SATURDAY AUGUST 16 1969
Day 2:
Quill
Quill was the first band on the second day, Saturday, the 16th. They started ca. at 12:15 pm. Quill gained popularity in New England and New York and played numerous smaller clubs in that area.
Country Joe McDonald
The first performance by Country Joe McDonald was a solo performance without his band The Fish. Country Joe played a simple but relaxed solo set for about half an hour.
Santana
Santana brought the Latin Rock Fusion to Woodstock. They started at 2:00 pm on Saturday, the 16th. Relatively unknown for the audience, Santana hit the nerve of the party crowd quite well. Their debut album Santana was released in the same month. The band had just played local gigs in the San Francisco area so they were relatively unknown. Their set was powerful and magical at the same time. Santana used to have a mas.sive percussion section at that time and drummer Michael Shrieve added his personal note, especially during the drum solo of “Soul Sacrifice”.
John B. Sebastian
Sebastian was popular among the rock festival circuits. He had a memorable, albeit unscheduled appearance at Woodstock, appearing after Country Joe McDonald’s set, playing songs such as “I Had A Dream,” “Rainbows All Over Your Blues,” “Darling Be Home Soon” and “Younger Generation,” which he dedicated to a newborn baby at the festival.
Keef Hartley Band
The Keef Hartley Band was the first British band that performed at Woodstock. Woodstock was the first U.S. gig for the band. They played to support their album Halfbreed (1969). It is rumored that they played with Santana’s equipment.
The Incredible String Band
The Incredible String Band, who refused to play on Friday due the rain, performed on Saturday at about 6.00 pm. The Incredible String Band was quite an interesting band who played folk songs with psychedelic influences. Mike Heron’s compositions were complex and needed attention.
Canned Heat
Canned Heat turned to audience favorites after their Woodstock gig. In 1969 they had already added psychedelic elements to their blues influenced songs and their Boogie Rock kept the people dancing. They hit the stage on Saturday, the 16th at about 7.30 pm. The gig took place during sunset which occurred at 7.56 pm. The sky was cloudy so it was a little bit darker than usual. The set list was wisely chosen and featured their greatest hits: “Going Up the Country” and “On the Road Again”, the last one as the encore. The song “Woodstock Boogie” is basically an almost 30 minute jam, also including a drum solo. On their album Boogie With Canned Heat (1968) the song is called “Fried Hockey Boogie”.
Mountain
Mountain played heavy Blues Rock, mainly influenced by the well-known band Cream. Woodstock was only their fourth gig but they played in front of 500,000 people. It was Saturday, August the 16th, 1969, the second day of Woodstock, and about 9:00 pm.
The Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead are their own phenomenon. Influenced by Blues, Jazz, Country, Folk and of course Rock ‘N’ Roll, they used to stretch their compositions to incredible lengths, improvising solos and lyrics. The Grateful Dead came late on stage because Owsley Stanley (a.k.a. “Bear” – their soundman and electrical engineer) wanted to fix the electrical ground on stage. Also their heavy equipment had squashed the turnable stage. Further, the rain had flooded the stage and the band was in danger of electric shocks. Songs got delayed because of long breaks between them. After a while, it all ended in an almost everlasting “Turn On Your Lovelight” after which the band left. The Dead started at about 10:30 pm on Saturday the 16th. Their gig was supposed to be a little longer than the other bands because of the breaks. So they finished around midnight.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival’s catchy music was one of the true highlights of the whole festival. Though they started late in the night from Saturday to Sunday (around 12.30) their blend of R&B, Folk- and Country-Rock didn’t fail to impress. However, John Fogerty complained that the long set of The Grateful Dead delayed their set so most of the audience went to bed when CCR performed in the middle of the night.
SUNDAY AUGUST 17 1969
Day 3:
The Who
The Who were scheduled as the second to last act (before Jefferson Airplane) to play on Saturday, August 16th. When they actually started playing it was already Sunday morning around 5:00. They played their exceptional Tommy album, a Rock Opera dealing with the struggle of a deaf, dumb and blind boy who later finds a cure and gains stardom with his messianic movement. The finale of this performance took place during sunrise which occured at 6:05 am.
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was quite the biggest band of the San Francisco scene. Their roots date back to the year 1965 and by 1967 (mostly because of the Monterey International Pop Festival and the proclamation of the Summer of Love) they had gained stardom. The dual and sometimes triple voice was their trademark. They combined Psychedelia as well as Blues in their songs. The Airplane became the archetype of the new, young and rebellious generation: free and successful, living together as a family (or at least as good friends), making music, taking drugs. Jefferson Airplane were scheduled as the headliner for Saturday, the second day of Woodstock, but finally started in Sunday morning around 8.00 am (or earlier).
Joe Coc.ker
Joe Coc.ker was the first officially scheduled act on Sunday. He went on stage at about 2.00 pm. Though Coc.ker was in the music business for quite a while he was hardly known. But after his triumphal success at Woodstock the man with the soulful voice became famous everywhere. Especially well received was the Beatles’ cover song “With a Little Help from My Friends” which was already the second performance after Richie Havens’ version on the first day. Coc.ker’s backing band at that time was the superb
Grease Band – a formation that lasted only two years.
Shortly after Coc.ker’s gig a heavy thunderstorm washed over the festival and everything was brought to stop for several hours.
Country Joe & The Fish
Like a few other artists of the Woodstock Festival Country Joe & The Fish have also appeared on the other major U.S. music festival of that time: The Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967. Since then they have released their most important albums, reformed their line-up and become severe critics of the raging war in Vietnam. Country Joe & The Fish resumed the festival after the thunder storm on Sunday, August 17th. That must have been around 6.30 pm.
Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin and her former band Big Brother & the Holding Company gained stardom at the Monterey International Pop Festival 1967. Unfortunately in late 1968 she left the band to move on to a solo career. Of course, Janis ended up in Woodstock together with a full ensemble of musicians. She played in the night of Saturday to Sunday at about 2:00AM. The show was still strong but it lacked somewhat of Janis Joplin’s power and improvisation of her backing band. Nevertheless, this gig is a worthwhile doc.u.ment of time.
Ten Years After
The British band Ten Years After hit the stage on Sunday, August 17th at about 8.15 pm. They were known for heavy blues rock, and long guitar and drum solos. But what could have been a world-shaking performance failed due to technical reasons: the high humidity caused the instruments to go out of tune, the sound recording partially failed, and the camera team was just able to film the last song, “I’m Going Home”, an intense performance which was one of the highlights of Woodstock.
The Band
One of the most appreciated bands, The Band, started on Sunday, the 17th at ca. 10.00 pm. They were known for excellent Folk-Rock, almost better than most US-based Folk bands, succeeding their mentor and former employer Bob Dylan. What can be said about this set? This is the renaissance of Folk-Rock performed at this historic musical event. “I Shall Be Released” is played so sweet that even Mr. Dylan would have smiled. The Band had only one album by hand so far: The cult album Music From Big Pink, released in 1968. But their music didn’t fall short. In fact they had been around for many years. They played seven of the eleven songs from that album, taking a careful try at Bob Dylan, too but not as excessive as for instance The Byrds. “The Weight” is their last song (before the encore), a song that was already made famous by the biker movie Easy Rider.
Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter is a Blues legend from Texas. He played at Woodstock at midnight on the night of Sunday to Monday (17th to 18th). Johnny Winter played an electrifying 65 minute set of his signature electric blues highlighted by slide guitar amd amazing solos. “Leland Mississippi Blues”, “Mean Mistreater” and the amazing “Mean Town Blues” (probably the highlight of the show) are compositions from his first two albums. The rest are cover versions from well-known Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll artists: a lengthy but never boring version of B. B. King’s “You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now”, a wonderful “I Can’t Stand It” ( Bo Diddley) or the Chuck Berry clas.sic “Johnny B. Goode” as the encore. Generally all of his performed songs are very strong and dominated by Winter’s immense guitar skills. It is questionable if the audience could grasp this music at this midnightly hour (Johnny Winter started around 12:00 am) but in retrospective it is for sure a very fine concert.
Sly & The Family Stone
Very late on Saturday evening, or rather Sunday morning, came Sly & The Family Stone: 3:30 am. Led by Sly Stone, they were pioneers of Funk-Rock which was still based on Soul and R&B added with some psychedelic elements as well as Gospel. The band consisted of black and white members, men and women, which wasn’t that usual at that time. Given their late appearance Sly & The Family Stone were remarkably fresh and powerful. The Woodstock show is widely considered as one of their best performances.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears had a distinctive R&B sound and gained a huge popularity in the 60s. Their first few albums were well received and it was no big surprise that they ended up in Woodstock, too. They started around 1.30 am in the night of Sunday to Monday. So it was already the 18th of August, the last day of the festival.
Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young)
Their first gig was on August 17, 1969 at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, with Joni Mitchell as their opening act. They mentioned they were going to someplace called Woodstock the next day, but they had no idea where that was. They began their second set that night with the same line they uttered at Woodstock, “This is only the second time we’ve performed in front of people. We’re scared sh!tless.” They opened with “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” before launching into a harmony-drenched version of The Beatles’ “Blackbird”. Their second show was a baptism by fire at the Woodstock Festival. CSNY’s recording of the Joni Mitchell song memorializing Woodstock would later become a hit and the recording most as.sociated with the festival.
Paul Butterfield Blues Band
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band is known as one of the few original Chicago Blues followers. In 1965 and 1966 they made their legendary albums with the original line-up: the self-titled Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the Indian influenced East-West. Among others they played at the Monterey International Pop Festival 1967, too. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band played in the morning hours of Monday, the 18th. The starting time is supposed to be 6.00 am.
Sha Na Na
Sha Na Na was a Rock & Roll act that featured dancers on stage. Even for 1969 they were anachronistic focusing on 50ies music and outfits. The group was founded in 1968 and didn’t have an album contract by the time they played at Woodstock. They were the next to last act of Woodstock succeeded by Jimi Hendrix. They performed at 7.30 in the morning of Monday, 18th of August.
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix and his band were known under several names. But besides his backing band, it was just Jimi Hendrix playing. The band was scheduled as the last performance of the festival, Sunday night. Due to several delays, they eventually played on Monday morning, 9:00AM, when most of the audience had already left.
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