First Look: Psychedelic "Taking Woodstock" Movie Poster

Behold, the psychedelic brand-new movie poster for director Ang Lee's upcoming film Taking Woodstock. Combining the aesthetics of a spilled lava lamp with artist Wes Wilson's famed 1960s posters for San Francisco's legendary Fillmore, the tagline reads "A Generation Began In His Backyard," alluding to Elliot Tiber, the focus of the film.

As Rock Daily wrote when the film's trailer debuted, Taking Woodstock tells the true story of Tiber, played by comedian Demetri Martin, who helps organizer Michael Lang secure a concert permit in order to stage the iconic 1969 music festival in upstate New York. Martin's character "gets waylaid by an acid trip and a three-way," producer James Schamus told Rolling Stone. The film also features Emile Hirsch, Liev Schreiber, Watchmen's Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Paul Dano, Imelda Staunton and Eugene Levy as Max Yasgur, whose farmland became the stage for Woodstock. The film — which has its own Facebook hub — hits theaters August 14th.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the original Woodstock festival, and to celebrate Rolling Stone is digging into the archives to resurrect our original coverage of the 1969 fest. Today, we present writer Greil Marcus' review of the Woodstock festival from the September 20th, 1969 issue of Rolling Stone. From the eight-mile, quarter-million car traffic jam to the festival to the rain-soaked set by Country Joe & the Fish to performances by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Jimi Hendrix, Marcus and the "intrepid" Rolling Stone crew braved the elements, dealers and overpopulation to report back from Yasgur's Farm.

"The rain had been coming down for a long time now, but it seemed safe, and the stage crew put on a record. Creedence Clearwater's 'Born on the Bayou' went soaring out of the great sound system and over the enormous crowd and suddenly the Battle of the Bands of the night before had turned into American Bandstand," Marcus wrote. "Three hundred thousand people jumped up cut of the mud and started to dance. Bopping their bodies and shaking their hair to the beat, hopping over and into the new puddles of garbage and mud. The crush of more than a quarter of a million people sitting down had been some sight, but this was almost more than anyone could believe."

For the rest of Marcus' Woodstock experience, check out his story:

• From the Archives: The Woodstock Festival

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• Producer James Schamus Says Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock" Will Capture "Hopeful Spirit"
• Report: Woodstock '09 In the Works To Celebrate 40th Anniversary of 1969 Festival

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

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