AC Pop Fest and Woodstock Recollections #1

BK Notes: My old - and now we are old - high school mate Jerry Montgomery wrote down theses recollections of Woodstock. There were four of us - besides myself there was Jerry, Marc Jordan and Bob Katchnick (spelling may be wrong), all Camden Catholic High School grads in the Class of '69. We lost track of Bob - and can't find him over the internet because we can't spell his last name. Marc went to NYU, joined the USMC ROTC, became a USMC officer and a DC area attorney. I think he is now retired in Florida and we are trying to find him for a reunion this weekend. I will write my recollections over the next few days. 

Summer 1969'

I spent the summer of 1969 in Ocean City NJ, (a summer resort used by many in the Philadelphia area), along with a few friends. The parents of one, Bill Kelly, owned a large house there and rented rooms to vacationers. They allowed us all to crash for free that summer. Whenever the house was fully rented we stayed in a small shed, with bunk beds in the backyard, and with no facilities other than an outdoor shower. Consequently, as August 15, 1969, also my 19th birthday, was approaching, we were well positioned geographically to attend a rock concert.

Atlantic City Pop Festival

Outdoor concerts with multiple acts had a lot of appeal for enthusiastic adolescents who could handle the heat, humidity, and generally uncomfortable summer conditions in the North East. We proved our mettle living out in the shed. In early August we attended the nearby Atlantic City NJ Pop Festival. 

I still remember Joni Mitchel walking off stage complaining that no one was listening. I was. I remember her saying that. I also remember, later in the day, making my way and crawling under the stage and sitting there while Procol Harum and others played. 

That was a fun concert but the acts couldn’t compare with those advertised in New York State scheduled a couple of weeks later.

Woodstock Festival

Posters advertising the Woodstock Festival were hung everywhere along the board walk in Ocean City. We weren’t sure exactly how we’d get to the concert since none of us bothered to get a job that summer and hadn't a car or much cash between us. Bill's mother, Mary Kelly, generously lent four of us the family car and with me at the wheel we headed out, early Friday morning on August 15th, for Bethel New York. (Mrs. Kelly later regretted that decision while watching TV coverage of the event. It focused on all the hallucinogenic drugs and orgies taking place. I can say for myself that I didn’t see even one orgy). 

The ride for most of the 200+ miles was uneventful until traffic began to slow greatly as we got closer to the concert area just a few hours before it was set to begin. Fortunately, we picked up a hitchhiker who had been to the concert site the night before. That turned out to be especially fortuitous.

On The Road

Traffic on the four lane highway into Bethal was at a virtual standstill, at least for the two lanes heading in the direction towards the concert. There was absolutely no one coming the other way. I don’t remember much about our co-rider but the young long-haired hitch hiker we had picked up assured us that all four lanes were going the same way the night before. At the rate we were going, well we weren’t moving much at all and were concerned we'd never get there. So with as much safety as I could manage, considering that I was heading into an oncoming traffic lane, I casually steered into that unoccupied section of the, very long and straight, highway and we began to make very good time indeed! Yes we were a happy crew and weren't deterred by such an insignificant detail as a solid white line in the middle of the road. Besides it was a clear day and we could see a great distance ahead. We passed many cars and were making great time. Though eventually, as might be expected, we could see a car approaching us from the other direction. From a safety standpoint this was not a problem it was far away. I just stopped the car to move back into a more 'correct' highway lane. Then I noticed something and began to feel a bit troubled. I remember thinking, "Shit, is that a cop car?"

Arrested Development?

And yes it was a officer of the law and he had no trouble spotting us on the wrong side of the highway. He pulled directly in front of the car and stopped. He sat and patiently waited while I very slowly maneuvered back in line as traffic inched forward. Now, realigned with thousands of fine upstanding fellow citizens, I’m imagining the worse. So, we were fairly dumbstruck when the officer restarts his patrol car and continued driving on down the highway to, I suppose, head off the next idiot! But we're still stuck, albeit well ahead of our previous position, in a long slow moving line. Once again our hitchhiker has some valuable information.

Parking

We were approaching a small country dirt road that everyone was ignoring. And we would have done the same since there was no way to know how close we were to the concert entrance or what relationship that side road had to anything! But our hitchhiker was more informed and was certain, from his previous day’s experience, that it was a back door, so to speak, that eventually leads to the concert area. Of course considering his previous brilliant advice, we turned off the highway and make our way down the dirt road. It felt good to be moving again and before long we were passing parked cars on both sides of the road continuing to search for a better parking spot for a few miles. Vehicles quickly became so tightly squeezed together that there seemed to be virtually no parking anywhere. Though I did spot a very small patch of real estate, not big enough to park in, unless perhaps you had a small car and were willing to extend out just a touch into the road and are squinting. So I wedged us in. We get out and find ourselves with an elevated view of the stage, still a work in progress, about a half mile away. I believe we found the last first-rate parking space at Woodstock just hours before the concert was set to begin. Now, if only we had tickets.

Tickets Anyone?

If I remember correctly, concert tickets were just $18.00. However, that was not an insignificant amount of money at the time and only one of us actually had cash with him. Possibly he also had a credit card, I don’t remember. Although construction was still underway, an enclosing fence around the entire viewing area was about complete and an entrance gate provided the only reasonable means of access. Bill, cash in hand, was actively looking for ticket sales. A fair amount of people were milling about entering and exiting and we couldn’t see anyone either selling tickets or collecting them. So we casually entered through the gate and found a nice place to sit in the middle of a gigantic field near a metal tower with huge speakers. Sometime later an announcement came over those speakers. Everyone would need to exit and re-enter but with tickets in hand this time. I thought, oh hell, do we even have money? At that time the grounds were not very full with just a few thousand people sitting in place. Everyone just sat and stared. No one moved an inch. Later that day it was announced that it was a free concert. But we already knew that.

Really Good View

Although we had a fine close centered view on the field, Bob - a fellow traveller, wanted me to go with him and try to get closer. So we made our way towards the high fence separating the stage from the crowd. You couldn’t sit or stand close to it and see anything, so that space was being used as a pathway from one side of the field to the other. We found a small spot and sidled in. I’m not completely certain but I believe every single one of the people making their way along the stage wall were completely spaced out on something. 

We passed the time looking for anyone who didn't look high and gave up. But we were in the front row for all the acts Friday afternoon and evening. Later when I heard there was going to be a movie I wondered if we would be viewable. At one point Bob even walked over to the fence and pulled himself up and peered over to get a closer view of Ritchie Havens. But if you’ve seen the movie you know that there are just crowd shots from the stage. Though, we must be in the last part of the scene at the very end of Richie Haven’s set when the camera pans out and shows a wide shot of the huge crowd. We’re in there somewhere in the very front row seated, a bit to Ritchie's right.

Zombies

Some of the acts that I actually remember on the 'Friday Folk' day were Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Melanie, Ravi Shankar and of course Richie Havens. But it was a relatively early night compared with Saturday and Sunday which continued to dawn the next day. So when the music came to an end I found myself walking along the perimeter of the enclosing fence towards the entrance gate with a hundred thousand or so who were also thinking that a night in a vehicle was preferable to a night outside on wet grass. It was very dark and slow going. But I noticed a small section of fence had fallen over. From a straight line standpoint here was a clear opportunity for a significant short cut. 

Well, it was as clear as it could be when viewed from the crest of a hill in complete darkness. No one seemed interested in taking advantage of this opportunity so I started alone and moved down a grassy, very slippery hill, praising myself for such a prudent decision, and I was in high spirits right up to the moment I plopped a foot into the marsh. Oh yeah. There was nothing separating me from the road except a large significantly boggy area. I decided it would be best to turn around and go back with the sensible people. When I turned around though I saw I couldn’t. What looked in the moonlight like a zombie army had followed the lead of one intrepid trail blazer, myself, and they were blocking reasonable egress back to the hill top. So, I lead many through the bog and added very muddy feet to my rain soaked attire. I did get to my destination earlier than I would have otherwise. I spent the night sleeping in an upright position in a small hot, humid, smelly vehicle with three others. 

Turns out that bunkbeds in a shed were a lot more comfortable in August and we were not remotely perpared for any of it. In retrospect, we should have stayed in the field.

All in all, it was a pretty good Friday - and 19th birthday. Saturday was interesting too. But I forget most of it. Maybe Bill will write something to fill it out.

Note to Bill. I remember this:

Don't forget to mention how you left the three of us and walked off by yourself Saturday night. Later I told the others I was going to 'find Bill'. Pretty laughable in a crowd of a few 100 thousand but nevertheless in my extremely tired state I began walking to the rear of the field and at one point actually shouted "Bill"! No answer of course. A few minutes later I shouted it again. After a second I heard, "What?". You were standing near by next to a small tree. I found you.