Woodstock '09 In the Works To Celebrate 40th Anniversary of 1969 Festival

With the 40th anniversary of the original Woodstock festival coming this August, organizers are hoping to honor the famed musical event with a pair of free two-day concerts taking place in both New York and Berlin, Germany, TheRockRadio.com reports. The site cites a press release in which promoter Michael Lang says he hopes the New York festival will take place exactly on the 40th anniversary, August 15-16th, while the Berlin event will go down August 22-23rd at an abandoned airport. The exact location for the U.S. festival has not been determined, and Lang tells RS he hasn't confirmed dates for either event to anyone. "We're exploring several options. But nothing is confirmed," Lang tells Rolling Stone of all plans for the events, which he is now categorizing as "rumors."

According to TheRockRadio, no bands have yet been named for either festival, but organizers reportedly hope to recruit some of the acts that played the original fest in 1969, namely the Who, Santana, the Grateful Dead and many more. The official Woodstock Website offers no details as it's currently "under construction." Lang is credited as a co-creator of the original Woodstock, showing up numerous times in the documentary about the festival. He also played a role in producing both the Woodstock '94 and the Woodstock '99 festivals.

Woodstock '09, if it comes to be, would be the first big festival under the Woodstock moniker since the '99 weekend. That three-day event became more infamous for its unruly crowds than the actual music and helped negate the whole "peace & love" spirit of the original festival thanks to a weekend's worth of violence and looting. Artists like Insane Clown Posse, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit were accused of inciting the crowd, leading to bonfires and melee in what in retrospect is regarded as a disaster.

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Song Stories

“Is It True”

Brenda Lee | 1964

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."

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