|
Book Nook
Reviews of Books by Local Authors
Roots of the 1969 Woodstock Festival: The Backstory to Woodstock by Julia Blelock/Edited by Weston Blelock
(WoodstockArts)
Review by Rachelle Nones
Expectations for a good read are high when a photograph of Bob Dylan, poised to take off on a Triumph motorcycle, graces a books cover and the overleaf features a photograph of a police officer standing watch over a gathering of long-haired hippies hanging out in the neat and tidy Woodstock Village Green.
Roots of the 1969 Woodstock Festival does not disappoint. Woodstock newbies and veterans alike will enjoy leafing through its revealing interviews, historic photographs and posters, location maps and nostalgic memorabilia. The nitty gritty details of daily life in Woodstock are archived and illustrated here right down to photographs featuring the delicatessen tabs of Bob Dylan and Jim Black of the Mothers of Invention.
Throughout this nostalgic cultural and historical tour, Woodstock native Julia Blelock examines the organic creation of the artistic community there and the key forces in the development of the Woodstock Music Festival of 1969. The roots of Woodstock 69 were planted during the Sound-Outs taking place simply because It was time for it to happen. Sound-Outs were mini pre-Woodstock musical festivals held by the long-haired hippie freaks who were gravitating to Woodstock in pursuit of cheap macrobiotic food, illegal mind-altering substances, artistic freedom and the companionship of their peers. Various interviews reveal the early tensions existing between the constable and the uninhibited hippie transplants who had come to Woodstock seeking refuge and freedom.
If you are curious about the cultural forces that birthed the worlds greatest rock n roll festival, this book is a great place to start your nostalgic journey.
Rachelle Nones sells her original graphic prints at www.cafepress.com/fashionkarma.
©2010 Tigerlily Communications
|
|
|
