Roots of the 1969 Woodstock Festival

Pan at Ann's Delicatessen in the '60s

In 1938 D.H. Lawrence wrote in The Phoenix, a Woodstock publication, “still in America, among the Indians, the oldest Pan is alive.” This is a fitting tribute to the bacchanalian energy that was present during the Maverick Festivals in the early 1900s. This spirit re-surfaced in the late sixties at the Woodstock Sound-Outs, where festival goers co-habituated with nature in weekend-long parties under the open skies.

What is not so well known is that the host of the Woodstock Sound-Outs was none other than Pansy “Pan” Drake Copeland (1910-1994). Pan was by turns a tough, feisty lady and a sweetheart. Bill West, a long-time politician, remembers taking Jay Rolison (who was running for the State Assembly) around to meet the shop keepers. He stopped in at Ann’s Delicatessen to meet Pan, the current owner. West had barely concluded the introductions when Copeland upbraided him about some totally unrelated town topic. Needless to say, the politicians beat a hasty retreat. On the other hand, according to Ellen McIlwaine, Pan was like a mother to her. In fact so much so that Copeland managed and guided Ellen’s career during the early seventies. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Bob Liikala, D. H. Lawrence, Maverick Festivals, Music from Big Pink, Pan Copeland, Sound-Outs Posted in Roots Book |