Joel Rosenman

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Joel Rosenman (born 1942), 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. The four went on to create the event; Rosenman and Roberts are the co-authors of Young Men with Unlimited Capital, a non-fictional account of their exploits as producers of Woodstock.

Childhood and education

Born the second of three children, Rosenman grew up on Long Island in the town of Huntington, New York. He attended Huntington High School from 1955 to 1959, graduating at age 16. Rosenman earned a degree in English from Princeton in 1963 and a JD from Yale Law School in 1966. Throughout college and graduate school, he helped finance his studies by working as a professional musician, both as a solo artist and band member.

Early career and Media Sound

Following graduation from law school, Rosenman continued to perform in the New York City folk music scene of the 1960s, working at a law firm during the day. Though he drew the attention of Columbia Records in 1966, his introduction to future business partner John Roberts in that year began his full-time career in entrepreneurial investment.

Rosenman and Roberts originally intended to write a situation comedy based around two young men looking for investment opportunities. In effort to find writing material, they published a classified ad in The New York Times claiming to be "Young men with unlimited capital" looking for exciting business ventures. Rosenman and Roberts received thousands of responses, including a proposed recording studio, a deal they considered viable enough to warrant real capital. The studio, Media Sound, launched in 1967 and enjoyed significant success, a common recording location for many of the decade's leading artists.

Woodstock

Main article: Woodstock

Through their involvement with Media Sound, Roberts and Rosenman were introduced to promoters Lang and Kornfeld, who initially approached Media Sound for partnership in building a recording studio in upstate New York. Intrigued by a section in the proposal which called for a press party with local talent, Rosenman conceived of a rock concert in the area instead of a studio. He and Roberts encouraged Lang and Kornfeld to consider the idea, and the four later agreed upon the new direction, forming the company "Woodstock Ventures" to develop the concert over the ensuing six months.

Though the festival earned acclaim and cultural prominence, the overwhelming turnout resulted in unforeseen expenses which left Woodstock Ventures in significant debt. Rosenman and Roberts repaid losses associated with the concert thanks to future projects of their venture capital firm, JR Capital Corp.

Current

Rosenman managed an investment fund, Source Financing Investors. The fund financed Democratic Party fundraiser Norman Hsu's company, Components Ltd., $40 million dollars; money which Rosenman says went missing.^[1]

Portrayals

In the 2009 film Taking Woodstock he is portrayed by Daniel Eric Gold.

References

• Hippie By Barry Miles (page 321) Published 2005 Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
• Rosenman's investment company loses $40 million

Further reading

• Rosenman, Joel. Young Men With Unlimited Capital: The Story of Woodstock. Scrivenery Press, 1999. ISBN 9781893818026.

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