Forever Woodstock

On August 15, 1969, I knew where I wanted to be because I had heard so much about it. Only one major problem I was 12 years old so this was one rock festival I would have to sit out. Do you have any idea what I’m referring to?

The one and only, the legendary Woodstock Music Festival. I watch bits and pieces of it on YouTube and I just love all of those great rock artists singing up there on that great stage. I was one of those who thought that this rock festival had taken place near the town of Woodstock, New York in the Catskill Mountains. Instead, it took place on a piece of farmland in White Lake which is a hamlet in the upstate New York town of Bethel about 50 miles from Woodstock.

The promoters of the festival were John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield, and Michael Lang. They figured that the Woodstock Music Festival would be a great way to raise funds so that they could build a recording studio and rock-and-roll retreat near Woodstock, New York. Woodstock was an artist’s colony that was already home to Bob Dylan and some other musicians.

In order to make it all possible the promoters had to sign up some top acts and they signed up acts like The Jefferson Airplane, The Who, The Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Creedence Clearwater Revival as well as many others. However, the festival almost didn’t happen because they couldn’t find a location in which to hold it. So it was lucky that dairy farmer Max Yasgur agreed to give them access to 600 acres of land in Bethel, New York.

The gates to the Woodstock Music Festival opened on Friday, August 15th and over 400, 000 people were ready to rock and roll. You can imagine what it all looked like – overwhelming. In such a crowd I’d be afraid to bring along small children but there were families nevertheless. My mom and dad were never into rock and roll but dad did like Elvis Presley who was not going to be part of this festival. I always wondered what it would have been like if my dad hadn’t died two years before and all three of us had been part of that festival. It just boggles the mind.

Anyway, troubles already started that first day because those without tickets were getting through gaps in the fences and eventually the organizers had to make the festival free of charge. The event began with folk singer and guitarist Richie Havens followed by Joan Baez and Arlo Guthrie that Friday night.

So there they were all those young and happy hippies enjoying three days of love, peace, and incredible music. Some of the outstanding moments of the Woodstock Music Festival were the career-making performances of acts such as Santana, Joe Cocker, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Finally the closing act by Hendrix with an improvised solo guitar performance of “The Star Spangled Banner”. Unfortunately for all good intentions, the festival left its promoters practically bankrupt but they were able to make up for it with the release of the documentary hit film in 1970. No other festival has had the success that the Woodstock Music Festival has had. Just think today some cows are wandering on the hallowed ground on which a lot of rock and roll greats once stood.

Unforgettable Performances

The headlining act on the first night was American singer and songwriter Joan Baez. She opened with “Oh, Happy Day”. She got the crowd excited and finished with a crowd singalong of the civil-rights anthem “We Shall Overcome”. After 50 years her full performance was released for the first time digitally.

Folk-Rock group Crosby, Stills, and Nash played such classics as “Marrakesh Express”, “Mr. Soul”, and “Guinnevere”.

After a rainy Saturday afternoon came the American rock band Canned Heat with a heavy blues-rock sound. They played “On the Road Again”, “Going Up the Country” and the 26-minute long “Woodstock Boogie”.

Giving their awesome performance was UK blues-rockers Ten Years After with “Help Me” and “I'm Going Home” which is featured in the 1970 Woodstock documentary by Michael Wadleigh.

American rock band Jefferson Airplane performed on Sunday morning and blew everyone away with their landmark hits “Somebody to Love”, “White Rabbit”, and “Volunteers”.

American singer and songwriter Richie Havens gave a legendary performance with “From the Prison” and captivated the audience with one of his greatest songs “Freedom”. When Havens passed on in 2013 he had his ashes scattered from the air over the festival site.

Before American psychedelic rock band Country Joe and the Fish came on Country Joe McDonald blew the audience away with his solo performance. He had the crowd join in a singalong with his most famous song, the anti-war anthem “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag.”

English singer Joe Cocker got everyone going with his version of The Beatles' song “With a Little Help From My Friends”. He was joined by his group The Grease Band.

Through a rainy Saturday American funk, soul, and rock band The Family Stone upped everyone's mood with “Everyday People”, “Dance to the Music”, and “I Want to Take You Higher”.

American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival rocked the crowd with “Proud Mary”, “Born on the Bayou”, and “Bad Moon Rising”.

American singer Janis Joplin got everyone jiving with her “Ball and Chain”.

And it all got tied up in one pretty musical package with American musician Jimi Hendrix taking the stage and giving his extraordinary rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner”.