August 15 marks 40 years since the infamous Woodstock festival. Billed as "An Aquarian Exposition", held at Max Yasgur's 600 acre dairy farm in the rural town of Bethel, New York. When initially organsing the festival, planners expected only 5000 people to attend. That got changed to 50,000 as the day drew nearer. We all know now that 500,000 people attended and over 1 million people couldn't get in.
Legendary acts Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Joan Baez, Santana, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, Sly & The Family Stone, The Who, Jefferson Airplane and Crosby Stills Nash & Young all performed at the three day festival. Stupidly, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Jethro Tull, Joni Mitchell and The Byrds all declined invitations for one reason or another. Morons.
Amazingly, only one reporter made it into Woodstock, Barnard Collier of The New York Times. He was almost continually pressed by his editors in New York to make the story about the immense traffic jams, the less-than-sanitary conditions, the rampant drug use, the lack of "proper policing", and the presumed dangerousness of so many young people congregating. Collier recalls: "Every major Times editor up to and including executive editor James Reston insisted that the tenor of the story must be a social catastrophe in the making. It was difficult to persuade them that the relative lack of serious mischief and the fascinating cooperation, caring and politeness among so many people was the significant point. I had to resort to refusing to write the story unless it reflected to a great extent my on-the-scene conviction that 'peace' and 'love' was the actual emphasis."
To coincide with the 40th anniversary, director Ang Lee has produced the movie 'Taking Woodstock' scheduled for release on August 28th. It's based on the book 'Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life' by Elliot Tiber and Tom Monte. Elliot Tiber volunteered his family's motel to be the home base for Woodstock concert organisers which would take place on a nearby farm owned by Max Yasgur.
Also, a Woodstock six-cd Box Set is also being released titled 'Woodstock: 40 Years On: Back to Yasgur's Farm'. The most significant aspect of this set is that it contains tracks by almost every single artist who appeared on the Woodstock stage in their proper sequence.
Legendary acts Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Joan Baez, Santana, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, Sly & The Family Stone, The Who, Jefferson Airplane and Crosby Stills Nash & Young all performed at the three day festival. Stupidly, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Jethro Tull, Joni Mitchell and The Byrds all declined invitations for one reason or another. Morons.
Amazingly, only one reporter made it into Woodstock, Barnard Collier of The New York Times. He was almost continually pressed by his editors in New York to make the story about the immense traffic jams, the less-than-sanitary conditions, the rampant drug use, the lack of "proper policing", and the presumed dangerousness of so many young people congregating. Collier recalls: "Every major Times editor up to and including executive editor James Reston insisted that the tenor of the story must be a social catastrophe in the making. It was difficult to persuade them that the relative lack of serious mischief and the fascinating cooperation, caring and politeness among so many people was the significant point. I had to resort to refusing to write the story unless it reflected to a great extent my on-the-scene conviction that 'peace' and 'love' was the actual emphasis."
To coincide with the 40th anniversary, director Ang Lee has produced the movie 'Taking Woodstock' scheduled for release on August 28th. It's based on the book 'Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life' by Elliot Tiber and Tom Monte. Elliot Tiber volunteered his family's motel to be the home base for Woodstock concert organisers which would take place on a nearby farm owned by Max Yasgur.
Also, a Woodstock six-cd Box Set is also being released titled 'Woodstock: 40 Years On: Back to Yasgur's Farm'. The most significant aspect of this set is that it contains tracks by almost every single artist who appeared on the Woodstock stage in their proper sequence.
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