Woodstock may have turned out to be just a mere music festival, but it turned into a signal moment in pop culture only by accident. Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong that August weekend in 1969, did. But the music was great and the crowd- which swelled to an astounding 400,000 to 500,000 people – was even better.
Originally the festival was to be a moneymaking deal – however we all know what happened when it became a “free” event as the fences fell. You can see how promoters figured they’d make a fortune, when you take a look at what the top Woodstock performers were paid:
Jimi Hendrix (and his jammin’ buddies) – $18,000
Blood, Sweat and Tears – $15,000
Joan Baez, Creedence Clearwater Revival – $10,000
Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane – $7,500
Sly & the Family Stone – $7,000
Canned Heat – $6,500
The Who – $6,250
Richie Havens – $6,000
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Arlo Guthrie – $5,000
Ravi Shankar – $4,500
Johnny Winter – $3,750
Ten Years After – $3,250
Grateful Dead, Country Joe & the Fish – $2,500
And the list goes all the way down to the band Quill, which earned union scale: $375. You can take a look and wonder why someone like Canned Heat could command more than some of the others below them on the list; well, they had a couple of Top 20 singles in 1969, while CSNY at that time had yet to release its first album.
Consider, though, the impact that Woodstock made on many of the artists’ careers. CSNY may have earned peanuts in 1969 but just five years later they were the top-grossing live act in the country, earning about $10 million for a 24-city tour. Some of the others you don’t see on the list, those who made less than $2,500: acts like Santana and Joe Cocker, also got a huge boost from Woodstock. In fact, for many of these people it was the defining moment of their careers … while a few others would fade away into the mists of obscurity.
Woodstock will be celebrated at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts on the original festival grounds with the Heroes of Woodstock performance on August 15, however there are many more celebrations planned through the summer and into the fall. Check the excellent website Woodstockstory.com for a complete lineup of events.
MP3: “Soul Sacrifice” (live at Woodstock) by Santana
MP3: “Theme For An Imaginary Western (live at Woodstock) by Mountain
Woodstock.com
30 Days Out 