After reading one of BAW's typically excellent posts, I brought up the incident at Woodstock where Abbie Hoffman interrupted a performance by The Who to babble his political nonsense to the crowd. Pete Townshend, never a man in love with the utopian hippie ideals of his time, knocked Abbie Hoffman off the stage with his guitar into the press pit, exclaiming "get the fuck off my fucking stage." Hoffman left the festival in a huff shortly after. I have always wanted a picture of that lovely twinkle of Pete giving Hoffman the boot. I meant what I wrote at BAW's site - if I could find one, I would blow it up, frame it and hang it in a place of honor as an altar of worship. She mentioned that she'd like to see a picture of it too, which sent me hunting again. I found this clip on Youtube, but that one beautiful moment has been edited out. I guess it wasn't in keeping with the bogus romanticized "three days of peace, love and music" that's been sugar coated over the years so much that a lot of people don't realize how completely miserable that event went off.
However, there are not words for me to describe the intense contempt and hatred I am feeling right now for the person responsible for that edit. Whoever you are, wherever you are, I hope you burn in the blistering fires of Hell and suffer in agony until the universe is no more.
Posted by Emily at October 5, 2006 12:38 PM | TrackBack (0) |And dig the cheers after the edit that seem to quite approve of getting Abbie's ass off the stage. I thought the 400,000,000 who were at Woodstock were there equally for the political enlightenment as well as the music. I've been led to believe that everyone there was fully aware of the social significance that would be pounded over future generation's heads over and over again. They never would have shown up otherwise. Unless it was for Sha-Na-Na.
Posted by: marc at October 5, 2006 01:46 PMHahahaha. I think Hoffman wrote in his autobiography that this whole thing had been overblown and that all that really happened was that Townshend "accidentally" knocked him off while he was tuning up. Uh-huh. Look at Townshend's face. That's not the expression of a man who just "accidentally" knocked someone off of a stage. Not to mention that The Who were famous for doing stuff like that anyway. I'm half-surprised Hoffman even tried the stunt without expecting something like that to go down.
Posted by: Emily at October 5, 2006 02:01 PMHave you seen the 1970 Isle of Wight festival movie Emily? The whells come off the whole peace and love caravan there. It's a mess. A hilarious mess.
This is the best clip I could find right now although I prefer when he's calling them all "bastards" and how we only ask £3 in return! Not sure what that would be worth today but it sounds a piddling amount to us.
Posted by: Mark Holland at October 5, 2006 03:19 PMOk, that video is completely made by what sounds like a canned version of "All we are saying, is give peace a chance" starting up as he stomps off.
Posted by: marc at October 5, 2006 03:23 PMI haven't seen it, Mark. It sounds great, though. I'll have to watch the clip a little later when I get the chance.
Posted by: Emily at October 5, 2006 03:32 PMI have a whole new appreciation for the Who.
Seriously, that would be me as a rock star.
Posted by: KG at October 5, 2006 05:03 PMKG - hahahaha. I'd buy your records.
Posted by: Emily at October 5, 2006 05:36 PMHoly crap, Mark. I finally got a chance to watch that clip. I cannot stop laughing. I MUST own this. I have to see the whole thing. I love this guy..."We throw a festival that's sure to attract drug-crazed, ill-behaved rock and roll fans and you all show up acting like drug-crazed, ill-behaved rock and roll fans! Bastards!"
Other Marc - yeah. Hahahaha. He tells everyone off, stomps off, and the band launches into "Give Peace A Chance."
Ninteen seconds of pure brilliance.
Posted by: Emily at October 5, 2006 05:53 PMI'd love to see the full clip.
Even after the edit, not only can you hear the audience cheering but you can hear Townsend say something like "gonna get fucking killed".
Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at October 5, 2006 07:24 PMKen,
I love you. That is all.
Another thing I wanted to bring up...fuck the politics, but what Hoffman did was just RUDE. It wasn't about right or left. It was about MANNERS.
Posted by: Emily at October 5, 2006 08:17 PMIt's got to exist in its full version somewhere! I am drooling to see the damn thing now. How awesome!
Posted by: red at October 5, 2006 09:04 PMSheila,
I hope it does, but I have looked. And looked. And looked. And when I was tired of looking, I drank a vat of coffee and looked some more. I haven't turned up anything.
Then again, I haven't delved into the depths of Who geekdom and hit the message boards yet. Maybe I'll try that when I have the time. If it's out there, that's where I'd find it.
Posted by: Emily at October 6, 2006 07:41 AM