Gary James' Interview With Woodstock Photographer
Barry Z Levine



He was the still photographer on the film Woodstock. His book, "The Woodstock Story Book" includes nearly 300 full color photographs. His photographs have been included in documentaries and books about Woodstock, including "Woodstock: Three Days That Rocked The World", "Woodstock Remembered" and "Woodstock '69: The First Festival". The photographer we are speaking of is Mr. Barry Z Levine.

Q - Barry, next year (2019) will mark the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock. People don't talk about The Monterey Pop Festival or The Atlanta Pop Festival in the same way they talk about Woodstock.

A - Well, probably because it's the most iconic music festival of all time in the whole world. Monterey Pop was filmed but was not nearly as popular as Woodstock. Woodstock (film) was the highest grossing documentary film of all time. That's what introduced Woodstock to millions and millions and millions of people all over the world. It's an Academy Award winning film. So, people who have seen the film feel like they've been there. Graham Nash says, "If everybody who say they were at Woodstock was actually there, the earth would have tipped on it's orbit." But it's the iconic music festival of all time. The biggest. Half a million people. No arrests. No injuries. It was peace and love. It was the culmination of everything the '60s was about.

Q - But at the same time, the TV and newspaper coverage wasn't very positive about Woodstock. They were referring to Woodstock as something like a muddy mess. It wasn't until the film came out that people had a sense of what Woodstock was all about.

A - Bernard Collier of The New York Times was sending his dispatches back to New York City, to The Times. They were printing all sorts of garbage about it was mud and people were miserable. He said, "If you don't stop editing my dispatches I'm gonna quit my job. You're not gonna see me anymore," and came out with an editorial the next day, which I think was Sunday, which said, "Oh no, it was actually peace and love. It was a wonderful event." So yeah, in the initial coverage if you remember, Hippies were reviled. To be a Hippie was to be dirty, free love, sex. So there was a natural bias against anybody with long hair 'cause they were anti-war, didn't wash. All of the negative stuff that was said about Hippies was prevalent. And then there were the people of White Lake and Bethel, many of whom met Hippies for the first time and their reaction to the people who were at Woodstock was these were wonderful kids. Polite. They asked if they could buy one ice cube. They were bringing 'em food. Bringing 'em sandwiches. The perception of what a Hippie was changed to some extent, not completely because of Woodstock, because it was peaceful. There wasn't one arrest. Although the conditions were dire. There wasn't enough food, there wasn't enough toilets, there wasn't enough room to move. People were sharing whatever they had. What the festival turned out to be about was freedom, which is why Richie Havens sang (that song).

Q - What did you know about Woodstock before you headed out the door to Woodstock?

A - Well, I was working in the music business. I was working for Columbia Records, which at the time was the biggest Rock 'n' Roll label that there was. What I had heard about Woodstock sounded like a typical hype of the time. You know, everything was being hyped. The idea of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin and Blood, Sweat And Tears, who were huge at that time, and Richie Havens, all the people, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, all the people they were talking about being there, it sounded like a lot of bull shit. So, I went up there early with quite a bit of skepticism, to see what was going on. I grew up not far from where the festival site was. I drove over to the site a week early, the Monday before the festival was to begin on that Friday just to see what was going on. It was nothing but grassy fields. They were working feverishly to finish the stage. I met a friend of mine there. I just happened to meet him, Larry Johnson, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound. He asked me what I was doing up there. I said I thought maybe I'd take a few pictures. He said, "We need a still photographer on the film crew. Will you do it?" He said, "But we can't pay you up front 'cause we don't have a deal yet. So, it'd be on the come. Will you do it?" I said, "Yes, but because you're not paying me, then I'll own the photographs." He said okay. And that's why you and I are speaking today.

Q - Were you one of these people who had to abandon their cars to get to Woodstock once it started?

A - Well, I was there with the film crew. So I parked my car and they were going to take us to a motel where we were supposed to spend evenings and they were going to shuttle us back and forth to the site, but all I got to do was drop my clothes off at the place we were supposed to be staying at and never got to see them until after the festival was over. It was impossible to get back and forth. So I just slept in the film crew's trailer that they were using to store their film. We slept in the trailer or I slept on the stage, but not very much sleep. I was pretty much there four days without sleep. They gave us vitamin B-12 shots to keep us going and there was a lot of drugs too.

Q - How many people caught Hendrix's performance? Was it 10,000 as I've been told?

A - Oh, there was more than 10,000. It must've been 20,000, 30,000.

Q - In your book you have several photos of Jerry Garcia, but no photos of The Grateful Dead and no photos of Creedence. Why would that be?

A - I didn't take pictures of The Dead. I was in a helicopter when they were performing.

Q - And Creedence?

A - I don't know where I was. I didn't stay at the stage the whole time. I was walking around. I had a pass that allowed me to go everyplace, including the helicopter. So, I was fortunate in that I could go backstage. I was having champagne and strawberries with Janis Joplin and Grace Slick. So, I was walking around a lot of places. I don't have Creedence. I don't have Melanie. There were a lot of acts I didn't photograph.

Q - After Woodstock, did you cover any other festivals?

A - No. Woodstock was my first and last concert gig.

Q - What was your job at Columbia Records? I forgot to ask that awhile back.

A - I was a writer/producer. I wrote advertising and commercials. I produced TV and radio commercials, things like that. I'm working on an e-book for The Woodstock Story Book, which will be available for download in about a month (September 2018) or so. It's going to be a special 50th Anniversary e-book with over 300 links and all of the photographs and more that are in my hardcover book.

Official Website: www.WoodstockWitness.com



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