[on the Altamont Free Concert] The vibes were bad. Something was very peculiar, not particularly bad, just peculiar. It was that kind of hazy, abrasive and unsure day. I had expected the loving vibes of Woodstock but that wasn't coming at me. This was a whole different thing.

[on the Monterey Pop Festival] It was the first time many of the bands have met and saw each other perform, so we were all really marveling at each other. It was just one good group of people after another. And different kinds of music -- from Jimi Hendrix to Ravi Shankar, The Mamas and the Papas to The Who. They had a backstage area where there was food being served 24 hours a day, so everybody was wandering around meeting each other. I was just amazing.

She's more even - [daughter China Kantner] - I think it jumps generations. You get a screwball in one, and then the next one is straight, then you get a screwball. My grandmother was goofy, my mother was straight.

But we all do sort of the same thing and that's rearrange what you thought was real, and they remind you of the beauty of very simple things. You forget, because you're so busy going from A to Z, that there's 24 letters in between.

I was appalled that the San Francisco ethic didn't mushroom and envelope the whole world into this loving community of acid freaks. I was very naive.

You can do jazz, classical, blues, opera, country until you're 50, but rap and rock-and-roll are really a way for young people to get that anger out. It's silly to perform a song that has no relevance to the present to express feelings that you no longer have.

I don't miss anything about the 1960s, not really. I did it. It's like asking, "Do you miss the fourth grade?". I loved the fourth grade when I was in it, but I don't want to do it again.

[late 1960s] We are the people that our parents warned us about.

Prancing around on stage is not the entire purpose of my life.

[August 16, 1969, upon walking out on stage at Woodstock] Alright friends, you have seen the heavy groups, now you will see morning maniac music. Believe me, yeah. It's a new dawn. Good morning, people!