My Woodstock Experience

by Ken Hutton –

In the summer of 1969, at the age of 17, I heard from a girl in Lake Placid of a music festival in southern New York.  When I got back to my hometown in Herkimer I asked my friends if anyone wanted to go, but no one was interested in this adventure.  Finally, a girl from Utica I met said she would go with me, so we hitchhiked down the NYS Thruway the next day.  The last ride we got was a fellow in a black VW bug.  We arrived on Thursday night.  She ended up dropping some kind of hallucinogenic drug and was acting pretty weird so I left her there.  I never saw her again. 

Friday afternoon I started heading toward the concert area.  I had limited funds and not enough to pay for the weekend ticket.  I was figuring out how I was going to get in when I walked across some fencing and I realized I was in!  Then I heard the announcer say, “It’s a free concert!”  I was relieved. Friday night the music was mellow.  I remember a lot of folk music and a guy on a piano.  I saw Ravi Shankar on a sitar.  Melanie looked like an angel. Saturday was the long day of music, rain, music, rain, and all types of interesting people.  Hippies dressed up in all sorts of weird garb I had never experienced.  Clothes were optional.  Drugs flowed freely.  The NYS Troopers could do nothing about the drugs being sold because there were too many people who would have overwhelmed them in numbers if they tried to bust anyone. I was amazed how the drug dealers could hawk their wares with impunity.   

  Love was in the air.  I did not see a single act of violence the entire time I was there.  Everyone was kind and patient and generous.  I got caught up in generosity so I bought some cigarettes and gave them away.  I remember watching the fellows enjoying a mudslide.  I couldn’t see the bands very well.  One guy shared his binoculars so I saw a few bands.  I decided to walk down near the stage, but it was too high to see over as I walked by. 

  I enjoyed the music although I didn’t know many of the bands, as I was only a naive teenager.  I did recognize the Who and Canned Heat and was most impressed with Sly and the Family Stone.  As Sly sang “I Want to Take You Higher,” we all raised matches or lighters so it was literally the highlight of the weekend. 

  I was sleeping on and off in my soggy sleeping bag.  I waited and waited in great expectation for Jefferson Airplane to begin to play.  It was dawn when they finally started to play.  I was tired and wet so left Sunday morning.  I’ll never forget my adventure in the Summer of Love.