Nineteen Hundred Sixties
An ambitious student named Danny Scher booked the jazz great at Palo Alto High School in Northern California. A recording of the event gathered dust for five decades. Source
As black Americans fought for equal rights in the 1960s, music reflected their calls to action. In jazz, that meant sounds that were spiritual, boundary-pushing and celebrated blackness. Source
The cassette, discovered at the Andy Warhol Museum, finds the Velvet Underground musician performing snippets from his mentor’s 1975 book. Source
Did Jimi Hendrix perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” for thousands, and did Joni Mitchell sing about her experience at the festival? A few key fact checks. Source
It was a hippie dream. But while some hailed peace and love, others saw damaged property, poor sanitation and a threat to public safety. Source
Burk Uzzle thought he’d be at the festival for a day. He wound up trapped on the grounds, and spotted Nick Ercoline and Bobbi Kelly wrapped in a blanket. Source
The singer remembers the endless waiting and how “the worst sides of our nature had come out.” (But also how great Creedence Clearwater Revival was.) Source
High on mescaline he got from Jerry Garcia, “I asked, over and over, ‘Just help me stay in tune and on time.’” Source
Being born in the ’90s means the 1969 festival feels like the husk of a dream, the musician Lucy Dacus writes. Source
The 1969 festival was an epiphany and an indulgence. With five decades of hindsight, it still poses questions about the utopian ideals that surrounded it and our relationship to them today. Source
