Woodstock: the Creation and Evolution of a Myth
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-1994 Woodstock: The creation and evolution of a myth Jo Raelene Sorrell University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Sorrell, Jo Raelene, "Woodstock: The creation and evolution of a myth" (1994). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 394. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/hbla-mq2i This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microhlm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI University Microfilms international A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Order Number 1359258 Woodstock: The creation and evolution of a myth Sorrell, Jo Raelene, M.A. Universityof Nevada, Las Vegas, 1994 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. WOODSTOCK: THE CREATION AND EVOLUTION OF A MYTH b y Jo R. Sorrell A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication Greenspun School of Communication University of Nevada, Las Vegas May, 1994 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Thesis of Jo Sorrell for the degree of Master in Communication is ap p ro v ed . A ., c j J L ,:^ Chairperson, Richard Jeqsen, Ph.D. Examining Committee Member, Erika Engstrom, Ph.D. -Examining/Committee Member, C^ge Chapel, Ph Graduate Faculty Representative, Hal Rothman, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate College, Ronald Smith, Ph.D. University of Nevada, Las Vegas May, 1994 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT In this thesis, the 1969 Woodstock festival will be studied as a myth which has been perpetuated by the media. To show that Woodstock has indeed become a myth, this study looks at the way the festival has been reported in the media and understood by the public. First, Woodstock is analyzed as a cultural event of the 1960s. That decade is described in order to give the reader perspective about the political and sociological influence that Woodstock has on American culture. A number of scholars, including Eliade, Braden, and Rowland, have theorized that myth is an important cultural event. The journal articles and books are used to create a definition of a myth. Woodstock is compared to the deductions of these scholars to show that the myth follows their rules. Newspaper articles from August, 1969 are examined to see how reporters depicted Woodstock. Current articles, starting from 1989, are analyzed to show the influence of Woodstock on American society. Results of a survey conducted about the average person’s perceptions about the festival is discussed. Personal interviews with two men who attended Woodstock are also mentioned. The information from these people are examined in order to show that the Woodstock festival has become a myth. Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Jensen for his patience and his vision. IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................... iü ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................... iv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION...................................................................... 1 Review of Literature.........................................................................................3 Methodology .......................................................................................................7 CHAPTER TWO: WOODSTOCK: A MYTHIC HISTORY................................10 The Prelude to the Festival........................................................................ 10 The Sixties......................................................................................................... 11 The Woodstock Music and Arts Festival .............................................. 19 The Good News ................................................................................ 31 The Bad News ...................................................................................... 32 CHAPTER THREE: ROOTS OF THE MYTH ......................................................35 Woodstock as a M yth ..................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER FOUR: THE WOODSTOCK LEGACY............................................. 45 Woodstock in the 1990s ................................................................................ 51 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION...........................................................................60 Directions for future research........................................................................64 APPENDIX A: WOODSTOCK SURVEY............................................................. 67 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................ 68 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter One Introduction When most people think of Woodstock they envision hippies, drugs, and peace. The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, held in Bethel, New York in August of 1969, left a legacy that can be described as an icon of the 1960s counterculture. Famous musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who and The Grateful Dead performed at the three day concert. Much of the myth of Woodstock was based on the music those musicians produced but a positive image has also grown of the people who spent three days patiently suffering inclement weather, lack of food, and poor sanitation. A typical description of the festival is offered by Robert Hillburn: But the real star of Woodstock was the audience, the estimated 300,000 to 700,000 people whose odyssey 20 years ago became one of the 20th Century's most dramatic and widely celebrated symbols of social change. The colorfully garbed hippies and the far larger, sympathetic legion of young people who shared some of the hippie idealism were no longer some wayward fringe; they were the new voice of young America. Lou Adler believes the human story of the half a million or so people huddling peacefully together in primitive, rain-swept conditions was the most powerful aspect of the Woodstock story and mystique (Hillburn, R., [1989, June 18] The Irony of Woodstock. Los Angeles Times). This study focuses on the impact that the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair has made on American culture. That impact from the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. festival is particularly apparent because of the public interest in Woodstock that has continued since 1969. As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the concert nears, the media increasingly is focusing on reunion concerts, the 1960s, and the counterculture. In order to begin to understand the public's interest level, an informal survey