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“I came upon a child of God,
he was walking along the road…”
And he was on his way to creating one of
the enduring idylls of 20th century rurality – the Woodstock Music and Art Fair.
Hard to believe that 40 years ago “going up the country”
was about the coolest direction you could take, since now young
hipsters are clustering in urban places — New Orleans, San Francisco,
Vancouver, and Brooklyn.
Looking back at what happened at Max Yasgur’s dairy farm that rainy
weekend, it seems a vivid example of what happens when urban
sensibility suddenly takes command in a rural setting. There’s a lot
of righteous, dreamy fun — alright MAGIC – and there’s also lots of wreckage.
According to wiki:
“On January 7, 1970, four-and-a-half months after the festival, Yasgur
was sued by his neighbors for area property damage…. The damage to his
own property was far more extensive and, over a year later, he received
a $50,000 settlement to pay for the near-destruction of his dairy farm.
“In 1971, less than two years after the festival, Max Yasgur sold the farm, and nineteen months later, died of a heart attack at the age of 53.”
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