Background 3 social classes who were looking for answers in the new era of mystical spirituality. While Jones would acquire legitimate support from certain left-leaning politicians throughout the 1970s, the Peoples Temple would slowly become recognized as a cult and prompted Jones to move his temple to Guyana. Media-savvy personalities inevitably become talking points to demon- strate their impact or value to a particular social movement. For the period during which time psychedelic music came to its flowering matu- rity, certain personality types could negotiate their media placement to generate maximum impact for their message. The quest for personal enlightenment was mixed into the organic development of psychedelic music, and, for some, they are inseparable from each other. Elements of the movement were sucked into the abyss of pop psychology, inner peace, or spoiled political agendas, but thankfully some people simply could knock it (or someone) out when necessary. Abbie Hoffman, another self-appointed counterculture spokesperson, political activist, and anarchist, ran afoul of Pete Townshend, the Who’s guitarist, in a legendary exchange at Woodstock at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, August 17, 1969. The show order had been delayed, and when the Who took the stage at 5:00 a.m., following Sly and the Family Stone and ahead of Jefferson Airplane. Hoffman sorely misjudged the tenor of the moment and the artists onstage, whose time he attempted to hijack. The event was not captured on film, but an audio track of the event conveys the intensity and importance of this exchange. As a member of the Chicago Eight (or Chicago Seven, depending on whose narrative you choose to study), Hoffman possessed rather high opinions on the value of his beliefs. During a brief break in the Who’s set, Hoffman went on stage to make his own political statement, decry- ing John Sinclair’s conviction of ten years in prison for selling two joints to undercover cops. Townshend never was one to suffer fools, and upon realizing that Hoffman had interrupted their set, he removed Hoffman from the stage accompanied by a wave of expletives. Hoffman later claimed that he willingly left the stage, and Townshend denied attack- ing him however, witnesses claim Townshend whacked Hoffman in the back of the head with his guitar and sent him tumbling off the stage. Townshend agreed with Hoffman’s message, but he believed the Who’s set was no place for an outsider to make a statement. Hoffman, like Leary, may be viewed as an important figure in the psychedelic or counterculture movements, but it is best to leave the leg- acies of Leary, Kesey, Hoffman, and several other figures outside of the musical/social movements of psychedelia. All three men were expert
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