[1] The cost of the annual music festival was about $500,000, and admissions, at $1 per person in 1968, were expected to bring in $250,000 to $270,000 for the summer program, leaving a deficit, picked up by Schaefer, of more than $200,000.

Just before the Schaefer Music Festival kicked off in the summer of 1968 a free concert was given in Central Park featuring the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, three of the top acts at that time.

6,000 people "jammed into the bandstand near the [Central Park] Mall while thousands more sprawled out on the grass and under the trees.

"[3] Club owner and musician Hilly Kristal co-founded the series with producer and concert promoter Ron Delsener.

[5] The performers included Carly Simon, who made her TV debut, Ike & Tina Turner, Kate Taylor, Boz Scaggs, and the Beach Boys.