Woodstock Pt. 1: A Disaster Movie (Rewind)
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What was the original vision for Woodstock and how did it become a disaster movie?
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Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis.
The stories about Woodstock are insane. Three days of peace, love, music, and two deaths, extortion, onstage maximum rock and roll violence, too many drug overdoses to count, near-mass electrocution, and a lot of dumb luck. The iconic music festival is known as the generation-defining moment when the Baby Boomers demonstrated to the world the power of peace, love, and communalism. But was that really what went down at old man Yazger's farm on the third weekend of August in 1969? Or were those of us who didn't attend either because we weren't yet born, were too old, too young, or too preoccupied with the responsibilities of life to just not be interested? Or we sold a vision of Woodstock that was as mythical and unrealistic as the hippie dream baby boomers have been peddling ever since the idealized notion of the vaunted 60s came to be.
Woodstock, the movie, the documentary film released a year after the festival in 1970, quickly established itself as the document of record on Woodstock, the event. The movie paints a romanticized picture and has come to define the festival and our collective cultural memory perhaps more strongly than the recollections of those who are actually there, either as fans, performers, or organizers of the festival. So what actually happened at Woodstock? Was it the hippie utopia depicted in the documentary or in all actuality was the real Woodstock more like a disaster movie? One thing's for sure. Great music was made at Woodstock. Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Sly and the Family Stone, Santana, Richie Havens and Joe Cocker to name a few.
Unlike that music I played for you at the top of the show. That wasn't great music. That was a preset loop from my Mellotron called Bone Bone Daddy-O MK2. I played you that loop because I can't afford the rights to Aquarius Let the Sunshine In by the Fifth Dimension. And why would I play you that specific slice of Moon in the Seventh House cheese, could I afford it? Because that was the number one song in America on April 19th, 1969. And that was the day Michael Lang and his Woodstock Ventures Company began running its first advertisements promoting a music festival in upstate New York. A festival that would not only define a generation, but go on to influence and shape multiple generations to come.
On this, a special two-part episode. Dumb luck, hypocritical hippies, the dawning of the age of Aquarius and Woodstock. A disaster movie. I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgraceland.
All right, man, everybody cool out. Put the guns down. 23-year-old first-time concert promoter Michael Lang was in the unenviable position of trying to diffuse the heavily armed, gun-drawn tension between a handful of Florida's redneck cops and some blue-collar Brinks truck guards.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What was the original vision for Woodstock and how did it become a disaster movie?
0:01–7:42
2
How did Michael Lang’s early career and the failed Gulfstream Festival set the stage for Woodstock?
7:42–13:48
3
Why did the original Wallkill site fall through and how was Max Yasgur’s farm chosen?
13:48–18:58
4
How did financing, extortion by Abbie Hoffman, and investor pressure shape the festival’s budget?
18:58–24:49
5
What role did the Hog Farm play in food, medical care, and security at Woodstock?
24:49–31:43
6
How did traffic jams, police raids, and a near‑mass electrocution turn the event into chaos?
31:43–36:55
7
How did the organizers handle the exploding crowd, ticket‑free entry, and the emergency declared by the governor?
36:55–43:41
8
What were the lasting cultural impacts and myths that emerged from the three‑day catastrophe?
43:41–52:21
Speakers
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