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The Spectacle Blog
I read Lisa Fabrizio’s article which likens Occupy Wall Street to Woodstock.
While I’m sure those at Occupy WS see this as their Woodstock there are significant differences.
The Woodstock Music & Art Festival: An Aquarian Exposition was intended as a profit making venture and was funded by two New York City businessmen, Joel Rosenman and John P. Roberts who formed a partnership with Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld.
The concert was originally supposed to take place in Wallkill, New York but the city fathers bailed a month before the show. All things considered, how could you have three days of peace and music in a place called Wallkill?
But Max Yasgur, a dairy farmer from Bethel, New York, would soon come to the rescue offering Woodstock Ventures a portion of his land for $75,000. It is worth noting that Yasgur did not share the politics of the countercultural generation with regard to the War in Vietnam and other matters. But as Michael Lang told me back in 2009, Yasgur thought “everybody deserved a chance to prove themselves.”
Tickets to Woodstock cost $6 or $8 for a one day pass and $18 to $24 for a three day pass. Of course, as we all know, the event turned into a logistical nightmare when far more people showed up than expected. Woodstock Ventures was left with little choice but to declare it a free concert and soak in the financial bath that went with it. Although money was made from both the soundtrack and the movie, they did not recoup their losses until the early 1980s.
As of this writing, Zuccotti Park has been occupied for forty days with no end in sight. By the time Jimi Hendrix played “The Star-Spangled Banner” on the final morning of the concert more than 95% of the estimated half million who attended Woodstock had already left Yasgur’s Farm.
I must also disagree with Fabrizio’s assertion that the music at Woodstock was awful. I think Joe Cocker’s cover of The Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends”, Richie Havens’ “Freedom” (which was improvised on the spot) and Santana’s “Soul Sacrifice” have stood the test of time. I doubt that anybody in the drum circle at Zuccotti Park could a hold a candle to Michael Shrieve’s drum solo in support of Carlos Santana.
Then there was Bert Sommer. If the name draws a blank, that’s OK. He was the forgotten man of Woodstock having been left off the soundtrack, the movie and even its plaque. Sommer had little success in the music business following Woodstock aside from a stint as part of Kaptain Kool & The Kongs on The Krofft Supershow as well as on Donny & Marie in the late 1970s. But Sommer had an exquisite voice as demonstrated in his song “Jennifer.” Sadly, he passed away in 1990.
Somehow I don’t think there’s a lot of peace, fun and music to be had at Occupy Wall Street.
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More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/10/26/why-woodstock-occupy-ws-are-di
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 10.26.11 @ 6:25PM
Many may have been liberals but the Woodstock crowd were not moochers. Tickets were for sale and they were purchased. Food was for sale and purchased.
OWS is nothing but moochers supported by other moochers looking for their next level of mooching. Obama, who is King Moocher, is on board.
Peace + Love | 10.26.11 @ 8:27PM
Freedom of expression was a large part of Woodstock too.
One little note of interest- Woodstock Ventures did not make money off of the soundtrack or film. They sold the rights to Warner Brothers so that they could cover their debts after the festival became free. John Roberts who funded it walked away having lost all of his money. Honorable people paid their debts and their word was their word. I wonder what would happen today.
tidebuymy | 10.27.11 @ 3:12AM
Woodstock Ventures did not make money off of the soundtrack or film. They sold the rights to Warner Brothers so that they could cover their debts after the festival became free
Tom H| 10.27.11 @ 10:47AM
The best music played at Woodstock was by the group that no one knows actually played, i.e. The Band (best ensemble rock band ever, IMHO). They had recently released their Big Pink album which, of course, was actually recorded in Woodstock, where they lived at the time. The reason no one knows they played at Woodstock is that they weren't in the movie. Why? The quality of the recording of them was so technically bad that they refused to allow it to be used. But, there are some Utube tapes out there with the great Richard Manuel singing "Tears Of Rage" . Truly great song.
Al Adab| 10.27.11 @ 12:58PM
Ahh, The Band, "Up on Cripple Creek".
Only Republican at Woodstock| 10.27.11 @ 1:04PM
Yep, I really was there, and there were some big differences between the Woodstockers and the OWS crowd. The Woodstockers did leave after three days, and a big difference was that SOME people paid for their tickets. The "festival" was, however, overrun by the freeloaders, who had a lot in common with the OWS bunch. They have the same economic sense and the same sanitary habits. I am also a native New Yorker, so I know what both groups smelled like. BTW, those who had paid for their tickets did not get what they paid for, since many could not get anywhere close to the stage. Some may feel nostalgia for the music, and think of what they heard on the album or saw on electronically processed film, but the acoustics stunk if you were there and not close to the stage, so I have to go with Ms. Fabrizio on the music.
P.S. Those who paid for what they did not get never got any refunds. Maybe that's when I knew I was a republican.
Online Shopping | 10.27.11 @ 11:37PM
One little note of interest- Woodstock Ventures did not make money off of the soundtrack or film. They sold the rights to Warner Brothers so that they could cover their debts after the festival became free.