# Please explain this 1000% income disparity **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2018, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090 "2018-08-23T02:47:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090/21 "2018-08-24T03:14:59Z")
Here’s another anecdote/data point. In June 1969 - roughly 7-8 weeks before Woodstock - I saw The Who and opening act Joe Cocker perform in St. Louis. I paid $6 for a reserved seat in the 6th row. The Who had released _Tommy_ maybe three weeks before the show. No one in St. Louis had even heard of Joe Cocker. Blood Sweat & Tears had just had two monster singles with _You Made Me So Very Happy_ and\* Spinning Wheel \*. According to David Clayton Thomas, “We didn’t get paid. Nobody got paid.” (Except for The Who, who demanded cash before they went on.) As was noted in the film and the soundtrack, it was only the second public performance for Crosby, Stills and Nash, although they were known from their earlier groups. At the other end of the scale, Sha-Na-Na was an _a capella_ group from Columbia University that had only performed a handful of times, and was signed as a last-minute fill in. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090/22 "2018-08-24T05:57:50Z")
**Country Joe** got _Goddamn Lucky!_ ---
**Author:** ![Sloe\_Moe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sloe\_Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sloe_Moe)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090/23 "2018-08-24T06:55:39Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I’m confused, why is ANY explanation required? > > Bunch of bands got paid differing amounts to perform at a concert over 50 yrs ago. A wide spread of amounts, based on their popularity, record sales, distance travelled to perform, number of band members etc, etc. > > Why would it be otherwise? What were you expecting? That they’d all get some set rate? > Why do you, or should anyone, care all this time later? > > Can the OP please explain WHY they feel there is something worth discussion here? My explanation? because I want to sucker at least 21 posters into giving useful and fascinating insights about Woodstock and talent fees. Mission accomplished. Better leave before someone wises up. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090/24 "2018-08-24T10:50:14Z")
You’re clearly a genius! Well done indeed! ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090/25 "2018-08-24T11:10:16Z")
Going by all criteria mentioned in the thread, it seems like CSN&Y came pretty cheap. Their 1 album released to that point missed the top 5, but it went #6 and sold over 4 million in the US. Plus that one was missing the “Y” and a little bit of the star power from their #1 album that followed. 2/4 of the guys were in Buffalo Springfield which had released 3 studio albums plus a “Best of” collection and had a top 10 single. One of the guys was in The Byrds - they had 2 #1 singles fairly recently. The other dude was in The Hollies . Neil Young’s first 2 solo albums weren’t the biggest, but the second went Top 40/Platinum (some of this success, including the singles probably happened after Woodstock, though). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090/26 "2018-08-24T20:58:19Z")
**[Moderating]** > [@](#): > > Quoth **Sloe Moe** : > > My explanation? because I want to sucker at least 21 posters into giving useful and fascinating insights about Woodstock and talent fees. Mission accomplished. Better leave before someone wises up. Was that an admission of trolling? Because it sure looks like an admission of trolling, to me. Please explain. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090/27 "2018-08-24T22:51:52Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Santana only put out their first album just after Woodstock. And around that time they were playing in high schools in the Bay Area. I knew a girl who thought it was cool I had the album because of this. As for Sha Na Na, it was the best investment they ever made. They would likely never have made it big without the Woodstock exposure. I’m only surprised at how little the Dead got. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090/28 "2018-08-25T03:18:06Z")
If anyone doubts that Jimi Hendrix was 48x better than Quill… then I don’t know what to tell ya… ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090/29 "2018-08-25T03:19:46Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > the Who had just put out the Tommy album a few months before Woodstock. Also they almost did not play because there was an issue with their payment ,they wanted the money up front before the show started. Back when I was a sound engineer, we were doing two shows by Ray Charles. The promoter had screwed up, and the house for the first show was only half full. Brother Ray (and his manager) was not going on that stage until paid in full. He only wound up doing one show, the people there for the first show wound up waiting until the second show, and a bank vice-president had to be got out of bed to issue a cashier’s check. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090/30 "2018-08-25T04:42:08Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Santana only put out their first album just after Woodstock. Santana’s slot at Woodstock was originally Chicago’s (known, at that point, as Chicago Transit Authority). As per [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock#Declined_invitations_or_missed_connections): > [@](#): > > Chicago, at the time still known as the Chicago Transit Authority, had initially been signed on to play at Woodstock. However, they had a contract with concert promoter Bill Graham, which allowed him to move Chicago’s concerts at the Fillmore West. He rescheduled some of their dates to August 17, thus forcing the band to back out of the concert. Graham did so to ensure that Santana, which he managed at the time, would take their slot at the festival. According to singer and bassist Peter Cetera, “We were sort of peeved at him for pulling that one.” ---
**Author:** ![Sloe\_Moe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sloe\_Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sloe_Moe)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090/31 "2018-08-25T13:07:15Z")
To the Mod: I guess not. Most respectfully ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090/32 "2018-08-25T14:20:45Z")
CSNY famously declared on stage that Woodstock was their second gig ever. They were guys who acrimoniously had left their previous bands. At the time, individuals leaving bands had virtually no track record of success on their own, Cream being the major exception. Their first album did pretty well but they didn’t have a top ten single and in 1969 singles were still crucial. Blood, Sweat & Tears might have been the biggest name for sheer US chart success, with three number two singles. I could have seen them the year before at college, but tickets were $4.00 and I didn’t have $4.00. They would have played to maybe 3000 people. So $15,000 would have been a good payday for a top selling group. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090/33 "2018-08-25T17:06:41Z")
“This is the second time we’ve ever played in front of people, man… we’re scared shitless!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-this-1000-income-disparity/820090.md?page=1)