Woodstock: A New Look

by Gregory Walter, Lisa Grant

In 1969, Greg Walter was hired by Woodstock Ventures to help create a music festival to be held on a farm in upstate NY. Greg built the stages, worked on the Art Crew, and while helping to make history, took a lot of pictures. Photographs he developed, then put into a shoebox under his parent's bed, where they lay forgotten for nearly 40 years.

Shortly after Woodstock ended, a warrant was issued for his arrest as a Viet Nam War Protester and Greg was forced to flee to Canada for sanctuary.

After President Jimmy Carter's amnesty in 1977, Greg returned to the country he loved, and while taking care of a parent in 2005, he discovered the photographs, still under the bed.

It was a magic moment when he opened the box and saw those photos again--pictures of Woodstock that have never been seen before by anyone--and believing that others would feel the same way about them, felt compelled to write a narrative to share these photos, and his amazing experience with the world.

Genres: Music

144 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great picture book of the epic concert of Woodstock that took place at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969.

http://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-New-L...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066580/

Thirty-two acts performed over the course of the four days:
[edit]Friday, August 15 – Saturday, August 16
Artist Time Notes
Richie Havens 5:07 pm – 7:00 pm
Swami Satchidananda 7:10 pm – 7:20 pm Gave the opening speech/invocation for the festival
Sweetwater 7:30 pm – 8:10 pm
Bert Sommer 8:20 pm – 9:15 pm
Tim Hardin 9:20 pm – 9:45 pm
Ravi Shankar 10:00 pm – 10:35 pm Played through the rain
Melanie 10:50 pm – 11:20 pm
Arlo Guthrie 11:55 pm – 12:25 am
Joan Baez 12:55 am – 2:00 am She was six months pregnant at the time
[edit]Saturday, August 16 – Sunday, August 17
Artist Time Notes
Quill 12:15 pm – 12:45 pm
Country Joe McDonald 1:00 pm – 1:30 pm Joe later performs with Country Joe and the Fish
Santana 2:00 pm – 2:45 pm
John Sebastian 3:30 pm – 3:55 pm
Keef Hartley Band 4:45 pm – 5:30 pm
The Incredible String Band 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Canned Heat 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Mountain 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Grateful Dead 10:30 pm – 12:05 am their set was cut short after the stage amps overloaded during "Turn On Your Love Light"
Creedence Clearwater Revival 12:30 am – 1:20 am
Janis Joplin with The Kozmic Blues Band[28] 2:00 am – 3:00 am
Sly & the Family Stone 3:30 am – 4:20 am
The Who 5:00 am – 6:05 am Briefly interrupted by Abbie Hoffman
Jefferson Airplane 8:00 am – 9:40 am
[edit]Sunday, August 17 – Monday, August 18
Artist Time Notes
Joe Cocker and The Grease Band 2:00 pm – 3:25 pm After Joe Cocker's set, a thunderstorm disrupted the events for several hours.
Country Joe and the Fish 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm Country Joe McDonald's second performance.
Ten Years After 8:15 pm – 9:15 pm
The Band 10:00 pm – 10:50 pm
Johnny Winter 12:00 am – 1:05 am Winter's brother, Edgar Winter, is featured on three songs.
Blood, Sweat & Tears 1:30 am – 2:30 am
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 3:00 am – 4:00 am An acoustic and electric set were played. Neil Young skipped most of the acoustic set.
Paul Butterfield Blues Band 6:00 am – 6:45 am
Sha Na Na 7:30 am – 8:00 am
Jimi Hendrix / Band of Gypsys 9:00 am – 11:10 am

[MaryAlice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wrote a book review for, Woodstock: A New Look by Gregory Walter, for the now defunct, Associated Content.

I made note that a concert ticket to see those many bands, cost $7.00. The author tells a story that began in 1968. The first photograph shows a Vietnam war protester on the ground bleeding after being hit by a Chicago policeman at the Democratic National Convention. Missing from the short narrative is any mention of the murders of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy that year.

A new mother, and into R & B/Soul, Woodstock held no interest to me. I did enjoy reading about the event and looking at the many photographs.

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where was the copy editor? Janice Joplin? Jimi Hendricks?!? I had a hard time overlooking the egregious errors. I can forgive an old hippie for making the mistakes, but to print 'em? Unforgivable.

That aside, the photos were lovely, the text simple and very readable. No new insights, but a pretty book.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Woodstock being the cultural touchstone that it is, it’s amazing to think that so many photos were locked away for so long. Newly discovered (or perhaps, conveniently, to celebrate Woodstock’s recent anniversary) photos are presented in this compelling coffee-table book.