>> last night, the traffic was a mess, but somehow between the dusk to dawn when the music stopped, they disappeared across the country. although, thousands remained on the 600 acre dairy farm, pitching in on cleanup or weighting of the crowd. festival site is near the biggest town monticello nearby. but before it was over, something happened in monticello. residents and resorts empty their cupboards for the kids. merchants were stunned by their politeness. >> polite. that is about what i can say. did not sell any

shoes? >> not too many, but they were happy here. >> i think they are a wonderful group of kids. i have never met so many that were so patient, so courteous, and understanding under the conditions we had here the last three days. >> in the beginning, there was a great deal of apprehension, but right now, i can say that the attitude of the town has changed for these young men and women. >> they took a lot of aggravation and inconvenience of the average person that they would not take. >> unfortunately, because of the press coverage being so jaundiced, not many people would learn what monticello learned. suffice it to say it was not a disaster area. there were 450,000 young people here with no conveniences, a few police, but no violence, not even arguments in the midst of a 12 hour traffic jam.

about ethel, pennsylvania, 50 miles from new york city. what was woodstock? was a i think woodstock surprise tohat dairy farm in

new york outside of bethel was not supposed to be what was happening with woodstock. the festival was first maybe going to be in the woodstock area, then down in the neighborhood not too far from woodstock, permits were not given, town people decried what was happening, and with lesswitd to build a stage, sound systems, lighting, figure out how to

in new york city, outside of new york city. there was a lot of concern. there was a lot of fear. there was a sense of what the look at one of the moments that became part of the counterculture movement. miles northeast of here. woodstock, new york was a bohemian community. a lot of musicians lived there ,ff and on, including bob dylan richie havens, van morrison. they call the company woodstock

ventures. they started looking for a place for the festival. they could not find a place in woodstock that was large enough. they found an industrial park in the town of wallkill. they started advertising. creating art installations and everything was going smoothly. the locals found that what they were doing and it wasn't going to be a 50,000 person festival after all. the town of wallkill rewrote its laws to outlaw the festival. that left woodstock ventures with about four weeks to find another location. when they came to this property, it was a perfect shape, perfect size for the rockt would be a gt

launching pan and put them in front of a lot of people. they hoped to make some money performing. signed up musician and it lowered another. there was a snowball effect, a few of the most major names, the stones and the beatles, were not there. host: one of thered

out how to get along, not let the tensions around, the lack of water and lack of food, they shared what they had. they worked with each other. they made an incredible event that became something they never forgot. host: whathey expected 200,000 o travel to bethel, new york. there was no social media, no

cell phones. how did word spread about this event? testament to real how the countercultural and use culture were organized at the time.

racial justice, against the war in the at the environmental movement. they were creating an alternative politics. even more, it was a celebration of alternative values or just america living up to the values it proclaimed. what should it freedom feel like? what does social justice mid-2'.

he had good connections in the music industry despite his age. he was in for goal to them signing up some of the reflectst they put together in 1969. guest: the legacy of woodstock in 500 years, they are going to remember the event. top 20ey listed the events of mankind, woodstock was number two.

francisco and the use culture of music, many were fearful of the drug experiences regarding marijuana and lsd.

people saw another side of the we have the trailer from the film that was released in 1970. let's watch. >> an incredible film about an incredible event is back. >> can you dig that? >> it's really amazing. an unbelievable thing. >> woodstock, with a cast of half a million outrageously friendly people.

>> it's a dirty mess.

the promoters just didn't even try to collect fees. they announced from the stage that this would be a free concert. there had never been a free concert of this scale. transition from a commercial for-profit concert to a free event where hundreds of thousands of people showed up and had to take care of

noticed in the documentary, it did not grasp the real hold of what was going on. it was a vietnam war protest for the most part. i was kind of disappointed about that. host: we will get a response from our guest. do you remember what you ate and were you slept? caller: peanut butter sandwiches. people had like it's.

fundamentally about the war in vietnam, even though that overshadowed what happened. it was a counterpoint to the anger and frustrationyou can coe

experience. it is really quite special. host: we will show that to you in just a minute. you were there 50 years ago? caller: yes, i was.

i was 18 years old. new jersey from after work friday night at midnight. we missed friday. that was ok. we wanted to rock 'n roll. ar $18, it was a bargain with star-studded cast of great rock 'n roll acts. we didn't know there would be half a million people there. host: what do you member about trying to get to bethel, new york. the traffic was backed up eight miles to get there. had to our our car on the side of the road. we had to walk for miles on to get to the festival site. the local people were friendly, giving us water and sandwiches

and being very nice to us. people were. olderwere a few people and a handful of children there. these were really teenagers and people in their early 20's. these were young people who braved all sorts of bizarre conditions to get there, to

figure out how to get do on a jar of peanut butter. they rose to the occasion. they had an incredible time under incredible circumstances. that's a great story bob just told us. host: how old were you when you went to woodstock? caller: 17. host: how did you get there? caller: we drove. me and three other girls. i just remember all the people. the best thing in the world was jimi hendrix playing the star-spangled banner. host: thank you for the call. guest: that's a really nice story. people came from all over was lt

took eight hours to get to the actual site. i must've parked five miles and walked in the rest of the way. it was a field of mud. there was some great music. the people were just fantastic. i think that was instrumental in forming my political views. people could get along together. there could be love and peace and happiness.

eir cars and walked into the concert from there. more food, a few

mainly peanut butter andsome suy

helicopter. the u.s. army in the national guard flew people in and out of the concert like that. a lot of jersey people used to come up to new york. bands a lively group of that played in those clubs.

there wasn't a single band that would play that weekend. tom, thanks for sharing your stories with us. that's worth thinking about is the way the promoters and some of the people they brought in help set the tone and help create the possibility of woodstock working so well. the promoters did not prepareed.

the hog farm distributed free food. nobody paid a nickel for it. hundreds of thousands of people.

-- hog farm. we brought in a group called the hog farm. they were a commune. they were used to setting up big outdoor facilities. they did organic gardening. this was the first time anyone had really seen granola. more than what they provided in , there was ant vibe, if you will.

everybody get situated. they welcomed the next group and got them situated. idea of sharing and we were all in this together. i think that's probably what happened. at the atlantic

city festival. went to where the woodstock festival was going to be held. , it was twothere weeks before the festival started. we started camping out. started tore people come in. that they were going to be taking applications to work for the festival. and the rest of my group went up and we applied for jobs. i worked for food for love. my friend worked security. the things i remember about aboutock was it was more really gathering the tribes together.

people were coming together from all over the world. it wasn't just a group of people from atlanta, people from california or new york. we met people from england, from other countries. we met them from all over the united states. was people coming together. the music was very important. that was the music of our time. meaning to us. it's like they were singing to our souls. one thing that really impressed were people out there who were

woodstock was not that. thevalues. post, the bird of peace and the dogs of war in 1970. charles schultz used the name was socked for his iconic bird. -- woodstock for his iconic bird. i was from brooklyn at the time. everybody in the neighborhood was going. we all caps saying we will see you there.

when we got there and we saw the it was the most loving atmosphere you could possibly imagine. host: was this a political event or a music event for you? event for was a music me. i wanted to see janis joplin. hendrix,to see jimi sly and the family stone. it was mostly musical. we rented a cargo van and drove van, not knowing that the windshield wipers didn't work. we were driving in that pouring rain with no windshield wipers. we pit was a relatively small

minority of the baby boom generation itself. most baby boomers never marched, they never protested.

they weren't political people. many baby boomers did feel they were a par did feel they were a part of did feel they were a part of other two guys tr parents they were going to the other guys house to sleep over. out, he said are

you sure you've got enough toilet paper? us for beer.nown

we just took this 10 miles. you should of got what you wanted. were not hurting for money. we work in the concession stand. us forre really bugging the beer. you don't like to be laughing at kids people, 15-year-old have beer and adults couldn't get their own. the best part was joe cocker. we had never heard of them. we just sat there in all of joe cocker. was the best of everybody that was there.

expected a disaster. nothing bad happened. the three of us survived. we woke up sunday morning. across to the other side, they fed us.

guitar, they erected and became an iconic figure in the rock scene. for others, it was a validation. for some, it was the best show they ever played. the music did turn on a generation.

turned -- did turn people on two bands they did not know before that. started, it was like a spiritual awakening. you can tell by the music how it progressed. music,ted off with full it went into british invasion. then it went into psychedelic. and talkedaround about the insights they thought they had gotten.

nixon,ction of richard what made woodstock different from the moderate pop festival in 1967 or the newport jazz festival in the summer of 1969? guest: there were other festivals going on. woodstock was not that. the multi-day aspect of it was not unique, people camping,

people having to make do with what they had, created a different cultural milieu. there were others afterward that were related to woodstock. i think that moment in 1969 when people were so hungry for something good and peaceful and something that commemorated the best possibilities, that's what gave it its power. the place it occurred, the time it occurred.

host: i want to show some of the headlines. how woodstock was covered 50 years ago. go ahead. caller: i came from a small town. together with the lifeguard i was working with at the state park. we drove down there. i was just in all. i stayed up on my own energy. it was quite an experience. host: did you think at the time

did 50 years later we would still be talking about this then you, this music concert and what happened over three days? caller: i did not. host: thank you for phoning in. we have another woodstock memory from eddie in pennsylvania. go ahead. up like it is

today. i had a great time. i never forgot it. i wanted to stand in the same spot i was in 50 years ago. they had it kind of closed off. host:i wanted to stand in the fd where i was. i wasn't able to do it. host: it is a historic site as

you can see from this marker. this is what it looks like today. what do you think? caller: i'm not looking at the tv right now. i remember it exactly the way it was. it was a field of mud. today, it's a nice landscape field. sign you can see the peace that commemorates the 50th anniversary. how old were you? caller: i was 21 at the time. we drove from outside detroit. we came in the back way. we did that experience all the traffic that they saw from new york city. that was one of the reasons we went, the music. i remember johnson claire, the

activists at the time that was put in jail in michigan. part of the purpose of the concert in the michigan area was it would be a fundraiser to help his legal fund. it was a great time. we got there friday night.

our college friends from newton, massachusetts. we had to leave our car and walk. they took our tickets. i had gone down close to the stage to film because i shot seven rolls of film. movie film. off the next morning because of the rain. i didn't know they had left. shoes for four days, just my camera bag. most of the music.

love andll, it was the andcaring and the sharing hassle in t there and i think

we all should take stock of woodstock. >> we thank you for your ti