by Randy Markley

Created on: September 12, 2009   Last Updated: September 13, 2009

I was ten in 1969. My musical taste or the awareness of music at that time was influenced by what I would hear on the radio in the kitchen of my home. My parents were avid country music fans. I was just getting into top 40 AM radio and choosing my own preferred genre of music (which of course would not mix well with the the play list usually controlled by the adults). Woodstock! I never even new what kind of sub-culture was even around at that time. My parents being more conservitive hated the fact of a boys hair touching the collar of his shirt. Bell bottom pants were a sign of rebellion to the established authority and we were to believe that all long haired people were wrong and not to be looked at as a mentor, or the way a person should present themselves.

Everything I have learned about Woodstock have always been from articles or documentaries of the event. I never remember seeing or hearing about it at the time it was happening. It has always been a history to me and nothing that I can tie a specific meaning or revelation and how it affected my life personally at the time. But now 40 years later and a fan of rock and roll and the culture, I feel that the impact of Woodstock is a bench mark of a time in our country when there was racial tension and violence and protests, and the civil rights movement, that a half million people could spend three days in harmony and peace is amazing. And should be celebrated if not for any other reason then that.

Some still say it was just a bunch of people sitting around and getting buzzed, stoned, high, whatever term you want to use. That is a true statement that and is well documented in film and interviews. But let us drop or perceived ideologies and opinions and let's look at this for what it was. A couple of guys had an idea and a plan. They wanted to have a concert featuring some of the top acts at the time and bring them together for a weekend of peace, love and music. It worked for the most part. There was music and love and peace. The big problem was it was bigger than had been planned and before they knew it word spread and it was out of control. By out of control I mean they could not control the huge influx of the mass of humanity that showed up. Claimed it to be a free concert and took a loss and put on a three day event to this day is still talked about.

What is amazing about the 1969 Woodstock and the following Woodstock's is that the main event the original is still an unbelievable event. The anniversaries

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