Roots of Woodstock by Weston Blelock
Coming Home with Jane Fonda and Penelope Milford
The United States's involvement in the Vietnam War began in 1955 and ended twenty years later in 1975. It was a proxy war between the anti-communist forces (US) and communist forces (USSR and China). Millions of Vietnamese were killed, and the US military engagement cost the lives of 58,281 American soldiers. At its peak, in April 1969, the US had 543,000 soldiers in Vietnam. As the war...
Stefan Lokos and Arthur Smith: An Artistic Journey in Woodstock
Detail from the cover of Still Life with Violin, a biography of Stefan Lokos[/caption]Stefan Lokos (1913-1994) was born in Budapest, Hungary, and studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest, the City Music Academy of Budapest, and the Music Conservatory of Vienna. When war broke out in 1939, he was drafted into the Hungarian Army and was later shipped to the Eastern Front, where he was...
Sled Hill Café Posters at Swann Auction Galleries
On February 8, 2024, thirteen posters from the Sled Hill Café are up for sale at the Swann Auction Galleries in New York City. In 1968, the Sled Hill Café, The Elephant, and the Café Expresso hosted nightly music performances in the run-up to the 1969 Woodstock Festival at Bethel, NY. On any given night, folk, jazz, funk, and rock ‘n’ roll music could be heard at the Sled Hill. The owner, Bud...
“Sound Out” and “Woodstock ‘69”
Poems from Woodstock by Leonard Brown Sound Out was a music festival held in 1967 outside Woodstock, NY, on Pan Copeland’s farm. Jocko Moffitt co-produced it with Steve Bishop. The latter cut his teeth booking the Philadelphia Folk Festival and was instrumental in booking acts at Sound Out. Another organizer was Leonard “Leny” Brown, a saxophonist, who arrived at Jocko and Tonny Moffitt’s...
Ed and Miriam Sanders: Poets, Artists, and Change-Makers
The 1960s was a time of tumultuous change, and Ed and Miriam Sanders actively led the counterculture. Ed was a rising beat poet, and Miriam was a young artist. Together they drafted missives supporting freedom of speech, and they demonstrated against the US’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The times were aswirl with Blacks marching for their civil rights...
Kincheloe Family Music Magic
On Friday, February 17, 2023, at 8 p.m., Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds will headline a sold-out show at the Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY. They are known for their rousing soul-oriented rock sets. The ensemble lineup features Arleigh Kincheloe, Sister Sparrow, on lead vocals. She is the chief songwriter and is backed up by her brother, Jackson, on harmonica. Josh Myers is on bass, Dan...
John Barry’s Book on the Levon Helm Rambles
In his memoir, Bill Graham Presents, Bill Graham wrote, "Albert Grossman had probably the best ears of anybody I knew, and [when] he played me some tracks off Music from Big Pink, I was just blown away.” When Music from Big Pink hit turntables in 1968, it ushered in a new genre of music: Americana. Musicians as diverse as Eric Clapton, Larry Campbell, and Warren Haynes will tell you that The...
Dan Mason: The Man Behind Woodstock’s Legendary “Big Girls”
For the better part of six decades, Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason were one of the highest profile couples of the Woodstock art colony—in more ways than one. At six foot three and six foot respectively, the “Big Girls,” as their friends called them, tended to stand out in a crowd. From their arrival in Bearsville in 1924 to Wilna’s death in 1979, Wilna and Nan enjoyed a fond notoriety in the...
Shiang Book on Jim Morrison’s Poetry
Jim Morrison and The Doors broke through into national consciousness in 1967 with “Light My Fire.” Over the years, Morrison’s moody good looks—combined with the band’s visionary lyrics and propulsive music—helped to catapult them onto Rolling Stone Magazine’s all-time top band list at number 41. In 2014 Classic Rock Magazine called them “America’s most influential band.” David Shiang, author of...
Candy-O Revisited
Jean and Jim Young owned The Juggler during the late 1960s in Woodstock, NY. It was an avant-garde bookstore that sold guitar strings and had a magazine rack featuring copies of Rolling Stone and Billboard magazines. In 2008 Jean participated in a panel discussion titled “Roots of the 1969 Woodstock Festival.” She recalled those days fondly: “And then, of course, the hippies came in . . ....