{"id":127025,"date":"2019-08-18T14:57:19","date_gmt":"2019-08-18T18:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=127025"},"modified":"2019-08-18T14:59:06","modified_gmt":"2019-08-18T18:59:06","slug":"ten-of-the-best-performances-at-woodstock-1969","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=127025","title":{"rendered":"Ten of the Best Performances at Woodstock 1969"},"content":{"rendered":"

Woodstock 50 Years Later: 10 Standout Performances<\/h1>\n

Nate Todd
\nJamBase<\/p>\n

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Nowadays, summer is music festival season. There are so many music festivals that it\u2019s hard to decide which one(s) to go to. But it wasn\u2019t always that way. It took the granddaddy of them all, Woodstock, to usher in the era of the music festival. While it had its predecessors, 1967\u2019s Monterey Pop Festival for instance, in 1969, Woodstock was The Festival<\/em>. And there will never be another one like it.<\/p>\n

Along with its cultural and socio-political implications, the gravity of the musical artists that graced the Woodstock stage on Max Yagur\u2019s farm outside of Bethel, New York is what made it so historic. At the time, they were some of the most popular acts around. But now, looking through the lens of history, the bands and artists that played Woodstock are among the greatest of all time. These acts include Jimi Hendrix<\/strong>, The Who<\/a>, The Band<\/strong>, Santana<\/a>, Janis Joplin<\/strong> and more.<\/p>\n

Today, August 18, marks the 50th anniversary of the closing day of the legendary festival (which spilled into a fourth day due to rain and other delays with Jimi Hendrix closing out the festival on Monday, August 18). To celebrate, JamBase takes a look at some of these historic performances for this edition of Sunday Cinema<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Richie Havens \u2013 Freedom (August 15, 1969)<\/h2>\n

Richie Havens<\/strong> opened up the festival on Friday around 5:00 p.m. The folk troubadour took the stage with just his guitar in front of nearly half a million people (he was backed by additional guitar and percussion). Not necessarily a marquee act, Havens was told to extend his set to \u201ckill time\u201d as other groups were being choppered in due to the massive traffic jam surrounding the event. But Havens did more than just \u201ckill time.\u201d He captivated the massive crowd, especially with his completely improvised song \u201cFreedom (Motherless Child)\u201d to close out the set which has now become an iconic Woodstock performance. Check it out below.<\/p>\n

Freedom (Motherless Child) via Sebastian Walter<\/small><\/h3>\n
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