Sunday Spin: Woodstock

OUR NEW WEEKEND SPOTLIGHT ON CLASSIC ALBUMS
BEGINS WITH THE GRANDADDY OF ALL ROCK GATHERINGS

Welcome to Sunday Spin, where your pals at JamBase celebrate great albums released this week in music history. Terrific sounds exist across time and we’re dedicated to keeping our ears to the ground for any fab reverberations from the past, present and future we can find for y’all!

On this week in 1970 the soundtrack to arguably the most important music festival in history was released. Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More was a 3-LP set that documented some of the highlights of the 1969 three day concert in upstate New York. The music and musicians in this collection have ultimately become part of the fabric of the American experience, resonating far beyond the usual realms of so-called “pop music.” Those that question the impact of rock ‘n’ roll need only ruminate for a moment on this assortment of individuals and ideas to find confirmation that rock can be much more than a disposable commodity.

Here’s the track listing:

“I Had a Dream” – John Sebastian.(Lovin’ Spoonful)
“Going Up the Country – Canned Heat
“Freedom” – Richie Havens
“Rock and Soul Music” – Country Joe & the Fish
“Coming into Los Angeles” – Arlo Guthrie
“At the Hop” – Sha-Na-Na
“The ‘Fish’ Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin-To-Die-Rag” – Country Joe McDonald
“Drug Store Truck Drivin’ Man” – Joan Baez & Jeffrey Shurtleff
“Joe Hill” – Joan Baez
“Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” – Crosby, Stills & Nash
“Sea of Madness” – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
“Wooden Ships” – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” – The Who
“With a Little Help from My Friends” – Joe Cocker
“Soul Sacrifice” – Santana. (The first 3 minutes of the track is the “Crowd Rain Chant,” a chant started by the crowd as an attempt to stop the rainstorm)
“I’m Going Home” – Ten Years After
“Volunteers” – Jefferson Airplane
“Dance to the Music/Music Lover/I Want to Take You Higher” – Sly & the Family Stone
“Rainbows All Over Your Blues” – John Sebastian
“Love March” – Butterfield Blues Band
“Star Spangled Banner/Purple Haze/Instrumental Solo” – Jimi Hendrix

A year later Woodstock 2 expanded on this set, and in 1997 a 4-CD box set, Woodstock: Three Days of Peace and Music was released. Long after the last hippie footprint has been covered by new grass, this “Aquarian Exposition” in White Lake, NY continues to bounce around in our collective unconscious, a force for social change that begins with the magic of music.

Here’s Crosby, Stills and Nash at Woodstock with some “Suite” sounds that fade from black into vibrant musical colors.

Here’s Ten Years After with one of the most incendiary guitar displays of all time. Alvin Lee is a true mind-blower on this one!

And we leave you with Sly & The Family Stone taking us much, much higher.