Woodstock Remembered

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Topic spans: 1969 - 1994

They say if you can remember Woodstock, you weren't really there. Of course, that's not entirely true. More than 400,000 people gathered in a farmer's field in upstate New York to attend the three-day music festival in August of 1969, and many have extremely fond - and relatively clear - memories of the event. We've all heard the tales of free love, rain, mud, drugs, and a magical atmosphere filled with peace, love and music. In fact, the stories have been repeated so often that many of us who weren't even there feel like we have Woodstock memories. CBC Digital Archives looks at how the legendary festival has been remembered over the years.

Homepage photo courtesy of Associated Press

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2 radio clips

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Analyzing Woodstock, one year later

Broadcast Date: June 29, 1970

"They're there not to hear the music, that must be pretty obvious, because half the time you can't hear it," says host Robert Fulford in this 1970 CBC Radio clip. He's discussing a new documentary on the Woodstock music festival with a panel of erudite writers: Paulette Jiles, Paul Levine and Ed Hailwood. Through their discussion of the 1970 movie, the panel analyzes the festival itself. Why did people flock there, what made it significant, and how did academic concepts such as "control" and "consumption" apply to Woodstock?

Analyzing Woodstock, one year later

• Directed by Michael Wadleigh, Woodstock (the documentary) chronicles the whole festival from beginning to end. The film won the 1970 Academy Award for best documentary feature. A then-unknown Martin Scorsese, who went on to direct such classic films as Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980), was one of several editors of Woodstock.

• In a July 2009 article he wrote for the Sunday Times (UK), Scorsese commented on the film's role in solidifying Woodstock memories: "I think that without the film, the concert would not be more than a footnote to the social and cultural history of the 1960s ...What the movie did, and continues to do, is distil the Woodstock experience, and, more important, keep it vibrant and alive. The footnote has become a touchstone, a way for my generation to remind ourselves of who we were then and to measure the road we have travelled since. It has also been, more significantly, a way for newer generations to get in touch with the chaotic spirit of the 1960s."

• The Toronto music festival mentioned in this clip was called the Toronto Rock & Roll Revival. It took place on Sept. 13, 1969 at Toronto's Varsity Stadium and featured some impressive acts, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Alice Cooper, Jerry Lee Lewis and the Doors.

Analyzing Woodstock, one year later

Medium: Radio

Program: This is Robert Fulford

Broadcast Date: June 29, 1970

Guest(s): Ed Hailwood, Paulette Jiles, Paul Levine

Host: Robert Fulford

Duration: 11:28

Photo: AP File Photo

Last updated:
Aug. 13, 2009

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