a Woodstock state of mind

Sometimes I'll wake up at a random early hour and think its better to make a cup of tea, rather than to try to get straight back to sleep. So there I was at 3am listening to the World Service with a cuppa and on came a show about Woodstock. Woodstock was in 1969, so that's 50 years ago.

And as Arlo Guthrie narrated it, I realised I knew all of the lyrics and all of the scenes. From Richie Havens opening the festival to Jimi Hendrix closing it. Buzz Urkle's famous photo catches the scene of daybreak and mud across Max Yasgur's farm "It's a new dawn."

Havens, drenched in sweat, brought on early to improvise a three-hour set, whilst organisers finished building the primitive stage and wiring the sound system. The other bands and performers caught in the traffic of 500 thousand people coming to the event.

The recordings were all spectacularly taped by Eddie Kramer who had brought the Hendrix mobile recording studio along and volunteered to record and engineer everything, in what is sparklingly good quality. "Up is Louder," as Eddie might say.

Add the sheer number of cameras with all the original footage shot on 16mm film, and post-produced to 70mm, so that the optical soundtrack could be added.

No wonder so many people came; the $18 roll-call of acts included Tim Hardin, Ravi Shankar, Melanie Safka, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Country Joe McDonald and the Fish, Santana, The Incredible String Band, Canned Heat, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, Sly & the Family Stone, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Cocker, Ten Years After, The Band, Johnny Winter, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and more.

It's three days later that we see the now free concert with Hendrix playing out with the Star-Spangled Banner which since is often used as the outro at live Stones gigs. "The best electric guitarist".

An hour of radio, but a lifetime of philosophy.