Most Iconic Songs from Woodstock
40th anniversary of Woodstock commentary/reminiscences are everywhere, but I’m enjoying them and figured I’d add a little myself. I stick to performances in the movie and on the first two albums issued. (In ascending order.)
“I’m Going Home” – Ten Years After
Boogie on, Alvin Lee. Not so great to listen to, really, but in the film the triple split screen was cool.
“Freedom/Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” – Richie Havens
Hypnotic and soulful.
“Comin’ into Los Angeles” – Arlo Guthrie
A song about hoping not to get caught carrying drugs was bound to go over well with this crowd.
“The ‘Fish’ Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” – Country Joe McDonald
A proudly juvenile anti-authority chant followed by a sardonic anti-war song.
Medley: “Dance to the Music”/“Music Lover”/“I Want to Take You Higher” – Sly & the Family Stone
This is as funky as Woodstock got. Fortunately, their entire excellent Woodstock set has finally been released on their volume of Legacy’s Woodstock Experience series
“Volunteers” – Jefferson Airplane
A stirring call to arms. Another full set in Legacy’s Woodstock Experience series; over 90 minutes, it was the longest set at Woodstock and certainly one of the best. (It does drive me crazy that this song’s matching bookend, “We Can Be Together,” which I prefer both lyrically and musically, wasn’t played in this set, though.)
“With a Little Help from My Friends” – Joe Cocker
It was Bruce Springsteen who coined the phrase “a spastic’s reelin’ perfection,” but it was Cocker in the previous decade who embodied it with this working-man’s version of a Beatles song.
“Theme for an Imaginary Western” – Mountain
I just love the way Felix Pappalardi sings this Jack Bruce song.
“Sea of Madness” – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Because I’m such a Neil fan and this song is otherwise unavailable. There’s a rumor (a statement in the Wikipedia Woodstock Festival article, lacking citation) that it was actually recorded at the Fillmore East.
“The Star-Spangled Banner” – Jimi Hendrix Gypsy Sun and Rainbows
The festival’s final middle finger to The Establishment, a performance of the National Anthem that put all the bloody violence of the Vietnam War into a song born in wartime.
