Woodstock: Philip Becker

Philip Becker, 65, of Port Washington spent a career in advertising and now runs a tutoring service for students.

I was working in the advertising business on Madison Avenue back then, but I was kind of conservative. The music and the politics of Woodstock weren't for me. Jimi Hendrix and the others weren't my type - I'm from an earlier rock and roll generation - the Beatles before they got really acid. Some Elvis, too. I liked Chubby Checker's "The Twist."

I was the son of a New Deal Democrat, but I respected President Nixon, and his balance-of-power politics . . . and I had a certain loyalty to the government.

I couldn't understand the politics of Woodstock. There was no structure there. The message was, 'Oh, wow, young people are taking over the world.' That was hard for me to get into. I'm not your typical Elks Club guy, but . . . I didn't even smoke.

My wife and I took three of our kids to Woodstock Two (in 1994). They were really into it. That was something I enjoyed for the children, but it didn't really reach me.