1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:24,239 Speaker 1: Woodstock are insane. Three days of peace, love, music and 3 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 1: two deaths, extortion on stage, maximum rock and roll violence, 4 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 1: too many drug overdoses to count, near mass electrocution, in 5 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: a lot of dumb luck. The iconic music festival is 6 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: known as the generation defining moment, when the baby Boomers 7 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: demonstrated to the world the power of peace, love and communalism. 8 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: But was that really what went down at old Man 9 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: Yazger's farm on the third weekend of August in nineteen 10 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,560 Speaker 1: sixty nine, or were those of us who didn't attend, 11 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: either because we weren't yet born, were too old, too young, 12 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: or too preoccupied with the responsibilities of life to just 13 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: not be interested where we sold a vision of Woodstock 14 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 1: that was as mythical and unrealistic as the hippie dream 15 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: baby Boomers have been peddling ever since. The idealized notion 16 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: of the vaunted sixties came to be Woodstock the Movie. 17 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: The documentary film, released a year after the festival in 18 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy, quickly established itself as the document of record 19 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: on Woodstock the event. The movie paints a romanticized picture 20 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 1: and has come to define the festival and our collective 21 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: cultural memory, perhaps more strongly than the recollections of those 22 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: who are actually there, either as fans, performers, or organizers 23 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: at the festival. So what actually happened at Woodstock? Was 24 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: it the hippie utopia depicted in the documentary or in 25 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,960 Speaker 1: all actuality? Was the real Woodstock more like a disaster movie? 26 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: One thing's for sure, great music was made at Woodstock. 27 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: Jimmy Hendrix, The Who, Sly in the Family, Stone Santana, 28 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: Richie Havens, and Joe Cocker to name a few. Unlike 29 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: that music, I played few at the time top of 30 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: the show that wasn't great music. That was a preset 31 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: loop from my mellotron called Bone Bone Daddy O MK two. 32 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: I played you that loop because I can't afford the 33 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: rights to Aquarius Let the Sunshine in by the fifth Dimension. 34 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,240 Speaker 1: And why would I play you that specific slice of 35 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: moon in the seventh House Cheese? Could I afford it? 36 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:25,079 Speaker 1: Because that was the number one song in America on 37 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: April nineteenth, nineteen sixty nine, And that was the day 38 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: Michael Lang and his Woodstock Ventures Company began running its 39 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: first advertisements promoting a music festival in upstate New York, 40 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 1: a festival that would not only define a generation, but 41 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: go on to influence and shape multiple generations to come. 42 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:50,239 Speaker 1: On This a special two part episode Dumb Luck, Hypocritical Hippies, 43 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius and Woodstock, A 44 00:02:53,840 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: disaster movie. I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgraceland. All right, man, 45 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: everybody cool out, put the guns down. Twenty three year 46 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: old first time concert promoter Michael Lange was in the 47 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: unenviable position of trying to diffuse the heavily armed, gun 48 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: drawn tension between a handful of Florida's redneck cops and 49 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: some blue collar Brinx truck guards, and the cops weren't listening. 50 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: All four of them had their standard issue pistols drawn, 51 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: and each had the unmistakable look of eagerness on their faces. 52 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: They were spoiling for an old fashioned showdown. Nineteen sixty eight, Miami, Florida, 53 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: only thirty five years removed from prohibition. The two older 54 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: Brinx truck drivers ex cops themselves remembered the era of 55 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: bootlegging and rum running. Fondly beefs were settled easy, just 56 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: like this in back rooms with bullets, no grand juries, 57 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: no hero prosecutors. The Brinks Guards were outnumbered but equally 58 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,720 Speaker 1: ready for a shootout. It was the only way. They 59 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,719 Speaker 1: aimed their guns right back at the redneck cops on 60 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: the line. Professional pride and thousands of dollars in off 61 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: duty pay for the Brinks Guards, professional pride in not 62 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: being held up by some closet KKK wing nuts hiding 63 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: behind badges, and for the cops off duty pay a 64 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: lot of it. They were hired by and owed the 65 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: money from the long haired, dough ied twenty three year 66 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: old hippie trying to squash this impending massacre. Michael Lang 67 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,840 Speaker 1: was experienced in little beyond bullshitting his way through life 68 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: up until that point. It turned out to be the 69 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: perfect skill for the moment he told the cops there 70 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: was no need to be so heavy and they were 71 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:02,799 Speaker 1: going to get paid. Were skeptical in this concert of Michael's, 72 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,279 Speaker 1: the Gulf Stream Festival, with a lineup that included Jimmy Hendrix, 73 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: the Mothers of Invention, Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker, and 74 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:13,279 Speaker 1: that fucking lunatic Arthur Brown, was a complete and total 75 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: shit show. Rain It blew in hard for two of 76 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,919 Speaker 1: the three scheduled festival days. There was no plan for 77 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 1: the rain, just cancelation. Kids didn't show, kids didn't fork 78 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,160 Speaker 1: over their cash. Two days of financial loss for Michael 79 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 1: and his festival investors. And the cops were no dummies. 80 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: They knew the only way they were going to get 81 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: paid for their services as hired security was to head 82 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: off the Brinks truck at the pass i e upon 83 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:42,920 Speaker 1: arrival to collect what there was of the festival cash 84 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 1: from the one day gate as the Brinks guards were 85 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 1: bringing said cash to a local bank, whereupon the receipts 86 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 1: would be tallied and Michael and his investors would no 87 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 1: doubt get paid first, if at all, and determined which 88 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: performers and vendors were to get paid next, if any. 89 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: Fuck that the were going to take theirs off the 90 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,960 Speaker 1: top like politicians before Michael could charm his way out 91 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: of paying them, and the cops had been putting up 92 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: with and witnessing Michael's bullshit all weekend, but when the 93 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,840 Speaker 1: shit hit the fan and this kid shined. Michael Lang 94 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:18,839 Speaker 1: was a natural producer. He was blessed with easy charm 95 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:21,479 Speaker 1: and innate confidence and was able to smile his way 96 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: through most any crisis, widening his eyes and grinning through 97 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 1: the chaos in a manner that said to everyone around him, 98 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: be cool. I got this where it came from. Michael 99 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,159 Speaker 1: didn't know, he always had it. It got him to 100 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: this point, got his parents back in Brooklyn to buy 101 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: him his first car and let him skip out on college, 102 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: and got them to finance his first business endeavor down 103 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 1: here in Florida, headshop owner. That was the first thing 104 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:50,400 Speaker 1: before this new trip, this new foray into the growing 105 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: music industry as a festival producer. But the head shop 106 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:58,719 Speaker 1: didn't go so well. More trouble with local cops. The 107 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: sledgehammers came in hard to the little shop's glass, and 108 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: the redneck cops wielded them mercilessly, bringing the giant hammers 109 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: down and into everything inside the one of a kind headshop, 110 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: destroying black light, posted walls, glass water pipes, lava lamps, dreamcatchers, 111 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: the latest in fringe fashion and for what Because fuck 112 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: the hippies and fuck Michael Lang. Who the fuck did 113 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: this New York transplant that he was coming down to 114 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: Dade County and opening up a headshop and doing it loudly. 115 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 1: Michael's headshop, called the Headshop, was the first of its 116 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:36,600 Speaker 1: kind in Florida, and it was a big fucking deal. 117 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: Its opening was an occasion, so much so that the 118 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 1: local students organized a little happening a live rock band 119 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: in other festivities. Michael Lang, barely out of high school 120 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: in Brooklyn, had settled himself thirteen hundred miles away into 121 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: the asshole of America and become a local celebrity. But 122 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: again from the local cops perspective, fuck these hippies, Fuck 123 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: Michael Lay. They destroyed his head shop the night of 124 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: its grand opening, in full view of all in attendance, 125 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: and they didn't care who knew about it. They rationalized 126 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: the violent destruction by claiming Michael didn't have the proper 127 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 1: business permit to open such an establishment, and of course 128 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:22,720 Speaker 1: he didn't. Afterward, Michael, not one to accept defeat, was 129 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: determined to snatch his own little piece of this new 130 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 1: sixties utopia in a different way. Music festival culture was 131 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: on the rise in America. Monterey Pop on the West 132 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 1: Coast a year earlier in nineteen sixty seven was a hit. 133 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: The Grateful Dead were staging beautifully free musical happenings in 134 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,000 Speaker 1: the middle of their home city of San Francisco to 135 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 1: fantastic results, and each year it seemed some artist or 136 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 1: another was producing a can't miss, much talked about performance 137 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 1: at either the Newport Folk or Newport Jazz festivals. From 138 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: Dylan going electric in sixty five at Folk to Nina 139 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:03,680 Speaker 1: Simone mesmerizing at Jazz Fest in sixty seven. It was 140 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:07,240 Speaker 1: now nineteen sixty eight. Kids were getting turned on all 141 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:10,600 Speaker 1: over and the festival scene was in large part responsible 142 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: for flicking the switch. Michael couldn't sing, and Michael couldn't play, 143 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:16,080 Speaker 1: and Michael couldn't write. 144 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:20,080 Speaker 2: But Michael believed. He believed in the moment, He believed 145 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,600 Speaker 2: in the hippie idealism, he believed in his generation, and 146 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 2: he believed that he had what it took to organize 147 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 2: and sell a music festival. Why not forget about the headshot. 148 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:32,200 Speaker 2: That was small time, That. 149 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: Was glory in the greater good, glory in the power 150 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: of the people, and Michael Lang could be the one 151 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 1: who brought the people together through music. That's what the 152 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 1: Gulf Stream Festival was all about. 153 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 2: He believed in it, So what if it didn't work, 154 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 2: He'd live and learn he believed. 155 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:51,000 Speaker 1: In himself and used that belief to quell the simmering 156 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: violence surrounding him at the moment, assuring the cops that 157 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 1: were going to get paid right then and there, and 158 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,560 Speaker 1: assuring the Brinks guards they weren't subverting their professional duty. 159 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: Forget what their manifest said. Michael was the producer. He 160 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:06,840 Speaker 1: was responsible for the money, and these hard working cops 161 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: needed to get paid, especially before that hippie Jimmy Hendrix 162 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: or that man act violating Chuck Berry. The Brink's guards 163 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:18,600 Speaker 1: were made to understand, the cops were made whole, and 164 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 1: Michael Lang was about to make an entirely different scene, 165 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:25,080 Speaker 1: one where the cops weren't so heavy, one where the 166 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:28,480 Speaker 1: arts were better appreciated, one where musicians were flocking you, 167 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: where a young man like Michael could make something out 168 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 1: of nothing, One where that hippie utopia dream wasn't so 169 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 1: far out, where it was possible. In that place was Woodstock, 170 00:10:39,559 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: New York. Michael Lang took his home turf of New 171 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: York back like a hurricane. He landed on the coast 172 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:15,080 Speaker 1: the island of Manhattan before making his way inland upstate 173 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: to Woodstock in Manhattan as always he was a man 174 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: on the make. The first thing Michael Lang needed to 175 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: make was money. He had a group he was managing 176 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:30,160 Speaker 1: Train and they were awful. Didn't matter, they were hip 177 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: like him. Michael wormed his way into Capitol Records and 178 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:38,680 Speaker 1: somehow found the perfect Mark, Artie Kornfeld, Capital's East Coast 179 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 1: director of contemporary music. Artie was a bit older than Michael. 180 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,960 Speaker 1: He came up through the brill building system, penning songs 181 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,840 Speaker 1: for the Charelles and the Angels, co writing a cut 182 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 1: with Jan Berry, who would later go on to comprise 183 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 1: one half of Jan and Dean and Jan later introduced 184 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: Artie to genius songwriter beach Boy Brian Wilson. Yet, despite 185 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 1: this impressive experience, Ardy Kornfeld, by the time the late 186 00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: sixties rolled around, was decidedly on hip, and he was 187 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,920 Speaker 1: working a plum gig at the music industry's most unhipped label, 188 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 1: Capitol Records. Capital had the Beatles in America on their label, 189 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: but as far as music industry hipsters were concerned, Capital 190 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:21,160 Speaker 1: was Lamesville, empowered by the steady selling blandness of the 191 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,839 Speaker 1: four freshmen in the Letterman already may have been on hip, 192 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:26,960 Speaker 1: but He made a practice of keeping his ear to 193 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: the ground for the next big thing. Then one day 194 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 1: his secretary buzzed the kid with the next big thing 195 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 1: into his office. It was Michael Lang the tie diyed shrubs, 196 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 1: spewing Max hippie dippy bullshit about how already just had 197 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,600 Speaker 1: to sign the band he managed to train, already listened 198 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 1: to the band's demo. It was totally lacking in anything 199 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:53,600 Speaker 1: resembling talent, but Michael had something. What it was, Arti 200 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: Kornfeld didn't know, but he wanted in on it. He 201 00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:59,560 Speaker 1: needed it. He was flailing and disinterested in his gig. 202 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:04,080 Speaker 1: Michael offered a view into the future on a haunch 203 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:07,600 Speaker 1: that was conflicted at best. Arty agreed to have Capital 204 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:09,959 Speaker 1: bank roll the development of train and cut Michael a 205 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,840 Speaker 1: check for ten grand. Michael had his money, and as 206 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:19,280 Speaker 1: Mark a friendship was struck. Michael had other ideas. Out 207 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:22,520 Speaker 1: of sight Artie was all years. Michael casually tooked up 208 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: some grass right there in Artie's office and passed the 209 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,840 Speaker 1: joint across the desk to his new rabbi. Arty, freaked 210 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:32,680 Speaker 1: out by this highly unprofessional move, tried not to appear uptight, 211 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:34,920 Speaker 1: grabbed the joint and puffed on it like it was 212 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:38,320 Speaker 1: part of his daily routine. It wasn't. Michael had his 213 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: talents in the executive. He leaned back in the chair 214 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: across from Arty's desk and proceeded to delight the uptight 215 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:47,440 Speaker 1: music executive with stories from his recent foray into the 216 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:52,360 Speaker 1: music business in Florida. Tales of smugglers and thieves, sledgehammers, 217 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,640 Speaker 1: slamming cops, and Jimmy Hendrix on acid and Chuck Barry 218 00:13:55,679 --> 00:14:00,560 Speaker 1: on fire, speedways and rednecks, Mexican standos with brinkstruck and 219 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:06,199 Speaker 1: closeted KKK members, real outlaws, and the result experience. It 220 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 1: was a heavy scene. Michael had a better idea. He'd 221 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: relocated away from Florida, away from Manhattan, upstate to Woodstock, 222 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 1: New York already had never heard of it. Arty's stone 223 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: face said one thing, tell me more. Bob Dylan was 224 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,360 Speaker 1: living up there, so as his band, the band Tim 225 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:27,480 Speaker 1: Harden too. More musicians were making their way. It was 226 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: a bucolic retreat for Rock Royalty, a return to nature. 227 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: Woodstock's wooded natural environment made for a natural escape from 228 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 1: the city Just one hundred miles south. It was only 229 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 1: a matter of time before the entirety of the East 230 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 1: Coast rock elite found their way there. Michael wanted to 231 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: make it real, formalize it, make a real retreat, an 232 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:51,040 Speaker 1: actual place of venue, a lodge, a resort, a fucking 233 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: utopian paradise, man where top notch talent could steal away 234 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,120 Speaker 1: from the pressures of the industry to chill naturally, music 235 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 1: would be made. Perhaps there was a way to cat 236 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: capture that music and to then capitalize on the recordings. 237 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: Larti took the bait immediately. He was perfectly positioned in 238 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 1: his position. A capital to help. He'd steer talent capital 239 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,240 Speaker 1: and non capital already had connections. He knew Brian Wilson. 240 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: For fock's sake, Michael just nodded and smiled far out Sure, okay, man, 241 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,880 Speaker 1: if you say so. The best cons lead their marks 242 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: to water, they don't force them to drink. And now 243 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,480 Speaker 1: Artie was lapping it up like a drunk sailor on leaves, 244 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: siphoning confidence men's swell from Michael Lang's saloon. If they 245 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 1: were going to make this woodstock retreat thing work, they'd 246 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 1: need real money. Artie couldn't cover the cost of investing 247 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: in a retreat with a state of the art recording facility. 248 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 1: Capital could but they'd fuck it up. Dig it. Already 249 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:46,000 Speaker 1: knew of these dudes in Midtown. They were squares, but 250 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:48,440 Speaker 1: they were young, and lay this one on for size. Man. 251 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 1: They were actually advertising how much bread they had in 252 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: the New York Fucking Times right there in print. Check 253 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:57,320 Speaker 1: it out. Michael's smile grew wider when Already showed him 254 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:00,400 Speaker 1: the classified item from the paper of record, and there 255 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 1: it was in print. Michael could hardly believe it. Young 256 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: men with unlimited capital, these two trust fund squares were 257 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 1: so desperate to get in on the sixties counterculture vibes 258 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 1: that Michael Lang so effortlessly oozed in that already Kornfeld 259 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: so desperately wanted to draft off of that they were 260 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 1: incredibly soliciting in public ideas that they could capitalize. It 261 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 1: was the truth, already assured Michael. They'd already done it 262 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:28,080 Speaker 1: with some other lucky fools who convinced the two young 263 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: squares to invest in their music studio, and it worked. 264 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: They created Media Sound Studios, and at the time it 265 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 1: was one of the most successful professional recording studios in Manhattan. 266 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 1: Already knew a guy, a lawyer. The lawyer knew the 267 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 1: two other guys, the squares with the money, and their 268 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 1: names were John Roberts and Joel Rosaman. Already got his guide, 269 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 1: the lawyer, to arrange a meeting between Roberts and Rosaman 270 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 1: with Michael and Arti. Roberts and Rosaman were not impressed. Essentially, 271 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: Michael and Ardi's idea was for another music studio. What 272 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 1: do they need another music studio? They already had media 273 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:05,360 Speaker 1: sound and it was a success, but still as successful 274 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:08,440 Speaker 1: as the young entrepreneurs were. Roberts was twenty three in 275 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: Rosamond twenty six. They were not skilled in the art 276 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 1: of saying no. They'd come to their money the old 277 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 1: fashioned way. They were born into it. In Rosamond's case, 278 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,040 Speaker 1: his uncle hooked him up with his successful law firm 279 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:23,920 Speaker 1: right out of Yale. For Roberts, the inheritance was very literal. 280 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,400 Speaker 1: He had come into millions from his grandfather's pharmaceutical fortune 281 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 1: at the age of eight, and as such the two 282 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:33,159 Speaker 1: possessed none of the merciless instincts necessary to hang on 283 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:37,679 Speaker 1: to their money, merciless instincts that experienced businessmen developed at 284 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: a younger age. While making their fortunes on their own. 285 00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:43,639 Speaker 1: While they had less to lose, Roberts and Rosamond had 286 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: a lot to lose. Frustrated with the drudgery of the 287 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,479 Speaker 1: law job, Rosamond had quit to join Roberts in a 288 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:53,240 Speaker 1: business venture as investors in what they had no clue. 289 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 1: They were brand new at it. Their New York Times 290 00:17:55,520 --> 00:18:00,040 Speaker 1: classified ad was basically an invitation to creative collaborators, and 291 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 1: despite their best intentions, their inexperience would lead both of 292 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 1: them to being easily loosened from their purse strings. Nevertheless, 293 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:11,359 Speaker 1: fools they weren't. Despite not saying no to a business venture, 294 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:14,840 Speaker 1: neither was particularly inspired by. They instead asked Michael and 295 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:17,040 Speaker 1: Ardi to produce a budget in a P and L 296 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:20,880 Speaker 1: for their idea. Michael Lang, who'd barely graduated from high 297 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:24,000 Speaker 1: school and dropped out of NYU, told the Yale Law 298 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:26,720 Speaker 1: you Penn graduates he'd have a full budget back to 299 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:29,760 Speaker 1: them in a couple days. They didn't believe them. It 300 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 1: wouldn't be the first time. Still, two days later, Michael 301 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: Lang appeared with numbers, and they told a fantastic story, 302 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:40,920 Speaker 1: one of untold riches from the creation of his utopian 303 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: Woodstock Musicians retreat again. Robertson Rosamond could hardly believe it, 304 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:49,000 Speaker 1: but one line item in Michael's budget caught their eye. 305 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:51,879 Speaker 1: There was mention in the budget of a press party, 306 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 1: a party to announce the opening of their retreat, A 307 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:58,639 Speaker 1: party that the biggest, most impressive musicians on the planet 308 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:01,359 Speaker 1: would perform to put woods Stock on the map and 309 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 1: to lure in other musicians from beyond the East Coast, 310 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:07,960 Speaker 1: musicians from all over the world. They'd of course have 311 00:19:08,119 --> 00:19:11,440 Speaker 1: the locals. Bob Dylan and the Band performed. Tim Harden too, 312 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: already pledged to put it in his best effort to 313 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,560 Speaker 1: convince Dylan's friend, international folk pop star Donovan to fly 314 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 1: over from the UK to perform as well. Now, this, 315 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: this party, this was something Roberts and rosaman could get behind. 316 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 1: Forget about an uninspiring music studio. A music festival, now 317 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:32,159 Speaker 1: that was something they could get into. Monterey Pop was 318 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:35,159 Speaker 1: a hit in Newport Folk despite being small, brought in 319 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 1: twenty grand a day. Michael sensed their shift in interest 320 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:43,119 Speaker 1: and did what his instincts told him. He followed his gut. Sure, 321 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:45,960 Speaker 1: the festival could be the thing. The thing could be 322 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,120 Speaker 1: anything as far as Michael was concerned, as long as 323 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:50,080 Speaker 1: there was a thing and that he was situated well 324 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:54,200 Speaker 1: to profit from it, Roberts and Rosaman could finance a festival, 325 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:56,399 Speaker 1: and they were all in agreement. It was about the 326 00:19:56,400 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 1: festival in Woodstock now, not the retreat. Michael Lang went 327 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:03,399 Speaker 1: in for the kill. He briefly shed his hippie dreamer 328 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: facade and revealed his true self, piping up to his 329 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: new partners that there was no time to waste. They 330 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 1: needed a new budget, a new plan, a lineup, a 331 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: location of staff, and quick start. He told them emphatically, quote, 332 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:17,919 Speaker 1: it's important we get rolling as soon as possible. This 333 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: thing will sneak up on us before we know it, 334 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 1: and time he's going to be real crucial to pulling 335 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 1: it off before anyone else moves in on our action. 336 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:25,640 Speaker 1: Every fucker in creation is going to want a piece 337 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:27,920 Speaker 1: for himself, and we're going to be prepared to steamroll over. 338 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 1: Woodstock was officially in the works. We'll be right back 339 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:46,720 Speaker 1: after this. We're we're we're from the beginning, finding and 340 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:49,800 Speaker 1: keeping a location to hold the festival to accommodate what 341 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: Michael expected to be one hundred thousand concert goers. Comfortably 342 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,560 Speaker 1: with clear sight lines and easy access from the highway 343 00:20:57,119 --> 00:21:01,120 Speaker 1: was an issue. They settled on Wallkill, forty miles south 344 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,679 Speaker 1: of Woodstock, a small agricultural town, where they leased a 345 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:08,840 Speaker 1: farm for their new company, Woodstock Ventures. The farm wasn't ideal, 346 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:11,679 Speaker 1: but it would make for an okay outdoor concert venue. 347 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:14,879 Speaker 1: When Roberts and Rosamund first gave the zoning board the 348 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,920 Speaker 1: soft cell on their quote unquote folk festival, things seemed golden. 349 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 1: But as soon as their advanced team twenty hippies and 350 00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:26,560 Speaker 1: growing arrived on site and began major landscaping and construction projects, 351 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,879 Speaker 1: war was on with the locals. The phone in the 352 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,679 Speaker 1: barn they were using as an office rang constantly with 353 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,720 Speaker 1: death threats. We don't want you filthy pigs in Wallkill. 354 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:38,159 Speaker 1: If you don't clear out, you're going to die. I 355 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 1: heated hours longtown meetings. The crowds from the community shouted 356 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,639 Speaker 1: threats and insults. The zoning board railroaded the festival with 357 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 1: impossible ordinances, and the hippies were all but run out 358 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:51,879 Speaker 1: of town with pitchforks with one month to spare before 359 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:54,680 Speaker 1: the show they were advertising was to happen on August eighth, 360 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:57,920 Speaker 1: ninth and tenth of nineteen sixty nine. They now needed 361 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:04,160 Speaker 1: another location. Unbelievably, they found one in Bethel, New York, 362 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: forty miles from Woodstock, in a slightly different direction, Max 363 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:12,399 Speaker 1: Yasgar's dairy Farm by the hamlet of White Lake. Max 364 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:15,160 Speaker 1: was a pillar of the community, well known all over 365 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: the area, who had read in the papers about the 366 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: festival being run out of Walkell and thought it was 367 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: a shame. But best of all, he had the perfect. 368 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 2: Land, way better than the Walkell site, sloping fields and 369 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,360 Speaker 2: meadows that rolled down into a natural amphitheater to where 370 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,720 Speaker 2: they could set up the stage with a picture perfect 371 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 2: lake in the background. 372 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:37,320 Speaker 1: Prior to the setting on Yascar's farm for what was 373 00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:41,119 Speaker 1: being called Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, an aquarian exposition 374 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 1: three days of peace and Music, Michael Lang had staffed up. 375 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:48,400 Speaker 1: He brought in professionals from the burgeoning live touring rock 376 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:52,560 Speaker 1: concert industry to head up operations, lighting, sound, security, medical, 377 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,200 Speaker 1: what amounted to a large paid staff and a small 378 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: army of volunteers, and they all followed Michael's lead. Michael Lang, 379 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: the now twenty four year old, failed festival producer, failed 380 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,879 Speaker 1: rock manager, failed headshop owner was in charge of what 381 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:09,360 Speaker 1: was being planned to be one of the biggest attended 382 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,640 Speaker 1: three day rock concerts of all time. Michael's confidence led 383 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:18,520 Speaker 1: the way, as did his edict of peace and love. 384 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 1: This was to be a new kind of festival, one 385 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:25,360 Speaker 1: that reinforced Michael's belief in his generation's Hippi utopia, one 386 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 1: that made good on the promise of the Summer of Love. 387 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: One that was about communalism not commercialism, a notion that 388 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:36,639 Speaker 1: Michael's business partners and backers of the Woodstock Aquarian Exposition 389 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:38,840 Speaker 1: were not made aware of at the onset of their 390 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:42,399 Speaker 1: joint venture. To them, and understandably so, because it was 391 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 1: their money. Commercialism was the point, and for Michael, making 392 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:49,240 Speaker 1: money was once a sincere motivation as well. But as 393 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:52,119 Speaker 1: the date of the festival neared and costs skyrocketed at 394 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:55,639 Speaker 1: approaching three million dollars, six hundred percent over the originally 395 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:58,800 Speaker 1: planned for five hundred thousand dollars total budget that Michael 396 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: originally sold as vesters on, it was glory that now 397 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:06,640 Speaker 1: consumed Michael. Making money was increasingly proving to be impossible. 398 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:10,200 Speaker 1: Despite advanced ticket sales, there were just too many challenges, 399 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:13,080 Speaker 1: too many holes that continually sprung prior to the show 400 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 1: holes that needed to be plugged and could only be 401 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:20,399 Speaker 1: plugged by Roberts and Rossamans Michael's investors. Cash There was 402 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 1: the cost of the artist talent. Fees on the whole 403 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,720 Speaker 1: were massive. They had already booked. Jimmy Hendricks had an 404 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 1: absurd fee for the time of eighteen thousand dollars, The 405 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:31,879 Speaker 1: who were somehow duped into taking less than Hendricks for 406 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:35,240 Speaker 1: twelve thousand, five hundred dollars. Janis Joplin was signed on 407 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,240 Speaker 1: to make seventy five hundred, as was the band The 408 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:41,399 Speaker 1: Grateful Dead made a mere twenty five hundred. Crosby Stills, 409 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:45,240 Speaker 1: Nashing Young five thousand, Robbie Shankar forty five hundred, and 410 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: of course there were fees for relative unknowns Joe Cocker 411 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 1: at one thousand, three hundred and seventy five dollars in 412 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,879 Speaker 1: Santana at a mere seven hundred and fifty bucks. And 413 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:56,720 Speaker 1: the headaches didn't stop with the talent. There were new 414 00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:59,640 Speaker 1: headaches and new costs associated with each crisis du jour 415 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:02,119 Speaker 1: leading up to the festival. There was a stage to 416 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,600 Speaker 1: build from scratch, sound and light towers to construct. They 417 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:08,280 Speaker 1: needed to secure the perimeter of Yascar's six hundred acre 418 00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:10,960 Speaker 1: farm with a fence, the size and scope of which 419 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 1: made for a massive, near impossible undertaking. In the end, 420 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:18,400 Speaker 1: the patchwork of flimsy chain link was constructed, and there 421 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 1: was the matter of concessions. How are they going to 422 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:22,920 Speaker 1: feed all the concertgoers and who was going to feed 423 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: them somehow? It was decided that this task should be 424 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: outsourced to a group known as the Hog Firm. Headed 425 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 1: by a former be poet and follower of Kenkis's Mary Prankster's, 426 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 1: Hugh Romney. The Hog Farm was an off the grid 427 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:38,919 Speaker 1: commune and traveling psychedelic performance art group. They were the 428 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:42,760 Speaker 1: farthest out of far out, completely unemployable, not that they 429 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,960 Speaker 1: wanted jobs, but with specific skills provision of food, but 430 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 1: also non aggressive security, medical care, and most of all, 431 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:54,840 Speaker 1: how to deal with overdoses and bad acid trips. For 432 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,840 Speaker 1: Michael Lang's purposes. They were perfect, but their anti capitalist 433 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:02,399 Speaker 1: lifestyle didn't prevent them from having expenses. Far from it. 434 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: At Rodney's first meeting with Woodstock Ventures, he negotiated eight 435 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:09,000 Speaker 1: grand in pay for the Hawk Farm and the buses 436 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: and charter plane necessary to get the hardcore hippies from 437 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:15,160 Speaker 1: their New Mexico land to Woodstock alone would triple that bill. 438 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:17,879 Speaker 1: The hog Farm weren't the only ones who had their 439 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:25,280 Speaker 1: hands out, so too did the notorious Abbie Hoffman in 440 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:28,840 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine. Abby Hoffman was a raging bowl of 441 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:33,359 Speaker 1: the anti establishment New Left. An avowed anti capitalist, he 442 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,160 Speaker 1: was a master media prankster and thorn in the mainstream side, 443 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 1: but he was most infamous as one of the Chicago Seven, 444 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 1: constantly mocking the judge in the court at his Blockbuster 445 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:46,919 Speaker 1: trial over the riot at the Democratic National Convention in 446 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:51,760 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight, making him an enemy to conventional Americans everywhere, 447 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,199 Speaker 1: but to the counterculture, Abbi Hoffman was a hero and 448 00:26:55,280 --> 00:27:00,440 Speaker 1: his word mattered. Michael Lang needed Abbi Hoffman. Hoffman and 449 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:04,000 Speaker 1: the same underground papers that Lang needed to promote Woodstock, 450 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 1: the radical papers that called businessmen, including concert promoters, capitalist pigs, 451 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:12,199 Speaker 1: the Boston Avatar at the Berkeley Bar of the New 452 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:15,720 Speaker 1: York Rat. Their readers were part of Michael's audience. But 453 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:17,920 Speaker 1: it was going to be a tough sell, just based 454 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: on the fact that Michael was selling anything, and the 455 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,920 Speaker 1: papers would have Knivestron. But the good graces of Abby 456 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:26,800 Speaker 1: Hoffman would go a long way to legitimize it. Woodstock 457 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:31,560 Speaker 1: with the counterculture, and now Abby Hoffman was predictably looking 458 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:35,720 Speaker 1: for one thing, a handout. Michael Lang answered the phone 459 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:39,080 Speaker 1: at the Woodstock offices in downtown New York. He immediately 460 00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:41,320 Speaker 1: recognized the voice on the other end of the line. 461 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:49,440 Speaker 1: He was dreading this moment. It was Abbi Hoffman, he said, dulang, dulang, motherfucker. Hello, Michael, inquired, 462 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:52,720 Speaker 1: you know where this is? Michael? I think I do. Yes, 463 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:55,120 Speaker 1: You're the man of begunning for you. Got any idea 464 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:59,840 Speaker 1: what I want? Michael, No, Hoffman, I want money, Brandy, 465 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:03,679 Speaker 1: money of it forell Michael almost laughed out loud at 466 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:06,120 Speaker 1: the dive store comic villagantics of the one and only 467 00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:09,320 Speaker 1: Abbey Hoffman, but Michael Lang was too smart to do that. 468 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:13,159 Speaker 1: He knew that, despite his ridiculousness, that Abby Hoffman was 469 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:16,320 Speaker 1: not to be taken lightly. Michael asked Hofton why he 470 00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:18,320 Speaker 1: should give him money, and Hoffman told him it was 471 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:20,640 Speaker 1: for the privilege of being able to hold his festival 472 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:24,280 Speaker 1: hassle free. Michael and his partners stood to make millions, 473 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:26,600 Speaker 1: and Hoffman in the New Left needed a profit off 474 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,560 Speaker 1: of set millions. Call it the hippie black hand. Call 475 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,320 Speaker 1: it mob political economics. Call it charity. Call it the 476 00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:34,679 Speaker 1: cost of doing business. Call it whatever the hell you wanted. 477 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:37,800 Speaker 1: At the end, it was what it was. Extortion by 478 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 1: a so called anti capitalist who is now demanding fifty 479 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:45,320 Speaker 1: thousand dollars in cash immediately or else comes showtime. Hoffman 480 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,000 Speaker 1: and his band of radical New leftists would spike the 481 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 1: Woodstock Festival's water supply with acid. What a guy, what 482 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:57,600 Speaker 1: a credit to society? The piece of shit. Hoffman told 483 00:28:57,640 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: Michael it was high time you start contributing to the 484 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: cos I e him and his overdue legal bills from 485 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:05,720 Speaker 1: the Chicago seven trial. But Abby Hoffman wasn't a cold 486 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 1: hearted businessman. When Michael bucked at the cost, Hoffman told 487 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 1: him he could get in on the hippie installment plan, 488 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 1: pay month to month. Michael Lang told Abbie Hoffman he'd 489 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,760 Speaker 1: pay him ten grand and throw in some free tickets. 490 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:20,959 Speaker 1: Abbie Hoffman took the offer, and the extortion of Woodstock 491 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,640 Speaker 1: was complete. Michael Lang took it in stride. Roberts, Michael's 492 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 1: main financier, the man who ultimately paid Abbie Hoffman took 493 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:30,200 Speaker 1: it as a. 494 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 3: Sign of more ominous things to come. 495 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: This couldn't be happening. Get them out. John Roberts didn't 496 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:55,960 Speaker 1: understand why there were thirty five thousand kids without tickets 497 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:58,880 Speaker 1: inside the festival grounds one day before the concert had 498 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:02,000 Speaker 1: even begun. If the kids weren't forced to leave and 499 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: then had show time to re enter with the tickets 500 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: stated either already purchased, which very few had, or to 501 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:10,800 Speaker 1: buy tickets at the gate. If this very elementary part 502 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:14,040 Speaker 1: of the concert planning couldn't be executed, then tens of 503 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:16,920 Speaker 1: thousands of dollars would be lost. And at a time 504 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,160 Speaker 1: when it had become increasingly clear that he and Rosamund 505 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:23,840 Speaker 1: were going to lose their shirts financially, it needed every 506 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:27,400 Speaker 1: penny they could get to stave off bankruptcy. But Michael 507 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:31,120 Speaker 1: told Roberts the kids weren't going anywhere. Michael told Roberts 508 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:33,920 Speaker 1: to relax. Michael told Roberts to get in on the 509 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,720 Speaker 1: groove that was going round, to stop being so uptight, 510 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:39,040 Speaker 1: that everything would work out, and they were about to 511 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 1: launch something that money couldn't buy, a movement. But that 512 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,480 Speaker 1: wasn't good enough for John Roberts Movements didn't pay the 513 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,160 Speaker 1: bills unless you were Abby Hoffman or part of the 514 00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: extortionist radical Left. In one day, their money problems would 515 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:54,200 Speaker 1: be solved. The festival was going to be a hit. 516 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:57,080 Speaker 1: They were expecting two hundred and fifty thousand people. Now 517 00:30:57,320 --> 00:30:59,560 Speaker 1: word was out all over the country. There was a 518 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:03,080 Speaker 1: happening going on in upstate New York. Hendrix janis the Dead, 519 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:05,400 Speaker 1: the band Dylan was rumored to be making a surprise 520 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:08,800 Speaker 1: appearance sly in the family Stone Jefferson airplane. It was 521 00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:11,920 Speaker 1: all happening. Man get their universal love nature, can you 522 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:13,520 Speaker 1: dig it? Lay back and groove. It was going to 523 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:16,520 Speaker 1: be all right. Michael Lang and his original partner Alreadie 524 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:19,760 Speaker 1: Cornfield had long since dismissed the notion of profiting from 525 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,760 Speaker 1: ticket sales. In their bones, they felt like that was 526 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:25,920 Speaker 1: not a lost cause. Their covered expenses were too great 527 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 1: to overcome. They of course didn't share this with their 528 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:32,440 Speaker 1: other partners their investors. They instead turned their eyes to 529 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:35,280 Speaker 1: ancillary ways of deriving cash from what was to be 530 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:38,320 Speaker 1: a successful festival, from the sale of the film rights 531 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 1: and soundtrack, which were up to this point hastily and 532 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:46,240 Speaker 1: naively being negotiated the documentary. Director Michael Wadley was interested 533 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,000 Speaker 1: and willing to leave all the profits to Woodstock Ventures 534 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: if they covered the film's budget, but tired of being 535 00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: hosed on costs everywhere else, Roberts refused. Wadley covered his 536 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:58,720 Speaker 1: own budget for his own big chunk of the distribution rights, 537 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,400 Speaker 1: and by the time and his dozens of film crew 538 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:05,320 Speaker 1: descended on site, including a young, relatively unknown Martin Scorsese 539 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:08,000 Speaker 1: on the second unit camera crew and in the editing room, 540 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 1: it was clear the film rights would be worth major money, 541 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:14,720 Speaker 1: but it was too late to renegotiate the deal. Michael 542 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,160 Speaker 1: had his own plan to make money, though, via what 543 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,120 Speaker 1: would be a robust drug trade at the festival. His 544 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:23,680 Speaker 1: aim was to utilize an old Florida connection to monopolize 545 00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: the sale of drugs at the concert by flooding the 546 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:31,160 Speaker 1: market with product and thus ensuring a massive windfall of cash. However, 547 00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: his and his Florida partner's drugs were intercepted off the 548 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:37,160 Speaker 1: coast by the National Guard and the scheme never came 549 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:41,160 Speaker 1: to be. A freer trading of illicted substances quickly took 550 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:45,400 Speaker 1: root at the festival, mainly grass, acid and heroin. Michael's 551 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:49,120 Speaker 1: partner already Cornfeld, ever since planning for the festival had begun, 552 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:52,960 Speaker 1: used his new anti establishment endeavor as the excuse he 553 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:57,640 Speaker 1: needed to go way off the established path with psychedelic experimentation, 554 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 1: virtually making himself useless to Michael. Artie was unrecognizable from 555 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:05,480 Speaker 1: the executive Michael had met in his buttoned up Capitol 556 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:10,080 Speaker 1: Records office. These days, Artie was on another planet and 557 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 1: at Woodstock on that final day of planning, that day 558 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:17,760 Speaker 1: before the show officially started, neither Aarti Kornfelder, Michael Lang, 559 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:20,240 Speaker 1: or anyone else for that matter, needed to go far 560 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:23,600 Speaker 1: to score. In the woods adjoining the festival grounds, a 561 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:28,000 Speaker 1: black market came together quickly and on natural hippie narcotics bazaarre, 562 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:31,480 Speaker 1: where one could leisurely stroll and compare prices on grass, 563 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:36,840 Speaker 1: dope and LSD. Enterprising drug dealers even at signs led drugstore. 564 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 1: Read one pharmacy now open, read another, and we will 565 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:43,320 Speaker 1: not be under sold. The signs were painted in hippie 566 00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:46,400 Speaker 1: day glow paint and propped up against trees. It was 567 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 1: a bridge too far, even for Michael, the festival's producer, 568 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:52,960 Speaker 1: had the signs removed, but security allowed the dealers to stay. 569 00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:55,800 Speaker 1: There was no fending off the dealers. There were just 570 00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:57,720 Speaker 1: too many of them. It was better to keep them 571 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:02,480 Speaker 1: centrally located and somewhat under control. Michael emerged from the 572 00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:06,600 Speaker 1: pharmacy in the forest. It was late August fourteenth, nineteen 573 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:09,960 Speaker 1: sixty nine, the night before the big show. All this 574 00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:13,279 Speaker 1: planning it was well worth it, Michael could feel it, 575 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:16,680 Speaker 1: and there'd never be anything like this attempted before. The 576 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:19,760 Speaker 1: buzz on the street was immense, and the underground press 577 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:22,800 Speaker 1: had done their job anointing the festival with the hipness 578 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:25,759 Speaker 1: it required, and the mainstream press had done its job, 579 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,880 Speaker 1: swirling up a constant drumbeat of action around the event. 580 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:30,800 Speaker 1: In the weeks and days leading up to the show. 581 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:33,560 Speaker 1: Kids all over the country were well aware of what 582 00:34:33,640 --> 00:34:35,840 Speaker 1: was about to go down in Woodstock on that third 583 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:39,400 Speaker 1: week in August of nineteen sixty nine, and they were coming. 584 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:42,759 Speaker 1: Michael could feel it. Hell, they'd already arrived. There were 585 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,360 Speaker 1: already thirty five thousand kids here the night before the 586 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,840 Speaker 1: show even began, and there they were scattered on sleeping 587 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:52,839 Speaker 1: bags and makeshift campsites all over Maxiascar's farm, Betting down 588 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:55,319 Speaker 1: for the night in anticipation of what was to be 589 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:58,600 Speaker 1: one of the biggest and most consequential events of their lives. 590 00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:03,120 Speaker 1: And he, Michael Lang, built this for them. When all 591 00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:06,080 Speaker 1: was said and done, Who knew what the possibilities would 592 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:10,240 Speaker 1: be for him for his generation. Maybe revolution was possible, 593 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:13,840 Speaker 1: or at the very least, a reprioritization of values, and 594 00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:17,040 Speaker 1: maybe this was the way to do it through spontaneous community, 595 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:20,719 Speaker 1: not commercialism. And maybe he, Michael Lang, was just the 596 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:23,880 Speaker 1: guy to lead this flock. It was heavy to think about. 597 00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:26,880 Speaker 1: Michael hit his pillow that night before the show, with 598 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:30,320 Speaker 1: adrenaline in hope surging through him. Tomorrow would be a 599 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:35,800 Speaker 1: day unlike any other. When he awoke, he was greeted 600 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:39,320 Speaker 1: by the one thing of festival producer Dreads, the constant 601 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:43,920 Speaker 1: beat of chaos. The crowd of thirty five thousand had 602 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:47,000 Speaker 1: nearly doubled to sixty five thousand. The phones and the 603 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,239 Speaker 1: production trailers rang off the hook. The state cops were 604 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:54,200 Speaker 1: choking traffic out on Route seventeen, issuing indiscriminate stops and 605 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:58,520 Speaker 1: searches for drug seizures and seized drugs. They did one 606 00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:02,400 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty arrests, for lsa, marijuana, heroin, amphetamines and 607 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:06,879 Speaker 1: other suspicious substances. Pipes, bongs, bolts, syringes, spoons, wraps, all 608 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:10,560 Speaker 1: manner of drug paraphernalia was caused for arrest. Two troopers 609 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:13,480 Speaker 1: stationed themselves like vengeful roaman guards at the beginning of 610 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:16,080 Speaker 1: the main road going into the festival site and poached 611 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:18,800 Speaker 1: joint toking hippies into cuffs and off to the station. 612 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:23,520 Speaker 1: It further stalled traffic. Another local police captain, so concerned 613 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:26,120 Speaker 1: with the illicit flow of drugs into the festival site 614 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:29,399 Speaker 1: from the caravan of hippies, had his officers literally dig 615 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:32,080 Speaker 1: a trench across one of the main dirt access ways. 616 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:35,120 Speaker 1: It took less than two hours for all traffic to stop, 617 00:36:35,600 --> 00:36:39,800 Speaker 1: not to a crawl to a standstill. Concertgoers simply abandoned 618 00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:42,200 Speaker 1: their cars, grabbed their camping gear and hooked it to 619 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:45,879 Speaker 1: Yaskar's farm. There was no denying them. Most were young, 620 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:48,520 Speaker 1: most were respectful, but because of the sheer number of them, 621 00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:51,160 Speaker 1: local wear and tear was unavoidable. As the Peace and 622 00:36:51,239 --> 00:36:54,879 Speaker 1: Love generation paraded through the small towns surrounding Yaskar's farm 623 00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:58,680 Speaker 1: by the thousands, They tranced through yards urinated in public 624 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:01,239 Speaker 1: past reef around in the open, and some small town 625 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:04,920 Speaker 1: locals reacted in horror. Others, however, opened their arms and 626 00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:07,120 Speaker 1: treated the young men and women with long hair and 627 00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:10,720 Speaker 1: strange smelling cigarettes with the respect they would their own children. 628 00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:14,800 Speaker 1: It was a scene unlike anything anyone anywhere had ever witnessed. 629 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,680 Speaker 1: Back at the festival grounds, quickly sixty five thousand became 630 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:22,360 Speaker 1: eighty five thousand. The production team anticipated a need to 631 00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:24,919 Speaker 1: triple the order for first aid supplies if they could 632 00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:27,719 Speaker 1: even get them on site in time, and the concertgoers 633 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:29,640 Speaker 1: were going to have to rely on cold mush and 634 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:32,560 Speaker 1: other concoctions from the hog Farm's free kitchen for food. 635 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:36,040 Speaker 1: Such was the lack of traditional food supplies and concessions 636 00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:37,920 Speaker 1: and the face of what was turning out to be 637 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:41,920 Speaker 1: a much bigger crowd than anticipated. As the problems mounted, 638 00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:44,319 Speaker 1: the word trickled in that there was easily another one 639 00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:47,120 Speaker 1: hundred thousand kids on foot hoofing it to the concert, 640 00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:50,319 Speaker 1: with realistic expectations of two hundred and fifty thousand more 641 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:54,239 Speaker 1: arriving on the second day. Good news for the festival organizers, 642 00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:58,000 Speaker 1: but not really the private police force. Michael's head of 643 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:02,000 Speaker 1: security had hired was now demanding, were in effect extorting 644 00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:05,160 Speaker 1: festival organizers at the last minute, knowing full well that 645 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:07,839 Speaker 1: their financial demands would be met. Because what was Michael 646 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,760 Speaker 1: Lane going to do not police a quarter million drugged 647 00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:14,680 Speaker 1: out hippies fucking pay them whatever they want. The extortionist 648 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:17,840 Speaker 1: cops were in. Michael heard the violence of the Rolling 649 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:20,880 Speaker 1: Stones single from last summer, a street fighting man in 650 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:23,440 Speaker 1: his head, and made the call, the call he didn't 651 00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:26,319 Speaker 1: want to make for his own heavies, his own rock 652 00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:30,480 Speaker 1: and roll ss, black shirted thugs, heavily armed hippie gestapo 653 00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:35,319 Speaker 1: there to patrol, indiscriminately inconspicuous police. The police, and they 654 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:38,919 Speaker 1: were not cheap. Roberts of Rosamond saw a bankruptcy court 655 00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:41,880 Speaker 1: on the horizon. Michael saw more and more kids streaming 656 00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:44,080 Speaker 1: into the site from over the hill, and the meager 657 00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:47,120 Speaker 1: chain link fence surrounding Yasgu's farm was no match for 658 00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:51,000 Speaker 1: the encroaching mass. It was easily discarded. The kids flooded 659 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,120 Speaker 1: the site without paying for tickets, and there was no 660 00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:55,719 Speaker 1: way of ejecting them and collecting their money. Doing so 661 00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:58,359 Speaker 1: and most certainly led to a riot. It was only 662 00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:03,120 Speaker 1: one thing to do declare the show a free festival. 663 00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:08,120 Speaker 1: Roberts and Rossaman, Michael's investors, were sunk. There was nothing 664 00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:10,839 Speaker 1: they could do. Michael was right, there was no way 665 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:13,600 Speaker 1: of turning back the crowd. Any attempt at doing so 666 00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:16,799 Speaker 1: would lead to more chaos and perhaps even violence, which 667 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:20,320 Speaker 1: would make the unwinnable financial situation they were in catastrophic. 668 00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:23,879 Speaker 1: It's cool, Michael told them, it's all happening. You're about 669 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:26,640 Speaker 1: to be part of history. Don't be so uptight. Of course, 670 00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:29,200 Speaker 1: Roberts and Rossaman didn't see it that way, but there 671 00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:31,239 Speaker 1: was nothing they could do. So they did what the 672 00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:33,360 Speaker 1: rest of their team was doing at that moment before 673 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:37,480 Speaker 1: the festival began, braced themselves for the next crisis, for 674 00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:40,920 Speaker 1: the next fire that needed putting out. It came in 675 00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:45,000 Speaker 1: the form of a telephone call, with hours before showtime 676 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:47,880 Speaker 1: and one hundred and seventy five thousand kids now dutifully 677 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:51,080 Speaker 1: waiting to be entertained on Max Siascar's farm, with traffic 678 00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:53,759 Speaker 1: completely stopped for miles around them, and with hundreds of 679 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:57,520 Speaker 1: thousands more making their way toward them, with scant medical supplies, 680 00:39:57,560 --> 00:40:00,919 Speaker 1: compromise security, A small armed hippie castine, a new age 681 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:03,200 Speaker 1: food supply in the form of hog farm mush and 682 00:40:03,239 --> 00:40:06,560 Speaker 1: with words spreading like wildfire not only throughout New York State, 683 00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:09,839 Speaker 1: but all over the country, that something of mammoth, potentially 684 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:14,360 Speaker 1: dangerous proportions was happening in Upstate. The Governor's office called 685 00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:19,120 Speaker 1: Nelson Rockefeller. State Aid informed the Woodstock Ventures employee who 686 00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:21,800 Speaker 1: answered the phone and the command trailer that the state 687 00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:25,120 Speaker 1: had officially declared the Woodstock festival site in Bethel and 688 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:29,440 Speaker 1: surrounding White Lake area a state of emergency. The governor 689 00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:32,120 Speaker 1: had activated the National Guard it was prepared to move 690 00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:35,359 Speaker 1: the troops into the site on word from festival organizers, 691 00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:39,720 Speaker 1: who on the other end of the line were flabbergasted, shocked. 692 00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:42,759 Speaker 1: For all the chaos that had quickly engulfed them, it 693 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:46,560 Speaker 1: was relative peace, all things considered. Richie Havens had been 694 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:49,600 Speaker 1: forced on stage to open the show and was delivering 695 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:52,920 Speaker 1: in rapturing the crowd of now nearly two hundred thousand 696 00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:55,759 Speaker 1: with nothing but his acoustic guitar, his big voice, his 697 00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:58,839 Speaker 1: heavy heart, in his tremendous soul, stopping his way through 698 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:01,600 Speaker 1: an improvised vision of these Topia that alchemized the hearts 699 00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:04,319 Speaker 1: and minds of thousands into one, if only for a 700 00:41:04,360 --> 00:41:07,719 Speaker 1: brief moment. Regardless, the moment was real and the moment 701 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:10,960 Speaker 1: had an effect. Despite the reports the Governor's Office was 702 00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:14,239 Speaker 1: getting from the surrounding area. Here at the festival, the 703 00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:17,000 Speaker 1: cool things were out of sight. No need to send 704 00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:20,160 Speaker 1: in the fucking National guard man, and the Governor's office 705 00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:22,880 Speaker 1: thought otherwise. It ignored the hippieippy mumbo jumbo from the 706 00:41:22,880 --> 00:41:26,439 Speaker 1: other end of the line, Technocratically speaking, just what were 707 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:29,799 Speaker 1: festival organizer's plans to help the guard airlift all those 708 00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:32,640 Speaker 1: kids out of there? Airlift them out of here? No 709 00:41:32,640 --> 00:41:34,920 Speaker 1: one needed to go anywhere. Everything was cool. Didn't they 710 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:37,439 Speaker 1: get it? This was a new day, a new way. 711 00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:40,000 Speaker 1: Kids were grooving on each other. Peace and love were 712 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:42,880 Speaker 1: going to carry the day. There was no violence, no chaos, 713 00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:44,560 Speaker 1: no need to send in the Guard, and no need 714 00:41:44,560 --> 00:41:48,440 Speaker 1: to worry, except there was a need to worry outside 715 00:41:48,520 --> 00:41:51,920 Speaker 1: the festival command centered trailer. After the Governor's aid had 716 00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:55,279 Speaker 1: been assured no government assistance was needed. After the call 717 00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:58,680 Speaker 1: had ended, a festival worker bounded toward the stage to 718 00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:01,880 Speaker 1: do something she didn't think possible just five minutes earlier. 719 00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:05,800 Speaker 1: Enjoy yourself. Take in the scene. Listen to some music. 720 00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:09,479 Speaker 1: The programming lineup was completely disrupted due to the fact 721 00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:12,200 Speaker 1: that the arrival of artists was totally thrown off by 722 00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:16,200 Speaker 1: the surrounding traffic jam. Artists were being helicoptered in and 723 00:42:16,280 --> 00:42:18,880 Speaker 1: Richie Havens only went on first because somebody saw him 724 00:42:18,920 --> 00:42:21,400 Speaker 1: chilling out backstage with the guitar and forced him up 725 00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:25,120 Speaker 1: there before the crowd got restless. Word was Sweetwater was 726 00:42:25,160 --> 00:42:28,640 Speaker 1: going on next. The festival worker was excited to see 727 00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:32,520 Speaker 1: Sweetwater perform, but she'd forgotten her smokes. She headed back 728 00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:34,920 Speaker 1: to the trailer to grab them. When she got to 729 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:37,239 Speaker 1: the trailer's metal steps and placed her foot on the 730 00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:40,920 Speaker 1: first step, she was jolted back onto the crowd. Shocked, 731 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:45,719 Speaker 1: she tried again another electric shock. She smartly gave up 732 00:42:45,719 --> 00:42:48,080 Speaker 1: on trying to fight her way through electrocution for a 733 00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:51,840 Speaker 1: pack of cigarettes. She flagged down the festival's master electrician 734 00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:53,960 Speaker 1: to let him know about the problem. Some sort of 735 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:57,040 Speaker 1: charge being picked up by the metal steps. Were keeping 736 00:42:57,040 --> 00:42:59,680 Speaker 1: an eye on it, she was informed, and the electrician 737 00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:02,400 Speaker 1: was of the problem. It seems there was a natural 738 00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:05,240 Speaker 1: wear to the main electric feeder cable running just below 739 00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:08,160 Speaker 1: the festival grounds. Every now and then a light surge 740 00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:13,040 Speaker 1: escaped in an annoying but ultimately unharmful current transferred above ground, 741 00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:17,480 Speaker 1: in this case to the trailer's metal steps. The electrician 742 00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:19,520 Speaker 1: told her there was nothing to worry about so long 743 00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:21,840 Speaker 1: as the ground stayed dry. If the ground were to 744 00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:24,799 Speaker 1: get wet, swampy, muddy, and that master cable was to 745 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:28,719 Speaker 1: fray any further underground, well the potential for serious destruction 746 00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:32,120 Speaker 1: was possible, but that was a lot of what ifs. Sure, 747 00:43:32,120 --> 00:43:34,359 Speaker 1: it was a lot to worry about, but like most things, 748 00:43:34,360 --> 00:43:36,880 Speaker 1: it woodstock. It was all being held together on a 749 00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:39,360 Speaker 1: little wing, a hippie prayer and the power of Michael 750 00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:44,799 Speaker 1: Lang's infectious confidence. Hey, could be worse, the electrician said, 751 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:50,160 Speaker 1: at least it's not going to rain. I'm Jake Brennan 752 00:43:50,840 --> 00:44:12,560 Speaker 1: in this episode of Disgraceland. Is to be continued. Disgraceland 753 00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:15,160 Speaker 1: was created by Yours Truly and is produced in partnership 754 00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:18,279 Speaker 1: with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be found 755 00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:21,880 Speaker 1: on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. If 756 00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:24,960 Speaker 1: you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you 757 00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:27,960 Speaker 1: for supporting the show. We really appreciate it, and if not, 758 00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:30,239 Speaker 1: you can become a member right now by going to 759 00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:35,160 Speaker 1: disgracelampod dot com Slash Membership. Members can listen to every 760 00:44:35,239 --> 00:44:39,080 Speaker 1: episode of Disgraceland ad free, Plus you'll get one brand 761 00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:43,720 Speaker 1: new exclusive episode every month, weekly unscripted bonus episodes, special 762 00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:48,040 Speaker 1: audio collections, and early access to merchandise and events. Visit 763 00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:52,480 Speaker 1: disgracelampod dot com Slash membership for details, rate and review 764 00:44:52,520 --> 00:44:54,920 Speaker 1: the show, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and 765 00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:59,080 Speaker 1: Facebook at disgracelampod and on YouTube at YouTube dot com 766 00:44:59,120 --> 00:45:05,239 Speaker 1: slash at the Gray, slam Pot, Rock and Roller. He's 767 00:45:05,320 --> 00:45:06,720 Speaker 1: a bad, bad man,