Frank & Charli

Stories of Remarkable People and Enduring Love in the Time of WoodstockIn the 1960s and '70s, Frank Yandolino rode the hippie counterculture movement alongside visionaries like Artie Kornfeld and Michael Lang, and he helped put together the Woodstock Festival of 1969, the era’s emblem of love and peace. From then on (and even before that), Yandolino, a beguiling fast-talker, charmer, and gifted storyteller, took charge of his life according to those ideals, grabbing and embracing all opportunities that were thrown his way.This memoir is an account of his life as a hippie, art director, entrepreneur, manager, and screenwriter (as well as various other hats he wore in the creative industry)—representing musicians like Joe Cocker and Paul Butterfield, art directing at Penthouse magazine, designing “erotic sheets,” writing a screenplay about Marilyn Monroe and her seamstress Lena Pepitone, among other things. With his gung-ho attitude and fortuitous connections, Yandolino befriended Salvador Dali, hung out with Jimi Hendrix, ran with Abbie Hoffman, was kidnapped by a festival security detail in Paris, mixed with models and Penthouse pets, and watched secret Hells Angels initiation ceremonies. Throughout it all, Yandolino’s key message is his “free bird” philosophy of grabbing every chance you can and staying true to one’s artistic individuality. And, in the end, despite his fast life, he was always grounded by his love for his wife, Charli.

“Frank Yandolino was one of the most real loving friends that I had in my entire life. I miss him, but he is with me all the time.” —Artie Kornfeld“I loved Frank, he was one of my best friends for forty years. He was always up for an adventure no matter how odd and approached them with an artist’s eye and a lion’s heart. He was one of a kind and is sorely missed.” —Michael Lang“A kaleidoscope of a memoir that offers a fresh and intimate perspective on a dizzying array of seminal events and personalities from American popular and underground culture.” —Rob Kirkpatrick, author of 1969: The Year Everything Changed"Being Frank’s friend for more than forty years was a joy, an honor, and a privilege.” —Neville Gerson, partner at Just Sunshine Records, “Frank Yandolino was one of the most real loving friends that I had in my entire life. I miss him, but he is with me all the time.” —Artie Kornfeld“I loved Frank, he was one of my best friends for forty years. He was always up for an adventure no matter how odd and approached them with an artist’s eye and a lion’s heart. He was one of a kind and is sorely missed.” —Michael Lang“A kaleidoscope of a memoir that offers a fresh and intimate perspective on a dizzying array of seminal events and personalities from American popular and underground culture.” —Rob Kirkpatrick, author of 1969: The Year Everything Changed"Being Frank’s friend for more than forty years was a joy, an honor, and a privilege.” —Neville Gerson, partner at Just Sunshine Records

Frank Yandolino, a native New Yorker, was a writer, producer, and manager of various artists, musicians, and personalities since the 1960s. He got his start booking bands for the original Woodstock festival and later owned his own record company, The Label Records. He wrote two Broadway shows and coproduced some of the corresponding music. A graduate of Parsons and NYU, he also worked as a graphic artist and photographer. He died in his home in Manhattan in 2014.