Next year, August, will mark the 50thanniversary of the music festival Woodstock! “Three days of fun, frolic, and music,”was the billboard. Maybe 100,000 might show up, thought the promoters. 500,000 did. So crazy and out of control it was. The fences came down. The concert organizers finally announced, “It’s a free concert from now on!”
This stuff was so over the top at that time. The music of Woodstock divided youth from their parents. It generated arguments. “You kids are crazy!” One thing for certain—it changed music forever!
Janis Joplin was there. Jimi Hendrix was there. Jim Morrison of The Doors would have been there. But he was on the run from the law from a concert fiasco earlier that year in Miami. Unfortunately, they all died in their 20s, victims of overdoses. Life and fame that overtook them, something they weren’t ready for. Janisbrought blues into the Top 40. Jimi introduced screaming guitars. Jim fused eerie poetry into rock. Were they pace setters? Were they crazy? Or, were they outlaws?
One thing for certain, they represented change. Change that was explosive for the times. So much so that television shows wouldn’t broadcast them anymore. But that didn’t matter. Change was marching on. “You’re freaks!” became the critical cry of the older generation. So Grace Slick of the Jefferson Airplane said back, “Everything you say we are, we are!”
They were daring in a time that didn’t want change. And they didn’t turn back.
The message here is about a change from convention. We, too, are facing change from convention. We get so used to doing things a certain way, which then becomes a convention, like tying neck ties a certain way. Doesn’t mean were bad. We’re just used to the routines.
Our Vision for 2020 and beyond is about changing conventions. It’s about stepping out in front and not turning back. Yes, we will encounter naysayers, those who don’t want to break from convention. The Rock and Rollers of the ‘60s didn’t wait for the tide to catch up. They kept forever ahead of the wave. So, too, must we.
It won’t be easy. There’ll be some friction. So, let’s be those agents for change. And, let’s ROCK!
“Purple haze all in my brain! Lately, things don’t seem the same!