Thursday, August 15, 2019

August 15th - WOODSTOCK (Part One)

50 Years Ago Today, The Woodstock Music and Arts Festival kicked off at Yasgur's Farm just outside of Bethel, New York. 

Three Days of Peace, Love And Music ... and nothing BUT Peace, Love And Music ...
Well, that and a little rain ...
And some mud ...
And some naked hippies running around ...
And some REALLY bad brown acid ...
And a COMPLETELY shut down New York Freeway System ...
Followed by an award-winning film capturing all of these events and more!!!
Sure, there were music festivals before Woodstock …
Monterey Pop took place two full summers before …
But Woodstock was ... and will always be ... the ULTIMATE Music Festival.
(In a way, it also spelled the end of the Hippie Era … it was, by all accounts, the ultimate send off!)
Before it was over, however, upwards of 400-500,000 people descended on Max Yasgur’s Farm in Upstate Bethel, New York, where, in addition to listening to some of the greatest music ever performed live, they most likely also set The Guinness Book Of World Records for littering.  (Hundreds of thousands more were turned away or simply gave up because all roads leading to the event were blocked or at a complete stand-still.)
When the film was released the following year, I was COMPLETELY blown away ... running at close to three hours (nearly FOUR hours in the Director's Cut!), it did a GREAT job of capturing ALL of the aspects that went into this festival. (When it opened in theaters here in Chicago, a bunch of us went on opening night ... and sat through it TWICE!!! We just couldn't get over how AMAZING all of this was ... and what we had missed!!!)

For many of us, we were discovering most of these artists for the very first time. I was COMPLETELY blown away by the likes of Joe Cocker and Ten Years After, my two immediate favorites ... and while I was familiar with The Who and Sly and the Family Stone, I had NEVER seen them perform like THIS before!!! Debuts by new artists like Crosby, Stills and Nash (this was their second gig!), Santana and Sha Na Na (what the heck were THEY doing there?!?!?) won me over as a fan for life. And Jimi Hendrix at the end?!?!? Could you have choreographed a better ending to this whole extravaganza?!?!?
Even some of the "folksie" artists like Ritchie Havens, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie and John Sebastian put on stellar performances ... and we haven't even scratched the surface on all of the OTHER acts that were there who didn't make the final cut of the film for one reason or another (MOSTLY because their record labels were too greedy to come to terms with any sort of cross-licensing.)
The Complete Woodstock Artist Line-Up And Set Lists:
(As you’ll see, many of these artists were left out of the original film and soundtrack … and most played full sets.  Here, to the best of our ability thru the research available to us … is the complete soundtrack to the Woodstock Music And Arts Festival, 1969)
DAY ONE:  Friday, August 15th, 1969:
Richie Havens
1.  Minstrel From Gault
2.  High Flyin’ Bird
3.  I Can’t Make It Anymore
4.  With A Little Help
5.  Strawberry Fields Forever
6.  Hey Jude
7.  I Had A Woman
8.  Handsome Johnny
9.  Freedom

Sweetwater
1.  Motherless Child
2.  Look Out
3.  For Pete’s Sake
4.  Day Song
5.  What’s Wrong
6.  Crystal Spider
7.  Two Worlds
8.  Why Oh Why

Bert Sommer
1.  Jennifer
2.  The Road To Travel
3.  I Wondered Where You’d Be
4.  She’s Gone
5.  Things Are Going My Way
6.  And When It’s Over
7.  Jeanette
8.  America (first standing ovation at Woodstock)
9.  A Note That Read
10.  Smile

Tim Hardin
1.  Misty Roses
2.  If I Were A Carpenter

Ravi Shankar
1.  Raga Puriya-Dhanashri / Gat In Sawarital
2.  Tabla Solo In Jhaptal
3.  Raga Manj Kmahaj / Alap Jor / Dhun In Kaharwa Tal / Medium & Fast Gat In Teental

Melanie
1.  Beautiful People
2.  Birthday Of The Sun

Arlo Guthrie
1.  Coming Into Los Angeles
2.  Walking Down The Line
3.  Amazing Grace

Joan Baez
1.  Joe Hill
2.  Sweet Sir Galahad
3.  Drug Store Truck Driving Man
4.  Swing Low Sweet Chariot
5.  We Shall Overcome

DAY TWO:  Saturday, August 16th, 1969

Quill
1. They Live The Life
2.  That’s How I Eat
3.  Driftin’
4.  Waitin’ For You

Country Joe McDonald
1.  I Find Myself Missing You
2.  Rockin’ All Around The World
3.  Flyin’ High All Over The World
4.  Seen A Rocket
5.  Fish Cheer / I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixing-To-Die-Rag

John B. Sebastian
1.  How Have You Been
2.  Rainbows All Over Your Blues
3.  I Had A Dream
4.  Darlin’ Be Home Soon
5.  Younger Generation

Keef Hartley Band
1.  Believe In You
2.  Rock Me Baby
3.  Leavin’ Trunk/ Halfbreed / Just To Cry / And Sinnin’ For You

Santana
1.  Persuasion
2.  Savor
3.  Soul Sacrifice
4.  Fried Neckbones

Incredible String Band
1.  Catty Come
2.  This Moment Is Different
3.  When You Find Out Who You Are

Canned Heat
1.  I’m Her Man
2.  Going Up The Country
3.  A Change Is Gonna Come
4.  Leaving This Town
5.  The Bear Talks
6.  Let’s Work Together
7.  Too Many Drivers At The Wheel
8.  I Know My Baby
9.  Woodstock Boogie
10.  On the Road Again

Grateful Dead
1.  St. Stephen
2.  Mama Tried
3.  Dark Star / High Time
4.  Turn On Your Lovelight

Leslie West & Mountain
1.  Blood Of The Sun
2.  Stormy Monday
3.  Theme From An Imaginary Western
4.  Long Red
5.  For Yasgur’s Farm
6.  You And Me
7.  Waiting To Take You Away
8.  Dreams Of Milk And Honey
9.  Blind Man
10.  Blue Suede Shoes
11.  Southbound Train

Creedence Clearwater Revival
1.  Born On The Bayou
2.  Green River
3.  Ninety-Nine And A Half
4.  Commotion
5.  Bootleg
6.  Bad Moon Rising
7.  Proud Mary
8.  I Put A Spell On You
9.  Night Time Is The Right Time
10. Keep On Choogin’
11. Suzy Q

Janis Joplin
1.  Raise Your Hand
2.  As Good As You’ve Been To This World
3.  To Love Somebody
4.  Summertime
5.  Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)
6.  Kosmic Blues
7.  Can’t Turn You Loose
8.  Work Me Lord
9.  Piece Of My Heart
10. Ball and Chain

Sly & The Family Stone
1.  M’Lady
2.  Sing A Simple Song
3.  You Can Make It If You Try
4.  Stand!
5.  Love City
6.  Dance To The Music
7.  Music Lover
8.  I Want To Take You Higher

The Who
1.  Heaven And Hell
2.  I Can’t Explain
3.  It’s A Boy
4.  1921
5.  Amazing Journey
6.  Sparks
7.  Eyesight To The Blind
8.  Christmas
9.  Tommy Can You Hear Me
10.  Acid Queen
11.  Pinball Wizard
12.  Abbie Hoffmann Incident (Pete Townshed threw him from the stage, having no idea who Hoffman was … only aware that he was disrupting The Who’s set!)
13.  Fiddle About
14.  There’s A Doctor I’ve Found
15.  Go To The Mirror Boy
16.  Smash The Mirror
17.  I’m Free
18.  Tommy’s Holiday Camp
19.  We’re Not Gonna Take It
20.  See Me Feel Me
21.  Summertime Blues
22.  Shakin’ All Over
23.  My Generation
24.  Naked Eye

Jefferson Airplane
1.  The Other Side Of This Life
2.  Plastic Fantastic Lover
3.  Volunteers
4.  Saturday Afternoon / Won’t You Try
5.  Eskimo Blue Day
6.  Uncle Sam’s Blues
7.  Somebody To Love
8.  White Rabbit

DAY THREE:  Sunday, August 17th, 1969

Joe Cocker
1.  Delta Lady
2.  Somethings Goin’ On
3.  Let’s Go Get Stoned
4.  I Shall Be Released
5.  With A Little Help From My Friends

Country Joe & The Fish (2nd appearance)
1.  Barry’s Caviar Dream
2.  Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine
3.  Rock And Soul Music
4.  Thing Called Love
5.  Love Machine
6.  Fish Cheer / I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixing-To-Die-Rag

Ten Years After
1.  Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
2.  I Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes
3.  I May Be Wrong, But I Won’t Be Wrong Always
4.  I’m Going Home

The Band
1.  Chest Fever
2.  Don’t Do It
3.  Tears Of Rage
4.  We Can Talk About It Now
5.  Long Black Veil
6.  Don’t Ya Tell Henry
7.  Ain’t No More Cane on the Brazos
8.  Wheels On Fire
9.  Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever
10.  The Weight

Johnny Winter
1.  More And More
2.  I Love You Baby More Than You Ever Know
3.  Spinning Wheel
4.  I Stand Accused
5.  Something Coming On

Blood Sweat And Tears
1.  Mean Town Blues

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
1.  Suite Judy Blue Eyes
2.  Blackbird
3.  Helplessly Hoping
4.  Guinnevere
5.  Marrakesh Express
6.  4 + 20
7.  Mr Soul
8.  Wonderin’
9.  You Don’t Have To Cry
10.  Pre-Road Downs
11.  Long Time Gone
12.  Bluebird Revisited
13.  Sea Of Madness
14.  Wooden Ships
15.  Find The Cost Of Freedom
16.  49 Bye-Byes

DAY FOUR:  Monday, August 18th, 1969

Paul Butterfield Blues Band
1.  Everything’s Gonna Be Alright
2.  Driftin’
3.  Born Under A Bad Sign
4.  All My Love Comin’ Through To You
5.  Love March

Sha Na Na
1.  Sha Na Na Theme
2.  Yakety Yak
3.  Teen Angel
4.  Jailhouse Rock
5.  Wipe Out
6.  The Book Of Love
7.  Duke Of Earl
8.  At The Hop
9.  Sha Na Na Theme

Jimi Hendrix
1.  Message To Love
2.  Getting My Heart Back Together Again
3.  Spanish Castle Magic
4.  Red House
5.  Master Mind
6.  Here Comes Your Lover Man
7.  Foxy Lady
8.  Beginning
9.  Izabella
10.  Gypsy Woman
11.  Fire
12.  Voodoo Child (Slight Return) / Stepping Stone
13.  Star Spangled Banner
14.  Purple Haze
15.  Woodstock Improvisation / Villanova Junction
16.  Hey Joe

More tomorrow in Forgotten Hits!