Woodstock Aug 15th, 16th 17th 1969

John Sebastian - I Had A Dream (Woodstock 1969)

Massive traffic jam in upstate New York on the morning of August 15, 1969.  Half a million people heading for Woodstock completely overwhelmed the roads.

Woodstock concertgoers begin arriving at Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, NY on August 14, 1969.

Max Yasgur, owner of the farm where Woodstock took place.  Looking over preparations for the festival with Michael Lang, August 14, 1969.

 

Joan Baez performing at Woodstock.  She was the last act to play on the first night, although she actually didn't start her set until early Saturday morning (August 16). Her perfectly arranged song selection combined with her beautiful voice was a fine finish for a chaotic and exhausting first day.   As she worked her way through her set list (below) it began drizzling, and as she finished and wished the audience a final "good morning", it started to rain heavily.

John Sebastian (Lovin Spoonful) wasn’t booked to play at Woodstock, but he happened to be backstage when organisers needed an acoustic artist to go onstage during a rain delay. He borrowed someone’s Harmony acoustic and stepped and sang to over half a million people!

Photo credit: Hulton Archive

On the third day of the festival, just before Joe Cocker's early afternoon set, Max Yasgur addressed the crowd:

"I'm a farmer. I don't know how to speak to twenty people at one time, let alone a crowd like this. But I think you people have proven something to the world — not only to the Town of Bethel, or Sullivan County, or New York State; you've proven something to the world. This is the largest group of people ever assembled in one place. We have had no idea that there would be this size group, and because of that you've had quite a few inconveniences as far as water, food, and so forth. Your producers have done a mammoth job to see that you're taken care of... they'd enjoy a vote of thanks. But above that, the important thing that you've proven to the world is that a half a million kids — and I call you kids because I have children that are older than you are — a half million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music, and I – God bless you for it!"

 

Martin Scorsese down in front inside the fence returning the peace sign to Max. 

Elliot Landy Photography

Woodstock CBS coverage 18-8-1969

Janis Joplin- Try (Live at Woodstock, 1969)

Woodstock Festival 53th Anniversary - (August 1969 - August 2022) - URBANASPIRINES

Nice piece this morning from Kostas over at Urbanaspirines looking at the phenomena that was Woodstock and the mother of all live music festivals from 1969 to the present day and  covering some 18 CDs (count 'em!) an awesome achievement and well worth checking out for sure. If you don't have all this then browse and read what Kostas says about the whole deal here . . . . . . . . . :

WOODSTOCK - August 1969 - August 2022 - Urbanaspirines

As Kostas' intro says:

"In August 1969, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair took place on a dairy farm in Bethel, NY. Over half a million people came to a 600-acre farm to hear 32 acts (leading and emerging performers of the time) play over the course of four days (August 15-18). Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, the Who, Janis Joplin and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were among the line-up. Woodstock is known as one of the greatest happenings of all time and perhaps the most pivotal moment in music history."

 

Thirty-two musicians, a combination of local and world-famous talent, performed at Woodstock. Around 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August 15, Richie Havens took the stage and played a 45-minute set. Havens was followed by an unscheduled blessing by yoga guru Sri Swami Satchidananda

Day I

Richie Havens (Friday evening)

Bert Sommer

Sweetwater

Melanie

Tim Hardin

Ravi Shanker

Arlo Guthrie

Joan Baez

Day II

Quill

Country Joe McDonald

John Sebastian

Keef Hartley Band

Santana

The Incredible String Band

Canned Heat

Mountain

The Grateful Dead

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Janis Joplin

Sly and the Family Stone

The Who

Jefferson Airplane

Day III

Joe Cocker

Country Joe and The Fish

Ten Years After

The Band

Johnny Winter

Blood Sweat and Tears

Crosby Stills Nash and Young

Paul Butterfield Blues Band

Sha Na Na

Jimi Hendrix (Monday morning)

Peace, out!

Woodstock couple still together 50 years later

 WOODSTOCK!

Couple who met on the way to Woodstock still together 50 years later and now they can prove it!

 

For 50 years, Judy and Jerry Griffin have been telling friends and family the fairy tale story of how they met on the way to Woodstock in 1969 and have been together ever since. The only downside to their meet-cute is that they never had any physical proof that they were at Woodstock together — until two months ago.

Judy met Jerry on Aug. 15, 1969 — day one of the iconic Woodstock music festival — when her car broke down on New York’s Tappan Zee Bridge, roughly 90 miles from the concert grounds, and she and the two acquaintances she was traveling with decided to hitchhike.

more here . . .

Worth sharing for the Santana alone and yes we all bought this album when it came out didn't we? 
I was excited in anticipation and finally staggered to hear this album and we had witnessed some of the excitement from across the pond on TV but it was quite possibly only a year or so later when hauling my sorry ass out of a field in Southern England emerging from the mud and grabbing my sleeping bag and belongings together as I awoke to hear this . . . . . . 
turn it UP

On this day in music history: May 11, 1970 - “Woodstock: Music From The Original Soundtrack And More” is released. Produced by Eric Blackstead, it is recorded at Max Yasgur’s Farm in Bethel, NY from August 15 - 18, 1969. The twenty one track three LP set serves as the soundtrack to historic three day concert and Oscar winning documentary film in which over a half a million people attend. Recorded by engineer Eddie Kramer (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, KISS), the album features performances from Richie Havens, Canned Heat, The Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills Nash & Young, Santana, Joe Cocker, Joan Baez, Country Joe & The Fish, The Who, The Butterfield Blues Band, Sly & The Family Stone, John Sebastian, Arlo Guthrie, and Jimi Hendrix. The soundtrack is a huge success and spins off a sequel album the following year featuring more performances from the festival. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the festival in 1994, Atlantic reissues the albums as a four CD box set including previously released performances. A further expanded six CD box set issued in 2009 for Woodstock’s 40th anniversary that include more unreleased material. “Woodstock” spends four weeks at number one on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified 2x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

ANTHEM

On this day in music history: August 15, 1969 - The “Woodstock Music & Art Fair” begins. Organized and promoted by Michael Lang, John Roberts, Joel Rosenman and Artie Kornfeld, the festival is originally scheduled to be held in Wallkill, NY, but town residents object to the event, and deny the promoters the necessary permit.  Instead, the concert is moved to dairy farmer Max Yasgur’s property in Bethel, NY. The three day concert features thirty two acts over three days, including Richie Havens, Santana, Sly & The Family Stone, Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin, The Who, Canned Heat, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby Stills & Nash, and Jimi Hendrix. The concerts  draw a crowd of over 500,000 people to the site. The event is documented in the Oscar winning film “Woodstock” (directed by filmmaker Michael Wadleigh), and the accompanying soundtrack album(s) that are released the following year. The event is regarded as a watershed moment not only in the history of rock & roll, but in pop culture.

The voice of the counter culture and White Rabbit was an anthem for many including yours truly

I too woke up one morning listening to this and it may not have been at Woodstock but it was somewhere else in field in the UK! 

What IS Grace smiling at?

"Feed Your Head!"