Woodstock Revisited

On August 15, 16 and 17, 1969, history was being made on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York when Max Yasgur leased his Alfalfa field for $75,000 to band manager Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld, a record company executive. Their goal was to stage a three day rock concert to raise money to build a recording studio in Woodstock, New York.

They originally hoped to hold the concert in Woodstock, but could not find a suitable venue. Plan B called for holding the concert in nearby Wallkill, New York, about 40 miles away. The town's leaders refused to issue a permit, knuckling under to pressure from local residents. The promoters finally struck a deal with Max Yasgur. As they say,The rest is history."

The 400,000 people at the "Woodstock Music & Art Fair", as it was originally billed, were treated to thirty-two acts at the show. Tickets for the event originally went on sale for $18 for all three days ($24 at the gate}. When it was obvious more than 50,000 people were going to show up for the concert, the fences were torn down and admission was declared free of charge.

The concert turned out to be three days of "tuning in, turning on, and dropping out." Marijuana and LSD were used openly and freely. Free love abounded. Any flower child who truly believed in ending the Viet Nam War and racial prejudices was there.

They came by bus, automobile, motorcycle and on foot. Over 400,000 people made the sojourn to Yasgur's Farm. All facets of life were represented: doctors, lawyers, the clergy, students, white collar workers, blue collar workers, educators, and their children.

The throng was treated to three days of music from some of the best bands of the time. There were two performers who wanted to take part in the festivities but didn't make it. John Lennon was in Canada and couldn't obtain a visa. Joni Mitchell, who penned the song "Woodstock", did not attend due to a scheduling conflict. She was booked to do the Dick Cavett show. As she watched the news reports from the concert on TV, it is said tears were streaming down her face. She got the idea for the song from her boyfriend at the time, Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, who performed at Woodstock and relayed his experiences to her. One band scheduled to perform, Iron Butterfly, didn't make it due flight connection problems. Also, the Jeff Beck group, featuring Rod Stewart, left before their scheduled performance.

A three hour rain storm, which dropped five inches of rain, didn't dampen the festivities or spirit of the concertgoers. The show went on, with Joan Baez performing during the storm.

Considered to be one of the best performances, Joe Cocker performed his rendition of the Beatles' "With A Little Help From My friend." Other British bands included Ten Years After and the Who.

The first performer, Richie Havens, wasn't scheduled to perform first. Sweetwater was the first band schedule, but they got caught up in the huge traffic jam caused by concert goers. Havens did his set and was ready to exit the stage when the stage manager asked him to do an encore because the next band wasn't ready to start. It was during his last encore that he played the his famous son "Freedom", which he improvised on the spot.

The show closed with Jimi Hendrix playing his rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" on his electric guitar. Unfortunately, a large part of the crowd didn't even hear this classic rendition. Most of them had already packed up and left that Monday morning before Hendrix got on the stage.

One of the best quotes about the Woodstock Festival came from none other than Roy Rogers, the King of the Cowboys, was asked to close the show with his famous song "Happy Trails To You." On the advice of his manager, Roy declined the invitation. Years later he was was quoted as saying, "I would have been booed off the stage by all those goddam hippies."

If Max Yasgur only knew how he would be a part of American history. Max Yasgur died of a heart attack at the age of 53 on February 9, 1973.