Time Travel Without a DeLorean — Woodstock — The Director’s Cut

The 1970 documentary about Woodstock will blow your mind

As I was thumbing through the channels the other day, I happened upon the beginning of Woodstock: The Directors Cut on T.C.M.

As I settled in to watch it, I was increasingly blown away by what I saw.

I had no idea what I was in for. As I read the information, I was shocked to see it was nearly four hours long.

No way was I going to sit through a four-hour documentary. Or at least that is what I thought at the time.

Four hours later, I was watching the credits go by and I must admit, I was a little misty-eyed as the list of amazing musicians and bands, many of them no longer with us scrolled across the screen.

Of course, I have known about the 1969 event called Woodstock and the people who played there all my life. I have seen pictures of the crowd half a million strong playing in the mud, dancing naked in the rain, and listening to one of the greatest collections of bands ever to share the same stage.

This documentary allowed you to be as close to actually being there as one could get 54 years after the fact.

For footage that old, the sound of the music was high quality. The music alone makes the documentary worth the four-hour commitment.

The film footage of the bands playing live was amazing. Legendary, timeless musicians played without special effects and moving lights. Their raw talent was captured in that incredible moment for eternity.

The footage of Joe Cocker, Country Joe, The Who, Santana, Canned Heat, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and, of course, Jimi Hendrix, just to name a few, will leave you speechless and in awe.

The footage of the crowd was equally shocking. Half a million young people gathered with very few facilities catering to hygiene or bathroom needs. It was as if a city formed overnight with absolutely no infrastructure to take care of its inhabitants.

Food was scarce. Announcements from the stage begged concertgoers to “share food if you have extra.”

Locals from neighboring towns and churches came together to help feed the masses.

Births that occurred at the festival were announced over the P.A. along with messages from parents to please call home or meet at the gate.

The good, the bad, the miraculous, and the dirty were all captured in the film footage.

An interview with a local chief of police did not reveal a discouraged man lamenting the invasion of the hippies as one might expect. Instead, he called the concertgoers “good citizens.”

There were no riots or fights or complaints about being hungry or cold.

People helped each other out and appreciated the incredible event that they were involved in.

The documentary was nostalgic and emotional.

Four hours seems long but they had so much footage, they often used a split screen to include as much of the footage as they could.

I am glad they made the effort. Watching the documentary was like traveling back in time.

It truly gave the viewer an impression of what being there must have been like.

I would highly recommend watching the entire documentary. You might not get it done in one sitting, but you will never want to fast forward past any of the one-of-a-kind and historic scenes.

For other nostalgic posts from Curt: