About the Author

Michael Lang is a musical concert promoter, producer and artistic manager who is best known as the co-creator of the Woodstock Music & Art Festival in 1969. Lang also owned and operated Just Sunshine Records, which produced and released more than 40 albums by such diverse musical artists as Billy Joel and Betty Davis. In addition, he managed several successful international recording artists, including Joe Cocker, Ricki Lee Jones, Willie DeVille, Tarkan, and Spanish recording artist El Ultimo de la Fila. Currently, he is the head of the Michael Lang Organization, which encompasses live event production, film production and artist management. In August of 2005, MLO produced a sold-out festival event for Heineken at Randall's Island called Amsterjam which featured mash-ups from artists such as Snoop Dogg, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Wyclef Jean. MLO also has worked with the following artists: Outkast, Prince, Missy Elliott, Steely Dan, The Fugees, Shakira, Madonna, Norah Jones, Marc Anthony, Twista, Dave Matthews, Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Kid Rock, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Christina Aguilera, Linkin Park, and Avril Lavigne. Current projects include a 40th anniversary event for Woodstock, a movie version of the cult classic novel, "The Master and Margarita". Holly George-Warren is the award-winning author of Grateful Dead 365 and Public Cowboy No. 1: The Life & Times of Gene Autry, and coeditor of The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll.

Reviews

"Lang, one of Woodstock's organizers, provides details about how the production was put together and kept running. His account is interspersed with interviews with performers and others, including, perhaps most interestingly, Hugh Romney, aka Wavy Gravy, of the Hog Farm, whose group provided order, reassurance and, as we know, granola." -- New York Times Book Review, Paperback Row"At Woodstock I saw a collective adventure representing something that still holds true today. When the Berlin Wall came down, Woodstock was there. When Mandela was liberated, Woodstock was in there. When we celebrated the year 2000, Woodstock was in there. Woodstock is still every day." -- Carlos Santana"Reading this inimitable account of how Woodstock really came to pass makes the Manhattan Project seem like whippin' up one of my mom's custard pies....[This book] he and Holly George-Warren will knock you out and once again make you wish that you were there." -- Terry Stewart, President of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum"Totally rocking...what elevates this book above the level of most rock memoirs is the inclusion of voices other than Lang's--including scenesters and key Woodstock players like Jimi Hendrix, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, Jerry Garcia....Well-written, informative and tons of fun." -- Kirkus Reviews"Invaluable...[Lang] wraps up his cinematic reminiscing by taking a seminal thread from Woodstock's history--Jimi Hendrix's breathtaking interpretation of The Star Spangled Banner--and linking its poignancy to what some have called the 21st century Woodstock moment: the day Barack Obama became the first black president." -- USA Today"The shelf of books about Woodstock is groaning, but Lang's is the best fly-on-the-wall account, tantamount to having had a backstage pass to an iconic event." -- New York Post"There are plenty of juicy tidbits in "The Road to Woodstock," starting with the compelling opening of Lang sharing his backstage view of Hendrix's sizzling performance at the rain-soaked end of the festival." -- Richmond Times-Dispatch