The Summer of 1969 was also the Summer of Woodstock. Hundreds of thousands of people made their way to Max Yasgur's farm in Bethel, New York (they couldn't get a permit for the town of Woodstock, but the posters had already been made, and you know how it goes...) for a few days of Peace, Love and Music.

Woodstock proved to be like nothing else, before or since. Attempts to replicate its feeling, or its scale, or anything else about it gets washed away by nostalgia and the sense that someone's trying to make a buck off of it. And, of course, they are. They were trying to make a buck off the original show, too--in fact, the organizers were hoping to raise money to build a recording studio. That didn't work out because financially the show barely broke even. But the film and record rights put them back in the black several months later.

Several acts were barely known at the time of the show, including Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (performing for the second time ever), and Sha-Na-Na, which opened for Jimi Hendrix. Most of them have found a place in the rock and roll firmament following the show (e.g. Melanie was a relative unknown; Richie Havens, who opened the show, was barely known, Santana had been around for ten years but hadn't broken through yet); others were pretty much unheard-of afterward (Keef Hartley Band? ).

In the wake of the show were three things that gained lasting fame, and they all happened around the same time, in early 1970. The first was this:

The other two? We talk about those in this week's episode. I'm no spoiler.

Speaking of which, if you want to see the telegram sent to the band in today's trivia question, look under the spoiler button below this week's episode.

Finally, this is the text of the telegram related to the trivia question for this episode. See if you can find the hidden message!
If you've heard the episode and you want to see what I'm talking about, click the button to show the art. If you haven't heard it yet, go back and listen first. It's OK, we'll still be here for you.