Celebrating Woodstock's 40 Years of Peace and Music

by Donna Teresa

I thank my lucky stars I was raised in a family where books, art and music were considered a privilege and a gift.

I expect it is the reason for me being such a music fan to this day. Whenever I reflect on my youth, I always attach music to my past, as my own personal mental scrapbook.

Even though I was a youngster in the 1960s, my memories are vivid, especially of Dad’s tunes playing throughout the day on his record player and the eight-track blasting his favorites in the family car. I was mesmerized by his album collection. I loved flipping through the many albums and admiring the brilliant cover artwork and photographs that graced them. With the invention of music downloads, I miss holding an album or 45rpm record and enjoying the artwork and photos.

Dad loved hanging numerous rock, campaign and movie posters in the garage. It was just the thing to do in those days. If your bedroom wasn’t plastered with posters, your garage certainly was.

There was one poster in particular that always stood out in my mind. That poster was a symbol for a special time in music history. Artist Arnold Skolnick’s picture of the hand holding the guitar with the dove resting on it remains one of the most famous pieces of music art history.

The poster advertised the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, an Aquarian Exposition, which was held at the historic Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, N.Y., in August 1969. The festival is remembered not just for the incredible musicians who played there, but famous for the other stars of event, the hippies of the ’60s counterculture who attended it.

Originally planned for three days, the festival carried over to a fourth day. There wasn’t a lack of marketing on that symbol, as I saw it on everything, pins, posters, patches, etc. My brother used to fly a kite in the neighborhood with the Woodstock symbol on it. I had to admire its brilliance and beauty in the sky, because he certainly wouldn’t share that treasure with me.

Canadian singer, musician, songwriter and painter, the legendary Joni Mitchell penned the classic song Woodstock soon afterward, which chronicles her memories of that festival. The song would become famous when Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young later recorded it. However, one of my favorite versions of the song is Joni singing it at the 1969 Big Sur Folk Festival, a month after the Woodstock festival.

The Big Sur Folk Festival was held annually at the Esalen Institute, from 1964-1971. It played host to many artists, such as Joan Baez, Judy Collins, John Sebastian, Arlo Guthrie, Mimi Farina and so many others.

Listening to her sing the lyrics, "… By the time we got to Woodstock, We were half a million strong, And everywhere there was song and celebration, And I dreamed I saw the bombers, Riding shotgun in the sky, And they were turning into butterflies, Above our nation …," it quickly brought me back to the reality that with such beautiful music being celebrated those four days, thousands of miles away, many young people were in harm’s way and losing their lives in the Vietnam War.

Today, the music plays on, and tragically, many young men and women continue to lose their lives in a different war, more than 40 years later.

I dedicate this to all who were there to experience this great moment in music history, to my dad who shared his passion and love of music with me, to all the Vietnam veterans out there, who know exactly where they were in 1969, welcome home.

To my cousin Bobby, a Vietnam draftee from Arizona, this crazy journey of mine started because of you. I miss that "far out" smile of yours, and especially, you.

Donna Teresa can be reached at [email protected] Journal Donna Teresa writes about Woodstock and the Vietnam War, only at montereyherald.com.