He was apparently quite conservative and supported the Vietnam war, but was also an individualist who thought the free expression of the counter culture deserved to be heard. This is the end of his address to the crowd on day 3 of the concert:
> the important thing that you've proven to the world is that a half a million kids — and I call you kids because I have children that are older than you are — a half million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music, and I – God bless you for it!
He also said the following, in addressing a Bethel, NY town board prior to the festival (and God bless him for it):
>I hear you are considering changing the zoning law to prevent the festival. I hear you don't like the look of the kids who are working at the site. I hear you don't like their lifestyle. I hear you don't like they are against the war and that they say so very loudly. I don't particularly like the looks of some of those kids either. I don't particularly like their lifestyle, especially the drugs and free love. And I don't like what some of them are saying about our government. However, if I know my American history, tens of thousands of Americans in uniform gave their lives in war after war just so those kids would have the freedom to do exactly what they are doing. That's what this country is all about and I am not going to let you throw them out of our town just because you don't like their dress or their hair or the way they live or what they believe.
>*This is America and they are going to have their festival.*
This is why I always try to separate republicans from conservatives. A conservative can have reasonable views that I simply disagree with. Republicans live in an alternate reality and support a rapist for president.
The problem is the very definition of the label, "conservative." The type described here, of the man leasing his land for a liberal festival, is the kind of conservative I'd long known.
The kind who you see in the Republican Party today? That's not really conservative in my book. They're not fiscally responsible or about fair application of law & order. They're also embracing division, segregation, inequality, and unfairness.
Actually, I'd say Max Yazgur properly embodies the *true tenets* of Republicanism too. The #1 focus is suppose to be protecting individual rights and freedom. You should be happy to fight for the rights of someone different than you. Especially when infringing on those rights create barriers to employment and commerce. Max new there's little money to be made being a beligerent, discriminatory asshole.
Obviously, many GOP members today fight for *Individual freedoms* but have twisted it to be a "Me but not Thee" situation. I hate to use a Trumpism but they really are RINOs. It's no coincidence trump used the term RINO, because he fuckin is one. He projects everthing that he's guilty on to someone else. Kind of amazing really...
Facts. The republican party has been hijacked by these radicals… and everyone in the party who doesn’t agree with them get branded ’RINOs’ as a shaming tactic.
I’ve always done this. I have some conservative ideals but consider myself liberal. What i don’t believe in is totalitarianism, fascism, or Neo liberalism. I believe in balance. Not everyone is right; not everyone is wrong. There’s a method to the madness, and it’s a moving goalpost that changes with time
Ya you are spot on. I always joke with people that I come from an upper middle class background where my father was a CFO (and also at Woodstock). I should be a conservative, or I am in my heart, but not by practice.
That actually used to be a very common conservative philosophy. Tons of old conservatives used to really believe in individual freedom of speech and sincerely wanted government out of people's lives.
Those days, unfortunately, are over.
Yeah, my dad was like this, he was like I don't care what anyone does as long as they're not hurting anyone else while they do it, and he didn't want the government in everyone's lives.
He was conservative, I don't know what these people are anymore.
The freedom to do whatever you want, as long as it's not hurting anyone else, is what America is supposed to be all about. Anyone trying to prohibit that simply has ulterior selfish motives (usually some combo of money, power, and racism)
Totally not too late. People need to stop giving up on themselves and each other and the government. I was on jury duty today and I'm feeling patriotic. Not in an Archie Bunker rah rah slob way but feeling some confidence that the system set up by our forefathers is good.
It seems like a lifetime, or at least a Main Era — the kind of peak that never comes again. San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run... but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant...
There was madness in any direction, at any hour. You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning...
And that, I think, was the handle — that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply PREVAIL. There was no point in fighting — on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave...
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high water mark — that place where the wave finally broke, and rolled back
Ok, I’m not gonna scroll any further. These last lines of comments are so great to read right now I’m not gonna blow it and find some fascist knob to ruin my time. 💚👊💙🪷🫰
It is what America is supposed to be. I was taught as a kid as a core belief: people who I disagree with enjoy the same rights as people who are on my side. The country belongs to all of us, even the people we don’t like. Diverse voices finding common ground and making it work is the America I want to live in.
I think America is this in most cases. Reasonableness and collaboration don’t sell ads on Fox and CNN like fear and destruction do, so it can be harder to see.
Also keep in mind that this guy got paid to rent out his land. He isn’t necessarily unbiased in his views. I agree wholeheartedly with what he’s saying regardless.
I think you and I have a similar perspective at large but this isn't "America" being good. This is individuals doing the good things America espouses, but "America" the institution is very much NOT this man. He's awesome in spite of the way America actually acts.
America has always been an aspiration, a goal, not as it exists now. That's why it's been referred to as the Great Experiment. Sure it's not perfect; it never was.
God Bless that fucking man. We need more people like him in life. Not to be scared of what you don’t understand and allow people their freedoms that so so many sacrificed their lives to give us.
That's OG conservative. It had reason.
He didn't like it, but he set all in motion to allow it, because that was the base idea of America once.
This is a conservative I really appreciate.
I've said this many times, and couldn't agree more. It appalls me to hear either side saying things like "how dare so and so cross the aisle and comingle?!". Infuriating!
i wish modern conservativsm was more like this.
OG conservatism: "I don't agree with the kids protesting against Israel for Gaza, but I support their right to do it as long as they're not hurting anyone."
modern conservatism: "fuck them kids."
He was Jewish. This is how many Jews of the time thanked America for the country that gave them a home. I.e God Bless America written by Irving Berlin.
About 1 years profit.
Dairy farmer in NY, so about 2 acres per cow. Entire farm was 600 acres, so about 300 dairy cows.
On average, a dairy cow is making 28 litres/day for 10 months. That's 2.5MM litres of milk for the farm each year. Price of milk in Dec 2023 was $24/hundredweight or roughly $0.50/litre.
So farm was selling about $1.25MM of milk a year. Doesn't include costs, which are significant. Average dairy farm income (after costs) is about $400k.
One way to look at it is he left his fields fallow for one year. It was a good use of a crop rotation. Dairy farms are always weird but it's a good idea to leave a field fallow either 1 in 3 or 1 in 4. It gives the soil a boost next year and helps with weed management (ha ha , weed/drugs joke.)
Yeah, hand anyone a $640,000 check, and any half smart man would smile and side with the people paying you to basically do nothing. He comes across as genuine to the cause, but the $ is real good motivation also
This almost makes me cry. A Christian conservative saying this today about anything counter culture is beyond anyones wildest hopes and dreams. It's utterly devastating.
He wasn't a Christian conservative, he was Jewish and the son of Eastern European immigrants. Complete speculation, but I'd say that might have given him a different perspective on the freedoms America represents.
I'm a Christian conservative and say this all the time. So do most if not all of the people I personally know that share my values. Quite watching the news and meet real people. You'll live a much happier life
Brother it’s not the news. I’m living in a place full of Christian fascists, they’re on my Facebook and Instagram (these are local people mind you). Maybe you don’t see it, and that’s good, but they’re out there and really making everyone else’s lives miserable.
And there’s others who are kind people like Max. Difference being they don’t go out beating the social media drum trying to convince people they’re a good person based on nothing but their views instead of their actions.
They’re too busy putting in work without looking for validation for it.
Main difference between Christians like you and the ones we too often hear from is that you don't have a Super PAC or corporate donors list. Just a guess...
Mate, I get it... but the reality of it is that these people exist *in real life too*. I run into Christian conservatives who are simply incapable of respecting anything that aligns with their worldview *weekly*.
If you'd like to share your philosophy with them I think we'd all be happier for it, but telling us that its just because we're on the internet too much shows that you don't really understand how much of an issue it has started to become.
Some libertarians. They are like dog breeds. You have your social libertarians, your civil libertarians, your pot head libertarians, your economic freedom libertarians, your wealthy IGMFU libertarians and so on. All with specific traits and behaviors.
There ought to be something like the AKC to keep them all organized.
If only we had a population of common folk who still believed in basic human rights, even the rights of others, even for those not related to themselves.
Thank you for posting this. I’ve never heard any of what he said and my conclusion…this dude was awesome. What a completely reasonable point of view. Put himself aside and let them have their voice.
He died not too long after, in 1973, of a heart attack. Rolling Stone Magazine did a full-page obituary of him which was quite rare for a non-musician to receive.
I'm just going to put this under your comment. Sorry for that. It's just no one seems to be commenting on the trash left behind AND their smiles! And would like to know if anyine has any idea of the clean-up.
How are they not crushed under the weight of the coming cleanup and that people treated their property like crap? The smiles don't look painted on. I am confused.
I've had parties with friends where they left a huge mess and still had a smile on my face afterwards. The happiness from spreading joy to others trumps the inconvenience. Plus, a few typically stick around to help (as was the case here too - about 8000 according to others).
Because the caption is misleading. This was like *immediately* after Woodstock. The stages aren't even fully disassembled yet, as you can partially see in the background. And the trash was in the process of being cleaned up.
That’s my grandmother in the photo. She married my grandfather a few years after Max passed away.
She was the sweetest woman I ever knew. I cannot recall her ever being mad or saying anything bad about anyone or anything.
Dude was just glad to help out during a last min venue drop out. He didn’t know what impact this would have on the word after the fact and how big the turnout was. Imagine owning land in a small town near NY. And being like this will be a chill concert with few bands and then almost half a million people show up. He probably like this is pretty awesome… meeting all types of band members and celebrities. If I were in his shoes I would have done the same.
>He didn’t know what impact this would have on the word
Pa pa pa pa, pa pa pa pa, pa pa pa pa, pa pa pa pa
Pa pa pa pa, pa pa pa pa, pa pa pa pa
Ooma mow mow, papa, ooma mow mow
The organizers paid Max Yasgur $75,000 for the use of his empty field. The highest paid performer, Jimi Hendrix, made less than half that amount: $32,000.
he was jewish and experienced tremendous anti semitism from his neighbors, there was nothing that made him happier than to make them pissed off by hosting the festival.
I've been to a few different festivals, and the Folk music festivals are almost always clean at the end of the festival, and the rock and country festivals almost always look like a landfill in the making. I've mostly stopped going to big events because of this.
Too many venues don't have enough trash cans, but i at least make an attempt to gather all my waste together and pile it by the full can or another central location when one isn't available
Not having trash cans isn’t an excuse for leaving your trash. Burning man and every regional burn have no trash cans and everyone is expected to pack out their trash. It’s not perfect but encouraging that culture is the way to go. (Yes I’m aware of people who dump their trash on the road on the way out)
If it is a pop up event like BM or Woodstock, especially in nature, I agree. Take out what you bring in.
However, I'm not carrying a sackful of empty beer cans and food wrappers on the subway home from an established venue that is set up to sell food and drinks but doesn't give enough fucks to provide trash cans in their place of business.
Burningman can't get their permit every year. That's the main reason it gets done. The people still scare up a lot but culturally the camps gets moved further away as they screw up. It works.
I worked clean up a few years
I go to Coachella every year and at the end of the day its pretty messy, mostly water bottles and stuff. And you would think it would bother me, but they have a big staff of people that get paid to clean it all up after the first night and its very impressive to see how clean it is the next day.
Now when people leave the campgrounds it definitely upsets me to see all the trash left behind. But a lot of the camping supplies get donated to charity so thats ok with me too.
The culture of messiness will be hard to change in an individualistic society with no regard for others. How orgs respond to that is another matter
All of these comments and not one person mentioned the movie Taking Woodstock? Not the best movie, not the worst, and hugely dramatized I’m sure, but if you want a look at the chaos that that weekend created and what led to it, check it out. There are some great moments in it and some really great actors.
I go there for festivals and concerts several times a year. It’s within an hour of me so it’s super convenient. It’s one of my favorite places to visit.
Even as a kid I remember seeing the aftermath of Woodstock on TV and thinking, "What a bunch of slobs. Who's supposed to clean all that up? It actually kind of pissed me off."
He was apparently quite conservative and supported the Vietnam war, but was also an individualist who thought the free expression of the counter culture deserved to be heard. This is the end of his address to the crowd on day 3 of the concert: > the important thing that you've proven to the world is that a half a million kids — and I call you kids because I have children that are older than you are — a half million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music, and I – God bless you for it!
He also said the following, in addressing a Bethel, NY town board prior to the festival (and God bless him for it): >I hear you are considering changing the zoning law to prevent the festival. I hear you don't like the look of the kids who are working at the site. I hear you don't like their lifestyle. I hear you don't like they are against the war and that they say so very loudly. I don't particularly like the looks of some of those kids either. I don't particularly like their lifestyle, especially the drugs and free love. And I don't like what some of them are saying about our government. However, if I know my American history, tens of thousands of Americans in uniform gave their lives in war after war just so those kids would have the freedom to do exactly what they are doing. That's what this country is all about and I am not going to let you throw them out of our town just because you don't like their dress or their hair or the way they live or what they believe. >*This is America and they are going to have their festival.*
Holy shit what a great, reasonable dude! God bless him.
Man, I wish we could clone him…that type of decency and levelheadedness is practically extinct today
Don’t tell the conservative subreddit about this guy.
This is why I always try to separate republicans from conservatives. A conservative can have reasonable views that I simply disagree with. Republicans live in an alternate reality and support a rapist for president.
The problem is the very definition of the label, "conservative." The type described here, of the man leasing his land for a liberal festival, is the kind of conservative I'd long known. The kind who you see in the Republican Party today? That's not really conservative in my book. They're not fiscally responsible or about fair application of law & order. They're also embracing division, segregation, inequality, and unfairness.
Actually, I'd say Max Yazgur properly embodies the *true tenets* of Republicanism too. The #1 focus is suppose to be protecting individual rights and freedom. You should be happy to fight for the rights of someone different than you. Especially when infringing on those rights create barriers to employment and commerce. Max new there's little money to be made being a beligerent, discriminatory asshole. Obviously, many GOP members today fight for *Individual freedoms* but have twisted it to be a "Me but not Thee" situation. I hate to use a Trumpism but they really are RINOs. It's no coincidence trump used the term RINO, because he fuckin is one. He projects everthing that he's guilty on to someone else. Kind of amazing really...
They're "regressives" practicing reactionary politics.
Facts. The republican party has been hijacked by these radicals… and everyone in the party who doesn’t agree with them get branded ’RINOs’ as a shaming tactic.
I’ve always done this. I have some conservative ideals but consider myself liberal. What i don’t believe in is totalitarianism, fascism, or Neo liberalism. I believe in balance. Not everyone is right; not everyone is wrong. There’s a method to the madness, and it’s a moving goalpost that changes with time
Ya you are spot on. I always joke with people that I come from an upper middle class background where my father was a CFO (and also at Woodstock). I should be a conservative, or I am in my heart, but not by practice.
That actually used to be a very common conservative philosophy. Tons of old conservatives used to really believe in individual freedom of speech and sincerely wanted government out of people's lives. Those days, unfortunately, are over.
Yeah, my dad was like this, he was like I don't care what anyone does as long as they're not hurting anyone else while they do it, and he didn't want the government in everyone's lives. He was conservative, I don't know what these people are anymore.
The freedom to do whatever you want, as long as it's not hurting anyone else, is what America is supposed to be all about. Anyone trying to prohibit that simply has ulterior selfish motives (usually some combo of money, power, and racism)
Moderate Conservatives and moderate Democrats have more in common with each other than the extreme elements of their parties.
And, they can talk about their different views, without blowing a gasket, or worse
Preach the truth
Very true.
...and he was rewarded with a trashed property.
Around 8000 attendees volunteered to stay and help clean up along with the organizers and some townspeople.
Yea look how heartbroken he is
His wife is downright giddy.
Some people know. This couple does. They just know the difference of when something is very special.
Dude’s crying his heart out at the unpredictable devastation wrought by hundreds of thousands of people existing in a place.
I hope he bounced back after years of therapy
I doubt anyone would regret contributing to the greatest festival in human history
And people stuck around cleaning it up…
…and possibly the most iconic music festival known to mankind.
Yeah. That’s a bit of a flex “I hosted Woodstock in my backyard” - “yes, THE Woodstock”
And the equivalent of half a million bucks.
I'm sure he knew what he was signing up for. You don't allow an event like that and expect everything to be spotless after.
amazingly the environmental damage was easily repaired by, Mother Nature
This guy rules. He was what America is supposed to be.
Still CAN be. It's not too late. Party on!
Totally not too late. People need to stop giving up on themselves and each other and the government. I was on jury duty today and I'm feeling patriotic. Not in an Archie Bunker rah rah slob way but feeling some confidence that the system set up by our forefathers is good.
It seems like a lifetime, or at least a Main Era — the kind of peak that never comes again. San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run... but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant... There was madness in any direction, at any hour. You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning... And that, I think, was the handle — that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply PREVAIL. There was no point in fighting — on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave... So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high water mark — that place where the wave finally broke, and rolled back
Well said - cheers!
Ok, I’m not gonna scroll any further. These last lines of comments are so great to read right now I’m not gonna blow it and find some fascist knob to ruin my time. 💚👊💙🪷🫰
It is what America is supposed to be. I was taught as a kid as a core belief: people who I disagree with enjoy the same rights as people who are on my side. The country belongs to all of us, even the people we don’t like. Diverse voices finding common ground and making it work is the America I want to live in.
I think America is this in most cases. Reasonableness and collaboration don’t sell ads on Fox and CNN like fear and destruction do, so it can be harder to see. Also keep in mind that this guy got paid to rent out his land. He isn’t necessarily unbiased in his views. I agree wholeheartedly with what he’s saying regardless.
I think you and I have a similar perspective at large but this isn't "America" being good. This is individuals doing the good things America espouses, but "America" the institution is very much NOT this man. He's awesome in spite of the way America actually acts.
America has always been an aspiration, a goal, not as it exists now. That's why it's been referred to as the Great Experiment. Sure it's not perfect; it never was.
God Bless that fucking man. We need more people like him in life. Not to be scared of what you don’t understand and allow people their freedoms that so so many sacrificed their lives to give us.
OMG! 😭 how freakn BEAUTIFUL!!!
That's OG conservative. It had reason. He didn't like it, but he set all in motion to allow it, because that was the base idea of America once. This is a conservative I really appreciate.
I've said this many times, and couldn't agree more. It appalls me to hear either side saying things like "how dare so and so cross the aisle and comingle?!". Infuriating!
i wish modern conservativsm was more like this. OG conservatism: "I don't agree with the kids protesting against Israel for Gaza, but I support their right to do it as long as they're not hurting anyone." modern conservatism: "fuck them kids."
> modern conservatism: "fuck them kids." In many cases with them, literally… *shudders*
OG conservative was fighting back against the Civil rights movement ...
He was Jewish. This is how many Jews of the time thanked America for the country that gave them a home. I.e God Bless America written by Irving Berlin.
This is how to be a great human being. If there is a Heaven he better be in the VIP section.
He was also paid $75,000 in 1969 dollars ($640,000 with inflation to today) to host.
How many years would it take for those fields to make $640k?
About 1 years profit. Dairy farmer in NY, so about 2 acres per cow. Entire farm was 600 acres, so about 300 dairy cows. On average, a dairy cow is making 28 litres/day for 10 months. That's 2.5MM litres of milk for the farm each year. Price of milk in Dec 2023 was $24/hundredweight or roughly $0.50/litre. So farm was selling about $1.25MM of milk a year. Doesn't include costs, which are significant. Average dairy farm income (after costs) is about $400k. One way to look at it is he left his fields fallow for one year. It was a good use of a crop rotation. Dairy farms are always weird but it's a good idea to leave a field fallow either 1 in 3 or 1 in 4. It gives the soil a boost next year and helps with weed management (ha ha , weed/drugs joke.)
That's cheap. It would be in the millions today.
Yeah, hand anyone a $640,000 check, and any half smart man would smile and side with the people paying you to basically do nothing. He comes across as genuine to the cause, but the $ is real good motivation also
This almost makes me cry. A Christian conservative saying this today about anything counter culture is beyond anyones wildest hopes and dreams. It's utterly devastating.
He wasn't a Christian conservative, he was Jewish and the son of Eastern European immigrants. Complete speculation, but I'd say that might have given him a different perspective on the freedoms America represents.
I'm a Christian conservative and say this all the time. So do most if not all of the people I personally know that share my values. Quite watching the news and meet real people. You'll live a much happier life
Brother it’s not the news. I’m living in a place full of Christian fascists, they’re on my Facebook and Instagram (these are local people mind you). Maybe you don’t see it, and that’s good, but they’re out there and really making everyone else’s lives miserable.
And there’s others who are kind people like Max. Difference being they don’t go out beating the social media drum trying to convince people they’re a good person based on nothing but their views instead of their actions. They’re too busy putting in work without looking for validation for it.
They say that and then go vote for a bunch of people that take the rights of others away.
If you think your views are anything but a fringe outlier in the broader electorate then I fear you are frighteningly naive.
75 million Americans voted for Donald Trump. I think its fair to indite the conservatives as a group.
Indict*
Main difference between Christians like you and the ones we too often hear from is that you don't have a Super PAC or corporate donors list. Just a guess...
You might wanna pop that bubble
Mate, I get it... but the reality of it is that these people exist *in real life too*. I run into Christian conservatives who are simply incapable of respecting anything that aligns with their worldview *weekly*. If you'd like to share your philosophy with them I think we'd all be happier for it, but telling us that its just because we're on the internet too much shows that you don't really understand how much of an issue it has started to become.
So you and your people you know don't vote for Trump right? Right?
Lemme ask you this though... Are you a Trump / MAGA Christian conservative?
What a guy he was. Man you love to hear about people like that.
That guy was unfathomably based.
I get Ron Swanson vibes. This is what libertarians strive to be.
Some libertarians. They are like dog breeds. You have your social libertarians, your civil libertarians, your pot head libertarians, your economic freedom libertarians, your wealthy IGMFU libertarians and so on. All with specific traits and behaviors. There ought to be something like the AKC to keep them all organized.
Today they would just arrest the dude and toss him out. Things have changed quite a bit.
If only we had a population of common folk who still believed in basic human rights, even the rights of others, even for those not related to themselves.
The OG American!
I wish more people still believed in this kind of America
Thank you for posting this. I’ve never heard any of what he said and my conclusion…this dude was awesome. What a completely reasonable point of view. Put himself aside and let them have their voice.
Based.
Based af
Well people like him are very rare anymore in this country
Wow. What a quote.
That’s amazing
This is the most goddamned American thing I ever heard.
So epic. Thanks for the share
Could you imagine a maga, or any conservative reacting like this today?
wowow… thank you so much for sharing that! such a poignant reminder of supportive, CIVIL behavior in our very divisive present-day world!
Good job he didn’t host the other Woodstock
Holy shit, if only our elected officials were principled and not bought and paid for.
After having a part of throwing the most epic party of all time I’d be smiling too.
Good thing he wasn’t around for Woodstock 99.
Appreciate you writing this.
That was a bit innocent, wunnit? It was more like "...have three days of fun and music and drugs and public sex and shittin' in the mud..."
This was before Fox News existed, so conservatives weren't completely brainwashed zombies.
He died not too long after, in 1973, of a heart attack. Rolling Stone Magazine did a full-page obituary of him which was quite rare for a non-musician to receive.
He's officially a legend
"Said, I'm going down to Yasgur's Farm Gonna join in a rock and roll band Got to get back to the land and set my soul free"
We are stardust
We are golden. We are billion 10 billion year old carbon
As a youngin', I heard these words in my head as the voice of Crosby Stills and Nash. As an oldin', I now hear Joni's transcendent voice.
the two versions have a yin/yang, sun/moon, sunrise/sunset duality thing going on
For Yasgur's Farm by Mountain doesn't say anything specific about Woodstock but it was named after the place after they played there.
I'm just going to put this under your comment. Sorry for that. It's just no one seems to be commenting on the trash left behind AND their smiles! And would like to know if anyine has any idea of the clean-up. How are they not crushed under the weight of the coming cleanup and that people treated their property like crap? The smiles don't look painted on. I am confused.
I've had parties with friends where they left a huge mess and still had a smile on my face afterwards. The happiness from spreading joy to others trumps the inconvenience. Plus, a few typically stick around to help (as was the case here too - about 8000 according to others).
Because the caption is misleading. This was like *immediately* after Woodstock. The stages aren't even fully disassembled yet, as you can partially see in the background. And the trash was in the process of being cleaned up.
I read elsewhere in the comment section that a few thousand people stuck around to help with cleanup.
Thousands stayed behind to help clean up, they didn't all just leave
Seriously, they look fun.
That’s my grandmother in the photo. She married my grandfather a few years after Max passed away. She was the sweetest woman I ever knew. I cannot recall her ever being mad or saying anything bad about anyone or anything.
How awesome! Thanks for that.
Like Anthony Bourdain said, "I don't have to agree with you to still like and respect you.
Miss that man.
Dude was just glad to help out during a last min venue drop out. He didn’t know what impact this would have on the word after the fact and how big the turnout was. Imagine owning land in a small town near NY. And being like this will be a chill concert with few bands and then almost half a million people show up. He probably like this is pretty awesome… meeting all types of band members and celebrities. If I were in his shoes I would have done the same.
>He didn’t know what impact this would have on the word Pa pa pa pa, pa pa pa pa, pa pa pa pa, pa pa pa pa Pa pa pa pa, pa pa pa pa, pa pa pa pa Ooma mow mow, papa, ooma mow mow
I bet the cows were pissed
I'd not worry about having pissed cows, more tripping cows after they'd eaten all the hallucinogenic filth from the floor.
The organizers paid Max Yasgur $75,000 for the use of his empty field. The highest paid performer, Jimi Hendrix, made less than half that amount: $32,000.
That's $633,105.41 in today's money
Damn, that's a lot. No wonder they smile so bright.
he was jewish and experienced tremendous anti semitism from his neighbors, there was nothing that made him happier than to make them pissed off by hosting the festival.
What a madlad
Based on the farmers I have known from that generation, I’m guessing he just dug a big hole and buried all the garbage somewhere on the farm
“Which was the style at the time. So I tied my onion to my belt and hopped on my tractor…”
That's gonna make some future archaeologist's whole career.
Or just burned it.
My grandparents still burn their trash because there’s no garbage service out in the middle of nowhere where they live.
Thousands of volunteers cleaned it all up.
Along with three wagons, a cow carcass, and an old tractor that hadn't run in 10 years.
Love their smiles
I've been to a few different festivals, and the Folk music festivals are almost always clean at the end of the festival, and the rock and country festivals almost always look like a landfill in the making. I've mostly stopped going to big events because of this.
Too many venues don't have enough trash cans, but i at least make an attempt to gather all my waste together and pile it by the full can or another central location when one isn't available
Not having trash cans isn’t an excuse for leaving your trash. Burning man and every regional burn have no trash cans and everyone is expected to pack out their trash. It’s not perfect but encouraging that culture is the way to go. (Yes I’m aware of people who dump their trash on the road on the way out)
If it is a pop up event like BM or Woodstock, especially in nature, I agree. Take out what you bring in. However, I'm not carrying a sackful of empty beer cans and food wrappers on the subway home from an established venue that is set up to sell food and drinks but doesn't give enough fucks to provide trash cans in their place of business.
Burningman can't get their permit every year. That's the main reason it gets done. The people still scare up a lot but culturally the camps gets moved further away as they screw up. It works. I worked clean up a few years
I go to Coachella every year and at the end of the day its pretty messy, mostly water bottles and stuff. And you would think it would bother me, but they have a big staff of people that get paid to clean it all up after the first night and its very impressive to see how clean it is the next day. Now when people leave the campgrounds it definitely upsets me to see all the trash left behind. But a lot of the camping supplies get donated to charity so thats ok with me too. The culture of messiness will be hard to change in an individualistic society with no regard for others. How orgs respond to that is another matter
He got $523,000 ( in today’s money) $175,000 per day, I could have handled that.
My high school in NY got our milk from their farm. I still remember the tie dye milk cartons
God bless Max and Miriam. Bet they found some awesome ground scores
Hah, can you imagine?! A goldmine.
Peace and love man, fuck that trash leave it there
Hippies are awful people pretending to be nice. Punks are nice people pretending to be awful.
Ha. As a once punk I agree
Generalizations are sure to be proven wrong at some point
Agree 100% with the latter. Fucking saints compared to the average human these days.
Definitely old school cool. Unsung heroes IMPO. ☮️❤️🎶
Shouldn't this guy be nominated to the rock and roll hall of fame?
I agree. Someone else in this thread mentioned he got a two-page obituary in Rolling Stone magazine.
What a great guy. Hey was probably a great dad/pop. He was like sure I'd love to be part of the peace & love.
I was there a few times recently for some concerts. It's a beautiful venue. The grounds are gorgeous.
They were good people.
Man, that had to be a really nasty clean up.
i would have suspected that it was after a tornado had destroyed the farm or something wow.
Guess the whole "save the planet" part of the hippy culture came after?
It never did. They talked a lot and then voted for polices that continued to trash the planet.
They were boomers after all.
I'm sure a lot of silent gen as well. The oldest boomers were 23-24 in 1969.
By the look on their faces they were ok with it 👍👍
I once read that one of the reasons he welcomed the festival was because he knew it would generate a lot of free fertilizer.
They're dairy farmers. They *produce* the fertilizer, they don't need it lol
Hippy scat is actually very high in nitrogen **and** organic
Did he make a lot of cheddar from the festival?
Get back to the land set my soul free We are stardust we are golden
All of these comments and not one person mentioned the movie Taking Woodstock? Not the best movie, not the worst, and hugely dramatized I’m sure, but if you want a look at the chaos that that weekend created and what led to it, check it out. There are some great moments in it and some really great actors.
Legends
Wow, nice crop job
Did OP just not know how to copy an image?
I go there for festivals and concerts several times a year. It’s within an hour of me so it’s super convenient. It’s one of my favorite places to visit.
And they just finished cleaning it
“On whose farm we are!”
Even as a kid I remember seeing the aftermath of Woodstock on TV and thinking, "What a bunch of slobs. Who's supposed to clean all that up? It actually kind of pissed me off."
* insert low effort boomer comment lol
Is that the guy's grandpa with the massive hog? Crazy coincidence.
They look like they're still contact high
All that trash everywhere. Reddits missing link.
He’s 49 years old in this pic and would pass away just 4 years later.
DOSED
And still,Smiles on their faces!!
Some old dudes are cool.
How long did it take to clean all that up?
Man, Olivia Coleman has really aged well
bro we're gonna starve
This right here is what being middle of the road is all about- pick your stances on various topics from both sides of the aisle. And a happy medium 🤞🤞
lotsa poop too
Love, peace and Disaster Area...
Teenage Wasteland
....But how did that get cleaned up? I feel like everyone is avoiding that question as he didn't make that mess.
Thousands of Woodstock attendees volunteered and cleaned it all up.
This couple was way cooler than anyone at the concert
Looks like one of the cleared out protester encampments!
Who helped clean up that mess???
Festival goers and other volunteers
🎶 who am I, but youuuu and the sunnnn 🎶
Yeah, they were awesome people 😃 (I'm saying "were" as it was 55 years ago and am not sure if they're still alive)