Michael Lang (1) (1944–2022)

The Road To Woodstock by Michael Lang with Holly George Warren
HarperCollins Publishers First Edition 2009, This edition 2010

Michael Lang was the man who brought the Woodstock Music and Art Fair together. His story could have been a dry affair discussing the business end of the festival or a tell all about the festival and the musicians ignoring how the festival came about instead we get a balanced view of the festivals creation as well as its execution. Still it is about the business and how the festival came together over a review of the music and musicians. The writing stays entertaining even though the business end could have become tedious.

Originally I picked up the book to contrast Elliot Tiber’s book Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, A Concert and a Life. By happy circumstance I watched a short film maybe 10 minutes by Dale Bell about how they had to scramble to get enough film for the movie Woodstock. They were brought on board at the last minute so not a lot of preparation time. This little short film in turn led me to watching Taking Woodstock then reading Elliot Tiber’s book which led to watching the long version of the movie Woodstock. The movie Taking Woodstock focused on Tiber’s account of getting the festival to move to Bethel, New York where it was held. Aside from that controversial claim by Tiber, the movie was a nice coming of age story of a gay artist being caught up in the whirlwind of Woodstock. The book touched a little more on Tiber’s life prior to Woodstock including his presence at the Stonewall Riots in New York City. Hence the sub-title A True Story of a Riot . . .

I bought Lang’s book even though it seemed a little dry with my glancing through it for the Tiber references. With it in hand I promptly set it aside for other endeavors in reading and viewing. With the suspension of work in Spring 2020 due to Covid 19, I found in the summer I was ready to revisit the Summer of Love. So I trotted out the Road to Woodstock dove in. Like Tiber’s book it wasn’t just about Woodstock, it was about the times and someone living through them. Lang’s talks about his background, his influences that led to him wanting to put on a Music and Art festival in New York. Woodstock was a business venture created to make money so there is insight to the machinations of creating a festival. The book is liberally peppered with quotes from the participants. The reader is treated to insights to how certain things came about such as the haphazard order of the acts, how the movie came about and how Wavy Gravy and the Hog Farm being touted as the security of the festival. Like Tiber’s book, it is an easy read unlike Tiber’s book it has an invaluable appendix listing all the acts in order with their playlists.

After finishing Road, I decided to finish the movie Woodstock having watched the first 2 hours during the Spring. I had watched the movie years ago and watching the first half was just revisiting an old friend. Watching the second half after reading Lang’s book was like seeing it with a new pair of glasses. It was really different but there were insights to acts that added to the experience. Knowing John Sebastian was just there hanging out not as a paid performer, that the Jefferson Airplane had been up all night watching the concert before their morning performance, and the Richie Havens was not going to be the opening act reluctantly agreeing to go play added depth to the movie that hadn’t been there before. If I was to give a recommendation for someone interested in the phenomenon that is the Woodstock Festival I would say watch Woodstock, read Elliot Tibers’ book, read Michael Lang’s book and then watch Woodstock a second time. And for fun afterwards watch the movie Taking Woodstock.… (meer)

As the title implies, this book takes us along on Michael Lang's journey leading up to and culminating with the Woodstock festival. I was a teenager in the '70s, and grew up in the shadow of all things Woodstock. As with any major event, rumors and half-truths became legendary. Lang clarifies it all here, and I enjoyed learning how the event really unfolded.

Woodstock was not just about the music. It was about freedom of expression, equal rights, and unity. We see all that play out here. I've always believed Woodstock to be one of those pivotal points in history. We can never repeat its magic, but we can reflect back and learn.… (meer)