Chapter 5

Day-2 of Woodstock

Ali and I woke up from only a few hours of sleep. Amazingly, I was wide awake and raring to go. Okay, a couple of snorts of coke helped! I had also worked with Ali to invent our own 5-Hour Energy concoction. It consisted of caffeine, B-12 and hash oil!

I also had a bunch of t-shirts made up that I wore. Many were seen in the film. They had different sayings on the front and back.

Nothing Left in my Right Brain
Nothing Right in my Left Brain

Save the Earth, it’s the only planet with Chocolate

Only Visiting this Planet

The Voices in my head are Arguing

Masquerading as a Normal Person Day after Day is Exhausting

Nothing stands between me and my Coffee

Hi
No, but I wish I were

Hey
Hay is for Horses
Grass is for People

God Is TRYING to Love You

A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Pedal Pushers
Dealers on Bicycles

It’s all Mind-Over-Matter
If you don’t Mind,
It don’t Matter!

What a Country!

You Get What You GET
And You Don’t Get Upset

Time is the Distance
Of Existence

The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday

Be Happy With What You Have.
Just Make Sure You Have Enough Of It!

As Ralf, I had gotten t-shirts with those sayings on them. They were mostly from a big country store in Greenville, SC. I’d partner up with them ASAP!

That morning, Michael, Ticia, Ali and I went on a walkabout, just soaking up the immensely loving atmosphere that Michael had created. At the triage tents though, there were quite a few kids who were freaking out.

Chip announced to the crowd, “There’s a lot of brown acid that’s going around,”

The kids, in need, were taken care of by the Army medics and Hog Farm volunteers who were great at talking people down from a bad trip. Most would be ok, but some did have to be choppered out to a hospital.

Like with Richie Havens on day one, Michael had to persuade Country Joe McDonald to go onstage first on day two. Santana was stuck in traffic. Country Joe was not due to play until day three, with his band The Fish. Although Santana wouldn’t be stuck in traffic this time, I did persuade Joe to go on first, since he was hanging out backstage anyway.

He would do an acoustic set. He became famous after the film came out, due to the words being superimposed on the screen with a bouncing ball. During the intro to his song, “Fixing To Die Rag” he yelled out “Gimme an F! Gimme a U! Gimme a C! Gimme a K! What does that spell? FUCK!...”

As Ralf, I met and shook Country Joe’s hand once. It was at a small concert he did in a coffee warehouse, on Whidbey Island, in Washington State. He was with his 16yo son. I gave them an 18-CD compilation that I called War and Peace and Politics Too.

Santana put on an historic 45-minute performance at Woodstock. They had an awesome Latin sound with the congas, bongos, etc. Like the J Geils Band though, Carlos wasn’t the lead singer.

Another performer just hanging around backstage, was John B. Sebastian. He wasn’t even scheduled to play, but he wanted to experience the Happening. He was really wasted from the acid punch located backstage and just wandered onstage! It turned out to be one of the best impromptu performances of the weekend! He rambled on for 15 minutes or so, talking about tie-dyeing, living in a tent, and rainbows. He was another gentle soul.

Next up was another band change from Ralf’s time. Since we had kept their appearance a secret, the Rolling Stones came on to fantastic applause! Mick Jagger and I became fast friends when Ali and I picked him up in a helicopter at JFK. We got up at 5am and the helicopter picked us up in the pasture behind Max’s barn. Mick landed at 6am, from Australia. We were allowed to land outside the international gates. After Mick told us of the travesty his movie was becoming, I joked that he better not quit his Night Job to become an actor full-time. He invited Ali and I to be his guests for the Stones’ November, 1969 US Tour. I gladly said yes to that request! I (as Ralf) knew that their Live Album Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! would be recorded during that tour. To me, they were at their best then! Well, the hundreds of thousands in Yasgar’s hay field, sure enjoyed the heavy sound the Stones put out. Groovy Man!