Episode #91 | 11.16.21
Woodstock, A Disaster Movie (Pt.2)
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In this episode
The original Woodstock was a literal disaster, declared so on its first day by the state of New York. There were fights, onstage, armed black-shirted hippie gestapo on patrol, and most notably, two dead kids on record. The festival was born of violence, sparked into existence out of organizer Michael Lang’s standoff with hillbilly armed guards and cops from down in Florida. The lasting image of Woodstock as a time of idyllic harmony is a nostalgic gimmick, as is the 1970 documentary about the events that took place up in Bethel, New York that fateful weekend. If any director were to make a truly realistic movie about Woodstock, their film would be an unhinged disaster movie.
Sources
Barefoot in Babylon: The Creation of the Woodstock Music Festival 1969, by Bob Spitz
Washington Post: Riots, deaths, sexual assault: Maybe Woodstock was always a nightmare
The Ringer: Peace, Love, and Mass Electrocution: The Myth of the Original Woodstock
SPIN: “Don’t Drink the Brown Water”: Our Live Report From Woodstock ‘99
Rolling Stone: Woodstock ‘99: Rage Against the Latrine
Washington Post: Police Investigate Reports of Rapes at Woodstock
Consequence of Sound: Here’s How Much Each Artist Earned from Playing Woodstock
The Real Woodstock Story: How Woodstock Ventures Was Formed
History: 10 Things You May Not Know About Woodstock
Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace and Music, directed by Michael Wadleigh
Rolling Stone: The Making of the ‘Woodstock’ Documentary
Creating Woodstock, directed by Mick Richards
Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. It melds music history, true crime and transgressive fiction. Disgraceland is not journalism. Disgraceland is entertainment. Entertainment inspired by true events. However, certain scenes, characters and names are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
Music
Score by Jake Brennan.
Mixed and Engineered by Sean Cahalin.
Disgraceland theme song, "Crenshaw Space Boogie" written and produced by Jake Brennan. Performed by Jake Brennan, Bryce Kanzer, Jay Cannava and Evan Kenney. Mixed and engineered by Adam Taylor.
*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak