Roots of Woodstock by Weston Blelock
there is no eye
In 2001 powerHouse Books published there is no eye, John Cohen's photographic memoir of his life and times. He is a member of the New City Lost Ramblers, and his photographs hang in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art. He has done field recordings, a number of fine albums, and films. His book includes black-and-white...
Camp Woodland’s Lamanna @ the Colony on Saturday
Pat Lamanna, a Camp Woodland alum, will be performing in the "Phil Ochs Fest" at the Colony Café, 22 Rock City Road, Woodstock, on December 5th. The gig begins at 8 p.m. Others on the bill include Graham and Barbara Dean, the Flames of Discontent, and Greg Engleson. FYI, Phil Ochs headlined at the 1967 Sound-Out. Camp Woodland nurtured folk music in the Woodstock area during the fifties and...
Weston Blelock on WKZE
Rick Schneider, morning host of WKZE (listen live), interviewed Weston Blelock on October 28 regarding Roots of the 1969 Woodstock Festival. Here are a couple of brief audio excerpts . . . . Woodstock's Music Scene During the Summer of 1969: WKZE#1 Artie Traum's Reminiscence of Woodstock in the Late 1960s: WKZE#2
John Herald: Root of Woodstock
In 1954, a 15-year-old Johnny Herald saw Pete Seeger in concert at Camp Woodland outside Phoenicia, NY. He was so inspired that he vowed he would be a musician, too. Herald, of Armenian-American background, was born and raised in Greenwich Village. His poet father used to take him around to parties where Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie performed live. On the liner notes to Roll on John, Herald...
Roots on the Radio
Weston Blelock, co-author of Roots of the 1969 Woodstock Festival: The Backstory to "Woodstock," will be interviewed about the Roots book and upcoming Barnes & Noble book event as follows: 10/28 at 9 a.m. on WKZE with Rick Schneider 10/30 at 9:30 a.m. on WKNY with Warren Lawrence
Roots Presentation @ Barnes & Noble on 10/30
Woodstock, NY—October 19, 2009—Weston Blelock and Julia Blelock, co-authors of Roots of the 1969 Woodstock Festival: The Backstory to "Woodstock," will be hosting a PowerPoint presentation and book signing at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 1177 Ulster Ave., Kingston, NY on Friday, Oct 30, at 7 p.m. The book is a finalist in both the "Popular Culture" and "History: Media/Entertainment"...
Woodstock’s First Hippie
Hervey White was a storied hippie in the early 1900s. His novels were praised by Theodore Dreiser, and he hobnobbed at Jane Addams's Hull House with such other progressive intellectuals as Clarence Darrow, Sidney Webb, and Ramsay MacDonald. It was there that he met Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead. The latter was a wealthy English commoner in search of his own personal utopia. With White and Bolton...
Bike Racks Will Aid Woodstock’s Zero-Carbon Quest
Forty years ago, the ’69 Woodstock festival triggered many new trends. One such, the back-to-the-land movement, helped bring eco-consciousness to the forefront. The following year Earth Day was created. In March 2007, the Town of Woodstock passed a Zero-Carbon Initiative, pledging to neutralize Woodstock's carbon footprint by 2017. In a nod to these go-green efforts, the 8/15/09 Roots of...
Holy Moses, it’s Billy Batson!
Billy Batson, a rough-hewn and as authentic a musician as you're likely to encounter, arrived in 1965 Woodstock by way of California and Greenwich Village. For a time, he gigged around town as a solo act. In the late sixties, he played a set at The Elephant. Sitting down afterward with his customary bottle of Jack Daniels at the ready, he watched Holy Moses play. The band, consisting of Ted...
Group 212 Inter-Media Project
Posted by Weston Blelock Bob Liikala's Group 212 Inter-Media Project exhibit at the Historical Society of Woodstock will close on September 6th. Liikala has been on hand since the August 8th opening to guide visitors and discuss the project's formation and history. He will not be present on the final weekend. The show may be viewed on Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The 212 project...