Taking Woodstock

In 1969, Elliot Tiber was an interior designer living in New York City and keeping company with kindred souls like Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams.

On weekends, Tiber lived in the town of Bethel in upstate New York, near White Lake, where he tried to help his parents keep their rundown motel from going bankrupt in an area that had lost virtually all of its tourist business.

Taking Woodstock is the story of how Elliot Tiber's two lives combined to form a key piece of the behind-the-scenes story of how the 1969 Woodstock festival came to be.

Taking Woodstock is really two stories. One is about how the infamous Woodstock Music and Arts Festival came to be held on Max Yasgur's dairy farm outside Bethel, New York in August of 1969. The other is about Elliot Tiber, the man responsible for Woodstock being held where it was, and what he calls his "other life" as a gay man who, because of his Woodstock experience, was able for the first time to "come out" in the small town where his parents lived.

For several years prior to 1969, Tiber had staged his own annual music and arts festival as a way to try and promote Bethel, and nearby White Lake, as a tourist destination. Bands were recruited from the local area, and as often as not, there were more people on stage performing than there were in the audience.

When it came to pass that the nearby town of Walkill canceled the permit that had been issued for the Woodstock festival, Tiber contacted Woodstock's organizers to let them know that he could provide both a permit and a place to stage their festival.

Tiber's story is told with intelligence and wit. The narrative of the difficulties of making Woodstock happen reads like a good adventure story, complete with heroes, villains, and the good guys in the white hats winning in the end.

If you have an interest in Woodstock lore specifically, or just enjoy rock music's backstories, you'll like this book. If you aren't comfortable with the very personal story of a gay man fighting his demons, be aware that this plays a major part in this story.

And don't expect an accounting of the festival itself. For the most part, Tiber's story, and his role in it, ends when Woodstock begins.

Taking Woodstock offers an entertaining and informative perspective on one of the defining moments in rock music history. Much of Tiber's story has never been told before, but the book doesn't change history so much as add key pieces to it.

This is as much the story of Elliot Tiber as it is the story of an aspect of a historic rock festival. But, as you will see if you read the book -- and I recommend that you do -- the two are inseparable.