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The greatest concert in rock history
It's been 40 years. Four decades since rock and roll hit its flower-powered zenith in a New York farm. Half a million watched, over 30 acts performed. It never got bigger than Woodstock, from August 15 to August 18, 1969.
Here's a look at what went down, in a vain attempt to capture the spirit of the moment using setlists and name-dropping. What a glorious time for music it was.
Day 1:
It was 5 in the afternoon when Woodstock finally kicked off, and Richie Havens was the first performer, opening with High flyin bird but moving on quickly enough to crowdpleasing Beatles classics like Strawberry Fields Forever and Hey Jude.
Swami Satchitananda then invoked the festival itself, after which Sweetwater and The Incredible String Band had their sets. Next came Bert Sommer and Tim Hardin, followed by a stunning set by Ravi Shankar, played in the rain.
The evening was closed by Melanie, Arlo Guthrie and a visibly pregnant Joan Baez, singing everything from Sweet Sir Galahad to We Shall Overcome.
Day 2
Saturday started off remarkably on time, with Quill kicking things off at high noon. Then came the Keef Hartley Band, Country Joe McDonald -- who created a sensation with Seen A Rocket Flyin -- and the one and only John Sebastien. The real performance to remember though was by a 22-year-old guitar prodigy called Carlos Santana, who played a stellar setlist including tracks like Evil Ways and Fried Neckbones.
Canned Heat rocked the stage right after, followed by Mountain -- after which came a series of rock gods. First came the Grateful Dead, then Creedence Clearwater Revival, then Janis Joplin, then Sly And The Family Stone, then The Who -- starting a 25-song-set at 4 am -- with the day finally wrapped up by Jefferson Airplane. Wow.
Day 3
Joe Cocker started the proceedings at 2 in the afternoon, ending his set with With A Little Help From My Friends. Then the show halted for a few hours because of a major thunderstorm, following which came Country Joe And The Fish and Ten Years After. The Band played a fantastic performance, then came Blood Sweat & Tears. Johnny Winter was next, with brother Edgar guesting on a couple of tracks, and -- at 3 in the morning -- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young played an acoustic and an electric set.
Then came the Paul Butterfiled Blues Band and Sha-Na-Na, with a massively enjoyable performance. Finally, the festival was brought to a close by a 27-year-old genius, guitar god Jimi Hendrix. His 16-track performance remains, for most, the highlight of the festival.
The guys who almost played
Led Zeppelin chose not to be on the list because they'd be just another band in a long lineup, while Jim Morrison disliked very large outdoor venues, which is why The Doors didn't come aboard.
Jethro Tull didn't play live but their music was played on the PA system, while The Byrds didn't want to play without getting paid. The Moody Blues backed out after being on the poster, and Joni Mitchell was part of the lineup but chose to be on a primetime television show instead.