1968 Conqueror of American Rock - Chapter 190



Only Krnovel

190. Again, Summer of ’69 (14)

Alex Baldwin rushed to the Marquee Club after receiving a welcome call. As a record label employee, he held most of his appointments here, not in cafes.

“Liam, I’m home.”

“Aren’t you going to get fired from your company if you keep doing that? It’s nice to see my friends often, haha.”

Alex greeted the staff warmly and naturally took his regular seat at the bar.

“What’s happening today?”

“You know, I’m Damien O’Neill, the Pentagon reporter.”

“I know. You used to come to the club often and interview bands.”

“We agreed to meet today.”

“A reporter from the Department of Defense?”

Before Alex could answer, the club door opened and a neat man in casual attire came in. He walked over to the bar table and swept back his fairly long hair.

“How have you all been?”

Alex shook his hand warmly, and Liam squinted his eyes, trying to remember who he was.

“All, you······.”

“Yes, it’s Damien O’Neill. It’s been a while, Liam. It’s still the same here.”

Judging from his clothes and hairstyle, he had clearly been discharged from the military.

“When did you get discharged from the military?”

“Um······ It’s about as long as my hair is, haha.”

Damien, now a civilian, was able to tell jokes quite well. The three happily exchanged news.

“You joined Sounds? It’s a new place······.”

Alex, as a professional, was covering not only the UK but also the US when it came to music weekly magazines. Sounds was a new weekly magazine that was first published on October 10, 1970.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s a weekly music magazine created by John Thompson and Joe Saul from Melody Maker, along with Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who were the founders. We met at the 2nd Pilton Festival and got to know each other.”

The story naturally moved to Woodstock.

“Wow, you’re going to cover Woodstock!”

Liam’s voice grew louder.

“It’s a good choice. Rolling Stone is currently the hippie counterculture in the US, so if a new weekly magazine wants to compete with Melody Maker or the New Musical Express (NME), it has to cover that kind of stuff.”

Alex personally didn’t think much of Rolling Stone. They named the magazine after Muddy Waters’ blues song “Rollin’ Stone,” Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” and the rock band the Rolling Stones.

Moreover, Bob Dylan was a truly symbolic figure in hippie culture.

Ironically, their opposition to hippie culture seemed to be a political move. They rode the wave of hippie culture when it was popular, but now they are taking the opposite route. I didn’t like it at all.

“We’ll have to go there and see for ourselves to find out more, but my American friend said that the atmosphere is becoming a bit strange.”

“You think it’s strange?”

Alex swallowed hard. He too was eager to go, no matter what excuse he came up with.

“The Woodstock business teamed up with John Schere of Metropolis to set up the festival in Altamont, California. The farm of Max Yassger, where Woodstock was held in ’69, is being acquired by CW and is being used to host the festival. However, they were not allowed to use the name ‘Woodstock,’ so they decided to call it ‘Again, Summer of ’69.’”

“I find that a bit odd. Woodstock is a place that is 100 kilometers from Bethel, and if you sue enough, you can have the trademark registration canceled. And now, Woodstock is in California. It would be better for Bethel to take it.”

Alex slammed his fist on the table.

“By the way, these two festivals are on the same dates as Woodstock in ’69? August 15, 16, and 17. Wow, this is really exciting. Alex, where should we go?”

Liam asked.

“Where are you going? Of course we should go to Bethel! By the way, it’ll be difficult for Damien to cover both places. Are you going alone?”

“No, I’m going with one of my seniors. He said he had to go to Woodstock before he died, so he chose California, and I’m going to Bethel. I also wanted to cover James’ side, so I can’t tell you how lucky I am. Haha.”

The three men continued to chat while drinking draft beer.

* * *

Anthony Hefner frequently travels between New York and California for special festival promotions on EMTV, and he recently visited his hometown of Sunset Strip.

The Devils Club.

“Hello, my home. This guy came back successful, haha.”

Anthony opened the club door and went in with a wicked smile.

A few minutes later, three skinny boys entered the club. These were the same boys who had been harassing Edward Van Halen and trying to steal CW’s guitar sound.

“Haha, how was the prison cell compared to the juvenile detention center?”

“It was absolutely shitty.”

Justin, a handsome man with blond hair, opened up about his hellish life in prison, using harsh language.

Even when these guys were taken to the police station, they didn’t claim to have instigated it. Anthony thought the boys who had been to prison were quite loyal.

“Actually, we were more guilty of causing an accident in San Francisco and running away. But can we still debut now?”

His passion for music was genuine. I also remember liking his singing and playing skills that he showed at the audition, as well as his dirty stage manners.

“I have a job for you to do at Woodstock this year. Once you complete it, I will take responsibility for your debut. I promise it on my name.”

Anthony was no longer the manager of the Sunset Strip Club. He was now the host of EMTV’s top-rated show and the promoter of “Woodstock 71.”

Justin had more faith in him than when he first met him. And now, for the boys who were now ex-convicts, Anthony was their only ray of hope.

“If I can just debut, I’ll work hard at anything.”

Anthony liked the look in the boys’ eyes.

“You will be the vanguard of the ‘Woodstock 71′ peace patrol.”

“Peace Patrol······ Isn’t it like a security guard? Can ex-convicts like us do it······.”

“You guys! What is the spirit of Woodstock? It’s freedom, peace, and love. We don’t discriminate. Any young people in their teens or twenties who love music can do it.”

The boys’ faces brightened a little.

“But by any chance, it’s not like last time where you hit people or threatened them······?”

“Inma, the name is Peace Patrol. You must never curse or use violence against people. You just have to follow the orders from headquarters and control people well. And the uniforms are yellow.”

“Then I am confident that I can do well no matter what.”

These were the boys who kept their mouths shut even after being arrested by the police. Anthony had full faith that these guys would do well. And after the festival, he was determined to let them debut as promised.

“However, the mission you have to do is a bit heavy. This time, you must not reveal that I ordered you to do it, and you must not let it be known. That is······.”

* * *

Our headquarters is the Woodstock Motel.

The main building, which is currently used as the Woodstock exhibition hall, still had the furniture and office supplies that Michael Lang had brought in in 1969. After removing the drapes that had been covering it for two years, they began cleaning it again.

Since PR and marketing are done at CW headquarters, there aren’t many employees dispatched here, so the artists who are affiliated with the company had to clean up together.

We exercised together every morning in the fresh air, went to the farm to practice during the day, and helped out at the headquarters.

At sunset, we played in the water at White Lake, and every evening, we would gather in front of the motel, light a bonfire, play the guitar, and sing.

Some bands would hang out at the Age of Rock club, some would record in the studio, and we at Sparkling Ripple were pretty much permanent fixtures at the farm.

Jack was in charge of KMTV’s festival promotion broadcast. He came to Bethel with a film crew and covered the scene.

Milking cows, riding horses, playing while cleaning, swimming in the lake, having bonfire parties in the evening, etc.

As our daily lives were broadcast, letters of support from fans poured in. Eventually, KMTV and CW formed a special team to join the production headquarters. Director Robert Smith’s filming team was in charge of all filming during the festival. Thanks to this, viewers were able to comfortably watch high-quality videos while lying on the sofa and eating popcorn.

Commemorative T-shirts, water bottles with straps, character stickers, volunteer uniforms, etc. Everything was running smoothly.

The period of preparing for the festival was like a fun day for us.

Time passed like that and July arrived before we knew it.

The surrounding greenery of the farm grew greener and the sun warmed the earth with its hotter heat.

“Gyaaaaaaah!”

Annie gave Angela a nudge down the mud slide they had built on the farm hill. Angela stumbled, saying, “Uh-huh,” before grabbing Annie and sliding down together in a cool way.

“Hahahaha!”

The two of them were entangled together and spun around, then fell into the mud at high speed, then looked at each other’s faces and laughed.

“I’m going too!”

Hyun-sang ran from behind me and slid forward on the fertilizer sack, just like the skeleton I saw in the future.

No, that guy is fearless······.

Hyung Jung-seop sat on the tube and went down in a comfortable position, even making a V sign with his fingers to show us his leisure. I thought that if young children played like that, there would be no chance of getting hurt.

“James, let’s go too!”

“What, what did you say······ Argh!”

Jake grabbed me and jumped down the hill. You were always with Annie, and now you’re starting to resemble her like this…!

Crash!

“Ugh, huh.”

A lot of mud came into my mouth.

“Good job, Jake!”

Annie and Jake high-fived with mud-covered hands.

A wildcat is gradually infecting innocent children. My infinitely kind friend Jake, who takes even a joke seriously······. I won’t leave him alone.

Oh my.

Angela threw a dollop of mud on my face like a birthday cake surprise and giggled.

Yeah, let’s all try this.

We returned to our childhood and played, making a mess of each other. We slipped, fell, and slipped again. Even the members of the theater troupe who had finished their day’s work joined us. We played until the sun set in the west, not even realizing the passage of time.

Swaaaaaaah!

I connected a hose to a makeshift shower room set up next to the mud pit and sprayed the members.

“Eww, that feels cool!”

“James, shoot me here too, hahaha.”

Hyun-sang was playing around by pulling down the elastic band of his pants. When I shot the water cannon without any mercy, he got scared and ran away. Everyone burst out laughing at that.

“Wow, it’s a rainbow! Rainbow, rainbow!”

When Edsilla, whose face was covered in mud, pointed to the rainbow in the sky with her hand, everyone raised their heads and looked at the rainbow. Everyone smiled happily.

I held water up to the sky for a long time to keep the rainbow from disappearing.

Then a blue pickup truck arrived. It was Mr. Tyver’s truck. Elliot got out of the driver’s seat.

“James, we have a guest.”

“Huh? I look a bit weird right now······.”

“I heard you came from England.”

A neat-looking man got out of the passenger seat of the truck and walked over, holding his sunshade.

“This is the real Woodstock. It’s been a while, James.”

The man walking towards me with a sad smile was wearing a casual suit, not a military uniform, and his hair was quite long······but upon closer inspection, his face was welcoming.

“No, how did you get to this far······.”

He was Damien O’Neill, a British Ministry of Defence reporter.