Who Did Not Play Woodstock, And Why Not?
So, as I write this, it is late on the night of August 17th, early in the morning on August the 18th (take your pick).
And that means that this marks the anniversary of the last day of the Woodstock Music Festival of 1969, which technically actually ended on Monday morning, with Jimi Hendrix closing the legendary concert out. His set began at 9am on Monday morning, the 18th of August. Can you imagine seeing a concert at 9am?
In honor of the anniversary of the three-day event, I have written some things about Woodstock in recent days. Seeing as though the actual concert really ended with Jimi Hendrix performing on Monday morning (although apparently, many of the concert goers had already left for home, which Hendrix was none too pleased about), it seems fitting that I post this last blog entry about Woodstock on Monday morning, August 18th - the same date, and day of the week, that Hendrix closed out the most legendary concert of all time. Yes, I have written a lot about Woodstock, and that's not really surprising, since I have always had a certain fascination with Woodstock, and this fascination was reignited with recent visits to the site of the legendary concert itself.
The first was in 2010, when I took my father to see Ringo Starr & the All Starr Band at Bethel. I knew that Woodstock was close by. I did not know that it was literally right there, that the venue had been built precisely at that location because of the historical significance of the place. And once again, I ask anyone else if they know of any other concert that was so famous and memorable as Woodstock? I mean, an entire concert venue for all sorts of acts in the future was built there, precisely because it was the host place of the biggest concert event in history! I think that's saying something!
In any case, there was one other topic that I wanted to explore further, because it always fascinated me just why some of the very biggest acts of the time did not perform at Woodstock. I mean, you have absolutely huge bands that simply were not a part of it! The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Doors, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and so on.
So, why exactly did these bands not make it out there? And, for that matter, do any of them regret not having participated? Well, that last question is one that will likely remain unanswered, at least for now.
As to why they were not a part of the concert that, more than any other, defined a generation?
Well, let's take a look at each band individually for that.
How much of these stories are true, and how much are legend, if not outright fabrications? We may never really know.
But here are the stories nevertheless.
To be fair, let me do this in alphabetical order, so that I do not show favoritism, or anything:
Arthur Lee and Love - They were invited and declined, but Mojo Magazine later revealed that the band was having to deal with inner turmoil at the time.
The Beatles - Various accounts of why the Beatles did not make it to Woodstock. The one that quite a few people seem to want to believe, because it just seems so outrageous, is that John Lennon was all for it, only he insisted that The Plastic Yoko Ono Band play as well, and this request was denied.
Another story has it that John Lennon was having problems with Richard Nixon, who was trying to essentially get Lennon out of the country at the time. So, Lennon was up in Canada, and was having too difficult of a time gaining reentry, and so the Beatles could not play Woodstock.
Yet another version has it that the Beatles had only played one concert since 1966 (the famous rooftop show), and that they were out of practice. Also, they were finishing Abbey Road, and the band was well on the way towards breaking up, anyway.
The Jeff Beck Band - These guys probably had the best (or worst, depending on how you view it) reasons not to play Woodstock - they broke up the week before!
The Byrds - They were asked to participate, but rejected the offer for reasons that remain unknown. One theory has it that they were burned out at the time.
Eric Clapton - Apparently, Woodstock came at a bad time for Clapton. Both of his former bands, the Yardbirds and Cream, had broken up. He was trying to get another band, Blind Faith, off the ground, and focused on that, so he did not perform because he was allegedly working on new music in Britain. Other accounts have it that he was actually there, but did not perform.
The Doors - The Doors were actually scheduled to play at Woodstock, and cancelled at the last minute. Jim Morrison did not like playing outdoor concerts, and so it was decided that the Doors would not play. Also, apparently, Jim Morrison thought that Monterrey was more important one. Finally, there was this rather strange story: that Morrison was, for some reason, paranoid that Woodstock would offer a potential sniper too much of an open shot at him. That sounds a bit far-fetched to me, but who knows? Drummer John Denismore did attend Woodstock, and can be seen near the stage during Joe Cocker's set.
Bob Dylan - Some of the reasons for not showing up at the festival seemed quite lame, but this one really surprised me! Bob Dylan saw more and more hippies surrounding his house, and was not impressed with them. He decided not to take part in the Woodstock Festival, and apparently may have suspected that some of the hippies would have a strong reaction to his not wanting them around his house. In his defense, Bob Dylan was apparently trying to work out his participation for Woodstock, when his son fell ill. Dylan did play at the Isle of Wight Festival two weeks later.
Free - They were asked to perform, but outright declined. Reasons still unclear.
Iron Butterfly - In the case of this band, it was all about ego. They had that one really huge hit, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. But apparently, they thought that they were much bigger than they actually were, and wanted to get helicopters to get to the show (remember, the New York State Thruway was closed, so maybe it was not all ego here). The band also allegedly demanded stage access immediately upon landing, as well as to be paid in full. However, the concert organizers thought, understandably, that if they did that for Iron Butterfly, that every act would want the same thing, and so it never happened.
Jethro Tull - They were invited, but apparently Ian Anderson did not want to spend much time with muddy, unwashed hippies. He wanted to try to keep it classy. Another version has it that the band was a bit intimidated by Woodstock, and thought it might be damaging to their musical career. Either way, I think it's safe to say they misjudged just how much this concert might have helped their careers to really take off.
Here is Ian Andersonm's recollection, in his own words:
"I asked our manager, Terry Ellis, "Well, who else is going to be there?" And he listed a large number of groups who were reputedly going to play, and that it was going to be a hippie festival, and I said, "Will there be lots of naked ladies? And will there be taking drugs and drinking lots of beer, and fooling around in the mud?" Because rain was forecast. And he said, "Oh, yeah." So I said, "Right. I don't want to go." Because I don't like hippies, and I'm usually rather put off by naked ladies unless the time is right."
Led Zeppelin -They were asked to join, but Pete Grant felt that they would be just another band at the concert, and so went ahead with a summer concert tour instead. For that weekend, they had a prior obligation - a concert in Asbury Park Convention Hall in Asbury Park, New Jersey - although still, not that far away. Maybe they could have managed to get there, or maybe not. In any case, hours after Jimi Hendrix closed Woodstock with his set on Monday morning, Led Zeppelin had two concerts in Toronto.
Lighthouse - They were invited to play, but backed out, believing that Woodstock would ultimately be bad news.
Joni Mitchell - She was given advice from her agent that going to Woodstock would not be a great career move, and instead, she prepared for The Dick Cavett Show for Tuesday, August 19th. However, her boyfriend at the time was Graham Nash, who's band obviously did perform, and he told her about it. She then wrote her now famous song about it.
Mind Garage - These guys declined because they did not believe Woodstock would be a big deal, and anyway, they had a higher paying show somewhere else.
The Moody Blues - These guys were actually originally scheduled to participate, and their names were on the original Wallkill posters. However, there was a scheduling conflict, as they had been booked for Paris that same weekend, and they played Paris instead.
Paul Revere and the Raiders - These guys were invited, but just flat refused to play. Reasons unknown.
Procol Harum - This band was just finishing a massive summer tour, and were tired. Also, ban member Robin Trower had the birth of his son to attend to.
Rolling Stones - Keith Richards and his wife had just had a baby, and Mick Jagger was in Australia for filming of the film "Ned Kelly", where he accidentally got shot on the same day that Woodstock ended (August 18th), although the concert was actually still probably going on, given the time difference. Also, apparently the Rolling Stones were not asked to participate.
Roy Rogers - Hated the idea of Woodstock, and believed (not entirely without some justification) that he would be poorly received at Woodstock. Originally, concert organizers wanted him to close the festival out with his big hit "Happy Trails". This is what Rogers had to say about it - "I would've been booed off the stage by all those goddamn hippies."
Tommy James and the Shondells - Tommy James seems remorseful about not having played Woodstock. Here, in his own words, is his account of what happened: "We could have just kicked ourselves. We were in Hawaii, and my secretary called and said, 'Yeah, listen, there's this pig farmer in upstate New York that wants you to play in his field.' That' s how it was put to me. So we passed.".
Spirit - The band that is now best known for recently suing Led Zeppelin for stealing their song Taurus, which was apparently the inspiration for Highway to Heaven, allegedly were invited to play, but declined in favor of a promo tour.
Frank Zappa - Zappa claims to have been invited, but declined. He was not the biggest fan of hippies, and also was not thrilled with a forecast of rain that would have meant a lot of mud at the festival.
Here are links that really helped me out a lot in writing this blog entry:
http://www.606studios.com/bendisboard/showthread.php?181101-Woodstock-no-shows-Bands-that-skipped-Woodstockhttp://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_didn%27t_play_at_woodstockhttp://www.woodstockstory.com/passingperformersbands.htmlhttp://www.hlntv.com/slideshow/2012/08/17/woodstock-bands-acts-didnt-playhttp://www.11points.com/Music/11_Bands_That_Skipped_Woodstock_For_Incredibly_Lame_Reasons
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