Michael Lang (music producer)

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Michael Lang 2009

Michael Lang (born December 11, 1944 in Brooklyn , New York City ) is an American music producer .

In the 1960s, Lang organized some major music festivals such as the Miami Pop Festival 1968 with artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Blue Cheer . In order to give the social movements of the time a mouthpiece, but also to finance his recording studio Media Sounds, he organized the legendary Woodstock Festival with Artie Kornfeld in August 1969 .

Live and act

The Jewish -stämmige Michael Lang was on 11 December 1944 in the New York City neighborhood Bensonhurst born in Brooklyn. Lang's father was an engineer and owned a stake in a music club on the Upper West Side . As a student in the 1960's, Lang was part of the Greenwich Village music scene . In 1967 he left New York University and moved to Coconut Grove in the US state of Florida . He opened a head shop in Miami and organized his first concerts. In 1968, Lang was the main organizer of the Miami Pop Festival - and left a financial disaster. Out of disappointment, he moved to the small town of Woodstock in the US state of New York, which is inhabited by numerous contemporary artists .

Woodstock Festival

Michael Lang and his friend Artie Kornfeld , who also came from New York, promised themselves a good deal of money by delivering the recording studio infrastructure virtually free of charge and on site for the numerous popular and high-turnover artists of the folk and rock music scene who were also in and had settled around Woodstock. In order to promote the opening of their planned sound and recording studio in the media, Lang and Kornfeld planned to organize a concert. That was the beginning of the planning for the Woodstock Festival , which went down in history in August 1969.

For the 25th anniversary in 1994, Lang organized the Woodstock II music festival with a total of 350,000 visitors. In 1999, the Woodstock III anniversary festival , also launched by Lang , followed, with which Lang was able to mobilize another 250,000 spectators. For the 50th anniversary in August 2019, another Woodstock revival was planned with Woodstock 50 , which was canceled in July due to organizational problems.

Sunshine Records

After the Woodstock Festival, Michael Lang founded the record company Just Sunshine Records. Between 1971 and the closure of the label in 1974, Michael Lang released over 40 music albums by artists such as Billy Joel and Bob Dylan . Lang also served as the manager of Joe Cocker and Rickie Lee Jones .

Current

Today, the Michael Lang Organization takes on the process and organization of music concerts worldwide. In cooperation with various other companies, a Broadway musical is planned to document the events during the Woodstock Festival.

The MLO also worked with Britney Spears , OutKast , Prince , Missy Elliott , Snoop Dogg , Steely Dan , The Fugees , Wyclef Jean , Shakira , Madonna , Norah Jones , Marc Anthony , Twista , Dave Matthews , Bruce Springsteen , Alicia Keys , Kid Rock , Red Hot Chili Peppers , Christina Aguilera , Linkin Park and Avril Lavigne together.

In 2009 Michael Lang published the book "The Road to Woodstock" with co-author Holly George-Warren. Michael Lang still lives in Woodstock and has five children, including twins.

Web links

swell

  • Joel Rosenman, John Roberts, Robert Pilpel: Young Men With Unlimited Capital: The Story of Woodstock . Scrivenery Press, Houston (Texas, USA) 1974, ISBN 1-893818-02-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nate Bloom: Woodstock-The Jewish connection , Jewish Standard , August 14, 2009
  2. ↑ Scott R. Benarde: Stars of David: Rock'n'roll's Jewish stories. ( Brandeis University Press , 2009, 126)
  3. ↑ Interview with Michael Lang: Let's talk about money. , Süddeutsche Zeitung, December 10, 2010
  4. ↑ Michael Riedel: Back to Woodstock , New York Post, August 9, 2009
  5. ↑ Michael Riedel: Back to Woodstock , New York Post, August 9, 2009
  6. ↑ Peter Tschmuck: 40 Years of Woodstock - Economic Debacle and Myth , Austrian Society for Music Research , August 2009
  7. ↑ Ben Sisario: John P. Roberts, 56, a Producer Of Woodstock and Its Revivals , New York Times, Nov. 2, 2001
  8. ↑ James E. Perone: Woodstock: An Encyclopedia of the Music and Art Fair , Greenwood Pub Group Inc., New York, page 23, preview in Google Book Search
  9. ↑ Interview with Michael Lang: Let's talk about money. , Süddeutsche Zeitung, December 10, 2010
personal data
SURNAME Lang, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American music producer
DATE OF BIRTH December 11, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York City