The Road to Woodstock

A fascinating inside look at Woodstock from one of its creators,

A fascinating inside look at Woodstock from one of its creators, this book tells an amazing story of the massive amount of effort it took to pull off what would become a cultural and historical touchstone that influences us still today. Michael Lang does a wonderful job of collating together all of the different elements that led to Woodstock and is strong both in sharing his first-person recollections as he experienced them and in placing them within a larger context. Lang takes justifiable pride in his creation but doesn't puff himself up or overlook the less pleasant aspects of the tale. An interesting story very well told.

Woodstock and memories of the late 60's early 70's

I was camping out at Hermit Island with a friend the w/e of woodstock...I remember the th radio ads for its happening that w/e....I knew that there has been a big blow out of music there....as the weeks progressed from aug to sept to oct.....the music thathad been played there was filtering out to the maintsream.....Me....that fall I entered the army to beat the draft.....then i became engulfed inb the music....havens,,,,,hendrix...santana....being in the military....learning things that you didn't want to learn.....seeing behaviours of people who should have known better...finding out who you were.....what did you really believe....feeling like a political prisoner.....forcing yourself to read things that you should have learned in school but didnt or hadnt......seeing up close how things are done in the military.....the meanings of words and music.....reading the book forced me to look at the endavours of the past in another light......the whoi......tommy........janis joplin....Fort Polk Basic Training....where I really did lunge with my battering ram to try and kill my squad leader because he said I had no killer instinct....when I hit him withhe had the stunned look like..."What are you doing?" and I answered "ya wanna die...lets do it".....he looked at me with a distant troubled face afterwards for the rest of boot camp..Fort Rucker....Fort Sam houston...kent state killings....rumours that we were going to be sent somewhere incountry as civil unrest was gonna break out....None of us were gonna listen to our officers about shooting our fellow americans....Fortbragg....all of this was laden with the music of woodstock...Yes all the players under the influence of drugs...whether it was chemicals...emotions....ideas....itwas mind and life changing event......The book was a good read....I recommend it highly....the author does not pull any punches....he writes of the good, the bad and the uglies of that event/events.
PLEASE REAAD IT.......

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Thank You Michael

No, I wasn't at Woodstock. I was 2 months short from being released from the Navy. The "lifers," were upset, "look at those longhairs. I was reading the Life magazine about "Woodstock". Oh do i WISH i was there! Thank you Michael Lang for having the vision, the guts, and the love for music. Of course there were hundreds also responsible for the music event, but it was Michael Lang that got things going. I have been a music lover for 52, been getting Rolling Stone since 1971, written music review for my Fathers music column. Booked concerts in college (Billy Joel, Canned Heat, and John Sebastain, among others)All that I have read and heard over the years lead me to believe Michael Lang knew what he was doing. If you read nothing else, pick up a copy of Michael Lang's "A Road To Woodstock."

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Woodstock

A good quick light read as to the originals of the festival. I liked the interjections of artists and other promoters as a counterpoint to what Lang said -- and I also liked how he indented those interjections which made them clear and distinct. After reading this, I understood the festival much better and was able to better appreciate some of the documentaries that I subsequently watched -- and the VH1/History Channel documentary was the best.

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