Dancing Naked In The Corn

"I was in my early teens when Woodstock happened.
I had a little transistor radio and used to listen to the
pirate stations when I was tucked up in bed at night.
Hippies had come on the scene a couple
of years earlier..."

Erm, perhaps we should change this blog's name to
'Backward-and-Share' instead of 'Forward-and-Share'
as it seems that we're now publishing more and more
articles taking us back in time...

[ I'm not complaining, it's just that the back office is starting
to look more like a Tardis than a... well... back office ;-p ]

With today's article, Patricia A. Jones is perpetuating
this trend by taking us back to Woodstock.
Wow!

Enjoy....

Loup Dargent

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Dancing Naked In The Corn
Patricia A. Jones

I was asked if Doctor Who could take me on a journey
in his Tardis where I would choose to go, but when it came
to seriously thinking about it I was stumped. I considered
the periods of history that I knew something about and
dismissed them one by one.

The Roman invasion of Britain with me in a toga surrounded by lusty Italians - censored.

The Battle of Hastings - I would probably end up having to sew the tapestry.

The Boston Tea Party - drinking the tea before they could chuck it in the sea.

The opening of Crystal Palace, the Tardis crashing through the glass roof - Queen Vicky would not be amused.

Joining the French Resistance in the Second World War - my Yorkshire accent would give me away at the first allo allo.

None of those were tempting. The two things that put me
off the most about traveling too far back in time are that
women were second-class citizens until recent years and
I would not voluntarily visit those times. Plus people
ponged, they did not wash very often and I cannot stand
the reek of BO on others or myself. I would really stand
out from the crowd if I took my toiletries and probably
be burned at the stake as a witch, would Doctor Who
rescue me I wonder.

After much deliberation I decided upon a time
since I was born, the weekend following
August 15th 1969 and Woodstock. Frivolous
maybe, but that and the Band Aid concert in 1984
both left a great impression on me. I've still got the
Band Aid concert on video somewhere so I can
watch that again and go there in kind.

I was in my early teens when Woodstock happened.
I had a little transistor radio and used to listen to the
pirate stations when I was tucked up in bed at night.
Hippies had come on the scene a couple of years
earlier. I can remember laughing at my older brother
when he got a flowered tie, but life evolves and I was
wearing beads and bells not long after Woodstock.

I remember watching the television news that weekend.
Seeing 400,000 dirty, longhaired, disheveled, drugged up
hippies dancing to the music or sitting spaced out in the mud.
The newspapers were full of pictures and articles about this
crazy event that brought a sense of astonishment to millions
of others worldwide. The concert was about love and peace,
but I can clearly remember Woodstock showing me a sense
of freedom that I had not known existed.

I cannot exactly say why that weekend in history impressed
me so much, I have never been interested in being spaced
out, but I would dearly love to go back in time and see some
of the 31 bands performing.

Day one commenced with a Richie Havens set which
included the Beatles classics Hey Jude and Strawberry Fields.
It ended with Joan Baez singing the freedom anthem
We Shall Overcome. I wonder how many times that has been
sung in protest since.

Day two included sets from Santana, Canned Heat,
Grateful Dead, Creadence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin,
Sly And The Family Stone, The Who and Jefferson Aeroplane.
Can you imagine seeing and hearing all of those great acts
in one day - unbelievable?

Although Jefferson Aeroplane ended the day, next to last
the Who, performed 24 songs. More by far than any other
act at the mad extravaganza. Some of which were I Can't Explain,
Tommy Can You Hear me, Pinball Wizard, I'm Free, See Me Feel
Me, Summertime Blues, Shaking All Over, and of course My
Generation. Heck that was my generation; I can feel it now when
I hear the music of my teenage years. I remember racking up my
pinball scores with Pinball Wizard playing in the background.

Day three started with Joe Cocker singing Delta Lady ooooh I can
hear his gravely voice in my head. Fourth up was Ten Years After,
and following them The Band. Later on Blood Sweat and Tears
and then last Crosby Stills, Nash and Young, must have been
before Graham Young left the band.

The fourth and last day started with the Paul Butterfield Blues
Band and Everything's Gonna Be Alright. Next up was
Sha Na Na whose numbers included Jailhouse Rock, Wipe Out,
Who Wrote The Book Of Love, Duke Of Earl and At The Hop.
Can you imagine after three days of drugs and sex and roughing
it being roused by rock and roll.

Last to play because he always refused to precede anybody
else was the great Jimi Hendrix. I'm not into analysing music or
tracks but I know what I like and that man was one heck of a
guitar player. He ended the crazy party with his 16th number
of the day Hey Joe. What I am wondering right now is why on
earth I have so many of the goodies played at Woodstock on
Vinyl and nothing to play them on and be able to take little nostalgic
trips backwards whenever I want. Time to start building up my CD
collection I think.

As a bonus for being good and not shocking Doctor Who by dancing
naked in the corn I would then ask him to take me to the present day
to see what happened to some of those who attended Woodstock.

Now that would be interesting. Only yesterday I saw a guy who used
to attend the same hippy parties as I did. He was well into anything
that blew his mind and by the time he was 20 Graham was a wreck.
Now his hair is a foot shorter and he was wearing a smart
conservative business suit. What a difference 30 odd years makes!

To end my trip I'll list a few facts that I found out about
Woodstock on the Internet.

It cost $6.50 for an advance ticket for one day. In 1989 one was sold for $8,000

500,000 Frankfurters and Hamburgers were eaten on the first day.

Santana were paid $1,500, the Grateful Dead got $7,500 and the Who got $11,200.

It cost $1 for a Hot Dog and $1 for a loaf of bread and a quart of milk.

Three tracheotomies were performed.

A hit of Acid or Mescaline cost $4 and an ounce of Marijuana cost $15.

Only 33 people were arrested on drugs charges yet 500 freaked out on bad LSD trips.

450 cows mixed freely with the campers for 3 days.

Only 600 Portaloos available.

Back in my time I remember seeing the Woodstock movie
that was released in 1979, maybe it would be a good idea
to see if I can get hold of a copy and see if my trip still
looks far out man.

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About The Author:
Patricia Jones writes articles for several websites
including MegaMusicSite.com
For free digital downloads visit: eprofitscentre.com
For travel advice and information visit: articlesabroad.com

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