Welcome to my celebration of the 40th anniversary of the 1969 Woodstock concert.

I will be continually updating the slideshow and playlist throughout the summer, so feel free and check back whenever you wish.

Feel free to leave a comment with suggestions. I know that I didn’t include some of the bands that were there because I coundn’t find any descent images of them, but I’ll keep looking. Also, I had to use a couple of studio recordings.

The Woodstock Music and Art Fair was an event held at Max Yasgur’s600 acre dairy farm in the rural town of Bethel, New York from August 15 to August 18, 1969. Bethel (Sullivan County) is 43 miles (69 km) southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, which is in adjoining Ulster County.

The festival exemplified the counterculture of the late 1960s – early 1970s and the “hippie era”. Thirty-two of the best-known musicians of the day appeared during the sometimes rainy weekend. Although attempts have been made over the years to recreate the festival, the original event has proven to be unique and legendary. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest moments in popular music history and was listed on Rolling Stone’s 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll.

Woodstock was assembled through the joint work of Michael Long, John Roberts Joel Rosenman, and Artie Kornfeld.. It was Roberts and Rosenman who had the finances, and who placed the following advertisement in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal under the name of Challenge International, Ltd.: “Young men with unlimited capital looking for interesting, legitimate investment opportunities and business propositions.”

Lang and Kornfeld noticed the ad, and the four men got together originally to discuss a retreat-like recording studio in Woodstock, but the idea morphed into the festival as we have come to know it. There were problems among the four: Roberts was regimented, and knew what was needed in order for the venture to succeed, contrasted with the laid-back Lang who saw Woodstock as a new, relaxed way of bringing business people together. There were further doubts over the venture, as Roberts wondered whether to consolidate his losses and pull the plug, or to continue pumping his own finances into the project. His decision to continue with the project resulted in one of the most successful events in music history.

Woodstock was a profit-making venture, aptly titled “Woodstock Ventures”. It only became a “free concert” after it became obvious that the event was drawing hundreds of thousands more people than the organizers had prepared for. Around 186,000 tickets were sold beforehand and organizers anticipated approximately 200,000 festival-goers would turn up. The fence was purposely cut in order to create a totally free event, prompting many more to show up. Tickets for the event cost US$18 in advance (approximately US$75  today adjusted for inflation) and $24 at the gate for all three days. Ticket sales were limited to record stores in the greater New York City area, or by mail via a Post Office Box at the Radio City Station Post Office located in Midtown Manhattan.

The four founders behind Woodstock Ventures made Warner Brothers an offer to make a movie about Woodstock. All Artie Kornfeld required was $100,000. It would appear that it would benefit Warner Brothers, as “it could have either sold millions or, if there were riots, be one of the best documentaries ever made,” according to Kornfeld.

The festival came amidst military conflict abroad and racial discord at home. It was the biggest bash for the counterculture and is a reminder of the youthful hedonism and excess of the 60s. It was a culmination of what the counterculture meant — the bands appealed to the generation that was questioning the direction of American society. Many of the biggest artists of the 60s performed at the Festival, and it was their influence on the youth that brought them together to a farm in Bethel to struggle against bad weather, food shortages and poor sanitation.

The site of Woodstock became, for four days, a countercultural mini-nation. Minds were open, drugs were available and “love” was “free”. It was a festival where nearly 400,000 “hippies” came together to celebrate under the slogan of “three days of peace and music”. At the time, it held the record for the largest music audience in the world until the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen in 1973 drew 100,000 more people. Yippie activist Abbie Hoffman crystallized this view of the event in his book, Woodstock Nation, written shortly afterwards. It also created a massive traffic jam and closed the New York State Thruway.

delete reply welshdoug wrote on Jun 13, ’09 What about Slappy Squirrel and Skippy? They were there too! lol

delete reply strongwilledwoman wrote on Jun 13, ’09 Oh my gosh, now I feel older than I am! Hard to believe it has been 40 years, where does the time go?

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Jun 13, ’09 Maybe the younger generation can learn from us about how we wanted love to change the world.

delete reply gypsy4you wrote on Jun 13, ’09 How kool!

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Jun 14, ’09 strongwilledwoman said Hard to believe it has been 40 years, where does the time go? I know. I was thinking the same thing.

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Jun 19, ’09 welshdoug said What about Slappy Squirrel and Skippy? Oh yeah, Doug, I forgot about them !

delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 21, ’09 wonderful……………….except …………….doesn’t this make you feel so ….OLD ???

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Jun 22, ’09 forgetmenot525 said wonderful……………….except …………….doesn’t this make you feel so ….OLD ??? No, Loretta. I am aware that much time has passed, but I feel good about living in the present.

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Aug 14, ’09 Where were you then ?