I submitted a story to Rolling Stone upon my return from the 1969 event..if memory serves, my story was one of the ones that got published along with others who attended. I thought or was hoping it would be cause I thought "my" story was different...my story was cool !

Anyway, now 40yrs later, I will not be able to recall every little detail but share with you what I remember.

Probably like a lot of other teenagers, I lied. I was 15. Told my parents I would be with my brother the WHOLE time I was at Woodstock..up in White Lake, NY. I went with my best friend Alfie...who knows what he told his parents. We bought tickets for the 3 day event. Then (of course some 40yrs later the details are a tad purple hazy) Alfie and I found ourselves in Albert Grossman's office in NYC (he was Janis Joplin's manager)....somehow we found out that his secretary (she & my brother were seeing each other at the time) was taking a bus up to Woodstock and my brother was to pick her up. Needing a ride ourselves, we found out which bus she was taking and we bought tickets for the same bus. Aaaaaaaaaaaah you should have seen my brother's face when he saw Alfie & I get off the bus after this gal did. HA HA... We, were not expected !

Ooooops...I'm sorry...I think right about now I should have mentioned that my brother, Maury Baker, was Janis Joplin's drummer at that time. He did several concerts with her, played on "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again, Mama" LP, did some TV shows, and played at Woodstock with Janis !

Alfie & I stayed in a house that Joplin's band rented for a couple of nights...The first night was cool. Here we were (14/15 respectively) hangin' with Janis's band... The next night, we all went to a party at another house. Creedence Clearwater, Janis & her band, and others (can't remember everybody) were there. Everybody was taking what were called "Peace pills"...the air was thick and pungent from weed.... I sat there amazed as I watched Janis Joplin lay back on a couch and proceed to knock off a good % of the whiskey bottle she wasn holding in one shot ! Eventually we wandered out to the garage where my brother was seated at a keyboard playing...I got behind the drums (I too am a drummer) and we started playing... When Janis walked into the garage, I did my best to keep on playin' as if she wasn't there...but I think I froze once she started singing. I was 15. I remember when it was time to leave the party. Alfie & I were to get a ride back to where we were staying. I walked out of the house first. Saw 2 station wagons parked next to each other and just chose one to get into. I sat there "alone" in the car.. Others started coming out of the house and getting into the car next to the one I was sitting in. I could have SWORN they were all getting into the car I was in...I swore I felt the car sway as people got in, I heard them talking, laughing...felt car doors shut...it was as if my car was filling up. All of a sudden I heard my friend Alfie say...HEY J, we're in this car over here........ I was never so embarrassed. That was the 1st and last time I ever took this "peace pill". The next day all the players left for the festival site in White Lake. Alfie and I hitched... We had to walk part of the way due to so many cars on the road. Eventually when we got up to the gate, we saw it was torn down...a million people strong we heard so it was then declared a free concert Man ! Far out !

Once at the festival, it was pretty amazing. A sea of people everywhere you looked.. We walked around...met tons of people...hung out with some of them...many were kind of enough to share food..some food we were able to buy. One night we hung out in somebody's VW van smoking something...while right outside of the van, a cop was skinny dipping, holster hanging on a tree branch ! Imagine...that many people behaving so well whereby nobody stole stuff from neighbors, nobody hurt anybody...everybody shared whatever they had...I think there was one death and one birth during those 3 amazing daze...not bad for that number of folks eh ?

After 40yrs, many of the details are fuzzy but I do remember it rained pretty hard one day...and my purple bell bottoms got pretty filthy, muddy as were my sandels and the feet that were in them... I remember what an ordeal it was to visit the "porto potty" . Loooooong lines after walking pretty far...and how you had to roll UP your jeans as high as you could get em, before you could even think about pulling them down. Most of those potties were pretty nasty.... I also remember scrambling around, asking folks if they could spare any TP too.

I remember standing backstage...often arms length from some of rock's greatest musicians and wishing I had remembered to bring a camera... sigh.. I saw Gracie Slick and other Airplane members, Sly Stone, CSNY, Santana & his band, Jimi, and many others just standing there backstage. Our jaws were wide open ! This was the most incredible experience for an adult, and for a teenager, simply unbelievable !

After Janis played, the band took off to a nearby Holiday Inn. I started to panic a bit thinking how the hell are Alfie & I going to get home, back to Manhattan...We had no money, but somehow I was able to call the Holiday Inn and spoke to my brother. He said if you can get yo'ass here by tomorrow morning, there's room in the car for you and Alfie. He also said if we had I.D. he might be able to arrange for us to get a ride via helicopter just out of the crowds and somewhere where we could then get a bus to the hotel. We had no I.D. I don't think..however what we were able to do was hitch a ride in Blood, Sweat, & Tears equipment truck. There we were, in the back of a large truck, that was pitch black and filled with equipment, hitching a ride to this hotel. I think my brother thought we'd never find our way out of there...the roads out of the festival were blocked in so many places....thousands of people walking everywhere...thousands of abandoned cars parked on both sides of the road..for miles & miles that's all you saw.

Probably much to my brother's surprise (after all we were probably viewed as a pain in the ass..having your kid sister and friend tagging along) that same evening the phone in his room rang. "Where are you" he asked ? In the lobby I said....... Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit, okay come on up. Once in his room, he asked where we were staying for the night since he wasn't leaving until the next day. We have no where to stay I said....so with that my brother managed to find another band member or musician who obviously didn't mind 2 teenagers camping out in their room for the night...after all my brother was not alone. ;-)

All I can say is this was truly an amazing experience.... The memories are permanently embedded. I still have my program, my unused ticket, my backstage pass, and some of the coolest memories any kid ever had.