All posts by Woodstock Whisperer

Attended the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969, became an educator for 35 years after graduation from college, and am retired now and often volunteer at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts which is on the site of that 1969 festival.
Music et al, Peace Love Art and Activism, Today in history

October 21 Peace Love Art Activism

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October 21 Peace Love Art Activism

Black History

William Lloyd Garrison

October 21 Peace Love Art Activism

October 21, 1835: William Lloyd Garrison was a prominent white abolitionist and newspaper editor in the 19th century. Born in 1805 in Newburyport, Massachusetts, to English immigrants, Garrison co-founded his first newspaper at age 22 and began to focus on the issue of slavery. In 1829, Garrison became the co-editor of the Baltimore-based Genius of Universal Emancipation, through which he and his colleagues criticized proponents of slavery.

Unlike most American abolitionists at the time, Garrison demanded immediate emancipation of enslaved black people rather than gradual emancipation. In 1830, he founded The Liberator, which continued to publish criticisms of slavery. By that time, Garrison had become a vocal opponent of the American Colonization Society, which sought to reduce the number of free blacks by relocating them to Africa. In 1832, Garrison helped to organize the American Anti-Slavery Society and sought to keep the organization unaffiliated with any political party. He also advocated for women to be allowed equal participation in the organization, a radical stance nearly 90 years before women in America obtained the right to vote.

On October 21, 1835, Garrison attended a meeting held by the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society to hear remarks from George Thompson, a British abolitionist and personal friend. Thompson had been warned that a pro-slavery mob planned to tar-and-feather him and declined to attend the meeting. The mob seized Garrison instead, dragged him through the streets by a rope around his waist, and threatened to lynch him until he was rescued by police. Garrison spent the night in a city jail and left Boston the next morning. He remained a staunch opponent of slavery and lived to see the institution’s demise 30 years later. [History Digression article] (see May 1836)

Montgomery Bus Boycott

October 21, 1955:  in Montgomery, AL, Mary Louise Smith (age 18) was arrested for violating segregation laws in Montgomery, Ala. She, along with three other African-American women (Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald and Claudette Colvin) refused to surrender their bus seats to whites (months before Rosa Parks does the same).

They brought the famous Browder v. Gayle lawsuit that successfully resulted in the Alabama law being ruled unconstitutional. (BH, see Oct 22; Feminism & MBB, see Dec 1: Browder v Gayle, see June 5, 1956)

Emmett Till Statue
(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

 October 21, 2022: hundreds of people applauded — and some wiped away tears — as a Mississippi community unveiled a larger-than-life statue of Emmett Till, not far from where he was kidnapped and killed.

“Change has come, and it will continue to happen,” Madison Harper, a senior at Leflore County High School, told a racially diverse audience at the statue’s dedication. “Decades ago, our parents and grandparents could not envision that a moment like today would transpire.” [AP article] (next BH, see Nov 30; next ET. see February 7, 2023, or see ET chronology for expanded story)

October 21 Peace Love Art Activism

October 21 Music et al

October 21 Peace Love Art Activism

The Beatles’ Christmas Show

October 21, 1963: 100,000 tickets go on sale for The Beatles’ Christmas Show. Manager Brian Epstein, who himself had had theatrical aspirations, conceived a variety stage production featuring the group. (see Oct 31)

“To Sir With Love”

October 21 – November 24, 1967: “To Sir With Love” by Lulu #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Jack Kerouac

October 21, 1969: On the Road (1957) author, Jack Kerouac, died. Created term “Beat” to describe the so-called Beat Generation as well as providing titles to two of the most famous writings of that era: Howl (1955), by Allen Ginsberg and Naked Lunch (1959), by William Burroughs. (NYT obit) (see April 5, 1997)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTapoA5RQyo

October 21 Peace Love Art Activism

Vietnam

October 21 – 22, 1967: in Washington, D.C. nearly 100,000 people gathered to protest the Vietnam War. More than 50,000 of the protesters marched to the Pentagon to ask for an end to the conflict. [Nation article] (Nov 7)

Peace negotiations

October 21, 1972: Henry Kissinger again conferred with President Thieu, then flew to Pnompenh to brief Cambodia’s President, Lon Nol. (see Oct 22)

October 21 Peace Love Art Activism

FREE SPEECH

October 21, 1977: Judge Bernard Decker of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issues a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Village of Skokie from enforcing three ordinances aimed at preventing Frank Collin and his Nationalist Socialist party sympathizers from marching in Skokie. [Skokie article] (see January 27, 1978)

October 21 Peace Love Art Activism

LGBTQ

NJ/Same-sex marriage

October 21, 2013: Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey announced that he would drop his legal challenge to same-sex marriage, hours after gay couples started exchanging vows in midnight ceremonies across the state.

His decision effectively removed the last hurdle to making same-sex marriage legal in New Jersey. At 12:01 a.m., New Jersey joined 13 other states and the District of Columbia in allowing gay couples to marry. (NYT article) (see Nov 5)

Trump/transgender

October 21, 2018: the Trump administration is considering narrowly defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth, the most drastic move yet in a government-wide effort to roll back recognition and protections of transgender people under federal civil rights law.

According to a memo obtained by The New York Times, the Department of Health and Human Services was spearheading an effort to establish a legal definition of sex under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that bans gender discrimination in education programs that receive government financial assistance. (see Nov 6)

Pope Francis

October 21, 2020: Pope Francis appeared to break with the position of the Roman Catholic Church by supporting civil unions for same-sex couples, according to remarks Francis made in a new documentary that debuted in Rome on Wednesday.

Speaking about pastoral outreach and care for people who identified as L.G.B.T., Francis directly addressed the issue of civil unions in the film.

“What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered,” Francis said amid remarks in which he otherwise reiterated his support for gay people as children of God. “I stood up for that.” [NYT story] (next LGBTQ, see January 12, 2021)

October 21 Peace Love Art Activism

TERRORISM

October 21, 2017: 29-year-old Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov deliberately drove a rented truck onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, killing eight people and injuring at least 12 others.

The vehicle entered the pedestrian/bike path at Houston St., a few blocks north of Chambers Street on Manhattan’s west side. The truck drove down the bike path for about four blocks, striking cyclists and pedestrians before veering back into traffic lanes and striking a school bus and another vehicle.

Saipov emerged from the vehicle screaming and brandishing imitation firearms before being shot by police. NYC Officer Ryan Nash shot 9 times and hit Saipov once in the abdomen. Police took Saipov into custody. [CBS News article] (T, see Nov 7; Saipov, see Nov 28)

October 21 Peace Love Art Activism

Women’s Health

October 21, 2022:  maternal mortality review committees look for clues as to what contributed to the new mothers’ deaths — unfilled prescriptions, missed postnatal appointments, signs of trouble that doctors overlooked — to figure out how many of them could have been prevented and how.

The committees work in almost 40 states in the U.S. and in the latest and largest compilation of such data, released in September by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a staggering 84% of pregnancy-related deaths were deemed preventable.

Even more striking was that 53% of the deaths occurred well after women left the hospital, between seven days and a year after delivery. [NPR article] (next WH, see January 5, 2023)

October 21 Peace Love Art Activism
Grateful Dead, Woodstock Music and Art Fair

Grateful Dead Woodstock Woes

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Grateful Dead Woodstock Woes

The oft’ told tale of the Dead’s Woodstock performance was that it was plagued with various difficulties and was generally lackluster.  That it wasn’t a typical ’69 performance.  

Their Woodstock was only about 70 minutes of music with a more than 15 minute technical break after only two songs (St Stephen and Mama Tried) which had only totaled about five minutes.

Plus, there was the mic/walkie-talkie/PA  interference  during some parts. 

Grateful Dead Woodstock Woes
Dead at Woodstock…Jerry and Bob
Grateful Dead Woodstock Woes

Dead at Woodstock

Grateful Dead Woodstock Woes
Dead at Woodstock

 Well, let’s take a look at the set list: 

  • 1. Saint Stephen (2:04)
  • 2. Mama Tried (2:42)
  • 3. a High Time tease (30 seconds)
  • the 15 minute technical issues break
  • 4. Dark Star (19:10)
  • 5. High Time (6:20),
  • 6. Turn On Your Lovelight (which included some Ken Babbs ravings) (38:42)

Typical?

So how atypical were the Dead at Woodstock? The concert immediately before at the Family Dog at the Great Highway in San Francisco on  August 3  was about 90 minutes. Their first concert afterward was on August 20 at the Aqua Theater in Seattle (no recording available).  How long was it? About 90 minutes.

If not for the technical issues, faced by most of the Woodstock performers, the Dead set at Woodstock was not too different.

Perhaps it’d be best to give the Dead at Woodstock an actual listen and decide for yourself. As for me, I enjoy it. Of course the spice of it being at Woodstock is an enticing enhancement, but even without that, it’s still good. After all, there’s only one Barton Hall and that was eight years in the future.

Double-dare

I dare you to click and open ↓ .

It’s really a nice listen for any day and a slice of history. You’ll hear the actual radio feedback that Phil Lesh talks about during a quieter part of their set.

For another much more thorough and thoughtful article on the Dead’s Woodstock set, see this article that Scott Parker, author of Woodstock Documented. wrote.

The whole article is well worth the read, but in his closing comments he concluded: Some have described this show as the worst Grateful Dead show ever, but this is a serious exaggeration. It is an uneven set, without a doubt. There are some real low points. But there are also some great moments, and it is worth remembering that on their worst night in 1969, the Grateful Dead were still better than most bands at their peak.

Finally!

On August 23, 2021, Dead and Company played at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.  At the beginning of their second set, Bob Weir said this: “…50 something years ago [applause] we…right here…we tried this next sequence [Weir laughs] …it didn’t go so well for us. So, we’re gonna’ try it again.”

And so Woodstock finally heard the set so many had hoped for 52 years earlier.  And it was very nice!

Follow link to listen

Post Script

I occasionally give site tours to band members, guests of the bands, and, of course, the all-important roadies.

In 2023, Dead & Company was playing at Bethel Woods and Bob Weir needed a ride to a booth promoting voter registration that he was helping to support. He sat next to me (thrill!) and I had the following very brief “conversation” with him:

Me: “Thank you for your music.”

Bob: “You’re welcome.”

Me: “By the way, I didn’t think your Woodstock set was that bad.”

Rob: “It was.”

Grateful Dead Woodstock Woes
Birthdays, Music of the 60s, Woodstock Music and Art Fair

Ten Years After Ric Lee

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Ten Years After Ric Lee

Born October 20, 1945

Ten Years After Ric Lee,

Ten Years After Ric Lee

The New Sounds Old

The Woodstock Music and Art Fair made some things famous that had been there in front of us but we weren’t listening.

It was Sunday night about 9 when a sweating exhausted-looking Alvin Lee introduced Ten Year After’s last song of the set: “This is a thing called “I’m Going Home” by…[pause]…helicopter.”

I’m sure the band had already played the song many times that summer. It’s a great example of a song that one might mistake for a cover of and old blues song that Rick Lee shifted into high gear. It isn’t. Lee wrote it and Lee (guitar), Chick Churchill (keyboard), Leo Lyons (bass) and Ric Lee (drums) played it.

Ten Years After Ric Lee

Ric Lee

So who is this guy Ric Lee besides the drummer for Ten Years After? I gathered most of this from the Ten Years After site.

Ric’s first band was as the drummer with the Falcons and from there here joined Ricky Storm and the Stormcats (as opposed to Rory Storm and the Hurricanes .

While a Stormcat, Ric studied drumming with Dave Quickmire who was a drummer with the Jaybirds. The Jaybirds’ guitarist was Alvin Lee. The bassist Leo Lyons.

When Quickmire got married he left the Jaybirds and recommended Lee to replace him. Chick Churchill joined the band first as their road manager and later as their keyboardist.

The Jaybirds backed The Ivy League, a vocal group. The Jaybirds later went solo again and briefly became the Bluesyard before becoming Ten Years After in 1966  in honor of Elvis Presley’s 10 year arrival anniversary.

Ten Years After Ric Lee

Ten Years After

We know Ten Years After. They were on the road constantly (check out their 1969 tour archive) and were regularly invited to the many 1969 festivals. Before Woodstock there was the Bath Festival of Blues (June 28), the Newport Jazz Festival (July 4), the Laurel Pop Festival (July 12), the Seattle Pop Festival (July 25), and after Woodstock the Texas International Pop Festival (September 1).

Of course it was their appearance on both the soundtrack and in the Woodstock movie that permanently put them on the map.

Ten Years After Ric Lee

Woodstock Memories

From a 2016 Forbes magazine interview:

Arriving

We were in a chopper with a medic. He told us once we got there not to drink anything that’s not out of a sealed can and not to eat anything unless it’s been cooked. There was an outbreak of hepatitis [no medical records indicate any such outbreak] that could turn into an epidemic if we were not careful. When we landed, there were no drinks, of course, that weren’t opened. I watched the beginning of [Joe] Cocker’s set, which was fantastic, and not long after came the storm. It was a mini-cyclone I think, with very strong winds. The whole stage was live, but they wouldn’t let anybody use it. That festival these days would not get past health and safety. If you look at the film, you’ll see the covering for the stage was really pathetic. The whole thing got soaked. They were also scared that the big speaker towers people were climbing and sitting on were inadequate. The speakers were very heavy. We were incredibly lucky none came down.

Playing after the storm

The band followed Country Joe and the Fish at about 8:15 Sunday night. Well, it was still very damp. I remember we had to start Good Morning Little School Girl four times because the guitars wouldn’t stay in tune. Alvin just would not play out of tune and try to sing to it. That was nerve-wracking because 400,000 or 500,000 people – no one seems to know the exact number — were sitting there wanting us to play. In those days, there were no electronic tuners, so everything was by ear. Leo [Lyons] was tone-deaf, so Alvin had to tune his bass! Once we finally got going, the crowd loved it. What can I say? [for their full set, see Woodstock day 3]

Ten Years After Ric Lee

Side interests

While still in Ten Years After, Ric studied at Berklee School of Music in Boston, with Alan Dawson, then drummer with the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Ric also began teaching young enthusiasts privately when at home between touring commitments.

Ten Years After Ric Lee

After Ten Years After

After Ten Years After stopped touring in 1976, Ric ran his own Music Publishing, Management and Record Production company. He continued to study, now tuned percussion at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under Gilbert Webster, percussionist with the BBC Radio Orchestra.

In 1980 for 18 months, Ric joined Stan Webb in Chicken Shack. Chicken Shack toured the UK and Europe many times in this short period and made an album for RCA Records “Roadies’ Concerto”.

Ten Years After re-formed again in 1983 for the Marquee Club’s 25th Anniversary. During this short “rebirth”, Ric managed the group as well as being its drummer.

Between 1984 and 1986, Ric managed several up and coming young acts and continued publishing catalog.

Ten Years After Ric Lee

Ten Years again

Ten Years After re-formed yet again in 1988 and recorded a new album “About Time” in Memphis, Tennessee and spent the next four years touring Europe and the US.  In between tours Ric continued to study drum techniques, this time  Latin percussion with Trevor Tompkins, Professor of Percussion at the Guildhall and the Royal College of Music.

In 1994, Ric formed The Breakers with an old friend, Ian Ellis and together they wrote and produced MILAN, released in July 1995.

In the middle nineties Lee produced a series of ambient albums, the most successful of which was Spirit of Africa.

Ric worked again with Ten Years After between 1995 and 1999. In 2001 he recorded an album in Nashville.

Ten Years After continues its intermittent existence and Lee is also part of Natural Born Swingers. Here is a link to a review in Elmore magazine from September 2017.

And in 2021, Ric Lee, published his autobiography, From Headstocks To Woodstock.

“It was something I’d always wanted to do and I actually started it more than 10 years ago, but kept stopping and starting for various reasons, Then a chance conversation with a friend in Los Angeles persuaded me to get it finished.”

Comprised of 448 pages, the book is available for purchase directly via Lee’s website.

Many happy returns Ric!

Ten Years After Ric Lee