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Michael Lang, the laughing face of the Woodstock festival, dies

2022-01-12T19:34:43.685Z


Concert promoter and manager, planned to launch El Último de la Fila worldwide Michael Lang, in 1994, Lynn Goldsmith (Corbis / VCG via Getty Images) Michael Lang, concert promoter and artist representative, died in New York on Saturday, January 8, at the age of 77, a victim of lymphoma. Its name is inextricably linked to the legendary Woodstock festival, which took place in mid-August 1969 and in two subsequent editions. As a manager, he ran Joe Cocker's career in the 1970s


Michael Lang, in 1994, Lynn Goldsmith (Corbis / VCG via Getty Images)

Michael Lang, concert promoter and artist representative, died in New York on Saturday, January 8, at the age of 77, a victim of lymphoma.

Its name is inextricably linked to the legendary Woodstock festival, which took place in mid-August 1969 and in two subsequent editions.

As a manager, he ran Joe Cocker's career in the 1970s and 1980s.

More information

The magic of Woodstock cannot be repeated

Born in Brooklyn in 1944, Lang was one of many twenty-somethings who felt the counterculture earthquake.

He dropped out of law studies to settle in Coconut Grove, the most bohemian area of ​​Florida, from where he organized concerts and events such as the Miami Pop Festival.

He then settled in Woodstock, a town that was home to Bob Dylan and a broad arts community at the time.

There he met a record company, Art Kornfeld.

They first wanted to start a recording studio, but when they met two ambitious New York investors (they had advertised themselves as "youngsters with unlimited capital"), the spark of setting up a festival in Woodstock emerged.

Everyone knew the area: the Catskills was the favorite summer resort of the Jewish community in New York, as well reflected in the series

The Marvelous Mrs. Meisel

.

What was eventually dubbed the

Woodstock Music and Art Fair

aroused the misgivings of the local population. Dylan wanted nothing to do with playing there, and residents denied permission. At nearby Wallkill, only a maximum of 5,000 spectators were allowed. Finally, back in Bethel, they convinced Max Yasgur, a headstrong Jewish farmer who defied his neighbors and gave up his land, with a natural amphitheater. Until hours before, legal ruses were used to stop the construction of infrastructure for the festival. At the time, there were talk of about 50,000 attendees, but Lang and company had already sold a larger number of tickets, at $ 18 per head.

All the controversy over the location and power of the cartel, which ranged from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Jimi Hendrix, explains that perhaps half a million people came to the call. It is impossible to know the exact figure, since many turned around when they ran into huge traffic jams; That ended up being a free event for the simple reason that there was no time to erect fences or gates.

In truth, Woodstock was a logistical and organizational disaster. Scheduled performances were not respected, and artists with acoustic guitars had to fill time-outs. Given the rain and various shortages, the help of the armed forces was required and the charitable impulse of nuns and ladies was translated into providing food and drink. There were two fatalities from accidents, but they were overshadowed by national astonishment at the overall good vibes: Talk of the Woodstock Nation began.

The organization's accounts were in the red, but were offset by royalties from the documentary film,

Woodstock: 3 days of peace and music

, and the records recorded there. Lang only understood how close they came to catastrophe when he went, four months later, to the Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, California, where security was in charge of Hell's Angels. For the following editions of Woodstock, in 1994 and 1999, the errors were rectified, but there were violations and altercations: the public were no longer exactly

hippies

. They left such a bad taste in the mouth that, in 2019, it was impossible to celebrate 50 years of the original festival.

Lang, dynamic and angelic, was very active during that half century. He ran a record label, Just Sunshine, which produced interesting artists but without commercial repercussions. He did better at

managing

artists, especially with another Woodstock veteran, vocalist Joe Cocker. It is true that Cocker went through alcoholic stages that forced Lang to travel on urgent relief missions, where he had to display all his personal charm to get him out of police stations or overcome vetoes in airlines.

He was also involved in a little-known episode: in the mid-nineties, the multinational EMI wanted to launch The Last in Line on a global scale and suggested that Michael Lang take over the

management

of the duo.

When Manolo García and Quimi Portet were presented with a calendar that demanded total dedication for several years, the musicians gave thanks, but gave up on the adventure.

Lang, who was a

bon vivant

, understood perfectly.

Source: elparis

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