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Noteworthy Then

8/15/1969 Woodstock festival opens

 

On this afternoon in 1969, the Woodstock festival opened in Bethel, New York. Dubbed the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, the musical lineup for the three day event included several high profile bands as well as emerging groups like Santana, which hadn't released its debut album yet. Some major acts declined invitations. The Doors passed on playing Woodstock after festival organizers were forced to move from the original site close to the Hudson Valley village along the New York State Thruway it got named for to a far more remote location. Ray Manzarek later said that the band looked at a map and concluded that the new site was so remotely situated that it wouldn't draw much of a crowd. Joni Mitchell wanted to attend, but her agent was concerned she would be unable to get back to New York City in time for a scheduled TV appearance, so she spent the weekend in a Manhattan hotel and wrote the song Woodstock that she and Crosby, Stills,Nash & Young later recorded.

Ticketing for the event broke down the day the festival opened, as did the flimsy fencing near the point of entry, so no official count exists, but estimates put the attendance at about 400,000. Despite food shortages, and some dangerous weather with gusting winds and heavy rain that turned much of the meadow into a massive mud pit, the festival lived up to being the "three days of peace, love and music" it was promoted it would be, and Woodstock became a cultural milestone for a generation.

 

Other Noteworthy Classic Rock events on August 15 include... 

 

1946 Jimmy Webb born. 

1950 Drummer Tommy Aldridge (Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers, Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne) born. 

1962 Beatles invite Ringo Starr to join on the same day Pete Best does his last set drumming with them.

1965 Beatles play Shea Stadium.   

1966 Jefferson Airplane release Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.   

1975 Rod Stewart releases Atlantic Crossing.  

1979 Led Zeppelin releases In Through The Out Door. 

1980 George Harrison publishes I, Me, Mine.
1980 The Cars release Panorama.

1983 AC/DC releases Flick Of The Switch.

1983 Joey Ramone undergoes brain surgery after being injured in a fight.

1991 Paul Simon plays Central Park for a crowd of more than 500,000. 

1987 Keith Richards starts recording Talk is Cheap solo album.

1998 Don Henley, Lou Reed, Joni Mitchell play Woodstock festival site on 29th anniversary (none appeared at original).

2004 Charlie Watts starts treatment for throat cancer.