By Turns Shambolic, Historic, Hallucinatory And Majestic, The Woodstock Festival Of August 1969 Marked Both The Pinnacle Of A Revolution In Music – And The Beginning Of Its Fall. It Also Gave Us Some Of The Greatest Moments Of Wild, Unfiltered Guitar Genius The World Has Ever Witnessed. Join Us As We Celebrate Its 50Th Anniversary And Uncover The Six-String Stories Behind The Festival’S Greatest Performances, From Hendrix To Ten Years After…
The rock festival that crowned a decade-long musical revolution took just six months to organise. And like many 60s happenings, Woodstock was launched on a flood tide of peace and love – with a fishy glint of money-spinning ambition not far beneath the surface.
The festival was originally intended as a profit-making venture – and only became a free festival when it became apparent the gig was attracting hundreds of thousands more people than the organisers had readied themselves for. The final straw was when the fence was torn down by desperate swarms of ticketless fans.
But, for the four men who put the festival together, that was all in the future. They were John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfeld and Michael Lang – and the oldest was just 26. Together, they paid an estimated $50,000 to rent around 600 acres of Max Yasgur’s farm in an out-ofthe-way corner of the Catskill Mountains in New York State. Heir to a drugstore and toothpaste manufacturing fortune, John Roberts paid for the event via a multimillion-dollar trust fund and a lieutenant’s commission in the army. It was typical of the era’s naive optimism that John had only ever seen one rock concert (The Beach Boys) before he set his sights on staging the musical event of the decade.
Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av Guitarist.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av Guitarist.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Sonic Shaper
Electro-Harmonix revisits the effect that launched the company with the LPB-3 Linear Power Booster and EQ
Platinum Blonde
PRS has updated its Texas-voiced David Grissom signature amp with more features, lower wattage and a more approachable price tag
TAN LINES
Many of us regard straps as a bit of an afterthought, but to find one that matches the quality of a custom or vintage guitar, Rod Boyes of Pinegrove Leather can help
ELECTRIC STRINGS
Your tone starts with your strings - strike a balance between sound, tuning and durability with six of our favourites
DIFFERENT WINDS
While there's no end to repros of all the classic pickup styles, more and more pickup makers are mixing things up to move forward - Cream T is a good example
Long termers
A few months' gigging, recording and everything that goes with it - welcome to Guitarist's longterm test report
Top Guns
Chapman's new factory move coincides with a bit of a rethink. We track down the key players all around the world
the Wishlist
Dream gear to beg, borrow and steal for...
Reach For The Star
Earlier this year Guild reorganised its 70s-era Polara range. We spent some time with this mid-range 2024 model: a modern pawn-shop prize or a copy too far?
HIGH FLYER
Adrian Thorpe of ThorpyFX remembers the flight path - and turbulence behind Chris Buck's Electric Lightning overdrive/boost, named after a fighter jet and packing a bona fide valve
