Max Yasgur, the Farmer Behind Woodstock

Woodstock Farmer

One of the important people of the rock era, Max Yasgur, was born to Jewish immigrants from Russia on December 15 in 1919. Yasgur’s place in rock history came nearly five decades later. He was the owner of the dairy farm that hosted the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, which was held between August 15 and August 18, 1969.

After other towns in upstate New York rejected the idea of hosting the festival, Yasgur leased a field in Bethel, New York to the concert organizers. The 49-year-old farmer was paid for the lease. But he also proved his generosity.

When Yasgur saw that such a large number of kids showed up for the concert, he worked to make sure there was enough free water. Also, he told his own kids to give away all of his milk and dairy products to feed the concert-goers.

At one point during the concert, Yasgur addressed the crowd. He began by saying “I am a farmer.” Then, he explained he did not know how to address a crowd of young people. But as you may see in the video below, he did.

Many of Yasgur’s neighbors were angry at him for allowing his land to be used for the concert. Some of them sued him. And his own land suffered damage from the concert.

In 1971, Yasgur sold his land and moved to Florida. A year and a half later on February 9, 1973, he died due to a heart condition. But as Brian Doyle recently wrote in “The Sudden City” in the April 2016 issue of The Sun magazine, “Max had a great heart.” Doyle uses Yasgur’s acts of generosity to remind us in today’s cynical world that there are people everywhere doing good things to help others.

Yasgur’s kindness reminds us to be nice to others. On top of that, he also helped set the table for a concert that emerged as a symbol of people coming together in peace and love.

There was great music. But as Doyle writes, “perhaps the deeper story, the better story, the more substantive story, is how a sudden city of young Americans arose briefly on a hillside for one summer weekend, and no one got beaten up, and hundreds of people . . . handed out water and sandwiches and blankets.”

Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Richie Havens Foresaw Cell Phones On the Woodstock Stage
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  • Star-Spangled Banner: Francis Scott Key & Singers Who Redefined His Words
  • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

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    Richie Havens Foresaw Cell Phones On the Woodstock Stage

    Woodstock

    This week, on August 15 in 1969, a Friday, the “Woodstock Music & Art Fair” began in Bethel, New York. Of course, today we remember the festival with simply the name “Woodstock.”

    I took the above photo in 2007 after making a pilgrimage to the site. At the time of my visit, there was not much to commemorate the site beyond the large plaque. But there also was a man who had attended the concert who came on his own to tell stories to eager tourists like me. It was cool. The owners of the site finally did build a museum though.

    Back in 1969, the musical performances started at 5:07 p.m. when Richie Havens took the stage. After he performed his set, the crowd kept calling him back for more, so that he finally had to resort to improvising a song based on the old spiritual, “Motherless Child.” Thus, he closed his set with his iconic performance of the much-improvised “Freedom (Motherless Child).” He later explained, “When you see me in the movie tuning my guitar and strumming, I was actually trying to figure out what else I could possibly play! I looked out at all of those faces in front of me and the word ‘freedom’ came to mind.”

    At one point during the song, he apparently foresaw the use of cell phones in the future when he sang, “I got a telephone in my bosom / And I can call him up from my heart.” What a great way to begin the advertised “3 Days of Peace & Music.” In this video below, Havens looks back on Woodstock forty years after the event.

    Do you wish you were at Woodstock in 1969? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Max Yasgur, the Farmer Behind Woodstock
  • “Shannon”: Henry Gross, Sha Na Na, and a Beach Boys Dog
  • RIP Richie Havens
  • Star-Spangled Banner: Francis Scott Key & Singers Who Redefined His Words
  • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)