Woodstock was initiated through the efforts of Michael Lang, 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.”[2]
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 an outdoor music and arts festival. There were
differences in approach among the four: Roberts was disciplined, and
knew what was needed in order for the venture to succeed, while the
laid-back Lang saw Woodstock as a new, relaxed way of bringing business
people together.[2]
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.[2] His decision to continue with the project resulted in one of the most successful events in music history.
Woodstock was designed as a profit-making venture, aptly titled
"Woodstock Ventures". It famously became a "free concert" only 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.[3] The fence was purposely cut by the UAW/MF family[citation needed]
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)[4] 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.
Woodstock Ventures made Warner Brothers
an offer to make a movie about Woodstock. All Artie Kornfeld required
was $100,000, on the basis that "it could have either sold millions or,
if there were riots, be one of the best documentaries ever made,"
according to Kornfeld.[5]
The influx of young people to the rural concert site in Bethel
created a massive traffic jam and closed the New York State Thruway.[3]
The facilities were not equipped to provide sanitation or first aid for
the number of people attending; hundreds of thousands found themselves
in a struggle against bad weather, food shortages and poor sanitation.[6]
The festival was held during a time of military conflict abroad and
racial discord at home, and participants quickly became aware that the
event had taken on a meaning beyond its original intent. The site of
Woodstock became, for four days, a countercultural mini-nation. Minds
were open, drugs were available and "love" was "free". Yippie activist Abbie HoffmanWoodstock Nation, written shortly afterwards. crystallized this view of the event in his book,
Although the festival was remarkably peaceful given the number of
people and the conditions involved, there were two recorded fatalities:
one from what was believed to be a herointractor
in a nearby hayfield. There were also two births recorded at the event
(one in a car caught in traffic and another in a helicopter) and four
miscarriages.[7]
Oral testimony in the film supports the overdose and run-over deaths
and at least one birth, along with many colossal logistical headaches. overdose; another caused by an occupied sleeping bag accidentally being run over by a
Yet, in tune with the idealistic hopes of the 1960s,
Woodstock satisfied most attendees. Especially memorable were the sense
of social harmony, the quality of music, and the overwhelming mass of
people, many sporting bohemian dress, behavior, and attitudes. [8]
After the concert Max Yasgur,
who owned the site of the event, saw it as a victory of peace and love.
He spoke of how nearly half a million people filled with possibilities
of disaster, riot, looting, and catastrophe spent the three days with
music and peace on their minds. He states that “if we join them, we can
turn those adversities that are the problems of America today into a
hope for a brighter and more peaceful future...”[2]
Sound for the concert was engineered by Bill Hanley, whose innovations in the sound industry have earned him the prestigious Parnelli Award.[9]
"It worked very well," he says of the event. "I built special speaker
columns on the hills and had 16 loudspeaker arrays in a square platform
going up to the hill on 70-foot [21 meter] towers. We set it up for
150,000 to 200,000 people. Of course, 500,000 showed up."[citation needed] ALTEC
designed 4 – 15 marine ply cabinets that weighed in at half a ton a
piece, stood 6 feet straight up, almost 4 feet deep & 3 feet wide.
Each of these woofers carried four 15-inch JBL LANSING D140 loudspeakers. The tweetersthe Woodstock Bins. consisted of 4x2-Cell & 2x10-Cell Altec Horns. For many years this system was collectively referred to as
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