Describing Woodstock as the ‘big bang,’ I think that’s a great way to describe it because the important thing about it wasn’t how many people were there or that it was a lot of truly wonderful music that got played.
David Crosby, The Byrds/Crosby, Stills & Nash
On August 15th, 1969, the first day of the most pivotal moments in pop music history, Woodstock Music & Arts Fair, began near Max Yasgur’s 600-acre farm in Bethel in New York, about 80 miles North of New York City. The festival happened on one of his hay fields about three miles from his home farm. Over 400,000 people attended the weekend event.
No reported incidents of violence happened. The only recorded incident happened on-stage. Abbie Hoffman rushed the stage during a break in The Who’s set. Hoffman took the mike and began a semi-coherent rant about freeing John Sinclair from jail. Pete Townshend turned, yelled at Hoffman to get off “my stage,” and hit the activist in the head with the neck of his guitar. Hoffman left the stage, and The Who proceeded with their set.
Stage announcements and folklore announced two births during Woodstock. However, no one has ever stepped forward as a Woodstock baby.
In fact, one baby was born in a car en route to the festival, and another was born in a local hospital after they airlifted its mother out of the festival in labor. The identities of these babies have never surfaced, however, countless people who claim to have been conceived at the Woodstock festival.
The festival organizers had originally wanted to hold the event in or near the village of Woodstock in New York, but a suitable location was not available to host the concert. With the permits revoked a month before the festival was to take place, Sullivan County dairy farmer Max Yasgur agreed to allow them to have their festival on his property in the Town of Bethel, New York.
The men behind Woodstock were Michael Lang, John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, and Artie Kornfeld. It was Roberts and Rosenman financed the festival.
They had no success signing acts until Creedence Clearwater Revival agreed to sign a contract for the event, agreeing to play for $10,000. Once CCR confirmed, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, (only their second live show), Santana, The Who, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Canned Heat and Joan Baez.
The promoters approached John Lennon to see if The Beatles would play, but the fab four were on the verge of breaking up. It was also reported that Lennon said he would only appear if his wife Yoko could perform her own set. The promoters were unsure about it.
Several iconic bands turned the event down. Manager Peter Grant turned down an offer Led Zeppelin to play, concerned that they would just be another band on a very full bill. Bob Dylan declined and performed at the Isle Of Wight festival.
The Doors considered appearing but declined the invitation, as did The Byrds and Jeff Beck.
The Jeff Beck Group (featuring Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, Aynsley Dunbar) broke up only weeks before the festival. Stuck at the airport, Iron Butterfly couldn’t get to the festival by ground transportation, so they demanded the festival promoters send a helicopter for them.
Some accounts say the promoters sent the band’s manager a telegram, the first letter of each line spelling out the words “F*** You.” Iron Butterfly never arrived at the festival.
According to drummer Bushy, “We went down to the Port Authority three times and waited for the helicopter, but it never showed up”. Woodstock Production Coordinator John Morris claims he sent the manager a telegram reading: “For reasons, I can’t go into / Until you are here / Clarifying your situation / Knowing you are having problems / You will have to find / Other transportation / Unless you plan not to come.”
The first letter of each line in the telegram spelled out the acrostic “Fuck You” making clear that the band was not welcome.
Joni Mitchell canceled at the last minute on the advice of her manager after seeing the traffic chaos on the TV news. Joni didn’t want to miss a scheduled appearance on The Dick Cavett TV Show the same weekend. Joni wrote a song about the event which captured the moment in time perfectly.
The opening act was Richie Havens. Heavy traffic had prevented the opening acts from arriving at the festival, and festival organizers convinced him to take the stage around 5:15 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Havens performed several encores, playing “every song he knew” as traffic prevented several acts from arriving on time. Searching for another song to sing, he began strumming, getting into a groove, when the word “Freedom” came to mind. He sang his now-famous song “Freedom” for the first time, on stage at Woodstock, making the words up as he played. He later told the story of having to see the movie “Woodstock,” so he could hear how the song went so he could perform it again.
The original poster by David Edward Byrd local shop owners declined to display the poster due to nudity.
The promoters commissioned a different design from Arnold Skolnick. Skolnick’s poster, a streamlined design presenting a white dove alighted on a guitar neck, against a sharp red backdrop. Skolnick’s tagline, “Three Days of Peace and Music,” grew into the rallying cry for the festival, and his “dove and guitar” came immediately, universally recognizable.
The film “Woodstock” won an Oscar for the Best Documentary in 1970.
Subsequent issues have added concert footage and extras. Martin Scorsese was assistant director and film editor Thelma Schoonmaker supervising editor directing the film. Scorsese and Schoonmaker have continued a director/editor team to this day, and Woodstock was their film together.
Some of the strongest musical acts of the era played at Woodstock, including Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Band, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, Ten Years After, Joan Baez, Santana, Joe Cocker, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Those who didn’t appear in the film, like Keef Hartley Band, and Quill, didn’t receive the boost the others did. Uneven performances by The Grateful Dead, The Band, and Janis Joplin kept them out of the original movie and not recognized for their performances until later releases of the film.
The historic hill on which the festival Three Day of Peace & Music was preserved in 2006 as the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. Its outdoor concert pavilion and museum campus are on the hill looking over the festival field. The Pavilion hosts outdoor shows in the summer months, and the Museum is open from April through December.
Several of the original Woodstock performers have played at Bethel Woods, including Santana, Joe Cocker, Hot Tuna (Jefferson Airplane), Starship (Jefferson Airplane), Joan Baez, Country Joe McDonald, Richie Havens, Melanie, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Levon Helm (The Band), Arlo Guthrie, John Sebastian, Leslie West (Mountain), The Family Stone, and Furthur, Phil Lesh & Friends, and Ratdog (all Grateful Dead spinoffs). Many of these performers have enjoyed the museum and toured the memorable location at Bethel Woods.
