This August we’ll be celebrating a 48-year anniversary of one of the biggest moments on earth, the Woodstock Music Festival, which began August 15th, 1969. The four-day celebration starred the greatest rock and rollers of that time period, attracted nearly 500,000 fans, and jump started a ton of band careers. Here are a few things you may not have known about the Woodstock Music Festival…
Although we’ve called it ‘Woodstock’ for nearly 50 years, the festival didn’t actually take place in Woodstock New York. Zoning laws, money, and timing complications eventually moved the festival to Bethel, New York.
Richie Havens opened the Woodstock festival, but did you know that it’s because another band was stuck in traffic? His song “Freedom” is a classic song, but completely made up the moment he began to sing it. Richie walked off the stage and had to see film of the song to realize what he had made up.
There were 33 musical acts in all at the outdoor festival – Jimi Hendrix was paid $18,000 , Blood Sweat and Tears received $15,000, Joan Baez was paid $10,000, Janis Joplin was paid $7,500 for her appearance. Sha Na Na was the biggest name to receive the least amount, some $700 for the gig.
The Jeff Beck Group and Iron Butterfly were scheduled to play the festival, but did not. Jeff and the boys didn’t make the festival for the simple reason that they had unexpectedly broken up the week before the show. The group Iron Butterfly was stuck at LaGuardia Airport in New York, and couldn’t make it for their slotted schedule.