It was this week 55 years ago – starting on August 15, 1969, to be exact – that organizers put on what they called an “Aquarian Exposition” in White Lake, New York.
It was a three day music festival that is now widely known simply as Woodstock.
But by one man’s account it almost didn’t happen – if not for him.
Elliot Tiber and his family operated a small, rundown motel in Bethel, New York. And Elliot also owned a permit to hold a music festival.
As he told in his 1994 book Taking Woodstock, that permit, coupled with his friendship with dairy farmer Max Yasgur, helped make Woodstock possible.
I met Elliot when he was on a book tour, which happened to coincide with the Woodstock ‘94 festival.
And if you thought you were about to hear a quiet, sedate conversation with a nearly-65-year-old has-been, get over it. And buckle up, because here’s my 1994 interview with Elliot Tiber.
Elliot Tiber died in 2016. He was 81.