Barefoot in Babylon

The perfect gift for music fans and anyone fascianated by Woodstock, Barefoot in Babylon is an in-depth look at the making of 1969’s Woodstock Music Festival--one of Rolling Stone ’s “50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll.” “Mr. Spitz feeds us every riveting detail of the chaos that underscored the festival. It makes for some out-a-sight reading, man.”-- The New York Times Book Review Fifty years ago, the Woodstock Music Festival defined a generation. Yet, there was much more than peace and love driving that long weekend the summer of 1969. In Barefoot in Babylon, journalist and New York Times bestselling author Bob Spitz gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Woodstock, from its inception and the incredible musicians that performed to its scandals and the darker side of the peace movement. With a new introduction, as well as maps, set lists, and a breakdown of all the personalities involved, Barefoot in Babylon is a must-read for anyone who was there--or wishes they were.

Praise for Barefoot in Babylon

“[Takes] the lid off that mammoth rock concert and reveal[s] the astonishing antics the promoters performed, commercially and personally, to get the Thing off the ground...Mr. Spitz feeds us every riveting detail.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Goes further toward explaining the counterculture, in all its contradictions and ironies, than many another valiant attempt at social commentary...A novelistic structure and a tough, spicy style... Evident too are the beauty, the magic, the gentle spirit and selfless devotion that Woodstock has come to symbolize for many people.”—Baltimore News American

“It happens that behind the legendary concert was a string of events no less amazing...An important, impressive work...Reads like an adventure.”—Timothy White, former Associate Editor, Rolling Stone

“Tough, well-documented...Reveals the gritty and sometimes greedy realities behind the Woodstock Music Festival...Provoking, exciting, and full of the kind of truth that is so sorely needed about an event which has become a part of American folklore.”—Tim O'Brien

Autorentext

Bob Spitz is a journalist and author with wide experience in the music industry. He has managed Bruce Springsteen and Elton John. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Barefoot in Babylon: The Creation of the Woodstock Music Festival, 1969; Dylan: A Biography; Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child; and The Beatles: The Biography.

Zusammenfassung
*The perfect gift for music fans and anyone fascianated by Woodstock, *Barefoot in Babylon is an in-depth look at the making of 1969’s Woodstock Music Festival—one of Rolling Stone’s “50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll.”

“Mr. Spitz feeds us every riveting detail of the chaos that underscored the festival. It makes for some out-a-sight reading, man.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
Fifty years ago, the Woodstock Music Festival defined a generation. Yet, there was much more than peace and love driving that long weekend the summer of 1969. In Barefoot in Babylon, journalist and New York Times bestselling author Bob Spitz gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Woodstock, from its inception and the incredible musicians that performed to its scandals and the darker side of the peace movement. With a new introduction, as well as maps, set lists, and a breakdown of all the personalities involved, Barefoot in Babylon is a must-read for anyone who was there—or wishes they were.

Leseprobe
**PART ONE

The Nation at Peace

CHAPTER ONE

Four Champions Fierce  

From the beginning, the script reads like an MGM musical comedy of the 1940s . . .

—BusinessWeek

1

Ashrill alert penetrated the apartment’s unruffled silence, startling the two young men inside. John Roberts, who had been dialing a long-distance call, vaulted toward the wall intercom and slapped the Talk button.

“Yes?” He automatically switched fingers to Listen. The doorman’s heavily accented response crackled: “Meester Mike and Meester Arth.”

Roberts peered over his shoulder to the velours couch where his friend and partner, Joel Rosenman, was probing the circuitry of a disabled transistor radio.

“Don’t look at me.” Rosenman shrugged, looking up from his surgery.

Roberts depressed the Talk button again. “Just a moment,” he said, and walked over to his desk. He flipped open a tan leather binder and ran his finger over a dog-eared page. The cryptic entry in his appointment book read simply: Lang/Kornfeld, 3:00. It was scrawled across the bottom of a page dated “Thursday, February 6, 1969,” a day that Roberts and Rosenman would forever inscribe as the moment of maculate conception, the birth of the Woodstock Generation.

“These are the two guys Miles sent over,” Roberts remembered. “I forgot all about it.”

“Me too,” Rosenman said. “They’re looking for money, right?”

Roberts said they were and instructed the doorman to allow their guests into the building. He and Rosenman had halfheartedly agreed to see Lang/Kornfeld on the recommendation of Miles Lourie, a prominent music-business attorney, who represented an impressive roster of contemporary recording artists that included Ray Charles and Paul Simon. Lourie had heard through a mutual acquaintance that Roberts and Rosenman were rolling in investment capital and had called them a week earlier with a proposition.

“My clients have a unique approach to a recording studio,” Lourie had said, holding back on the details. An old legal hoofer at heart, he played his cards slowly and with a dealer’s reserve. Lourie, in fact, considered his clients’ concept to be both economically sound and enticing, so much so that he was willing to represent it on a contingency basis. With the proper pairing of individuals, he envisioned everyone—including himself—profiting quite handsomely.

“All I’m asking is that you spend a few minutes with them, listen to what they have to say. And by the way, John, don’t be put off by their appearance. They look a little different than the type of people you and Joel are accustomed to dealing with, but I think you’ll find what they have to say refreshing.”

The last thing John Roberts and Joel Rosenman wanted to do was to waste time listening to would-be tycoons with a penchant for sound systems and superstars. A few months before, after several false starts in private enterprise, they had been referred to a similar cartel intent on building a recording studio; that liaison had resulted in their involvement in a project called Media Sound (in which Roberts and Rosenman had become partners), that was now underway to their utmost satisfaction. Why should they waste their time mulling over an identical proposal?

Still and all, Miles Lourie was considered a moving force in an industry they were entering. It wouldn’t do them any harm to be in his favor in return for a few minutes of their time. So John Roberts had consented to see Lang/Kornfeld at their convenience.

“You know anything about these guys?” Rosenman asked his partner, straightening up the pile of electrical scrap on the coffee table.

“Only that their first names sound like Meester Mike and Meester Arth—whatever the hell that means,” he said, shaking his head discontentedly. “And . . .” And, by the way, John, don’t be put off by their appearances. The lawyer’s words…