WoodStock

 Bert Sommer, a musician on day 1 Woodstock,

sings on stage.

The Keef Hartley band, a band on day 2 of Woodstock.

The band name is quite appropriate for the occasion. 

 here is a picture of joe cocker....

here is a picture of jimi hendrix....

 

The top five most popular artists to perform at Woodstock were Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Santana.

Jimi Hendrix was the most popular artist at Woodstock by a long shot. Due to bad weather, his performance was delayed from Sunday to Monday Morning. He was the man that many waited in the crowd for until monday morning. His improvisation of "The Star Spangled Banner" is one of the most memorable performances by any musician in U.S. history. His improvisation has been described by many as a defining moment of the 60s. It was his first show since the break up of his band "the Jimi Hendrix Experience."  Jimi told Dick Cavett, a host of a talk-show, that "I didn't mean any harm by it, in fact, i thought it was 'pretty.'" A baby boomer who stuck around for Hendrx's performance said "I heard in it the tragic power of bombs bursting and rockets glaring. I could hear the bittersweet emotion of men and women dying for their country through the tenderness of his interpretation of the melody." 

Santana brought the Latin Rock Fusion to Woodstock. They began at 2:00 pm on Saturday, the 16th. At the time they were unknown by the audience, but Santana was able to hit the center of the party crowd quite well and get them going. The band at the time was young, they were talented, and they were soon going to capture audiences all around the world. People in the audience were shocked at just how in tune the entire band was. "They sounded so unified" said one Woodstock fan. Woodstock captured a young band just at the brink of blowing up into a nationally known entity, and the performance wass actually pretty stunning in just how in tuned these guys were with each other. Santana's guitar had a voice of its own, letting out emotion with each pluck of the string. His voice was so bluesy, with so much sadness. The band as a whole put on such an emotional performance. The group described later that they were trying to be one with the audience, they wanted to capture the hearts of each individual and have them feel the pain of war. The members of Santana were for Anti-War, and they believed that if they could help the audience feel emotions they never felt before, it would help bring peace.

Janis Joplin played on the night of Saturday straight through to Sunday at about 2:00 am. Her show was powerful but it lacked some of the heart and soul that she had previously put into her music. Janis Joplin's years on top of the music industry were from 1967-1970, perfect timing for Woodstock. She fit right in with the strange drug/hippie scene that Woodstock provided. She was quite the hippie herself and an avid drug user.She later died from drug overdose.

Ever since Joplin parted ways with her big brother & Holding company band, people believed she lost her "grit." Many were skeptical when she walked onto the Woodstock stage that she truly deserved to be there. After her performance was finished, many people believed that she exceeded their expectations, but some didn't believe she gave it her all. Henry Diltz, the official photographer of Woodstock said, “I was literally feet in front of her while she was singing – the absolutely best seat in the entire house of 400,000 people.”  Diltz said of Joplin’s performance: “Everything I saw her sing, it was nothing held back.”

In highschool, Janis Joplin chose to spend her time with the "outcasts." She was often times called a "pig" "freak" and "creap." All the bullying that she was a victim of in high school, was portrayed through her music. She had been a victim of violent threats and and learned the true meaning of being attacked. If you listen to her music, it is so powerful, and it is so peaceful. She is such an adovcator for anti-bullying. She was the perfect artist to have at Woodstock because she truly believed in everyone coming together as one and dropping their weapons. If people took one thing out of Joplin's Woodstock performance, it would be to be accepting of others.

The Who arrived at Woodstock Saturday morning. Before even arriving on stage, they demanded to be paid. It seems as if they didn't truly know or care about the importance of Woodstock. During their performance, Abbie Hoffman, the leader of the Yippies, barged on stage tripping on LSD. He protested the imprisoning of John Sinclair before getting hit by Hoffmans guitar (destroying the guitar and Hoffman's back). The Who didn't come to Woodstock for anyother reason than making some extra money and promoting their new album "Tommy."

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young


A large majority of their songs consisted of Anti-war and counterculture. Common with many artits of the late '60s and early 70s, anti-war politics and countercultural issues were the basis of a lot of their music. Some of the most well known anti-war songs made by this band are "almost Cut My Hair"and "Long Time Gone." They were thrilled to come to Woodstock and try and make a difference. Woodstock was only their second performance in front of people and they were "scared shitless."
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Woodstock song: 
Well I came upon a child of God, he was walking along the road
And I asked him tell where are you going, this he told me:
(He) said, I'm going down to Yasgur's farm, going to join in a rock and roll band.
Got to get back to the land, and set my soul free.
We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon,
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.

Well, then can I roam beside you? I have come to lose the smog.
And I feel myself a cog in something turning.
And maybe it's the time of year, yes, said maybe it's the time of man.
And I don't know who I am but life is for learning.
We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon,
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.

By the time we got to Woodstock, we were half a million strong,
And everywhere was song and celebration.
And I dreamed I saw the bomber jet planes riding shotgun in the sky,
Turning into butterflies above our nation.

We are stardust, we are golden, we caught in the devil's bargain,
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.

Unfortunately, the Website does not allow us to post youtube links, to see some interesting youtube videos of Woodstock, paste these links into your URL

Youtube Links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzIE24UEL88

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-ZYUaRKQkk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa2fJVWhiIA&feature=fvst

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