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Woodstock Ventures & Sony Music Entertainment Launch Woodstock.com, A New Social Network Website for Live Music Fans from All Generations

Woodstock Ventures and Sony Music Entertainment have joined forces to create Woodstock.com, a revolutionary destination website for live music fans from every generation. A new social networking website devoted to the live music community, Woodstock.com debuted to artists, fans, music lovers and websurfers everywhere on Monday, June 1, and continues to grow.

40 years after the original Woodstock Festival drew a half a million music fans to upstate New York for four days of peace, love and understanding, Woodstock.com, the official website for the Woodstock community, is keeping those ideals alive 24-7 in a vital new online social networking community.

Utilizing a clean and user-friendly aesthetic and interface, Woodstock.com is compatible with other online social networking sites and offers fans the opportunity to create their own Woodstock.com profile pages.

With information on more than 130,000 events and more than 20,000 pieces of content on-hand at launch, Woodstock.com is the web’s most comprehensive live music community site, offering fans the inside story on local and national concerts, access to ticketing, artist’s forums, and the unique ability to connect with other fans, compare and review their concert experiences, rate bands and concerts, post their own photos from live events they’ve attended and much more.

Woodstock.com offers a platform where fans can share their experiences from all of the Woodstock Festivals (’69,’94 & ’99) in addition to other live concert events. Woodstock.com is also premiering WikiStock, an interactive wiki-style encyclopedia of all things Woodstock, which will accept and incorporate contributions about the individual experiences visitors have had at Woodstock festivals over the years.

Woodstock.com will present forums to discuss environmental initiatives, social issues, and other current topics relevant to the Woodstock community. Visitors to the site can meet on a virtual village green, a platform for developing initiatives about global warming, carbon emissions, and responsible energy use. A special interactive portion of the site will make clear to the world which issues are of the greatest importance to the Woodstock community.

The site will be the ultimate source for all things Woodstock — exclusive interviews, guest editors, previously unreleased artifacts, audio-visual content, rare photographs and other memorabilia with an online store offering a wide variety of goods including fine art prints of never-before-seen photography, music, film, collectables, apparel and books.

“Three pillars of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, live music, community involvement and social awareness, will define the Woodstock Nation on a new frontier as the promoters of that pivotal event in Aug. 1969 set out to bring their vision of the world to cyberspace,” wrote John W. Barry in his article on the site appearing in the Poughkeepsie Journal/Associated Press.

Woodstock.com has been created under the auspices of Michael Lang and Joel Rosenman, two of the founders of the Woodstock Festival. The launch of Woodstock.com is planned to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, the historic weekend that showed the world how the youth of America could unite in peace and music. That spirit lives on at Woodstock.com, the ultimate Woodstock destination for the 21st century.

Legacy Recordings has also released five double-CD packages celebrating the legends of Woodstock. Each eco-friendly, all-paper package will feature the remastered original album in an LP replica sleeve, alongside a second CD which features the artist’s complete Woodstock performance, all with previously unreleased tracks! Each title will be an individually-numbered collectors edition, featuring a 16 x 24″ poster of the artist captured in performance at Woodstock in 1969.

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE – Volunteers: Woodstock Experience 2CD (RCA/Legacy)

JANIS JOPLIN – I Got Dem ‘Ol Kozmic Blues Again Mama!: Woodstock Experience 2CD (Columbia/Legacy)

SANTANA – Santana: Woodstock Experience 2CD (Columbia/Legacy)

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE – Stand!: Woodstock Experience 2CD (Epic/Legacy)

JOHNNY WINTER – Johnny Winter: Woodstock Experience 2CD (Epic/Legacy)

http://www.woodstock.com/

Source: Legacy Recordings

.. and favored Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Over Hendrix

From Proclaiming “Far Out” as their Favorite Slang Term to Electing an African American President as Their Biggest Surprise, Boomers Reflect on Then and Now

Eons.com, the online community for Baby Boomers, today announced the results of its Woodstock 40th Anniversary Survey. The survey sampled the opinions of nearly 2,000 respondents age 45 and over, forming a portrait of a generation that started out breaking the rules, and four decades later continues to shape the world. The survey and online group are available at www.eons.com/woodstock40th.

“Our members have been anticipating Woodstock’s landmark anniversary for more than a year. This weekend, eons.com welcomes all who experienced the 1960s to celebrate and share their Woodstock stories and connect with peers around this life-changing event,” says Jeff Taylor, Eons(TM) CEO.

Boomers’ Real Views on Woodstock, Music and the Hippie Life

– Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young was the survey’s surprise winner for favorite live performer at Woodstock (77%). Jimi Hendrix, the iconic Woodstock artist, came in 2nd with 53%. The #2 favorite? Creedence Clearwater Revival (72%).

– Nearly half of all respondents (47%) said the music was the most memorable part about Woodstock. Yet, Woodstock attendees said the sense of peace and togetherness (47%) was more memorable than the music (19%).

– Only 16% of all respondents considered themselves to be hippies in the ’60s, but 60% “wanted to be” or said they were “maybe a little bit.” Of those who attended Woodstock, 47% called themselves hippies versus 14% of non-attendees. Today, only 8% of Boomers consider themselves to be, with another 38% proclaiming “sort of.”

– Bell bottoms were a must-have for both genders (80%). While women raved about their very long hair (59%), men sported sideburns (47%) and their own long hair (38%).

– Boomers declared “Far Out” as their most-loved saying (66%). The distant second? “Groovy” (48%).

They Have Become “The Man” and Loved Their Careers

– Two-thirds of Boomers said they have achieved their career aspirations. In 1969, women’s top goal (32%) was to have a job that could help make a difference, while men (36%) sought a company with good benefits, pensions and security. The beginning of a sea change for women and work was evident as only 22% of women wanted to be a stay-at-home parent. Career disappointment centered on not making enough money, despite liking their jobs. Over 40% said they have or had a really fun and enjoyable career.

– While less than half of this generation (42%) gave much thought in the 1960′s to the corporate world, those that did (22%) thought it was a necessary evil. Today, almost all Boomers think about the corporate world (93%) and despite career success, many still feel it is a necessary evil (36%).

Hell No, We Won’t Go

– Only 35% of respondents participated in an anti-war protest in the ’60s, but Woodstock attendees were twice as likely (66%) to have protested. Interestingly, twice as many men (25%) as women said they supported the government’s position. Although 73% said Woodstock did not influence their attitude toward anti-war protesters, 19% said it made them more tolerant.

– While 42% said they are “much less active today” in anti-war protests, as a generation Boomers are more involved in activism and community support. One-third (33%) are “much more active today” in volunteerism and nearly 40% are “somewhat more active” in grassroots activism, social organizing and political activism.

The ’60s Shaped Their Generation

– Over 45% said, “I am who I am because of the ’60s,” with 75% claiming that growing up in the ’60s made them more open-minded. Over 50% enjoyed those times and would choose to live them over again, but 9% would happily skip that time.

– In 1969, they “never would have imagined” that in 40 years we’d have an African American President (60%). Other surprises? They still enjoy music as much as they did (36%); they enjoy being grandparents (32%); and they as strongly espouse the values of peace, love and community (32%) as they did 40 years ago.

– Overall, 62% said their generation as a whole has not achieved its ideals yet. One commented, “We made more change happen faster than anyone dreamed possible before us. There is still a distance to go, but our impact on the process has been undeniable.”

The Newseum announced plans to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair with “Woodstock at 40: The Rise of Music Journalism.” The exhibition, open Aug. 1 through Oct. 31, features rarely seen images from a trio of photojournalists — including a 17-year-old Connecticut high schooler — who covered the event, as well as other examples of media coverage, Woodstock memorabilia and artifacts.

In addition to a camera, press passes and notes from the featured photographers, the artifacts include a working list of the artists who performed and how much each act was paid and other items from Woodstock concert promoter Michael Lang.

Rolling Stone called the Woodstock Music and Art Fair “the most famous event in rock history.” The Newseum’s “Woodstock at 40″ exhibit invites visitors to consider how the event changed the way that news media — and the rest of the nation — looked at rock music and popular culture.

At the time, reports focused on traffic jams, rainstorms, food shortages, drug use and crowd size. New York’s Sunday News headlined its story “Hippies Mired in Sea of Mud.”

But according to USA Today rock critic Edna Gundersen, “The media and the music industry were awakened by Woodstock and started to recognize music as not just a frivolous and entertaining diversion but as a growing cultural magnet and a commercial force with enormous potential.”

Newseum Executive Director Joe Urschel says that, “prior to Woodstock, there were few reporters in the mainstream media who covered rock music seriously. That changed very quickly after the festival. Many of the reporters who did attend completely missed the story, focusing instead on those things that seem insignificant now — the traffic, the crowds, the weather. It was the equivalent of going to cover the Super Bowl and neglecting to mention the football game.”

“Woodstock at 40″ focuses on the efforts of three photographers to document the event.

Concert promoter Lang paid Henry Diltz $500 to be the official photographer of Woodstock. Diltz arrived in Bethel, N.Y., two weeks before the concert to capture the preparations and remained through Jimi Hendrix’s festival-ending performance. He then headed for the offices of Life magazine and submitted hundreds of freshly developed slides. “Woodstock at 40″ features the three Diltz images as they appeared — with full-page treatment — in the 1969 “Woodstock Special Edition” of Life, as well as other images of the performers and crowd.

Mark Goff covered Woodstock as a 22-year-old reporter for Kaleidoscope, a Milwaukee-based alternative newspaper that was published in the late 1960s. Armed with a press pass, Goff had access to the entire venue. His rarely seen photos feature extraordinary snapshots of both the performers — Joan Baez, Ravi Shankar, Sly Stone — and the crowds taken from the press pit located just below the stage. Goff’s images appear alongside his mud-splattered press kit, press pass, concert pin and tickets.

The exhibition also features rarely seen images taken by reporter Dan Garson who, as a 17-year-old journalist for his high school newspaper in Connecticut, wrote the festival organizers for a press pass. To his astonishment, he got one. Garson captured more than 300 photographs, only four of which were ever published. The rest were forgotten in his parents’ basement. “Woodstock at 40″ features the first public museum display of Garson’s photos as well as the 35mm camera he used, his notes and the letter Garson received from Woodstock granting him a press pass.

The Newseum has produced an original, five-minute feature presentation for the 90-foot-long screen in the museum’s Robert H. and Clarice Smith Big Screen Theater. The production mixes news photographs and rarely seen network footage of the concert with images taken by the exhibit’s featured photographers. Interviews with Barnard Collier, who covered the concert for The New York Times; Jan Hodenfield, who covered for Rolling Stone; and USA Today rock critic Edna Gundersen are mixed with music from the concert. The production will run daily while “Woodstock at 40″ is on display.

“Woodstock at 40″ was made possible through the generous cooperation of Rona Elliot and Genesis Publications, publisher of “Woodstock Experience,” along with Brad LeMee and the family of Dan Garson, Woodstock executive producer Michael Lang, and photographers Henry Diltz and Mark Goff.

Public programs

On Saturday, Aug. 1, a local band assembled specifically to mark the exhibit opening, “Woodstock Re-Covered,” will perform music from the historic concert in the Newseum’s New York Times — Ochs-Sulzberger Family Great Hall of News beginning at 2 p.m.

On Sunday, Aug. 9, Woodstock Music and Art Fair organizer Michael Lang will offer a revealing look at how one concert brought a half-million people to an upstate farm in Bethel, N.Y., and captured the social and political spirit of the decade. After the program, Lang will sign copies of his book, “The Road to Woodstock.”

On Saturday, Aug. 15, former New York Times reporter Barnard L. Collier will sort out fact from fiction about the historic concert. Collier wrote about Woodstock as promoters searched for a location and was on the scene when the final act took the stage.

The Newseum — a 250,000-square-foot museum of news — offers visitors an experience that blends five centuries of news history with up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits. Within its seven levels of galleries and theaters, the Newseum offers a unique environment that takes museum-goers behind the scenes to experience how and why news is made.

Source: Newseum