Max Yasgur
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Max B. Yasgur (December 15, 1919—February 8, 1973) was the owner of a dairy farm in Bethel, New York on which the Woodstock Festival was held in August 1969.
Between performances on the first day of the Festival, Yasgur briefly addressed the crowd. Michael Wadleigh's 1970 film record of the event includes the speech. Four-and-a-half months after the Festival, on January 7, 1970 he was sued by his neighbors for property damage caused by "flower children" who attended the gathering. The damage to Yasgur's own property was much more extensive, and over a year later he received a $50,000 settlement to pay for the near-destruction of his dairy farm.
In 1971, two years after the Festival, Max Yasgur sold the farm and eighteen months later died of a heart attack at the age of 53. He was given a full page obituary in Rolling Stone Magazine.
Joni Mitchell's song "Woodstock" (also covered by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Richie Havens) includes a reference to "Yasgur's Farm":
"Well, I came upon a child of God / He was walking along the road / And I asked him, 'Tell where are you going?' / This he told me / Said, 'I'm going down to Yasgur's Farm, / Gonna join in a rock and roll band.'"
Mountain, a band which played at the Woodstock Festival, had a song titled "For Yasgur's Farm".
[edit] Quotes
Max Yasgur, 1969: "I'm a farmer, I don't know."
Addressing the crowd at Woodstock on August 15, 1969: "This is the largest group of people ever assembled in one place and I think you people have proven something to the world: that a half a million kids can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music and I God Bless You for it!"
