It was just a music and arts fair

This week we mark the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Music And Arts Fair, the one that set the tone for and lent its name to an entire generation.

Without a doubt Woodstock became much bigger than what it was. At bottom, it was a music festival. That's all. OK, an all-star music festival, but it sure wasn't expected to become the symbol of the freelove dopesmoking peacenik flowersniffin crawlnakedinthemud 60s.

But it was just a music festival, Time reporter Josh Tyranagiel points out:

Absent the day's biggest commercial acts — the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan declined to participate — the bill tilted toward flute bands and folkies, and they played to a crowd the size of Reno, Nev., as if they were in a coffeehouse. A lot of the rock bands, meanwhile, were stoned out of their minds. (The Grateful Dead sound foggy, even for them.) At least the Who — so enchanted with the vibe that Pete Townshend bonked a speechifying Abbie Hoffman on the head and wrote "Won't Get Fooled Again" in the concert's wake — come off as professional. Not passionate, but professional ... it's clear that no one — not the bands, the organizers or the audience — had a clue what they were supposed to be doing, and with good reason: no one had ever done it before.

Personal footnote: No, I didn't make Woodstock, in case you ask. Hey, I was 11, and getting parental consent would have been impossible.

Photo: Jimi Hendrix playing his guitar during his set at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair on Aug. 18, 1969. Henry Diltz / Corbis