 Welcome to the Woodstock - Preservation Archives Dedicated to the Historic Preservation of the Site of the 1969 Woodstock Festival THE WOODSTOCK SITE Hurd & West Shore Rds Sullivan County Bethel NY |
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Welcome to the Woodstock - Preservation Archives Dedicated to the Historic Preservation of the Site of the 1969 Woodstock Festival THE WOODSTOCK SITE Hurd & West Shore Rds Sullivan County Bethel NY |
| ARTIE KORNFELD |
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"One night, we
were playing bumper pool, smoking some great Columbian, and Michael
started teasing me that I didn't go to clubs
anymore to see live acts; truth being, after 12 years in the music
business I'd become too busy. That's when I said 'Michael, I
have a great idea. What if we had all the money in the world -
we could rent a Broadway theater, have a concert, and just invite
our friends. We could get Jimi Hrndrix, The Rolling Stones,
Creedence Clearwater, Sly Stone, the Beatles, and every other act
that we would love to see perform. We won't charge anything,
and it will be one of the greatest parties of all time.' I
thought I'd finally get to see all these acts, and Michael thought
we should host our festival in Woodstock, New York. It was a
popular artist colony. People like Paul Butterfield, Bob
Dylan, The Band, and Richie Havens were also living there, and itt
had really become the 'in' place. We talked endlessly about
putting on this show and hoped that maybe 100,000 people would show
up, or at least 50,000. My wife, Linda, thought maybe half a
million because those love-ins were getting 10,000 people, and if we
had all those acts... I would say we drempt about his for months and
figured it would stay just that... a dream."
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 FROM:
ARTIE KORNFELD TO: WPA AND THE ENTIRE WOODSTOCK NATION. "THAT PIECE OF GROUND WE MADE INTO THE GREATEST PEACEFUL EVENT IN HISTORY HAS 
BEEN TAKEN FROM US. WE CANNOT WALK ON THE GROUNDS OR EVEN TOUCH THE
MONUMENT, WITHOUT PAYING, FOR SOMETHING MICHAEL, JOHN, JOEL AND I
INVITED YOU TO COME TO. 35 YEARS LATER OUR HEARTS AND SOUL ARE BEING
BURIED THERE AT OUR OWN WOUNDED KNEE, I WILL NOT LET THE LOSS OF A
PIECE OF HALLOWED GROUND CORRUPT MY INNER BEING, AND I WILL ALONG
WITH YOU ALL, HOLD OUR GROUND, METAPHORICALLY, IN HISTORY AND IN OUR
INNER BEINGS FOR ETERNITY. THEY WILL NOT LIVE RENT FREE IN OUR MINDS
BECAUSE OF A FENCE. WHILE IN ALBANY I WAS APPROACHED BY THE GERRY FOUNDATION, AND WAS VERY COMRADE-LIKE SHOWN THE PLANS BY JONATHON DRAPKIN AND ROBIN GERRY. WHEN I GOT BACK TO FLORIDA I SPOKE TO JON, THE RIGHT HAND, AND THEN TRIED TO REACH A VERY FRIENDLY ROBIN. I RECEIVED NO RETURN, SO I HAD NO CHANCE FOR LAST MINUTE SALVO ON A PERSONAL LEVEL WITH HER. I HAVE RECEIVED AN INVITATION TO THE CEREMONIES THAT SITS NOT FRAMED UNDER A PILE OF BILLS.  WE HAVE WON ALTHOUGH OUTWARDLY IMPERIALISM GOES FOREWARD. INSIDE WE ARE "THE WOODSTOCK NATION" AND I FOR ONE WILL NEVER GIVE UP, AS CO-CREATOR AND PROMOTER, MY PART OF OUR NATION I HOLD DEARLY. SOUR GRAPES AT THIS POINT ARE TO NO AVAIL. STAND PROUD OF YOUR INSPIRING FIGHT. WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS MY FRIENDS." ARTIE KORNFELD |
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ARTIE
KORNFELD LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT January 2, 2011 |
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| For Kornfeld, Woodstock wasn't a
matter of building stages, signing acts or even selling tickets. For
him, the festival was always a state of mind, a happening that would
exemplify the generation. (Excerpt: How Woodstock Happened…Part 1 By:Elliot Tiber |
 Artie Signing the Woodstock Monument |
 The ARTIE KORNFELD SHOW Tuesday Evenings, 10PM, EDT |
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