Photo:© Henry Diltz/CORBIS
With the 40th anniversary of Woodstock approaching in August, organizer Michael Lang reveals the madness behind throwing the historic festival in his book with Holly George-Warren, The Road to Woodstock. The book hits stores June 30th, but Rolling Stone has a first look: Lang recounts his first meeting with dairy farmer Max Yasgur, who provided the upstate New York venue for the festival. He remembers courting Bob Dylan, and why the legend didn’t hit the stage at Woodstock. Lang explains how managed to hang on to the Grateful Dead and the Who, and recounts how Sly and the Family Stone took the event to epic heights. Read those excerpts and more here:

• “The Road to Woodstock”: The Stories Behind Rock History