The definitive history of the Catskills
Rollicking History of the CatskillsEvers' book is a masterpiece-a popularized history of the Catskills, from the days of the Hardenburgh Patent(early 1700s) up to the time of Woodstock(1969 and immediately after). It is a history which presents the facts, but never loses touch with the human dimension.
It is also serious enough to present the facts as hemlock trees, quarries and other resources were successively pillaged without the slightest concern for the future. This was the world of my Father's childhood and that of my parents, grandparents and great grandparents.
It is a wonderful book and generously illustrated. It helped both my Father and I to develop a coherent picture of our family past. We were able to bridge the gaps between disconnected names, places and events.
I must give this book my highest personal recommendation.
The Karma Charmer Cult
Very fufilling story. Excellent , five stars.
genuine, hilarious, tragic, hopeful
My Dads Last Best Friend
Timeless scenes enchant the eye.Woodstock Landscapes is user-friendly. Here are about sixty images in a nice softbound book--neither huge nor unwieldy. Some of John Kleinhans' deft landscapes are silver prints, but the majority are fine color reproductions of his darkroom work. Novelist Gail Godwin invites us in with a graceful introduction.
Something quite fascinating happens when I begin flipping through these scenes. My pace lessens. A quiet descends as I slow down to look at a timeless world.
Kleinhans' fine compositional eye unerringly invites us into scene after scene. It's the familiar world created anew, with images of soft morning light, winter cornfields, venerable old farmhouses, meandering streams, and village lights glowing after a spring shower. Since I also live in Woodstock, I know many of these places quite well, but that's not a requirement for enjoying the collection.
Though the setting is in and around a famous small town in upstate New York, I've given copies to delighted friends who are city-bound, to friends who know well the rural life, and to friends who live in other countries who will probably never know what it's like to sit near a pond on a hot summer day and watch dragonflies thread the air while frogs thrum at the water's edge.
Home
Read it twice
Been There; Didn't Know ThatThis book is an amazing, and surprisingly humorous, inside look at the machinations I never saw. The sometimes bizarre efforts that made Woodstock possible.
Even if you don't agree with the Woodstock sentiment, you should buy this book as a reference to THE icon of 1960s America.
A brilliant book
This is the best book I've ever read about American music
A Great Book on the Basics of Anarchism
an entertaining and worthy sequelUnterberger writes with an opinionated but reader- friendly style. His writing lacks the bombast, snobbery, and smug attitude that we often find with some of the old guard of music critics. Unterberger tends to see things in a more open- minded,inclusive way than many of the famous writers like Christgau and Dave Marsh, and Jann Wenner and the other rolling stone writers, who seem to have picked the obvious choices of the era and a few pets like Springsteen and Jackson Browne when considering who is worthy of respect and worth hearing for the era. Nothing against those talented guys, but let's face it: they are where they are in large part because of their annointing by scribes with friends in high places. Everyone else is either dismissed as irrelevant or trash to those writers. Unlike Christgau,Unterberger doesn't waste time with poisonous diatribes. Unlike Marsh he doesn't stick to boring, predictable lists generally comprised of overplayed hits. it's all subjective, true, but anyone with the audacity to list the best Beatles single of all time at a lowly #29 simply should not be read, period! Unterberger lets you know where he stands on a musician or group but doesn't try to force his opinion on you. One can picture getting into a friendly argument with Unterberger , the way guys in bars debate who is worthy of enshrinement in a sports hall of fame, and that's something I have trouble imagining with some of these other writers. I don't always agree with Unterberger, for example, he calls the Jefferson Airplane album Surrealistic Pillow the best of the San Francisco sound, while i would say that while its a great disc, and it might be the most important, i would opt for Moby Grape's stunning debut, even though it is perhaps not exactly indicative of the S.F. sound per se( the most obvious parrallel album is probably Buffalo Springfield's first)- but that is what makes the book so compelling and thought provoking. I also wonder why he mentions the first , much more psychedelic and jazz influenced album by Mad River, who were probably, in my estimation, the best San Francisco area band that never made much of a dent nationally. While their second album is derivative of the likes of The Band, Creedence, the Youngbloods, and others, ( the first one was a lot like Quicksilver or Country Joe) I actually think it is the better of the two, and more of a folk rock/ country rock album.
unterberger's book is sure to please the entire range of music afficionados; both the person who just wants to know the story of folk-rock and the sixties enthusiast who is hoping to unearth some interesting tidbits about obscure figures from the remote past are sure to be pleased with the work. most people think of folk rock as the dylan newport incident, the byrds, eve of destruction and a few other big events and hits, but this book shows there was so much more going on during this era. musical mutations (and regressions) were occurring at an astonishing rate. simultaneous movements were happening both here and in the british isles and elsewhere. unterberger skillfully demonstrates the changes , differences, and similarities that were passing back and forth, leading to distinctive styles as well as overlapping features. if i have one complaint about this work it is that it's too brief. it will definitely make you want to more about the figures it desrcibes, and will probably send you to the internet to discover more facts about some group or artist.
before reading this book , i knew that folk rock was more than a few major hits and a handful of well known performers. but it did make me think just how pervasive the influence of folk and folk rock was on pop and rock in the sixties and early seventies. the innovations and strengths of the music of that era, for me, have not even come close to be being matched since. this book made me think that even much of the far out music of the era had connections with folk. in fact , it is much harder to think of music that isn't, in some way, folk-rock. for instance, the silver apples and the United States of America, pioneering electonic music innovators,would not make anyone's list of folk rockers, but on the Silver Apples 2nd record, contact, we hear a song called Ruby that features some banjo and even bluegrass vocals, and on the USA album the songs are sometimes interspersed with magnificent Civil War era sounding tubas and the like. In another bizarre example, both 1970 DEBUTalbums by the hard rock/early metal bands UFO and Uriah Heep, renditions of the standard 'Come Away Melinda " are featured. The much maligned Heep actually do a very impressive version of this tune, perhaps best remembered for the Tim Rose version, although Judy Collins and even Harry Belafonte did this great anti -war song. Even one of my favorite all time bands, The Move, got into the act with songs like Mist on A Monday Morning, their magnificent cover of the baroque rock/ sometimes folk band Ars Nova's Fields of People, and the Bee Gees meets British Isles Folk number called "No Time." These facts show that Unterberger's book is likely to make the reader create connections of his or her own. I highly recommend this book, and look forward to the next Unterberger tome.
Woodstock- Is it only about the 1969 Music Festival?When a member of the publishing family of It Happened In Woodstock approached me to write a review about his family's book on Woodstock, New York honoring the blue ray, and indicated that "This book's stunning use of reverse lithography (white letters on cobalt blue background) activates the blue ray in every reader," I had no idea what he was talking about.
The book finally showed up in my mail- box one day, and although, you can never tell a book by its cover, this one is remarkable, not only for its good look, but also its amazing succinct chronicling of the history of Woodstock from A.D. 1614 until 1971.
Originally published in 1959, it was authored by a Philadelphia debutant, Anita Smith, who today is a well- known artist known for her impressionist and post-impressionist landscapes.
The 165 pages are cleverly divided into distinct sections presenting various portraits of the town from a historic, nostalgic, and psychic perspective.
Moreover, the book's strong and sensitive use of old photographs coupled with fascinating historical data effectively transports readers into a charming little town, and as the book quotes Helen Hayes: "a unique spot in the world, isn't it. Throbbing with creation, flashing with genius-and so placed and countrified withal."
We learn that in 1614, when the first map of the Hudson River Valley was drawn up, the name Woodstock was missing.
However, in 1777 the Englishman, Robert Livingston, referred to Woodstock in a letter and points out that the original Saxon word was "Wudestock" for "a clearing in the wood."
Apparently, the village borrowed its name from the (woodsy) town in Oxfordshire, England.
Another section of the book, entitled "Woodstock: It happened in" we read about Native American folk lore, and the reminders of the past, such as the Native American names as Onteoras, (loosely translated as mountains of the blue ray-Onti-oras) Ohayo, Mountain, and the Esopus River. The beads, pipes and leather goods, or co-called "Hippie" affectations, that is abundant in the village.
We have a peek at some of the daily ads appearing in the local newspaper that give us a glimpse of the unenviable life of women- "My wife Polly has left my bed and board for no good reason. Or so he says.... As she is fond of riding, I forbid anyone to pick her up in a sleigh, carriage or wheelbarrow."
As for the Woodstock Music Festival of 1969, the publishers point out:
"We as Piceans, have been in error. The reader will note that the attitude taken toward the Woodstock Music Festival of 1969 is, in all but the final section of this book, one of unmerited condescension. For it was our purpose, as stated above, to place this festival into the context of the history of Woodstock itself.
We felt that that the event had been blown-through some vagary of the public mind-out of all proper historical proportion.
But we have since concluded-with the persuasion of our London observer-that public attention, in this case at least, has been anything but arbitrary.
The "happening" of August, 1969 is a part of the village of Woodstock. But of far more important has been its Cosmic role."
The book is a neat history lesson supported by a wealth of interesting tidbits.
As an added feature, the book in its classic art folio version comes with post and screws to allow readers to open the book, remove pages, and even thumb tack anyone of the seventy illustrations on an office or home wall.
This review first appeared on the reviewer's own site: Bookpleasures.Com
It Happened in Woodstock.....great Information!
It Happened in Woodstock. Bountiful Praise, Wonderful Book !The first Woodstock Festival did not occur in August 1969, but instead was enacted in 1915 to help finance bills from the drilling of an artesian well on the property of Kansas-born Harvey White, publisher of The Plowshare and playwright. During this festival, Tchaikovsky was performed in a stone quarry to the delight of its then audience. A leading light in Woodstock's cultural evolution, Harvey White was the man who built The Maverick on his property where John Barrymore, Edward G. Robinson, Helen Hayes all acted and later the Juilliard School and The Metropolitan Opera. Included in this attractive book is an account of the Woodstock Music Festival of 1969 by an Englishman who was there. An addendum includes a series of decorative adds for historic Woodstock enterprises including the bus lines, Jack Horner Tea Room, artist's home, etc. We come to understand why so many have loved the essential human-ness of life in Woodstock, including Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt who commented in her nationally syndicated feature: "Anyone who knows Woodstock will agree, I think, that it is a charming place. It shows what good taste and imagination can do to create a delightful atmosphere."
While we learn that in 1906 the Art Student's League of New York established their summer home in Woodstock. more interesting is the section that recounts the flourishing of an arts scene in Woodstock, which included the likes of George Bellows, Robert Henri, and the early abstractionist Andrew Dasburg. A full chronology of the life and times of Woodstock, New York informs us of how much this rural centre has led a continued flourishing culture that has been an inspiration not only for its residents but for Americans of all stripes over the decades. Read it!
As I did, I became more and more interested in the story behind the mystical woods I had become so irrevocably attached to. I learned of this book. I could not find it, but everyone said it was the book to read, referenced in any other book about the region I could find.
Finally I did (not through amazon, but what the hell ...).
I could not put it down - what I had traipsed through came alive on the page, yet many years ago in time.
But you needn't have earned this appreciation to enjoy this book.
Evers, still going strong in his late nineties as the Town of Woodstock historian (I talked to him on the phone once) draws on his extensive training in folklore to make these mountains, America's first wilderness, come alive not just through the lives and works of its rich and powerful but most importantly in the voices of the humble people of the region - the farmers and settlers who in many cases left little to show for their efforts but their names on some feature of land somewhere.
Nor is he dry ... events, whether legendary or factual, that took place centuries ago, like Peter Delabigarre's first recorded ascent of what is now known as Kaaterskill High Peak, or the Anti-Rent War's bloody climax, are related as freshly as if Evers were an eyewitness.
His history also avoids any inadvertent tendency to center on one area and pass it off for the whole Catskill region. He tells the stories of Woodstock well but when he needs to go to Delaware or Sullivan counties, he does, without a hint of ignorance.
And his love for the region ... in his words one can, if one has been there, place oneself amidst the fragrant balsam fir of a high summit, a place like a dream one can always return to no matter the weather or season; athwart a rippling tributary, its clear, trout-friendly waters headed for the taps of New York City, the water John Burroughs said you could live on for a few days. If you haven't experienced those things, he'll make you want to.
So many of these stories - Burroughs' trampings, the construction of Ashokan reservoir, the framing of the Hardenburgh patent, Guyot's surveys - are alone worth the price of admission. You may know them already, but you'll learn so much more.
My only complaint would be the last chapter, an attempt to bring the story into the late 1970s with the Temporary Commission. While this is long on facts, it betrays haste in keeping the book up to date. It lacks the semi-mythical yet assured quality of the rest of the narrative.
But, if your pulse quickens at the mention of placenames like Phoenicia, West Kill, Neversink or Shinhopple; if you have ever braved the spruce ramparts of Rocky Mountain or trudged through snow in waders to cast the Junction Pool's first fly of the season, you will find your ample knowledge of the Catskills amplified a thousandfold.