WOODSTOCK chapter 3

DECLINED INVITATIONS

As one of the biggest rock festivals of all time and a cultural touchstone for the late sixties, Woodstock has been referenced in many different ways in popular culture. The phrase "the Woodstock generation" became part of the common lexicon.

How would you feel if you were invited to play at Woodstock? However, before the actual concert took place, many bands did not perform because they were either advised not to, or they thought it wouldn't be a big deal.

Here are few of the bands and artists and their reason or maybe they are just rumors...................

The Beatles were reportedly invited to play at Woodstock. They obviously did not. Why? Surely this would have been a great performance. But at this point in time, mid-to-late 1969, The Beatles were collapsing. They had spent most of the summer out of the collaboration that they all were accustomed to. Not to mention that they had not played a real live show together since 1966. So needless to say, The Beatles turned down their offer. John Lennon thought that his side project, the Plastic Ono Band, would be a suitable replacement. The Woodstock organizers declined.

Led Zeppelin were also reportedly offered an invitation. Why did they not play? Well, their manager, Peter Grant, turned it down for them. He didn't just want to be "another band" performing at the festival. If Led Zeppelin were to have played it could have been very good for them. It could have also been bad though. Zeppelin was a fairly new band on the scene, forming in 1968. Some think that they should have played the show. Although they were fairly inexperienced, it would have added a whole new dimension to an already amazing concert.

The Doors were originally scheduled to perform at the festival. They were very popular, and their performance would have certainly been one of the main spectacles of the 3 days. So why didn't they perform? They canceled. There have been many rumors as to why they canceled. One of the rumors is that Jim Morrison was having legal altercations at the time due to his arrest for indecent exposure. This was not why they canceled, however. They stated that they disliked outdoor venues. This may connect with another rumor that Morrison was afraid that someone would take a shot at him. This has not been confirmed as one of the reasons they did not play Woodstock.

Bob Dylan reportedly said no because one of his kids fell ill. There was also a rumor that he had become annoyed with the gathering hippies around his home, which stood near the town of Woodstock. Whatever the reason, it didn't keep him from playing another huge festival -- and just two weeks later -- at the Isle of Wight. Dylan reportedly left for England aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2 on August 15, 1969, the day the original Woodstock Festival started. Dylan then moved away from upstate New York, complaining that his house was being besieged by "druggies."

The Rolling Stones declined because Mick Jagger was in Australia that summer, filming a forgotten movie called 'Ned Kelly.' You don't know 'Ned Kelly'? It's the poorly received 1970 Tony Richardson-directed biopic of a 19th-century Australian bushranger. Also, Keith Richards' girlfriend Anita Pallenburg had just given birth to son Marlon that week in London.