CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 8/17/2019

Making American history: 'Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music'

"The kids of the counterculture were not pigeonholed in their musical tastes. So I decided early on to book an eclectic group of artists," festival co-creator and co-founder Michael Lang writes in Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music, his new book from Reel Art Press. "I had a wild idea about having Roy Rogers end the festival with his song Happy Trails—a perfect end to three days of peace and music, but his manager turned me down. Instead, famously, Jimi Hendrix closed the festival at 9 a.m. on Monday morning when there was a dwindling but steadfast audience of around 20 thousand left: Jimi played in broad daylight to create what is now Woodstock history—a performance captured on film of The Star Spangled Banner that still gives me chills." Featured photograph is by Dan Garson.