Free coming soon landing page

WOODSTOCK , N.Y. — Chicago was only the labor pains. With a joyous three-day shriek, the inheritors of the earth came to life in an alfalfa field outside the village of Bethel, New York. Slapping the spark of life into the newborn was American rock and roll music provided by the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. And Dylan’s Mr. Jones, who has, indeed, been aware of what is happening, but has preferred to denounce the immorality of fucking around with his values, is now forced to acknowledge both the birth and its legitimacy. The New York Times , which had given the story front-page coverage for three days running, thundered on its editorial page the Monday-after that it was “an outrageous episode” and demanded to know “what kind of culture it is that can produce so colossal a mess?” But, in a reversal astounding for that Establishment journal, a second editorial Tuesday sheepishly allowed that the gathering was “essentially a phenomenon of innocence . . . they came, it seems, to … [Read more...] about Woodstock: ‘It Was Like Balling for the First Time’

The images couldn’t have been more different. The cover of the September 20th, 1969, issue of Rolling Stone showed a man and a child bathing in the nude in a lake, the essence of hippie gentility. A few months later, the photo on the cover of RS 50 [January 21st, 1970] was a grim antithesis: a huddled, anxious-looking crowd, shards of sunlight trying to poke through the mist. The cover line for the earlier issue – WOODSTOCK : 450,000 – was celebratory. For the latter, it was far more ominous: LET IT BLEED . By early 1969, multi-day festivals had become part of the rock & roll landscape. But as the magazine’s staff would learn, preconceptions about what a festival could be – or how wrong things could go – were about to go out the window. The publication’s coverage of Woodstock and Altamont tested the staff like never before – and proved definitively that Rolling Stone was a home for serious journalism, no matter the topic and no matter how close to home it hit. … [Read more...] about Rolling Stone at 50: Shaping Contrasting Narratives of Woodstock, Altamont

Products featured are independently selected by our editorial team and we may earn a commission from purchases made from our links; the retailer may also receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. The first two months of 2021 have brought no shortage of compelling, even great, movies and TV series but in March we’re getting some full-on events. A big, new animated Disney movie! Eddie Murphy returns to one of his most famous roles! Godzilla fights King Kong! Zack Snyder fights the limitations of a theatrical running time! It’s madness in the month of March! (If only there was some kind of pithy phrase that could be used to describe such a thing). March will also see the departure of a great sitcom and a new Marvel series. There’s no shortage of intriguing-looking things to watch, in other words, starting with a promising-looking first film from a familiar name. Debris (NBC, March 1st) What would it take to make a brash CIA agent (Jonathan Tucker) and a … [Read more...] about What to Watch in March: ‘Godzilla vs. Kong,’ New MCU Series and Prince Akeem Returns to America

I t was perhaps rock and roll’s all-time worst day, December 6th, a day when everything went perfectly wrong. Altamont remains Topic A among the musicians who were there. After all, it’s not every day that a rock and roll band’s performance, let alone the Rolling Stones ‘, is accompanied by a knifing, stomping murder within a scream of the stage. “The violence,” Keith Richards told the London Evening Standard , “just in front of the stage was incredible. Looking back I don’t think it was a good idea to have Hell’s Angels there. But we had them at the suggestion of the Grateful Dead . “The trouble is it’s a problem for us either way. If you don’t have them to work for you as stewards, they come anyway and cause trouble. “But to be fair, out of the whole 300 Angels working as stewards, the vast majority did what they were supposed to do, which was to regulate the crowds as much as possible without causing any trouble. But there were about 10 or 20 who were completely … [Read more...] about In the Aftermath of Altamont

Products featured are independently selected by our editorial team and we may earn a commission from purchases made from our links; the retailer may also receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. The entertainment world continues to be turned upside down by the pandemic. Though traditionally a big month for television, this February is seeing relatively few high-profile premieres. (It’s far from a complete desert, however, and includes the return of one of the FBI’s most famous fictional agents.) Those looking for movies, however, will have plenty of intriguing options, both in theaters and at home. These include both some acclaimed films that only played briefly in theaters for awards-qualifying runs back in December, and the first films to emerge from this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Here are a few that look like good bets in the year’s shortest, and often coldest, month. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (VOD, February 12th) The last time Kristen … [Read more...] about Viggo Mortensen Returns, New Kristen Wiig Comedy: Best Movies and TV to Stream in February