Warner celebrate 40th Anniversary of Woodstock with major new DVD

On August 15, it will be thirty-nine years ago to the day that some half-million people gathered in upstate New York for a three-day festival featuring some of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll performers of all time. Warner Home Video has announced its plans to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the music history milestone July 28, 2009 by releasing a spectacular Ultimate Collectors Edition of the Oscar-winning Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music.

The restored and remastered release will include more than an hour of newly discovered Festival performances, some never-before-published in their entirety, from a number of artists, including The Who, Joe Cocker, Canned Heat, Joan Baez, Country Joe McDonald and Country Joe and the Fish with more to be announced. The release will incorporate reflections and perspectives from musicians, celebrities, influencers and other giants in the entertainment industry on the cultural significance of Woodstock 40 years later.

The Ultimate Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray™ Hi-Def & DVD) will include the four-hour Director’s Cut, remastered from original elements and scanned at 2K with audio 5.1 mix supervised by director Michael Wadleigh. The concert original chief engineer Eddie Kramer, who was on-site for the festival, is overseeing the audio mix of all of the recently found added footage. In addition, there will be filmmaker commentary, replicas of handwritten notes from Festival attendees, The ‘60s and the Woodstock Generation – a 40 minute documentary film by noted filmmaker Robert Kline adapted from his book “Children of the 60s,” studio archive letters and other souvenir collectible items. The film has been on moratorium since January of this year and will continue to be unavailable to the public for more than a year and a half until its DVD release next year. Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music will also be available as a stand-alone DVD.

Woodstock alumni David Crosby noted, “Woodstock was more than just a concert; it was an event. It was a time for our generation to speak up and let everyone know we had a voice. Whether you were there or are discovering the film for the first time, it still holds up 40 years later and now will speak to a whole new generation.”