Mya Nunley
Mrs. Bowman
Informative Speech
September 23, 2015
Woodstock Informative Speech I. Intro

The sixties were all about trying to find the truth about everything and trying to live that truth in life. That decade was also about looking for key happiness and trying to make perfection and justice for every person in the world. As quoted by Mike Lang, “At Woodstock, we would focus our energy on peace, setting aside the onstage discussion of political issues to just groove on what might be possible. It was a chance to see if we could create the kind of world for which we’d been striving throughout the sixties: That would be our political statement — proving that peace and understanding were possible and creating a testament to the value of the counterculture. It would be three days of peace and music.” II. Body

A. What Was Woodstock? (background) * How did it develop into a massive event in history? * The organizers: John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield, and Mike Lang. * John Roberts was an heir to a pharmaceutical fortune and he and Rosenman were looking for a way to use his money that would bring in more money. * Kornfield and Lang’s original idea was to build a recording studio and a retreat for Rock musicians in Woodstock, New York. * The location turned out to be very wrong, and the town of Wallkill didn’t want drugged out hippies to be in their town. * The city passed a law July 2, 1969, that banned the concert from happening in their town. * Stores refused to sell tickets because of the ban, and everyone involved panicked because the organizers only had a month and a half to find a new location before the show. * They found a new location on a dairy farm, and only expected approximately 50,000 people to show up, but they soon found out that their estimate was wrong, and it jumped to around 200,000. * The organizers were scared that their workers (food, drinks, etc.) would leave because so many people showed up the event. Roughly 500,000 people showed up.

B. What Happened During the Event? (births, deaths, etc.) * Two women gave birth at Woodstock; one of them had twins, and the other was born in a car. * Sadly, two people died; one man died of a heroin overdose, and the other was a teenager who was ran over by a tractor while he was in his sleeping bag. * There was a foot shortage, and the U.S. Army airlifted food to the guests. * During the show, it started to rain. Many people were chanting, “No rain, no rain, no rain,” but it continued to rain for three hours and ended up getting five inches of rain. The whole thing turned into a mud fest. Most people stayed only so they could get a glimpse of Jimi Hendrix.

C. Key Artists Who Played * The Star-Spangled Banner – Jimi Hendrix * Soul Sacrifice – Santana * Freedom – Richie Havens * With a Little Help From My Friends – Joe Cocker * I Want to Take You Higher – Sly & the Family Stone * Suite: Judy Blue Eyes – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young * My Generation – The Who * Going up the Country – Canned Heat * I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die-Rag – Country Joe and the Fish * Volunteers – Jefferson Airplane

D. What Happened After? * The impact on the event (who played/attended) * Made the hippie youth culture, sexual freedom, political pacifism, and social optimism come to life. * The counterculture movement began to crumble after the event. People still commanded free love and protested, but they didn’t fight as much. * Woodstock was a spectacular event that made real of all the things the hippies believed in – music, living in harmony, peace, and love. * The effect on music was both positive and negative. Groups like The Beetles and Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up shortly after the event. Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin both died due to drug overdoses, just weeks of each other. * Why is it still an amazing event in history today? * Woodstock is still famous today because of how important it was to the society of 1969. Today we don’t look at concerts and venues to be inspiring and a big thing. The festival of ’69 is a nice reminder that getting together and standing for something, no matter how subtle or vague, can stay with us for years. * The performances still stand out to us today because they were so inspiring and unbelievable. * Woodstock was culturally important to the society. Today we can’t unite with others without fighting or getting frustrated about something. This event will go down in history as being about peace and music. III. Conclusion
Woodstock was not only a rock festival, but a get-together of love, peace, and music. During those three days, much compassion and love was spread through the crowd. These unforgettable days will overcame many situations. Although it rained for hours, food was scarce, and people became unsanitary, everybody seemed to smile and pass along the love. This event was, and always will be, one of the greatest events in music history.