Tim Hardin Woodstock

Tim Hardin Woodstock

Tim Hardin Woodstock

Tim Hardin was one of the names unintentionally left off the Woodstock monument that Wayne Saward created.

The others are Keef Hartley, Quill, and Bert Sommer. John Sebastian’s last name is spelled “Sabastian.” And though not a “performer” as such, Sri Swami Satchidananda is missing as well.

Hardin had already had an insult added to that later unintended injury by being left out of both the movie and the album.

Recent releases have remedied that mistake, but too late for Tim to know.

His band that Friday 15 August evening were:

His setlist was:

  • (How Can We) Hang on to a Dream
  • Once-Touched By a Flame
  • If I Were a Carpenter
  • Reason to Believe
  • You Upset the Grace of Living When You Lie
  • Speak Like a Child
  • Snow White Lady
  • Blue on My Ceiling
  • Simple Song of Freedom
  • Misty Roses
Tim Hardin Woodstock

Matches in the Rain

Melanie will follow Ravi Shankar’s Woodstock performance. Shankar follow Hardin. As part of his Hardin introduction, MC John Morris asked the crowd to do something he’d seen on July 4, 1968 with a Tiny Tim performance. He asked the crowd to light matches. The story most heard is that Woodstock Ventures handed out candles and that their lighting inspired Melanie to write the song Candles in the Wind. Perhaps that remembrance is partially Woostock Haze.

Hardin’s and the band’s performance lasts about an hour and five minutes.

Tim Hardin Woodstock

(How Can We) Hang On To a Dream

Hardin’s songs are known for their simple beauty and short arrangements, so it is a bit surprising to see so many other musicians with him at Woodstock, but he is still up front and often solo nonetheless.

With (How Can We) Hang On To a Dream we hear Bill Chelf’s piano intro, but then I only hear Hardin’s voice.

What can I say, she’s walking away
From what we’ve seen
What can I do, still loving you
It’s all a dream

How can we hang on to a dream
How can it, will it be, the way it seems

What can I do, she’s saying we’re through
With how it was
What will I try, I still don’t see why
She says what she does

How can we hang on to a dream
How can it, will it be, the way it seems

What can I say, she’s walking away
From what we’ve seen
What can I do, still loving you
It’s all a dream

How can we hang on to a dream
How can it, will it be, the way it seems
How can we hang on to a dream

What can I say, she’s walking away
From what we’ve seen
What can I do, still loving you
It’s all a dream

How can we hang on to a dream
How can it, will it be, the way it seems
How can we hang on to a dream

Tim Hardin Woodstock

Once-Touched By Flame

Before the song begins, apparently someone calls out that they can’t hear him. He replies, “Your mics aren’t picking up either.”

Again, this simple arrangement is Chelf on piano and Hardin singing. The lyrics on line do not accurately reflect the lyrics Hardin actually sings at Woodstock. Here are what apparently are the original lyrics, not Woodstock’s.

Daily does the light grows stronger
Do the young done, leaving one
Now that I live, need to live much longer
Gonna pain by growing dim
She said she love you
And they are face to face in love
Now my past and last week dreams are true
So real I feel like I’m indeed
Take my place
Once touched by a flame
A name into love
The family’s got me satisfied
To live with only me inside
A woman that gave me back my pride
And now my heart and mind are worm
With Suzanne and Damian
Tim Hardin Woodstock

If I Were a Carpenter

We don’t often see the subjunctive case in English, but in what is perhaps Hardin’s best known song (because of Bobby Darin’s popular cover), such is the case.

At the song’s start, some in the crowd recognize it and applaud. This song is simply Hardin and his guitar

[Chorus]
If I were a carpenter and you were a lady
Would you marry me anyway?
Would you have my baby? (Would you have my baby)

If I were a miller and the mill should grind me
Would you miss your lover man?
Your soft shoe shiner (Soft shoe shiner)
Yeah, yeah
Oh baby

If a tinker were my trade would you still find me?
Absolutely, yes I would
Come give me your tomorrow

[Chorus]

See my love through loneliness
See my love through sorrows
I’m giving you my in this
Come give me your tomorrow
Please baby
Pretty, pretty, pretty please, baby
Oh yeah yeah
Sweet baby, baby, baby…

Tim Hardin Woodstock

Reason To Believe

Hardin segues right into Reason To Believe and again he simply accompanies himself on acoustic guitar.

If I listened long enough to you
I’d find a way to believe that it’s all true
Knowing that you lied straight faced while I cried
Still I look to find a reason to believe

Someone like you makes it hard to live
Without somebody else
Someone like you makes it easy to give
Never thinking of myself

If I gave you time to change my mind
I’d find a way to leave the past behind
Knowing that you lied straight faced while I cried
Still I look to find a reason to believe

If I listened long enough to you
I’d find a way to believe it’s all true
Knowing that you lied straight faced while I cried
Still I look to find a reason to believe

On his Tim Hardin 1 album, this song is a mere 2 minutes. Here he stretches it out (thankfully) to 4:43.

Tim Hardin Woodstock

You Upset the Grace of Living When You Lie

Again someone calls out a request and he responds that maybe he’ll do it. This song again is just himself on acoustic guitar.

Listen to your heart for my reflection
Do your eyes stay with me when I say goodbye?
Listen to my changes in direction
Follow me to feel the same as I
I hope you feel the way I do
I hope you feel my love of you
Don’t believe me if you’re not convinced of me
Please come back along the changing sky
Every time you give yourself not loving me
You upset the grace of living when you lie
I hope you feel the way I do
I hope you feel my love of you
Tim Hardin Woodstock

Speak Like A Child

At this point Tim introduces the band. Although they must all be on the stage, only Richard Bock accompanies Hardin with a cello.

I speak like a child
I look like a child
Through dancing eyes
I wish more for you
I give more to you
Than jealous replies

There’s nothing to say
That children don’t say
Through lips that smile
I wish more for you
I give more to you
Than jealous replies

I look at you
And what i saw
Was far removed
And what i saw
Was never there

I speak like a child
I look like a child
Through dancing eyes
I give more to you
I wish more for you
Than jealous replies

I look at you
And what I saw was far removed
And what i saw
Was never there

Tim Hardin Woodstock

Snow White Lady

As well-known as Hardin is for his pithy songs, Snow White Lady departs from that. There is a jazzy blues feel here with the full band backing him for nearly 16 minutes! Although, at its close Hardin says, “We’ll get warmed up here in a minute and stop making mistakes.”

Blues On My Ceiling

This song is nearly as long clocking in at ten minutes. At the end the crowd is calling out indistinguishable requests.

Blues on the ceiling over my head
Running down the walls across the floor and over my bed
Blue lights across the street blinkin’ off and on
It’s so lonely now she’s gone
I’ll never get out of these blues alive
I’ll never get out of this crazy blues alive

Love had been a dirty five letter word to me
I was into the blues over my head blue was all that I could see
Up to my neck in misery
I’ll never get out of these blues alive
I’ll never get out of this crazy blues alive

Blues keep on fooling with my weary head
Cocaine couldn’t numb the pain I’d be better off dead
Blue lights gone out at last I sleep
The bitter the blues the better they keep
I’ll never get out of these blues alive
I’ll never get out of this crazy blues alive

Tim Hardin Woodstock

Simple Song of Freedom

As has often been pointed out, it is a bit of Woodstock Haze to say that the Woodstock Music and Art Fair was a protest. While there were a few booths and speakers promoting a particular view of current events, it was not common. Having said that, Hardin’s Simple Song of Freedom is topical.

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you’ve never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don’t want a war

Hey, there, Mister Black Man can you hear me
I don’t want your diamonds or your game
I just want to be someone who knows to you as me
And I will bet my life you want the same

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you’ve never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don’t want a war

Seven hundred million are you listening
Most of what you read
Most of what you read is made of lies
But speaking one to one, ain’t it everybody’s sun
To wake to in the morning when we rise

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you’ve never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don’t want a war

No doubt some folks enjoy doing battle
Like presidents, Prime ministers and kings
So let’s all build them shelves
So they can fight among themselves
And leave the people be who love to sing

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you’ve never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don’t want a war

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you’ve never sung before
Speaking one to one, ain’t it everybody’s
Ain’t it everybody’s sun
To wake to in the morning when we rise
When we rise.

Tim Hardin Woodstock

Misty Roses

For an encore he responds to those requesting songs that he just can’t do that, but decides to do another of his more popular songs and one that had been covered by others: Misty Roses. It is a beautiful song and he provided more than four minutes of it.

You look to me
Like misty rose
Too soft to touch
But too lovely to leave alone.
If I could be
Like misty roses
I’d love you much
You’re too lovely to leave alone.
Flowers often cry
But too late to find
That their beauty has been lost
With their peace of mind.
You look to me
Like love forever
Too good to last
But too lovely not to try.
If I believed
In love forever
I’d forget the past
You’re just too lovely not to try.
Tim Hardin Woodstock

The next performance is by Ravi Shankar

 

Cannabis Acceptance Continues

Cannabis Acceptance Continues

This is the third post I’ve done on the history of cannabis and mainly that history in the United State.

See Cannabis Contrails and Cannabis Contrails Continued for those two.

2021

The 21st century was already 20 years old and the acceptance of recreational and medicinal cannabis continued apace. New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy had been elected in  2017 and he had promised if elected to legalize marijuana within his first 100 days in office.

It was 1134 days later, but much had happened. By early 2021 several other state governments–including NJ neighbors New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania–were paving the way to the same legalization.

Some authorities warned that its legal use would lead to much abuse and associated law-breaking. Others had no worries.

All remained to be seen.

Reduced Opioid Issues

January 27, 2021:  a study published in the British Medical Association journal’s BMJ concluded that increasing access to marijuana dispensaries was associated “…with reduced opioid related death rates, particularly deaths associated with synthetic opioids such as fentanyl,”

It was a finding that held “…for both medical and recreational dispensaries” the study said.

Researchers looked at opioid mortality and cannabis dispensary prevalence in 23 U.S.states from 2014 to 2018 and found that, overall, counties where the number of legal marijuana shops increased from one to two experienced a 17 percent reduction in opioid-related fatalities.

Increasing the dispensary count from two to three was linked to an additional 8.5 percent decrease in opioid deaths.

Further, the study found that this trend “appeared particularly strong for deaths associated with synthetic opioids other than methadone, with an estimated 21 percent reduction in mortality rates associated with an increase from one to two dispensaries.”   [Marijuana Moment article]

Cannabis Acceptance Continues

NJ Finally Finalizes

Cannabis Acceptance Continues

February 22, 2021: months after voters approved legalization and months of wrangling over legislative language, New Jersey finally became the 13th state to legalize marijuana.

It wasn’t just the state’s social justice activists, entrepreneurs and the state’s most ardent weed enthusiasts waiting with bated breath. Legal weed advocates nationwide had kept a close eye on New Jersey, seen as a vital domino that could soon send the entire East Coast cascading toward marijuana legalization.

And, eventually, the rest of the country.

“New Jersey could be the game changer for the Northeast and for the Mid-Atlantic. It is a huge state, there will be a large market there and it will undoubtedly put pressure on surrounding states to rethink their positions and create momentum for cannabis reform,” said Steve Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, a national advocacy group for marijuana legalization.  [NYT article]

Cannabis Acceptance Continues

Three in a Week

NY State Legalization

March 31, 2021: from the NY Times: after years of stalled attempts, New York State legalized the use of recreational marijuana, enacting a robust program to reinvest millions of dollars in minority communities ravaged by the decades-long war on drugs.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed the cannabis legislation a day after the State Legislature passed the bill following hours of debate among lawmakers in Albany.

With his signature, New York became the 15th state to legalize the recreational use of cannabis, positioning itself to quickly become one of the largest markets of legal cannabis in the nation.

Virginia Legalization

April 7, 2021: the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate both accepted Gov. Ralph Northam’s amendment to their respective versions of legislation to legalize marijuana in the state, including a revision that would push up the timeline to allow adults to possess and cultivate cannabis for personal use this summer instead of in 2024.

Northam had been strongly advocating for the reform, and lawmakers sent bills to legalize marijuana for adult use to his desk in February. Late last month, the governor formally submitted substitute language to the bills, and on this date, both chambers approved the proposed changes to their own versions, with the House accepting its revised measure, 53-44, and the Senate clearing its legislation by a vote of 21-20, with Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) breaking a tie.

Following those initial votes, both bodies then passed the opposite chamber’s bill as amended, meaning the legislation is now enacted without need for any further gubernatorial action since Northam’s revisions have been approved as submitted.  [MM article]

New Mexico Legalization

April 12, 2021: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) signed a bill to legalize marijuana in the state, as well as a separate measure to expunge records for people with prior, low-level cannabis convictions.

Grisham gave final approval to the legislation, a key accomplishment for her administration after she listed legalization as a 2021 priority. Although lawmakers failed to pass a legalization bill before the regular session’s end last month, the governor convened a special session to ensure they got the job done.

“The legalization of adult-use cannabis paves the way for the creation of a new economic driver in our state with the promise of creating thousands of good paying jobs for years to come,” the governor said in a press release. “We are going to increase consumer safety by creating a bona fide industry. We’re going to start righting past wrongs of this country’s failed war on drugs. And we’re going to break new ground in an industry that may well transform New Mexico’s economic future for the better.” [MM article]

Cannabis Acceptance Continues

Study Shows Stoner Image Inaccurate

April 29, 2021:  a study published in the Harm Reduction Journal found that people who frequently use marijuana—particularly those aged 40 and older—spend more time engaging in physical activity than non-users do.

The nationally representative analysis of accelerometer-measured sedentary behavior and stated that its “…findings do not support the mainstream perception of cannabis users as living sedentary lifestyles.

In general, they found that “there’s no significant differences between non-current cannabis users and light, moderate, or frequent cannabis users in minutes per day spent in [sedentary behavior].” The difference came down to the average minutes that each group spent in physical activity. [MM article]

Cannabis Acceptance Continues

High School Use Does Not Increase

May 27, 2021: a federal report by U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) analyzed youth surveys of high school students from 2009 to 2019. The report concluded that there had been “no measurable difference” in the percentage of those in grades 9-12 who reported consuming cannabis at least once in the past 30 days.

The report, which relied on data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, also found that access remained stable during that time period, with no statistically significant changes in the percentage of youth who say they’ve been offered, sold or gifted illegal drugs on school grounds in the previous 30 days.

What makes the report notable is the timeline.

Cannabis reform opponents frequently argued that enacting adult-use legalization in states spur more underage people to use marijuana. There were no recreational markets in 2009, and that year, 21 percent of high school students reported past 30-day use. The first legal sales launched in Colorado in 2014—and five years after that, 22 percent of teens said they’d recently used marijuana. [MM article]

Cannabis Acceptance Continues

Connecticut

June 22, 2021: Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed a marijuana legalization bill. A top staffer said in an email to equity advocates that there’s “still much work to be done” to ensure that the law upholds principles of social justice and ensures that disproportionately impacted communities are empowered to participate in the industry. [MM article]

Justice Clarence Thomas

June 28, 2021: Justice Clarence Thomas denounced the federal government’s inconsistent approach to marijuana policy, suggesting that outright national prohibition may be unconstitutional.

While the court declined to take up a new case related to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigation into tax deductions claimed by a Colorado marijuana dispensary, Thomas issued a statement that more broadly addressed the federal-state marijuana disconnect.

He specifically discussed a 2005 ruling in Gonzales v. Raich, wherein the court narrowly determined that the federal government could enforce prohibition against cannabis cultivation that took place wholly within California based on its authority to regulate interstate commerce.

Whatever the merits of Raich when it was decided, federal policies of the past 16 years have greatly undermined its reasoning,” Thomas wrote. “Once comprehensive, the Federal Government’s current approach is a half-in, half-out regime that simultaneously tolerates and forbids local use of marijuana.” [MM article]

Proposed Federal Decriminalization

July 14, 2021: Senator Chuck Schumer of New York proposed legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, putting his weight as majority leader behind the growing movement to unwind the decades-old war on drugs.

The draft bill, called the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and begin regulating and taxing it, placing federal rules on a burgeoning industry that has faced years of uncertainty. Though states would still be allowed to set their own marijuana laws, businesses and individuals in states that have legalized its use would be free for the first time to sell and consume it without the risk of federal punishment.

The proposal would also try to make recompense to communities of color and the poor for damage from years of restrictive federal drug policy. It calls for immediately expunging nonviolent marijuana-related arrests and convictions from federal records and would earmark new tax revenue for restorative justice programs intended to lift up communities affected by “the failed federal prohibition of cannabis.”

The bill aimed to “finally turn the page on this dark chapter in American history and begin righting these wrongs,” said Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, who wrote the bill with Mr. Schumer and Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and the chairman of the Finance Committee. [NYT article]

Schedule 1 Issues

October 25, 2021: the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) told Congress in a report that the Schedule I status of controlled substances like cannabis was preventing or discouraging research into their potential risks and benefits. It also said that current restrictions that block scientists from studying the actual cannabinoid products that consumers can purchase at dispensaries was impeding research to an extent that constitutes a public health concern.

“Researchers have reported that obtaining a new registration can take more than a year, that modifying a registration can also be time consuming, and that differing interpretations of the Schedule I registration requirements among local DEA field offices, research institutions, as well as distinct federal and state registration requirements, greatly complicate the process,” the federal agency told lawmakers. “These challenges can impede critical research on Schedule I substances and deter or prevent scientists from pursuing such work.”  [Marijuana Moment article]

South Dakota Invalidates Vote 

November 24, 2021: the South Dakota Supreme Court  ruled that a voter-approved marijuana legalization initiative was invalid on procedural grounds, a major setback for activists who have been awaiting the court’s decision for months. That said, advocates would pursue a two-track plan to enact the reform next year.

In a 4-1 vote, the justices upheld a circuit court ruling that found the 2020 ballot measure violated the state’s single subject rule for constitutional amendments, meaning it covered too much ground and was not narrowly focused enough to meet the electoral standard.

The lawsuit was officially brought by two law enforcement officers but was funded with taxpayer money supplied by the administration of Gov. Kristi Noem (R)  [MM article]

Malta Legalization

December 18, 2021: just days after Malta’s Parliament approved a bill to legalize marijuana, President George Vella signed the legislation into law making Malta the first European country to enact the reform.

Under the legislation sponsored by MP Owen Bonnici, adults 18 and older will be allowed to possess up to seven grams of cannabis and cultivate as many as four plants for personal use. Up to 50 grams of homegrown marijuana can be stored at home.

While there won’t be a commercial market per se, non-profit cooperatives will be able to cultivate marijuana and distribute it to members. [MM article]

Cannabis Acceptance Continues

2022

Rhode Island

May 25, 2022: Gov. Dan McKee (D), of Rhode Island signed a bill to legalize marijuana, making it the 19th state to end prohibition.

While it would be at least a few months until adult-use retail sales launched in the Ocean State, adults 21 and older could legally possess up to one ounce of cannabis and grow up to six plants for personal use, only three of which couldn be mature.

There had been months of negotiations between lawmakers, advocates, stakeholders and the governor’s office before a revised version of the legislation was introduced earlier in May, but once the text was released, the identical companion bills in both chambers quickly advanced through committee and were approved on the floor on May 25. [Marijuana Moment article]

NIH Reports Increased Use

August 24, 2022: data collected by the National Institutes of Health from April 2021 through October 2021 indicated that the amount of people from ages 19 to 30 who reported using marijuana were at the highest rates since 1988 when the NIH first began the survey. The amount of young adults who said in 2021 that they used marijuana in the past year (43%), the past month (29%) or daily (11%) were at the highest levels ever recorded. Daily use — defined in the study as 20 or more times in 30 days — was up from 8% in 2016. The amount of young adults who said they used a marijuana vape in the past month reached pre-pandemic levels, after dropping off in 2020. It doubled from 6% in 2017 to 12% in 2021. [NPR article]

Presidential Pardon

October 6, 2022: President Biden pardoned thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law and said his administration would review whether marijuana should still be in the same legal category as drugs like heroin and LSD.

The pardons cleared everyone convicted on federal charges of simple possession since it became a crime in the 1970s. Officials said full data was not available but noted that about 6,500 people were convicted of simple possession between 1992 and 2021, not counting legal permanent residents. The pardons also affected people who were convicted under District of Columbia drug laws; officials estimated that number to be in the thousands.

The pardons would not apply to people convicted of selling or distributing marijuana. [NYT article]

Election Day 2022

November 8, 2022: Maryland approved recreational use of cannabis, while voters in Arkansas, North Dakota, and South Dakota defeated proposed legalization. [MM article]

Marijuana Research

November 23, 2022: President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan marijuana research bill. The Senate had approved the legislation under unanimous consent the previous week, two months after it cleared the House. It represented the first piece of cannabis reform legislation in U.S. history to be transmitted to the president.

The legislation, which would give the U.S. attorney general 60 days to either approve a given application or request supplemental information from the marijuana research applicant. It would also create a more efficient pathway for researchers who request larger quantities of cannabis.

2023

Adding Kentucky to the list

March 31, 2023 just one day after the Kentucky House approved the legislation from Sen. Stephen West (R), Gov. Andy Beshear (D) signed a bill to legalize medical marijuana, making the state the 38th in the U.S. to enact the reform.

The governor had rallied citizens to pressure their state representatives to pass the bill.

Far too many of our people face the obstacle of having chronic or terminal diseases like cancer, or those like our veterans suffering from PTSD or Kentuckians living with epilepsy, seizures, Parkinson’s or more,” Beshear said. “These folks want and deserve safe and effective methods of treatment.” [MM article]

National Basketball Association

April 3, 2023: in addition to the National Basketball Association  removing marijuana from its banned substances list for players—it also planned to let  players promote and invest in cannabis companies.

That was the latest detail that surfaced in reporting on the new seven-year collective bargaining agreement which was also expected to remove drug testing requirements for marijuana.

With respect to league’s broader marijuana reform, it would formally codify what has been the league’s decision to temporarily suspend cannabis testing for the past three seasons. [MM article]

Delaware

April 21, 2023: Gov. John Carney (D of Delaware said allowed a pair of bills to legalize marijuana possession and establish a regulated adult-use market become law without his signature.

Advocates were concerned that Carney would veto the proposals as he did in the last session, but in a welcome surprise to supporters, he said on Friday that he would let HB 1 and HB 2 go into effect—albeit without his active support.

That meant Delaware, which is nicknamed “The First State,” will become the 22nd state in the U.S. to legalize recreational cannabis.  [MM article]

Decline in Youth Use

May 1, 2023: a new federal study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that high school student marijuana use had trended up from 2009-2013—before legal cannabis dispensaries started opening—but had been on the decline since then. [MM article]

For previous chronologies, see Cannabis Contrails and Cannabis Contrails Continued.

Minnesota

May 30, 2023: Gov. Tim Walz (D) of Minnesota signed a bill to legalize marijuana, making it the 23rd state in the U.S. to end cannabis prohibition.

After months of committee hearings and floor votes, Walz signed off on HF 100, as he previously committed to doing.

“This has been a long journey with a lot of folks involved,” Walz said. “What we know right now is prohibition does not work. We’ve criminalized a lot of folks who are going to start the expungement process on those records.” [MM article]

July 21, 2023:  the new law legalizing the possession and personal cultivation of marijuana for adults in Luxembourg officially took effect.

Luxembourg

July 21, 2023:  the new law legalizing the possession and personal cultivation of marijuana for adults in Luxembourg officially took effect.

This came about a month after Luxembourg’s Parliament passed a legalization bill, making it the second country in the European Union to end cannabis prohibition following Malta’s vote to legalize in 2021. [MM article]

EBCI

September 7, 2023: the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) passed a referendum in favor of legalizing marijuana, becoming the first jurisdiction within the borders of North Carolina—or any of its surrounding states—to commit to the policy change. But it would be a while before would-be customers could make a purchase.

According to unofficial results posted by the EBCI’s Board of Elections, members approved the measure by a margin of 70 percent to 30 percent. Although the referendum does not legalize cannabis automatically, tribal leaders have said they’ll follow voters’ lead when they ultimately take up the issue. [MM article]

Census Bureau Report

October 9, 2023: the U.S. Census Bureau released its first report on state-level marijuana tax revenue data following what the agency calls “a complete canvass of all state agencies” going back to July 2021. In the 18-month period between then and the end of 2022, the data show, states collected more than $5.7 billion from licensed cannabis sales. [MM article]

Ohio Joins Legalization

November 3, 2023: Ohio voters approved a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana making the state the 24th in the U.S. to end prohibition.

The measure, campaigned for by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CTRMLA), established a regulatory framework to allow adults 21 and older to purchase, possess and cultivate cannabis. [MM article]

Biden Expands Pardon Initiative

December 22, 2023: President Joe Biden on Friday issued a proclamation expanding a marijuana pardon initiative he began last year by including for the first time people who committed cannabis possession offenses on federal properties.

“Criminal records for marijuana use and possession have imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities,” Biden said in a statement. “Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It’s time that we right these wrongs.”

“Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely due to the use or possession of marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason, either,” the president continued. “That’s why I continue to urge governors to do the same with regard to state offenses and applaud those who have since taken action.”  [MM article]

Change of Schedule in the Works

January 12, 2024: the U.S. government released hundreds of pages of documents related to its ongoing review of marijuana’s status under federal law, officially confirming for the first time that health officials had recommended the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) place cannabis in Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The 252 pages of documents from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) explained that cannabis “has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” and has a “potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II.”

Federal health officials said their review found that more than 30,000 healthcare professionals “across 43 U.S. jurisdictions are authorized to recommend the medical use of marijuana for more than six million registered patients for at least 15 medical conditions.”  [MM article]

Bert Sommer Woodstock

Bert Sommer Woodstock

John Morris intro…notice his asking people to “take a seat.” Funny!

You hear John Morris adding an “s” to the end of Bert’s not s-ending last name. I guess from that point, we should have known that things were not going to go well for Bert.  He is another of the missing musicians from the album, the movie, as well as the Monument!

The other missing from the Monument are Keef Hartley, Quill,  and Tim Hardin. John Sebastian’s last name is spelled “Sabastian” and though not a “performer” as such, Sri Swami Satchidananda is missing as well.

And as long as we’re pointing out monument (yet not monumental) errors, of course the name of the event was the “Woodstock Music and Art Fair” (not “Arts”).

Definitely playing with Bert were:

The  setlist of his approximately 40 minute stage appearance was:

  • Jennifer
  • The Road To Travel
  • I Wondered Where You’d Be
  • She’s Gone
  • Things Are Going My Way
  • And When It’s Over
  • Jeanette
  • America (Paul Simon)
  • A Note That Read
  • Smile
Bert Sommer Woodstock

Jennifer

Bert Sommer had appeared in the popular play Hair, and according to the Many Fantastic Colors site,  fellow Hair performer Jennifer Warnes inspired him to write his opening song which had also appeared on his first album the Road to Travel (1968) which was produced by Woodstock Ventures’ Artie Kornfeld.

Jennifer’s something you handle with care
Fragile as crystals of glass
Jennifer’s lips are as soft as the air
Kissing her here in the grass

Whoa, I’m lost in a maze
Counting the ways that she smiles
Time is slipping away
Lost in the arms of her love
So gentle and wild

Bert Sommer Woodstock

The Road to Travel

Bert Sommer Woodstock

The name of Sommer’s first album was The Road to Travel. It was his second song at Woodstock.

Here it is, it’s summertime
Still I haven’t felt my sigh
And the years are over too, since I’m gone
And my daddy wonders why
How I look and make him proud
But I’ll carry on his name when he dies

Though the years of headache pain
I’ll continue on the game
To the further road that I can travel tonight
Find my peace, of mine

Papa says it’s straightened out
Look in what my life’s about
Try to use the head that god once gave you

Bert Sommer Woodstock

I Wondered Where You’d Be

If you wonder how to play the song, you can follow this link to the song’s chords.

Seems like I’ve been here forever
Hoping you’d jangle your keys
Hours went by
As I started to cry out and show you
All of me
And as I’m laying here awake
Lost in the cost of a dream
Thinking of someone
I felt was the loved one
I wondered where you’d be
Bert Sommer Woodstock

She’s Gone

As somber and beautiful as Sommer’s songs are, before he begins his next song, he calls out in a friendly way, “Anybody from Forest Hills?” referring to an area of Queens, NY where he grew up. He then asks for a bit more volume in his acoustic guitar. He begins the song and then quickly says, “Too loud.” The song was also on his first album.

Nights by the fire when she was there
Now all I see is an empty chair
She’s gone and this man is dying

There was a time when I’d laugh and sing
All I have left is a dusty reign
She’s gone, there’s no purpose in trying

The door stays open in the day
The lock still broken
And the way I feel without her here
Is very strange and won’t change.

Bert Sommer Woodstock

Things Are Goin’ My Way

He says he want to speed things up and sings Things Are Goin’ My Way. The song gives electric guitarist the chance to do a bit more.

When I was a young man I never had a penny
My pockets always empty couldn’t turn to anyone
But then I met you one happy Sunday
It seems the things are goin’ my way
Now I see that where love is there in your life
You will find that everything’s right
‘Cause it’s so easy a-to find someone
Just try harder and you’ll find that it’s done
When I was a school boy I never was a scholar
I never earned a dollar, didn’t have a place to go
But then I met you and now I must say

It’s seems the things are goin’ my way

Bert Sommer Woodstock

And When It’s Over

Before Sommer can continue, we hear an audience chant, “Come on down” referring to those who have climbed onto the sound towers to view but in doing so threaten to destabilize the towers themselves as well as block the view of those sitting behind it.

MC John Morris  follows up on the chant with, “Like they say, come on down man. You’re gonna’ make us sit here and wait so we can’t hear the man sing until you come on down. Let’s go. Everybody. On the top, too. Let’s go. Man, you are not bigger or big enough to insult an artist who’s sitting on this stage who’s here to play for you. So get down off that tower!”

Cheering follows.

“Come on, creep, come on down.”

The crowd chants, “Down! Down! Down!

Morris apologizes to Sommer (again adding an s to his name). Sommer chuckles and asks the crowd if they know the band the Vagrants, a group he had hung around and a group that changed its name to Mountain and would appear the next day.

And when it’s over
And as you like your cigarette
Feelin’ much older
Knowin’ that ill was no regret
Touchin’ your shoulder
Feelin’ the joy in what we’ve done
As we’ve sailed it to the sun
With our hearts and souls as one
Feelin’ free as the sea
And when it’s over
Gazin’ into your gentle light
Pullin’ you closer
Knowin’ what experience said alright
Both of us powdered
Now that is nothin’ left to hide
As we reach to touch the sky
On the love we play so high
Feelin’ free as the sea
Oh, as we sailed it to the sun
With our hearts and souls as one
Feelin’ free as the sea

Bert Sommer Woodstock

Jeanette

He asks Joanie (?) to stand up for a second, says to the band “Let’s do Jeanette next. Someone shouts out something. Bert responds “Fuck you, man”  and receives cheers.

Chords anyone?

When it was wrong

She Came along

Singing her songs

And long before the morning

What could I say

I told her to stay

Still here today

And there’s no need

For talking

 

Oh Jeanette

I love you Jeanette

And love’s what I get

When you hold me

The Secrets you told me

Don’t you want to be living here with me

Anyway

 

Deep in the night

She is the light

Have I the right

They take the love she’s bringing

There was a time

She drank my wine

It was the sign

That makes the song worth singing

 

Oh Jeanette

I love you Jeanette

And love’s what I get

When you hold me

The Secrets you told me

Don’t you want to be living here with me

Anyway

Bert Sommer Woodstock

America

For the only time in his set, singer-songwriter Sommer did a cover.  Tradition has it was the first standing ovation for any artist was for his version of Paul Simon’s America. It’s interesting how he feels it necessary to tell the audience that it’s a Simon and Garfunkel song. His version really did resonate with the crowd.

Bert Sommer Woodstock

A Note That Read

Sommer introduces the two band members before his penultimate song.

You could hear him screaming
As he looked beyond the door
His only son was lying in a heap upon the floor
And from his wrists that opened wide
His life had flown from deep inside
And in his hand a note that read
It’s better if I’m dead
‘Cause this whole life was bad,
All the times we never had
I can’t say it’s been nice because it wasn’t
And, mama, please forgive me if I’ve messed the rug
But you can have it cleaned tomorrow
Oh, and you’ll find some excuse to tell your garden club
I’m sure they’ll all express their sorrow
You could see them running
As they tried to get some help
Yeah, the neighbors all were pourin’ in
To say how bad they felt
How could this happen in our town
I hope it doesn’t get around
And in his hand a note that read
It’s better if I’m dead
‘Cause this whole life was bad,
All the times we never had
I can’t say it’s been nice because it wasn’t
And, daddy, even this can have a good side
‘Cause here’s your chance for cutting all my hair off
Oh, and from today I’ll never let you down again
‘Cause now your biggest problem is taken care of
Bert Sommer Woodstock

Smile

Before his last song hee says “If you just smile, everything will be alright.” Words true then and true now.

Why should you be angry?
Why should you be sad?
Don’t be disappointed
Just smile
Just smile
Smile and the world smiles with you
Smile, all the love is in your hands
Smile ’cause we all need one another
It only takes a song to understand
I know that we’ve got to get together
A-doin’ all we can
It will start to make it better
It only takes a song to understand
Why should you be angry?
Why should you be sad?
Don’t be disappointed
Just smile
Mmh smile
Smile and the world smiles with you
Smile, all the love is in your hands
Smile ’cause we all need one another
It only takes a song to understand yeah
I know there are so many different people
A-doin’ what they can
And they all would a-love to reach you
It only takes a song to understand
Come on, smile and the world smiles with you
Smile, all the love is in your hands
Whoa you’ve got to smile, ’cause we all need one another
It only takes a song to understand. Alright!
Whoa smile and the world smiles with you
Smile, all the love is in your hands
Whoa we’ve got to smile, ’cause we all need one another
It only takes a song to understand. Yeah!
And it only takes a song to understand
Smile!

John Morris says, “The rather magnificent Bert Sommers.” 

True.

The next performance is Tim Hardin.

Bert Sommer Woodstock