Celebrating WOODSTOCK'S 52nd Year Anniversary

August 15, 1969 - August 18, 1969

Getting Back to Where We Once Belonged and Other Ruminations

Pictured in the attached trippy video-flyer is that of the theater troupe EARTHLIGHT that I belonged to from 1969 -1971. That's us at the Woodstock festival, incidentally, we were the only theater company to perform at the 3 day life-changing live music event.

During our classic trademark iconoclastic social un-distancing "Ohm" circle, Earthlight members would hug, chant and dance until the audience joined in. Down the road we were eventually joined by the late Peggy Mae and the band Pure Love & Pleasure, where we jumped up and down shouting with purpose while they sang The Lord’s Prayer, a real religious rock'n roll session for the times. I still get a rush just thinking about.

I knew then we'd never be back to normal after that - but couldn't anticipate how un-normal we would become and moreover, I’m not sure when we will be back to any modicum of normalcy - what with Covid19 and an Alpha strain after it's Delta strain and perhaps a Gamma strain for tight measure to keep us masked up, held up and pent up. Whew!

Hopefully my BLOG reflects Woodstock's true paradigm-shifting impact was pre-ordained as part of the human race's 1st mass precognitive consciousness raising rally against big pharma, out of control establishment, our generation's health-care future and ultimately the social breakdown that has followed. Was Woodstock a cosmic antidote, if you will? We wish.

At Woodstock we gathered as much folks as possible together for fun and celebration, unknowingly protesting non-violently for a better world, an anti-covid world: A better life.Today we separate folks as much as possible for survival & isolation. At Woodstock we experimented with recreational drugs for enlightenment, entertainment or even distraction from war, disease and social injustice. Today we experiment with medical drugs to cure viruses and we're still striving to save the planet and balance social constructs.

At Woodstock because of the increment summer of love weather in upstate N.Y., the chant became “No rain, No rain .” On January 6th 2021 across the country, the insurrectionists chant became ‘“No Pense, No Pelosi”. Wavy Gravy, The de-facto mayor of Woodstock said "don’t take the brown acid; It’s definitely bad for you!" Last year Fauci, the de-facto mayor of covid-land said "don’t drink the bleach that Trump advised - It’s definitely bad for you!" Jim Jones? well, f**k him anyway!

In 69, N.Y. Governor Nelson Rockefeller declared Woodstock a state of emergency so he could facilitate distributing food and medical supplies. Recently, N.Y. Governor Mario Cuomo was himself declared a state of emergency because he was trying to facilitate distributing his charms on women who were not hungry nor thirsty for his "resources".

Joni Mitchell wrote the Woodstock song ending with “We got to get ourselves back to the garden.” Today we wonder if the drought has dried out any chances there’s a garden to even get back to.

Back then we talked about the Vietnam war, social and racial issues, etc., troubled times indeed. We still talk about today's troubled times, the only differen
ce is we zoom about them. I'm not sure they have WiFi in the "Garden", but if they do, at least some of us are eligible for the senior, graduated, grand discounted rates.

Questions that beg for an answer:

• How has Covid affected you and your view of modern life both personal and historical?
• How has the 60's promise of a better world turrned out for you today?
• Is there a different era that has most affected you besides the 60s, if so how?

Correspondence: s.rachel.lovey@gmail.com

Woodstock's 51st: The ”What-if's’” & “WTF's” of 2019's (blurred) Vision for 2020!

S. Rachel Lovey; Always dancing to the music! 

  

Blogtress Lovey stays in shape in her "Urban Garden" in Los Angeles where she replenishes her spirit  growing 5 varieties of herbs & nurtures over 65 plants including Ficus, Spider, Rubber tree, Cactus & more!

 Before you begin to read my latest & better-late-than-never entry into the Tie-Dyed Diaries; did you wash your hands & sanitize your mind? Groovy! First, rewinding to 2019 briefly when I did get a chance to hear Michael Lang in person (original Woodstock co-founder), discuss his plans for 2020, which would be the 51st Woodstock Anniversary.  He spoke of doing 'Woodstock: The Broadway Version' but alas; Corona came calling! Allan Mann, the head of Earthlight, spoke of a progressive revival of Earthlight for 2020 and beyond, with the same contagious enthusiasm that maintained the celebration & enigma of the original Earthlight show--just as he did since the late 60's but 2020 said 'no way, honey'!  For the 51st anniversary I wanted to do something with joyous intellectualism: a symposium and gathering. In other words, you had to be there to see what it meant; Covid-19 nicknamed me "Quarantina"! 

.And forgive me.. 'I-so-late' on blogging this year, - ...You get it.

 Of course, this year that would have been Woodstock's' 51st anniversary; there would be few gatherings, no revivals other than vague memories of the 1918 Pandemic, AIDS and ebola, and no one will sing and give their regards to Woodstock because Broadway - the great white way is closed. Instead of three days of peace, love & music; it's been 6 months of misery, social distancing and isolation. It's the great Pandemic of 2020. It's Covid 19; the highly contagious virus. Large gatherings like Woodstock that brought us such joy and celebration will not be tolerated. Even events like movies, weddings, concerts, night clubs, conventions & bar mitzvahs are big no-no’s in thier traditional settings. Perhaps maybe your mahjong group just may be super spreaders of this super disease formally known as Corona.  Racial injustice & racial empowerment did bring back our 1st amendment right fast & furious. We marched for our brothers & sisters before & police brutality isn't brand new; unfortunately. Catching our collective breath, fist & annoying elbow bumps have replaced the hug and handshake, and it seems centuries away from the 60's classic hyper-social ‘love-ins’. Folks that die from this disease are most often in isolation and their last words to the family are often on a smart phone.  Unlike"The Revolution", the Last Poets claimed would not be televised; this Pandemic, Covid 19, would be televised, and zoomed and zoomed-in some more and video tic-tocked while blurring the lines between virtual and reality. This was just what past prophets said would happen. 

 Imagine Woodstock on ZOOM? Or would that be ZOOM on LSD?

  

 

I can just imagine how some of the classic Woodstock song lyrics might sound today.  If I asked Joni Mitchell  "Can I walk beside you", she might answer "Only if you walk 6 feet apart and wear a mask".

Joe Cocker's response to "Can I get by with a little help from my friends" might be "only if they've seenquarantined for 14 days and not from Woohan".

Country Joe and the Fish might reply to it's famous battlecry "1, 2, 3, What are we Fighting For"? "..Respirators, hospital beds, openings of nail salons & Disneyland".

Janice Joplin might wail that Covid 19 took a piece of her brain, lungs and liver and not just her heart.  Surely Sly & the Family Stone would still be getting higher but could they sing "Its a Family Affair" with grandma quarantined in the nursing home and having to wave to her through the window?

Would Fauci replace Swami Satchinanda and be chanting only with people wearing masks and standing six feet apart while awaiting a table in a parking lot of a Marie Calendars?

Certainly The Grateful Dead would sing "what a long strange trip it's been". They sure nailed that one⏼. 

Somethings Never Change; We MUST get ourselves back to the Garden 🙏...

                                                 

Woodstock 's Original Earthlight Reunites in San Francisco Setting the Record Straight   Critically acclaimed EARTHLIGHT THEATER was the only theater company to perform at the original Woodstock Festival in 1969 and be seen in the Directors Cut of the documentary.  They will reunite after some 40 odd years at Bar Drake in the Sir Francis Drake Hotel at Post & Powell on Saturday, October 16 from 4:30 until 7:00 PM. The press and public are welcome to join in this first stop in this reunion celebration. EARTHLIGHT reveals the true story of an era that continues to fascinate us.  They reunite to celebrate their work and set the record straight.  Having been so misrepresented and maligned in Ang Lee's 2009 "Taking Woodstock.", it should have been called "Faking Woodstock."  The LAWeekly said "As dumb a depiction of avant-guard thespians as something Jesse Helms might have said." In truth, Earthlight was one of the premiere avant-guard groups in this country between 1969 - 1972. They not only performed at Woodstock but were instrumental in bringing the festival to Bethel, its ultimate venue and setting the tone by insisting Swami Satchidananda open the festival. They were on stage with him as well. They were paid $1,000 ($3,500 by today’s standards). They were a group of highly trained actors, transforming time & space, and audiences into new dimensions and receiving rave reviews:  ** "What Joyce or Pinter might have done if they were born in this country"   Harvard Crimson "The best parts of Second City, The Committee, Hair and The Living Theater”    The Daily Northwestern   "Nothing less than pure essential theatre"   Los Angeles Times "an unquestionable success"   Variety. They combined theatrical and spiritual principles and their work is as relevant and needed today as it was in the past. After Woodstock, Earthlight moved out to CA and had their own theater in Venice; following that year a run off-Broadway incorporating Dunhill recording artists Pure Love & Pleasure. They opened for Billy Preston, Taj Mahal and worked with David Bennet Cohen of Country Joe and the Fish.  Berkeley based in 1971 they performed in Zellerbach Hall at UC Berkeley and Project Artaud in San Francisco and prepared for the last of their seven national and international tours. The fabled blue bus they travelled in exists in history along with the buses of Ken Keasey and the Hog Farm.  Co-founders, Director, Author & Spiritual Warrior Allan Mann and celebrated Bay Area Artist, Jane Richardson-Mack join Author and Healer, Barbara Wilder, Swiss Actor, Doug Fowley; African Activist Wendy Blakely; the fabulous sisters Diskin, Porscha & Ellyn and others including members of Pure Love & Pleasure (John, Rob and Jackie) to celebrate their past & future.  A book, documentary and stage revival are in the works!   Most of this started on comic and founding member S. Rachel Lovey’s blog, where Earthlight members continue to find each other & connect through their past to the present.  http://woodstockandearthlightrevisited.blogspot.com Who knows what's in store for these members of 60's royalty who are still sooooo pretty?  Join them for a toast on October 16.  They are available for pictures, stories, and interviews. CONTACT MEDIA CO-ORDINATOR S. RACHEL LOVEY (310) 926- 5689  srachellovey@hotmail.com co-founders:  Allan Mann (author/director)                            JANE RICHARDSON MACK jane@janerichardsonmack.com ** Excerpts from reviews of Allan Mann’s writing for the EARTHLIGHT THEATER “It is the style of each individual piece that really makes the show.  Some have a verbal brilliance that suggest what Pinter or Joyce might have done if they had been born in this country.”                                                                                          George Sim Johnston, Harvard Crimson “… the troupe makes it their business to spread joy, light and love in exhilarating amounts … The light comes from the scripted and improvisational skits they do … each resulting performance is wonderfully believable and involving … the audience … comes as close to enjoying a total theatrical experience as it is ever likely to get.”                                                                                                    Pat Henry, Queens College Phoenix “A dramatic sonata is built on the word ‘mine’ to illustrate possessiveness at work.  A very short piece makes the most effective comment on the draft lottery that I’ve seen.  The terrors of a child’s world and the corrupting processes involved in growing up are eloquently portrayed.  A rudimentary economics lesson teaches a great deal in a few seconds.  Exercises in everyday conversation hit home like a miniature Bald Soprano and demonstrate how useless words can be … one leaves Earthlight a little more hopeful, refreshed psychologically and physically, and without any complaints of pretensions unfulfilled … Earthlight offers … a common understanding, a beginning.”                                                                                      Don Shirley, NYU Washington Square Journal   “… this troupe … might well take the rock opera out of its rigid all-musical stages and add the dramatic element that is now lacking in the form.  ‘Tommy’ and ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ were fine starting points in the dark.  Now let’s shed a little Earthlight on the matter.”                                                                                                                                  T.B., Cash Box “Its effect is strong and leaves one feeling … HOPEFUL.  It’s something everyone should see.”                                                                  Bernard A. Mallon, The Stute (Stevens Inst. Of Technology) “… dialogue witty, deeply satirical, intellectual … the crowd was … gripped by the … speed and depth of the dialogue … In the Human Race skit, the performers are confused by false prophets claiming to be Right, Truth and Enlightenment.  All are unable to give direction.  Although the search doesn’t seem to yield solution it does raise questions (‘Questions are more dangerous than answers, these days.’) and suggests truth, at least, may be a byproduct of the search … a captivating piece with a lot for the mind in it.”                                                                        Don Towers, The Red Deer Advocate (Alberta, Canada) “… its offering is nothing less than pure, essential theater .. [they] examined the modern god of gold; racial, religious, national, interplanetary divisions; man as the eternal enemy of man.  And in doing so incisively and with great awareness, they glorified humanity at the same time … Allan Mann wrote the unnamed evening …”                                                                                                                                                                             Frederic Milstein, L.A. Times “Their show is at once funny, serious, revealing and an artistic whole, and leaves me with a real, positive sense of human potential …”                                                                                   Kathy Patterson, Symposium (Northwestern U.) “Nearly 1,000 people were baptized Sunday night at Cahn Auditorium, and the medium was neither fire nor water.  It was Earthlight … the best parts of Second City, The Committee, Hair and [the] Living Theater are embodied in this young, fluid and really-together company.”                                                                      Larry Kaagan, The Daily Northwestern (Northwestern U.) “… a clever, inventive and explosive evening of music and thought.”                                                                                                        Bonnie Marranca, Show Business “Mann … stages a changing parade of scenes … There are many styles knotted together in this strenuously dynamic work.”                                                                                        Samuel Hiimportant, Boston Herald Traveler “Mere listening makes one aware of their originality …”                                                                                     Ellen Abby, The Campus (City College of N.Y.)

###

Earthlight's Brightest Light & WOODSTOCK'S Unrequited Revival

My Woodstock experience with the critically acclaimed theater troupe “Earthlight” is nothing short of the best adventure yet. After a winter in NYC performing in a mafia store front in little Italy we came to Bethel, converted a barn to a theatre and performed somewhat traditional and experimental theatre.  Earthlight became the primary conduits that saved the venue-less & in jeopardy Woodstock festival by connecting Woodstock Venture’s staff with Max Yasgur’s farm. Then Earthlight brought in Swami Satchidanda; is seen with him on stage; and did street(ensemble theater) throughout the festival as seen in the Director's cut of the Woodstock documentary and rather recklessly re-created in Ang Lees 2009 "Taking Woodstock."

  Cut to August 2019, Earthlight remains superhero hippies for their1969 humbling heroics, however inadvertently, but we couldn't save Woodstock twice, could we? flash-forward to this current hot summer, Michael Lang’s darkest cloud follows him around as his 2019 Woodstock Revival Fest is finally put to bed with no party and no performances but he marches right along to the beat of his own cool drummer - and the rest of us? We will ever get back to the garden? What are your thoughts?

EARTHLIGHT NEWS🌈 BLUES & REVIEWS

WHATS GOIN' ON⁉💥 Earthlight Co-founder/producer Allan Mann Is doing a revival of Earthlight. When I first heard about it in mid-2017 it seemed kind of old school. When Trump was elected and the whole country was turned upside down...I realized the true significance and longevity of this show. Earthlight has both an ethereal and eternal quality, but don't just take it from me - here's what the critics have said:📡 "It {Earthlight} suggests how it {society) is now and what it could be, it leaves me with the real positive sense of human potential.” Symposium (Northwestern U). "leaves one feeling ... HOPEFUL...It's something everyone should see." The State. "Wow, do they celebrate"'...The Boston Herald Traveler. Allan Mann with co-creator Jane Richardson had thegenius, foresight and vision then & still has it now. I can’t wait to see                                                 how he'll do it this time;
                                       

...circa 1970

...circa 2010

Earthlight's 40th reunion took place at the Drake Hotel in San Francisco on Oct. 16, 2010 and Oct. 17 at co-founder and internationally acclaimed artist Lady Jane Richardson Mack's house.

Woodstock 's Original Earthlight

Reunites in San Francisco

Setting the Record Straight  

Critically acclaimed EARTHLIGHT THEATER was the only theater company to perform at the original Woodstock Festival in 1969 and be seen in the Directors Cut of the documentary.  They will reunite after some 40 odd years at Bar Drake in the Sir Francis Drake Hotel at Post & Powell on Saturday, October 16 from 4:30 until 7:00 PM. The press and public are welcome to join in this first stop in this reunion celebration.

          EARTHLIGHT reveals the true story of an era that continues to fascinate us.  They reunite to celebrate their work and set the record straight.  Having been so misrepresented and maligned in Ang Lee's 2009 "Taking Woodstock.", it should have been called "Faking Woodstock."  The LAWeekly said "As dumb a depiction of avant-guard thespians as something Jesse Helms might have said."

          In truth, Earthlight was one of the premiere avant-guard groups in this country between 1969 - 1972. They not only performed at Woodstock but were instrumental in bringing the festival to Bethel, its ultimate venue and setting the tone by insisting Swami Satchidananda open the festival. They were on stage with him as well. They were paid $1,000 ($3,500 by today’s standards).

         They were a group of highly trained actors, transforming time & space, and audiences into new dimensions and receiving rave reviews: 

** "What Joyce or Pinter might have done if they were born in this country"       
                                                                                                                  Harvard Crimson

     "The best parts of Second City, The Committee, Hair and The Living Theater”    
                                                                                                                 The Daily Northwestern 

     "Nothing less than pure essential theatre"                   Los Angeles Times

     "an unquestionable success"                                            Variety

They combined theatrical and spiritual principles and their work is as relevant and needed today as it was in the past.

        After Woodstock, Earthlight moved out to CA and had their own theater in Venice; following that year a run off-Broadway incorporating Dunhill recording artists Pure Love & Pleasure. They opened for Billy Preston, Taj Mahal and worked with David Bennet Cohen of Country Joe and the Fish.  Berkeley based in 1971 they performed in Zellerbach Hall at UC Berkeley and Project Artaud in San Francisco and prepared for the last of their seven national and international tours. The fabled blue bus they travelled in exists in history along with the buses of Ken Keasey and the Hog Farm. 

                    Co-founders, Director, Author & Spiritual Warrior Allan Mann and celebrated Bay Area Artist, Jane Richardson-Mack join Author and Healer, Barbara Wilder, Swiss Actor, Doug Fowley; African Activist Wendy Blakely; the fabulous sisters Diskin, Porscha & Ellyn and others including members of Pure Love & Pleasure (John, Rob and Jackie) to celebrate their past & future.  A book, documentary and stage revival are in the works!   

Most of this started on comic and founding member S. Rachel Lovey’s blog, where Earthlight members continue to find each other & connect through their past to the present. 

http://woodstockandearthlightrevisited.blogspot.com

Who knows what's in store for these members of 60's royalty who are still sooooo pretty?  Join them for a toast on October 16.  They are available for pictures, stories, and interviews.

CONTACT MEDIA CO-ORDINATOR

S. RACHEL LOVEY (310) 926- 5689  srachellovey@hotmail.com

        

Earthlight did have it’s reunion on Oct. 16 & 17 and it was as fabulous as I imagined it to be. And we came together from all over the world, almost. Well Doug Fowley, the late Kim Fowley's brother came from Switzerland, Wendy from Africa , Jacque from Oaklahoma, Barbara (Porsha) from Oregon and everyone else from L.A. and San Francisco area. Most of these folks had responded to the Blog which made it even more exciting for me. (Check original comments on Blog) The experience really challenged the old adage “you can’t go home again.” “For one brief shining moment” we did time travel and for a nostalgia freak like myself, it was grand. The fact that the main party was held at co-founder Jane's house overlooking the hills of Marine was a perfect setting.
One of the surprise additions was David Mcanally,the co-lead singer of Pure Love and Pleasure, the Dunhill recording group that Earthlight joined up with after Woodstock. In fact all the musicians showed with instruments which only brought the whole experience literally back from the past. Sadly David past away a few years later. No one had heard much from Eva Nicholson, who was never in the show but was the girlfriend of Richard Williams. He was famous for his nude scene in Earthlight (very tasteful of course) who became a psychic minister & whom we never heard from after that...any ideas? Boy that Eva could sing and Jane did pretty well herself. I did a stand-up comedy routine and handed out awards to Allan, Jane, & Porscha (Ellyn Diskin's sister) who was never in the show. She was more like a mascot. Very capable as an entrepreneur, showering us with that NY spirit and essential to making the reunion happen. Sadly she passed away as well in the last few years. Everyone else got an Honorable Mention. Stan Goldstein, Chief of Staff at Woodstock and our sound engineer Off-Broadway, interviewed everyone on film. I was pretty stoned & stoked by the whole experience and I was missing a lot of teeth (which I’ve since had fixed). Sadly, Stan passed a few years ago as well. Let’s face it getting older(as they say)is not for sissies. Only good thing about all these people passing; It does make me look good, all I have to do is breathe. I don't take their passing lightly, I did dearly love these people. I hope I am taking advantage of the gift they left: this life, as we know it, will end eventually for all of us...Give it your best.

🎈HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY WOODSTOCK ✌🏼️ YOU STILL LOOK GREAT!

So I'm finally starting to write about the 50th anniversary of Woodstock and one of the two festivals planned is tentatively canceled,TODAY. I was planning to do some mc and warm-up work but that's another long story. In addition ABC is doing a weekly one hour special on (of all things) "1969'. They're flashing back and forth ...one scene is Woodstock, the next scene is The Manson Family Massacres. They happened the same week-end. Carnage and Celebration: so much for my persistent nostalgia for the past. You may have noticed the format of the blog has changed but that's another long story. I heard someone say maybe they're cancelling it because the original woodstock performers are either dead or in a home. P-l-e-a-s-e, we are not your grand-parents,grand-parents. But we have lost many great ones: The high priest (besides Swami Satchidananda who has passed as well), was Ritchie Havens whose voice flooded the festival but it felt he was just singing to me and I would say the late Joe Cocker must have done the sound track of my life. Another long story is how many others have passed but will post later. With so many deceased the fact that David Crosby & Graham Nash are not speaking or performing together could make me puke. It's criminal, pathetic and yet another long story.

NEW BUSINESS & CHEERS

EARTHLIGHT REUNION IS HAPPENING IN OCTOBER.......YIPPEE!
AFTER 40 SOME ODD YEARS THE GATHERING OF THE CLAN WILL HAPPEN...MORE TO FOLLOW.

MY EVENT "WOODSTOCK AFTER 40...DOES ANYONE CARE CELEBRATION?" IS DEVELOPING.

OLD BUSINESS & KUDOS

OLD BUSINESS
FOLLOWING ARE 3 ARTICLES I'VE WRITTEN...ONE FROM CNNireport, ONE FROM "LIFE AFTER 50"
MOST IMPORTANTLY..MY & OTHER EARTHLIGHTERS RESPONSE TO THE TWISTED & DISTORTED IMAGE OF EARTHLIGHT IN ANG LEE'S "TAKING WOODSTOCK." MUCH MORE TO FOLLOW.


KUDOS
IN 2009 MY BLOGGING & WRITING WAS ONLY ACCOMPLISHED WITH THE GENIUS AND KNOW HOW OF PARTNER ATHONY McBRIDE. MICHAEL KRAMER FILLED IN FOR ANTONY AND CONTINUES TO DO SO THIS YEAR. KUDOS TO McBRIDE. THIS IS ACTUALLY THE 1ST BLOG I'M POSTING BY MYSELF. I WAS FORMERLY HOMELESS IN CYBERSPACE, THEN HOPELESS, AND NOW,STILL KICKING AND SCREAMING INTO THE 21ST CENTURY....I'M ADJUSTING.

REMEMBERING WOODSTOCK AND EARTHIGHT STORIES MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE HELP OF EARTLIGHTERS ALLAN MANN, JANE RICHARDSON-MACK, AUGUST PETER GEORGE, ROBIN MIDE, WOODSTOCK STAFF HEAD, STAN GOLDSTEIN,AND PICTURES AS CREDITED BY ROY ARANELLA.