John P. Roberts
Encyclopedia
John P. Roberts was a businessman who bankrolled the Woodstock Festival
.
Roberts was an heir to the Block Drug
fortune.
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania
Roberts and his friend Joel Rosenman
tried to pitch a story for a television series about entrepreneurs who had more money than ideas. Each week their antics would get them into a new series of problems.
Roberts and Rosenman had met at a golf course in 1966 and shared an apartment in 1967.
To do research they placed an advertisement in The Wall Street Journal
identifying themselves as "young men with unlimited capital" who were looking for business ideas. Among the 5,000 responding were Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld
who proposed building a recording studio in Woodstock, New York
to encourage recordings by local residents Bob Dylan
, Jimi Hendrix
and The Band
. Eventually this idea was dropped in favour of staging an outdoor music festival.
As they developed a plan it was clear there was no area around Woodstock that would meet their requirements, they then moved it to Wallkill, New York
. Following protests from local residents they moved to its eventual location in Bethel, New York
.
The concert cost between $2.4 million and $3.1 million to produce and brought in $1.8 million from gate receipts. While the producers would make money on the movie and soundtrack of the events, Roberts said he would not get out of debt from the event until 1980.
After the concert they produced subsequent events of the same type and operated a leveraged buyout
firm in Manhattan.
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
.
Roberts was an heir to the Block Drug
Block Drug
Block Drug Company was a pharmaceutical company based in Jersey City, New Jersey, that specialized in dental care products.GlaxoSmithKline purchased the company for $1.24 billion in 2001....
fortune.
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
Roberts and his friend Joel Rosenman
Joel Rosenman
Joel Rosenman , conceived and co-created the Woodstock Festival in 1969. Rosenman thought of the idea for the three-day concert when he and business partner John Roberts evaluated a recording studio proposal brought forward by Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld...
tried to pitch a story for a television series about entrepreneurs who had more money than ideas. Each week their antics would get them into a new series of problems.
Roberts and Rosenman had met at a golf course in 1966 and shared an apartment in 1967.
To do research they placed an advertisement in The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
identifying themselves as "young men with unlimited capital" who were looking for business ideas. Among the 5,000 responding were Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld
Artie Kornfeld
Artie Kornfeld is an American musician, record producer and music executive. He is perhaps best known as the music promoter for the Woodstock Festival held in 1969.- History :...
who proposed building a recording studio in Woodstock, New York
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 at the 2000 census.The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county...
to encourage recordings by local residents Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
. Eventually this idea was dropped in favour of staging an outdoor music festival.
As they developed a plan it was clear there was no area around Woodstock that would meet their requirements, they then moved it to Wallkill, New York
Wallkill, New York
Wallkill is the name of some places in the U.S. state of New York:*Wallkill, Orange County, New York, a town*Wallkill, Ulster County, New York, a hamlet...
. Following protests from local residents they moved to its eventual location in Bethel, New York
Bethel, New York
Bethel is a town in Sullivan County, New York, USA. The population has been estimated at 4,532 in 2007.The town received worldwide fame after it became the host of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, which was originally planned for Wallkill, New York, but was relocated to Bethel after Wallkill withdrew.-...
.
The concert cost between $2.4 million and $3.1 million to produce and brought in $1.8 million from gate receipts. While the producers would make money on the movie and soundtrack of the events, Roberts said he would not get out of debt from the event until 1980.
After the concert they produced subsequent events of the same type and operated a leveraged buyout
Leveraged buyout
A leveraged buyout occurs when an investor, typically financial sponsor, acquires a controlling interest in a company's equity and where a significant percentage of the purchase price is financed through leverage...
firm in Manhattan.