Woodstock, NY - Images of the Greatest Rock Concert of all Times
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The 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts Fair in Bethel, New York has been considered as the greates Rock Concert of all. The promotional message included a white dove sits on a guitar handle above the tagline, '3 DAYS of PEACE & MUSIC.' A schedule with the names of the performers, including Joan Baez, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane and Jimi Hendrix appears on the bottom left hand side.The original venue plan was Woodstock, New York. After local residents quickly shot down that idea and another possible location was identified in Saugerties, New York. After much pushback, promoters found a farm owner named Max Yasgur who accepted $10,000 to let them have a "small" festival on his 300 acre property.

 

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Since the late change in venue occurred, festival organizers didn't have enough time to prepare the site. Three days before the event, organizers laid out two options:    

1) complete the fencing and ticket booths, without which the promoters were almost certain to lose their every cent.

2) Put their remaining available resources into building the stage. When the audience began arriving by the tens of thousands, the next day (a week before the actual date of the event), the decision had been made for them. Free it would be.

 

 

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The influx of attendees was massive and the resulting traffic jam lead people to abandon their cars and walk into the event. Announcements on radio stations as far away as WNEW-FM in Manhattan and descriptions of the traffic jams on television news discouraged people from setting off to the festival and even Arlo Guthrie made an announcement that the New York State Thruway was closed.

 

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The legacy of the event was about to be set in stone; large crowds, rains, muddy roads and fields. What was supposed to be no more than 50,000 people turned into over 400,000 over the event and they would soon find themselves struggling against the weather, food shortages, and poor sanitation.

 

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Joe Cocker and His Band Playing at Woodstock, NY, 1969

 

 

 

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Artist Pay Rates:

  • Jimi Hendrix – $30,000 for two sets plus $2,000 for expenses. Note- There was a cap of $15,000 per artist at Woodstock so a deal was made for Hendrix to play two sets, an acoustic set and a set with his band.
  • Blood, Sweat & Tears – $15,000
  • Joan Baez – $10,000
  • Creedence Clearwater Revival – $10,000
  • The Band – $7,500
  • Janis Joplin – $7,500
  • Jefferson Airplane – $7,500
  • Sly and the Family Stone – $7,000
  • Canned Heat – $6,500
  • The Who – $6,250 (also reported at $11,200 but Variety claimed that number was inaccurate)
  • Richie Havens – $6,000
  • Arlo Guthrie – $5,000
  • Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – $5,000
  • Ravi Shankar – $4,500
  • Johnny Winter – $3,750
  • Ten Years After – $3,250
  • Country Joe and the Fish – $2,500
  • Grateful Dead – $2,500
  • The Incredible String Band – $2,250
  • Mountain – $2,000
  • Tim Hardin – $2,000
  • Joe Cocker – $1,375
  • Sweetwater – $1,250
  • John B. Sebastian – $1,000
  • Melanie – $750
  • Santana – $750
  • Sha Na Na – $700

 

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Friday Aug.15th Setlist

  • Richie Havens 5:07 pm – 7:00 pm
  • Swami Satch 7:10 pm – 7:20 pm
  • Sweetwater 7:30 pm – 8:10 pm
  • Bert Sommer 8:20 pm – 9:15 pm
  • Tim Hardin 9:20 pm – 9:45 pm
  • Ravi Shankar 10:00 pm – 10:35 pm
  • Melanie 10:50 pm – 11:20 pm
  • Arlo Guthrie 11:55 pm – 12:25 am
  • Joan Baez 12:55 am – 2:00 am

 

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Saturday Aug. 16th Setlist

  • Quill 12:15 pm – 12:45 pm
  • Country Joe McDonald 1:00 pm – 1:30 pm
  • Santana 2:00 pm – 2:45 pm
  • John Sebastian 3:30 pm – 3:55 pm
  • Keef Hartley Band 4:45 pm – 5:30 pm
  • Incredible String Band 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm
  • Canned Heat 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
  • Mountain 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm
  • Grateful Dead 10:30 pm – 12:05 am
  • Creedence CCR 12:30 am – 1:20 am
  • Janis Joplin 2:00 am – 3:00 am
  • Sly & Family Stone 3:30 am – 4:20 am
  • The Who 5:00 am – 6:05 am
  • Jefferson Airplane 8:00 am – 9:40 am

 

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Sunday Aug. 17th Setlist

  • Joe Cocker and The Grease Band 2:00 pm – 3:25 pm
  • Country Joe and the Fish 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
  • Ten Years After 8:15 pm – 9:15 pm
  • The Band 10:00 pm – 10:50 pm
  • Johnny & Edgar Winter 12:00 am – 1:05 am
  • Blood, Sweat & Tears 1:30 am – 2:30 am
  • Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 3:00 am – 4:00 am
  • Paul Butterfield Blues Band 6:00 am – 6:45 am
  • Sha Na Na 7:30 am – 8:00 am
  • Jimi Hendrix 9:00 am – 11:10 am

 

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Almost Played But Didn't Make It

  • Bob Dylan
  • Jeff Beck
  • The Doors
  • Led Zeppelin
  • The Byrds
  • Chicago
  • Moody Blues
  • Frank Zappa
  • Jethro Tull
  • Joni Mitchell