Michael Lang, one of the four organizers of the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair, passed away yesterday of a rare form of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. He was 77.
Lang and his friend Artie Kornfeld had originally wanted to build a recording studio in Woodstock and had responded to ad in The New York Times posted by venture capitalists John P. Roberts and Joel Rosenman soliciting business proposals. Roberts and Rosenman convinced Lang and Kornfeld to abandon the recording studio concept in favor of a music festival. Although the festival came to be known as Woodstock, it was actually held on Max Yasgur's farm in nearby Bethel after several location changes. The festival was a financial disaster, but the organizers would recoup their money with the profits from the movie and soundtrack. Woodstock would be praised for living up to its calling card "3 Days of Peace, Fun and Music" and become a cultural cornerstone of the 1960's which endures to this day.
Indeed, RobSquad Reactions, one of my favorite YouTube reaction channels just began "Woodstock Wednesdays" reacting to Ten Years After's "I'm Going Home" featuring the speedy guitar work of the late Alvin Lee. I am looking forward to them reacting to other Woodstock performances as well as commenting on Lang's passing.
Yesterday, while I was thinking about these upcoming reactions I thought about the time I met Michael Lang at Brookline Booksmith in the summer of 2009. Lang and Holly George Warren had co-written a book called The Road to Woodstock to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the festival. I briefly spoke with Lang after the event and asked him which version of the song "Woodstock" he liked better - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young or Matthew's Southern Comfort Band. Lang told me that he was in the studio with CSNY when they recorded "Woodstock". For her part, Warren told me she liked MSCB's version better (as do I).
After Woodstock, Lang managed Joe Cocker for many years and also co-organized the Woodstock Festivals in both 1994 and 1999. Sadly, neither festival captured the spirit of the original. The 1999 festival was also marred by violence including rape and sexual assault. In 2019, Lang attempted to organize a Woodstock 50 festival but this was marred by financial and logistical troubles and was cancelled before tickets ever went on sale.
Despite the embarrassment, it is probably just as well Woodstock 50 didn't happen. It is best that Michael Lang be remembered for those 3 days of peace, fun and music in August 1969. R.I.P.
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