"Woodstock" documentary on Netflix, made by PBS

For my generation, 1968-1969 defined us, solidified us and made us, in many ways, who we still are today. Starting early in 1968, the TET offensive was a blow to the South Vietnamese and to the US forces in Vietnam, exacerbating the anti war sentiment in the US. In April, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis was a shocking and brutal blow not just to the Civil Rights Movement but to everyone who fought for justice.  Then, the almost inconceivable assassination of Robert Kennedy in June in Los Angeles threw many into despair for our political structure and our nation. By the time of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August of 1968, the country was so divided about so many things, in retrospect the violence in the streets of Chicago should have been easily predicted.

In January of 1969, Richard Nixon was sworn in as President and the Vietnam War continued. The generation born in the 1950's, the Baby Boomers as they would be called, adamantly opposed the war, hated Nixon and felt disenfranchised from the rest of the country, from politics and from what they called "The Establishment."

Early in 1969 a couple of guys from the East Coast decided to produce a huge rock concert, something outdoors, and they planned to sell enough tickets to make a bundle of money. After their original venue fell through less than a month before the festival was to start, they scrambled and found Yasgur's farm in New York. Tickets had been sold, performers had been booked, there was no way the concert could not go on.

This documentary is a pleasure to watch. Not just because of the history of the concert/festival  but the footage of how it actually happened, how people from thousands of miles away converged on this property for the music and the camaraderie and the love, it is all here and it is amazingly fun to watch. I knew a bit about Woodstock (I was 19 years old, after all) but there are so many points made that I was unaware of:  the townspeople gathered up everything in their pantries, made sandwiches for the kids because at one point there was no food left. The military flew in Hueys with dozens of doctors to help those at the festival who needed medical help. The Hog Farm Commune cooked buckets and buckets of rice and corn for the masses and gave it away. It was the first time Crosby, Stills and Nash ever played together. And more. Hearing and watching Jimi Hendrix play the national anthem that sounds, even today, like bombs falling and like exploding grenades while at the same time sounding like the national anthem is still mesmerizing.

Seriously, if you are of the Baby Boom generation, or if you are not, watch this. It will renew your love of music, kindness, cooperation, peace and love, and I mean that honestly. There is doubt in my mind that anyone of any age could pull off such a celebration of peace, love, music, decency and kindness now. Sadly, our world is so different now than it was 50 years ago. Even with all the murder, trauma, hate and political discord in that era, it is worse now.

Woodstock was amazing. As one participant said, "It stopped the clock for three days."  Check it out.