"Young men with unlimited capital looking for
interesting, legitimate investment opportunities and business
propositions."
-- New York Times, 3/22/68
Woodstock Ventures, Inc. (1969): The
Producers
The story of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair begins with
Michael Lang, a kid out of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, who liked
to smoke a
joint and listen to jazz.
He would find his way
to Florida, open a head shop, and produce his first
festival—Miami Pop, featuring Jimi Hendrix,
Frank Zappa, and
others—then travel to Woodstock, \where, after meeting Artie
Kornfeld, their vision for a festival where folks
could come
and stay for a few days amid the rural beauty of upstate New
Yorkwould become a reality. Together with new partners
John
Roberts and Joel Rosenman, and a handpicked crew, Lang
booked talent, from Janis Joplin and the Who to the
virtually unknown Santana and Crosby, Stills and Nash; won
over agents, promoters, and townspeople; took on fleets of
volunteers;
built a festival sitefrom the ground up; and,
in the end, created the landmark cultural event that defined
a generation.
The four met in February 1969, and
by the end of their third meeting, the little party had
snowballed into a bucolic concert for 50,000,
the world's
largest rock and roll show ever, and the four partners
formed Woodstock Ventures Inc., named after the hip little
Ulster County town.
John
Roberts
President, 24
(1945 - 2001)
“It was certainly worth any financial trouble we
may be in.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joel Rosenman
Vice President, 26
“Those of us who have worked on this
thing have
learned an awful lot about each other. You can learn a
lot about human nature when the chips are down."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Artie Kornfeld
Vice President, 26
“Except for when my wife and I had a
baby, this has been the grooviest trip of my life.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michael Lang
Producer, 24
“We hope the feelings of peace and
pleasure that
were in this place, will follow out into the streets
so all can share them.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| |
The "Woodstock" Postage Stamp Is Unveiled
July 8, 1999
|
Artie Kornfeld, Michael Lang and Joel
Rosenman
attends the "Woodstock 40th Anniversary"
Blu-Ray release
party at Hard Rock Cafe - Times Square
June 4, 2009
in New York City. (Photo by Brad
Barket/Getty Images)
|
|
Induct Michael Lang & Artie Kornfeld
to the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame
Sign the Petition
