speakers begin to sway ominously.

Joe watches in disbelief from backstage.

The high of his performance has been replaced by confusion and chaos, but Joe is determined to keep the crowd in good spirits.

So he steps back onto stage, and he and a guitarist from another band start yelling, no rain at the top of their lungs, over and over.

Soon the chant spreads, and the entire crowd joins in.

Before long, Mother Nature seems to obey.

Rain stops, and the sun breaks through the clouds.

But the concert grounds have been transformed into a sea of mud.

Thousands of people soaked and tired head home.

It's the final day of Woodstock, and the festival organizers have saved many of the biggest acts for last.

So despite the rain delay, Woodstock will continue and stretch well beyond midnight and into the morning hours, when the Woodstock stage will finally be graced by its headliner, one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix.

Thanks.

Thank.

It's Monday morning, August 18th, 1969, on stage at Woodstock.

Festival headliner Jimmy Hendrix plays his electric guitar with his eyes half closed and marijuana-induced trance.

He wears a pink bandana around his head and a white fringe jacket.

Jimmy was originally signed to be Woodstock's headliner, scheduled to close out the show Sunday night, but the intense rain and other delays caused Sunday's lineup to play through the night.

So early Monday morning, when Jimmy finally takes the stage, only 40,000 people remain, but he doesn't care about the size of the crowd.

He just wants to put on a great show.

Jimmy leads his band through an iconic set.

Crowd watching are exhausted and covered in mud, but yet they're captivated.

As Jimmy nears the end of his set, he strums a loud, wailing chord that brings people to their feet.

He riffs for just a bit before starting the next song, a wailing, surreal electric guitar rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

The loud, distorted music seems to perfectly capture the angst of the moment.

Young men are dying by the thousands in Vietnam.

Political leaders are being assassinated.

Many in the crowd feel uncertain about their country and their future.

Jimmy's guitar, screaming the national anthem, seems to capture their collective emotions.

After that, Jimmy closes his set with a hit, Hey Joe, and as the final chords dissipate into the air, Woodstock comes to an end.

Eyes half closed, Jimmy nods approvingly as the crowd roars.

Then he watches as the thousands of diehard music fans trudge through the desolate, trash-covered field to find their way home.

Woodstock is a financial disaster for its organizers.

The news coverage of the festival is equally bleak.

Stories highlight the traffic, the mud, the food shortages, and the excessive drug use.

But the festival organizers always knew it would have cultural, if not financial, significance.

So prior to Woodstock, they allowed a documentary crew to film the event.

In 1970, that film is released, titled Woodstock, and is a hit at the box office and goes on to win the Oscar for best documentary.

The film's success helps the organizers make up the money lost during the festival.

But more importantly, it transformed Woodstock into an enduring icon of the counter-cultural revolution.

For many, Woodstock became a symbol of utopian possibility.

It seemed to prove critics of the hippie generation wrong.

A lot of older and more conservative Americans expected Woodstock to end in mayhem.

And while there were two deaths and a significant number of bad drug trips, overall, the festival is remembered today as a peaceful gathering, where nearly half a million young people came together for three days of fellowship, love and music.

That began on this day, August 15, 1969.

Next, on History Daily, August 16th, 1501, the famed Italian artist Michelangelo is awarded a contract to create the Statue of David at Florence Cathedral.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Molly Bach.

Sound design by Derek Barron.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Reuben Abrams-Bronsby.

Executive producers are Stephen Walters for Airship, Pascal Hughes for Noiser.