The Woodstock festival opens in Bethel, New York 1969
On this day in 1969, the Woodstock Music Festival opens on a patch of farmland in White Lake, a hamlet in the upstate New York town of Bethel.
(Visit Woodstock 1969 in the top side bar for 50+ music videos)
Promoters John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield and Michael
Lang originally envisioned the festival as a way to raise funds to build
a recording studio and rock-and-roll retreat near the town of
Woodstock, New York. The longtime artists’ colony was already a home
base for Bob Dylan and other musicians. Despite their relative
inexperience, the young promoters managed to sign a roster of top acts,
including the Jefferson Airplane, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Sly and
the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater
Revival and many more. Plans for the festival were on the verge of
foundering, however, after both Woodstock and the nearby town of
Wallkill denied permission to hold the event. Dairy farmer Max Yasgur
came to the rescue at the last minute, giving the promoters access to
his 600 acres of land in Bethel, some 50 miles from Woodstock.
Early estimates of attendance increased from 50,000 to around
200,000, but by the time the gates opened on Friday, August 15, more
than 400,000 people were clamoring to get in. Those without tickets
simply walked through gaps in the fences, and the organizers were
eventually forced to make the event free of charge. Folk singer and
guitarist Richie Havens kicked off the event with a long set, and Joan
Baez and Arlo Guthrie also performed on Friday night.
Somewhat improbably, the chaotic gathering of half a million young
“hippies” lived up to its billing of “Three Days of Peace and Music.”
There were surprisingly few incidents of violence on the overcrowded
grounds, and a number of musicians performed songs expressing their
opposition to the Vietnam War. Among the many great moments at the
Woodstock Music Festival were career-making performances by
up-and-coming acts like Santana, Joe Cocker and Crosby, Stills, Nash
& Young; the Who’s early-morning set featuring songs from their
classic rock opera “Tommy”; and the closing set by Hendrix, which
climaxed with an improvised solo guitar performance of “The Star
Spangled Banner.”
Though Woodstock had left its promoters nearly bankrupt, their
ownership of the film and recording rights more than compensated for the
losses after the release of a hit documentary film in 1970. Later music
festivals inspired by Woodstock’s success failed to live up to its
standard, and the festival still stands for many as a example of
America’s 1960s youth counterculture at its best.
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