It was early August 1969 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, when me and my friend Carlos Muriel saw an add in Rolling Stone magazine..."3 days of Peace and Music". After looking at the list of groups that were playing we both looked at each other and said "We have to go!". But I was 15 and he was 17, just a couple of high school kids still living at home. We had no clue as how to do it...
But we came up with an plan. We convinced our parents of sending us to a "music camp" in New York. I am not sure how gullible really they were and what lead them to say yes, but they did. So along with 2 other friends, Carlos Carle and Jose Luis, off we went, landing in NYC without a clue as to where Bethel was or how to get there.
We asked the first long-haired "freak" we saw if he knew about this festival..."Of course, I am going there this afternoon myself". So he got us to Port Authority, where we boarded a bus full of starry-eyed hippies, off to this unknown event that would change the world.
And the rest is history...
I believe we were the only ones to go from the island. Two of them, Carlos Muriel (Gian Singh) and Jose Luis, are no longer with us. I have not heard of Carlos Carle in over 30 years. But I have never forgotten those 3 days and what they meant to me. To top if off, Carlos Muriel and I are in the movie, in the crowd scene after Sha Na Na...something for our grandkids to have and remember.
Peace and love,
Gurudass Khalsa (aka Jose Romero)