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Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

It was about 1:30 AM, Monday 18 August.  Bethel’s dairy farmers would be up soon and hoped that the roads would be open so trucks could pick up their milk.  Many Catskill weekend vacationers bemoaned their luck to have picked a weekend when 500,000 others unintentionally closed down the area.

For those who had remained at the festival, there were still four more bands yet to play after Blood, Sweat and Tears to complete Sunday’s lineup: Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Sha Na Na, and Jimi Hendrix. The rain storm had delayed the day’s progression, but even without the downpour, the festival would still have stretched out into early Monday.

The live performance often gave individual band members the chance to stretch out their studio performances. The set lasted about 55 minutes.

Personnel:

Setlist:

  • More and More
  • Just One Smile
  • Something’s Coming on
  • More Than You’ll Ever Know
  • Spinning Wheel
  • Sometimes in Winter
  • Smiling Phases
  • God Bless the Child
  • And When I Die
  • You’ve Made Me So Very Happy
Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

More and More

Recorded in October 1968 and released by Columbia Records on December 11, 1968. It received a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1970.

The song is from the band’s second album, Blood, Sweat & Tears. Little Milton first covered it.

According to the funky16corners site: The tune, which was written by a mysterious pair named Don Juan and Vee Pee Smith, would later be covered by Blood Sweat and Tears. Listening to the Little Milton original, it’s not hard to see why David Clayton-Thomas wanted to cover it, as it’s right up his (and the bands) stylistic alley. They take it at a much faster pace, in which the tune loses a little bit of its built-in funk, but it’s still worth a listen.

Like medicine baby
You’re good for me
Like honey, darlin’ girl
I know you’re sweet to me
Each passing day,
Brings us much closer together
And the love you bring me darlin’
Just gets better and better
That’s why my love for you
Keeps on growin’
More and more
All the time
More and more
All the time, yeah!

Uh huh,
Gonna say it again, now now now
Hah!
Like a ship that’s driftin’ baby
You’re apart from me
Like old man time
You controll my destiny
If from my life, you ever tried to go
It would destroy in a second
What took a lifetime to mold
That’s why my love for you
Just keeps on growin’
More and more
All the time
More and more
All the time

As sure as a sunrise
I’ll stand by your side
As sure as the daybreak
I’ll love you for Heaven’s Sake
I’m ready to pay, yeah
My dues for lovin’ you
For lovin’ you too much woman,
You know I stand accused

More,
And more
All the time
More and More!

Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

Just One Smile

Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock
Recorded in November and December 1968, Columbia Records released the album on February 21, 1968.

Written by Randy Newman and from the first Blood, Sweat and Tears album, Child Is Father To the ManThe Tokens recorded the original version of the song in 1965. It was the B-side to their single “The Bells Of St. Mary“.

Can I cry a little bit
There’s nobody to notice it
Can I cry if I want to
No one cares
Why can’t I pretend
That you love me again?
All I had has been taken from me
Now I’m cryin’
And tears don’t become me
Chorus: Just one smile,
Pain’s forgiven
Just one kiss, girl
Now the hurt’s all gone
Just one smile to my
Make my little life worth livin’
A little dream to build my world upon
How I wish
I could say
All the things that I got to say
How I wish you
Could see what’s here
In My heart
I don’t ask for much
A look, a smile, a touch
Try to forget
Well, the Lord knows I’m tryin’
But it’s so hard to forget girl,
When your whole world is dyin’
(Chorus)
(Solos)
Try to forget
Well, the Lord knows I’m tryin’
But it’s so hard to forget girl,
When your whole world is dyin’

Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

Something’s Coming on

Also from the first Blood, Sweat and Tears album. Chris Stainton and Joe Cocker wrote it and had performed it about 12 hours earlier!

Let me tell you story about a pain
It will hunt you down and leave the stain, so give it a think
When someone’s hurt nobody care
When a children’s being left, hey it’s not fair
I wonder is this happiness?
All i know this life is just a mess, it’s like a poison kiss
Sometimes it’s useless when you crying
No one will help to wipe those tears
Some won’t survive, the evil break their gut
But i will try, i’ll put it in a fight
I better die for something, cause i won’t live for nothing
They could burn and crush me all they want
Leave me if you want to, kill me if you need to
You could drink my blood i don’t care anymore
Life is tough, it’s cruel enough to break you in a half.
So listen,
So don’t surrender not this time, so take a breath say a grace
I’ll take a bullet in this fight and i’ll be bleed to reach the light
No one stop me in this war, cause i don’t care even if i die
Some wont survive, the evil break their gut
But I will try, i’ll put it in a fight
Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

More Than You’ll Ever Know

The band seques right into the next song. Al Kooper wrote More Than You’ll Ever Know and again it is from the first Blood, Sweat and Tears album. Here’s Kooper’s live version. You can decide whose you prefer.

If I ever leave you
You can say I told you so
And if I ever hurt you baby
You know I hurt myself as well

Is that any way for a man to carry on ?
You think he wants his little loved one gone
I love you baby, more than you’ll ever know
More than you’ll ever know

When I wasn’t makin’ too much money
You know where my paycheck went
You know I brought it home to baby
And I never spent one red cent

Is that any way for a man to carry on ?
You think he wants his little loved one gone
I love you baby, more than you’ll ever know
More than you’ll ever know

I’m not tryin’ to be any kind of man
I’m tryin’ to be somebody you can love, trust and understand
I know that I can dream, yeah
A part of you that no one else could see
I just gotta hear, hear you say : ‘It’s all right, yeah, yeah, yeah’

I’m only flesh and blood
I can be anything that you demand
I could president of General Motors baby, heh
Or just a tiny little grain of sand

Is that any way for a man to carry on ?
You think he wants his little loved one gone
I love you babe, I love you babe
I love you more than you’ll ever know

Yeah
Yeah, yeah

If I ever leave you
You can say I told you so
And if I ever hurt you
You know I hurt myself as well

Is that any way for a man to carry on ?
You think he wants his little loved one gone
I tried to tell I love you baby, love you baby, yeah love you baby
I love you more than you’ll ever know, ooh yeah yeah …

I love you, I love you, I love you baby

Well all right!
I told you so many times before
I love you, I love you, I love you
If you don’t know then I’ll tell you one more time
I love you, I love you, I love you .

Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

Spinning Wheel

Recorded in October 1968 and released by Columbia Records on December 11, 1968. It received a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1970.

Written by David Clayton Thomas and from Blood, Sweat & Tears second and then most recent album, Blood, Sweat and Tears.  

On the critical side,  Jon Landau of Rolling Stone  wrote in his March 1969 review: “The listener responds to the illusion that he is hearing something new when in fact he is hearing mediocre rock, OK jazz, etc., thrown together in a contrived and purposeless way.

William Ruhlmann of All Music wrote: “ the second BS&T, under the aegis of producer James William Guercio, was a less adventurous unit, and, as fronted by Clayton-Thomas, a far more commercial one. Not only did the album contain three songs that neared the top of the charts as singles — “Happy,” “Spinning Wheel,” and “And When I Die” — but the whole album, including an arrangement of “God Bless the Child” and the radical rewrite of Traffic‘s “Smiling Phases,” was wonderfully accessible. It was a repertoire to build a career on, and Blood, Sweat & Tears did exactly that…”

What goes up, must come down
Spinning wheel got to go round
Talkin’ ’bout your troubles, it’s a cryin’ sin
Ride a painted pony, let the spinning wheel spin

You got no money and you, you got no home
Spinning wheel, all alone
Talkin’ ’bout your troubles and you, you never learn
Ride a painted pony, let the spinning wheel turn

Did you find a directing sign on the straight and narrow highway?
Would you mind a reflecting sign?
Just let it shine within your mind
And show you the colors that are real

Someone is waiting just for you
Spinning wheel spinning through
Drop all your troubles by the riverside
Catch a painted pony on the spinning wheel ride
Ha!

Someone’s waiting just for you
Spinning wheel spinning through
Drop all your troubles by the riverside
Ride a painted pony, let the spinning wheel fly

Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

Sometimes in Winter

Also from the Blood, Sweat & Tears album written by Steve Katz. Katz still sings it.

Sometimes in winter
I gaze into the streets
And walk through snow and city sleet
Behind your room

Sometimes in winter
Forgotten memories
Remember you behind the trees
With leaves that cried

By the window once I waited for you
Laughing slightly you would run
Trees alone would shield us in the meadow
Makin’ love in the evening sun

Now you’re gone girl
And the lamp posts call your name
I can hear, them
In the spring of frozen rain
Now you’re gone girl
And the time’s slowed down till dawn
It’s a cold room and the walls ask
Where you’ve gone

Sometimes in winter
I love you when the good times
Seem like memories in the spring
That never came

Sometimes in winter
I wish the empty streets
Would fill with laughter from the tears
That ease my pain

Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

Smiling Phases

From Blood, Sweat & Tears album written by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood of Traffic.

Do yourself a favor,
Wake up to your mind
Life is what you make it
You see, but still you’re blindGet yourself together,
Give before you take
You’ll find out the hard way,
Soon you’re gonna break
Hey hey heySmiling phases
Showing traces
Even if they bust you
Keep on smiling through and through
And you’ll be amazed at the gaze
On their faces as they sentence youYou don’t need a lawyer
When you’re in a fix
Someone gets to pay up
Your friends are full of tricks
But happiness is something
That you just can’t buy
Own up to the truth girl,
Your love has gone on bySmiling Phases bring you flowers
You can line ’em up
And you can watch ’em grow for hours
And you’ll be amazed at the way that they stare
As they walk by your door.Do yourself a favor,
Wake up to your mind
Life is what you make it
You see, but still you’re blindGet yourself together,
Give before you take
You’ll find out the hard way,
Soon you’re gonna break
Hey hey heySmiling phases
Going Places
Even if they bust you
Keep on smiling through and through
And you’ll be amazed at the gaze
On their faces as they sentence…you!!
Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

God Bless the Child

Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

Also from Blood, Sweat & Tears album. Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. wrote “God Bless the Child” in 1939. It was first recorded on May 9, 1941 and released by the Okeh Records in 1942.

It’s likely impossible to top her version.

David Clayton-Thomas says as the song starts, “I don’t think ever in my lifetime…there’s a song that seems so appropriate to me.”

Them that’s got, shall get
Them that’s not, shall lose
So the Bible says
And it still is news

Mama may have
And papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own will
That’s got his own

And the strong seem to get more
While the weak ones fade
Empty pockets don’t
Ever make the grade
Cause mama may have
And papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own

And when you got money
You got lots of friends
Their crowding round your door
When the money’s gone
And all you’re spending ends
They won’t be round anymore, no, no, no

And rich relations may give you
A crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don’t take too much
Mama may have
And papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own

And when you got money
You got lots of friends
Their crowding round your door
But wait a minute children
When the money’s gone
And all you’re spending ends
They won’t be round anymore, no, no

And rich relations may give you
A crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don’t take too much
Mama may have
And papa may have
But God bless the child who can
Stand up and say
I got my own

Every child’s got to have his own bell

Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

And When I Die

Written by Laura Nyro, Peter, Paul and Mary first recorded “And When I Die” in 1966. Nyro released her own version on her debut album More Than a New Discovery in February 1967.

Again from the Blood, Sweat & Tears album. Laura’s is pretty good, but then a composer’s own version would seem closer to their intent.

With tongue in cheek, Steve Katz introduced the song by saying, “We hope you look upon this next little number as a little piece of sunshine amidst a lot of sunshine.”

I’m not scared of dying
And I, don’t really care
If it’s peace you find in dying
Well then, let the time be near

If it’s peace you find in dying
Well then dying time is near
Just bundle up my coffin
‘Cause it’s cold way down there
I hear that it’s
Cold way down there, yeah
Crazy cold, way down there

And when I die, and when I’m gone
There’ll be, one child born
In this world
To carry on, to carry on

Now troubles are many
They’re as
Deep as a well
I can swear there ain’t no Heaven
But I pray there ain’t no hell
Swear there ain’t no Heaven
And I’ll pray there ain’t no hell
But I’ll never know by livin’
Only my dyin’ will tell, yes only my
Dyin’ will tell, oh yeah
Only my dyin’ will tell

And when I die, and when I’m gone
There’ll be, one child born, in this world
To carry on, to carry on
Yeah yeah

Give me my freedom
For as long as I be
All I ask of livin’
Is to have no chains on me
All I ask of livin’
Is to have no chains on me
And all I ask of dyin’ is to
Go natrually, only wanna
Go naturally
Here I go!
Hey hey
Here come the devil
Right behind
Look out children, here he come
Here he come, heyyy

Don’t wanna go by the devil
Don’t wanna go by the demon
Don’t wanna go by satan
Don’t wann die uneasy
Just let me go
Naturally

And when I die, and when I’m dead
Dead and gone
There’ll be
One child born, in our world
To carry on, to carry on.

This was the “last” song, but the crowd cheers brings back the band for one more song.

Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

You’ve Made Me So Very Happy

Written by Gordy Berry, Frank Wilson, Brenda Holloway, and Patrice Holloway, it is from the Blood, Sweat & Tears album

I lost at love before
Got mad and closed the door
But you said child just once more

I chose you for the one
Now we’re havin’ so much fun
You treated me so kind
I’m about to lose my mind

You made me so very happy
I’m so glad you
Came into my life

The others were untrue
But when it came to lovin’ you
I’d spend my whole life with you

‘Cause you came and you took control
You touch my very soul
You always show me that
Lovin’ you is where it’s at

You made me so very happy
I’m so glad you
Came into my life

Thank you, baby

I love you so much you see
You’re even in my dreams
I can hear
Baby, I can hear you calling me
I’m so in love with you
All I ever want to do is
Thank you baby, thank you baby

You made me so very happy
I’m so glad you
Came into my life

You made me so very happy
You made me so, so very happy
I’m so glad you
Came into my life

Mmmm, I want to thank you, girl
Every day of my life
I wanna thank you
You made me so very happy
Oh, I wanna spend my life thanking you
Thank you baby, thank you baby
Thank you baby thank you baby

Blood Sweat Tears Woodstock

The next act is Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

Johnny Winter Woodstock

Johnny Winter Woodstock

Johnny Winter Woodstock

In it’s December 7, 1968 issue, Rolling Stone magazine’s Larry Sepulvado and John Burks wrote in an article titled “Tribute to the Lone Star State: Dispossessed Men and Mothers of Texas” :

The hottest item outside of Janis Joplin, though, still remains in Texas. If you can imagine a hundred and thirty pound cross-eyed albino with long fleecy hair playing some of the gutsiest fluid blues guitar you have ever heard, then enter Johnny Winter. At 16, Bloomfield called him the best white blues guitarist he had ever heard. 

Winter reportedly received $600,000 for signing with Columbia Records in 1969. That was a huge sum of money for that time.

The band started at midnight; played a little over an hour.

Personnel:

Setlist:

  • Mama, Talk to Your Daughter
  • Leland Mississippi Blues
  • Mean Town Blues
  • You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now > Mean Mistreater
  • I Can’t Stand It
  • Tobacco Road
  • Tell the Truth
  • Johnny B. Goode

* with Edgar Winter

Johnny Winter Woodstock

Mama, Talk to Your Daughter

Johnny Winter Woodstock

The band starts minus brother Edgar Winter.  JB Lenoir wrote the song. The song would appear on Winter’s third album and the third Columbia Records release for Winter in 1969!

Mama, mama please talk to your daughter ’bout me
Mama, mama please talk to your daughter ’bout me
She made me love her and I ain’t gonna leave her be

You should talk to your daughter (talk, talk)
You should talk to your daughter (talk, talk)
You should talk to your daughter (talk, talk)
You should talk to your daughter (talk, talk)
She made me love her and I ain’t gonna leave her be

I ain’t gonna stand no quitting and she won’t have me aroun
I ain’t gonna stand no quitting and she won’t have me around
If she got me a ride, she’d be six feet in the ground

You should talk to your daughter (talk, talk)
You should talk to your daughter (talk, talk)
You should talk to your daughter (talk, talk)
You should talk to your daughter (talk, talk)
She made me love her and I ain’t gonna leave her be

You should talk to your daughter (talk, talk)
You should talk to your daughter (talk, talk)
You should talk to your daughter (talk, talk)
You should talk to your daughter (talk, talk)
She made me love her and I ain’t gonna leave her be

Johnny Winter Woodstock

Leland Mississippi Blues

Written by Johnny Winter, the song appeared on The Progressive Blues Experiment, his first album. Austin’s Sonobeat Records label originally issued the album in 1968, but when Winter signed to Columbia Records, the rights were sold to Imperial Records who reissued the album in 1969.

Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh huh, oh yeah
I’ve been in Texas, I’ve been on the run
I’ve been in Texas, I’ve been on the run
I’m going to Leland, Mississippi, mama
You all know that’s where I come from
Right down on the Delta, man
Well, I’m alone, baby, I’m free free from my home
Well, I’m alone, I’m free from my home
You know I was sittin’ right down people
On my daddy’s cotton farm
Come hear, baby, let your long hair down
Ah, come here, woman, let your hair down
I want you to love me with a feeling
‘Cause I’m Mississippi bound
The best woman, the best waist in town
The best woman, the best waist in town
Oh yeah
You’ll never keep me woman
‘Cause I have a travellin’ mind
Johnny Winter Woodstock

Mean Town Blues

Johnny Winter wrote it and it also appeared on his first Columbia Records album.

Lord my mother she done told me and my
Father done told me
Grandfather told me too
My mother she done told me
And my father done told me
Grandfather told me too
It’s a mean old town to live in by yourself

Yeah, I worked for a dollar could not
Save a lousy
Could not save a dime
You know I worked for a dollar could not
Save a lousy
Could not save a dime
Ain’t nobody worried, man, ain’t nobody crying

Everybody’s got a hand out trying to
Get a hold on
Trying to get some of my cash
Everybody’s got a hand out trying to
Get a hold on
Trying to get some of my cash
Smiling great big smiles, man, keep on talking trash

You know I packed up my suitcase and I
Moved on down the
Hit that lonesome road
You know I packed up my suitcase and I
Moved on down the
Hit that lonesome road
I’m still trying to make it, man, when the day is done

Johnny Winter Woodstock

 

You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now > Mean Mistreater

BB King and Joe Josea wrote You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now and had been on his 1960 album. Written by Jimmie Gordon, “Mean Mistreater” appeared on Winter’s second album. My Kind of Blues.

Oh, baby you done lost your good thing now
Oh, baby you done lost your good thing now
Well the way I used to love you baby
Baby that’s the way I hate you now
You used to say that you loved me
But baby I believe you’ve changed your mind
You used to say that you loved me
But baby I believe you’ve changed your mind
Well I don’t blame you baby
Because you ain’t what you used to be
Let me love you just one more time
Yes let me love you just one more time anyway
Oh, let me love you, let me love you, let me love you
One more time baby
Let me love you just one more time anyway
Oh you can’t quit me now baby
Because you didn’t mean me no good anyway
Well you know where I’m from baby
So please don’t try to mistreat me
Yes you know where I’m from baby
So please don’t try to mistreat me
Yes because I’ll make your mother a present
Baby of you and your casket too
Oh you once said you loved me
And you would do anything I said
Oh you once said you loved me baby
And you would do anything I said
Oh but the way you treat me now baby
I just soon rather be dead
Oh, baby you done lost your good thing now
Oh, baby you done lost your good thing now
The way I used to love you
Baby that’s the way I hate you now

Johnny Winter Woodstock

She’s a mean mistreater
And she don’t mean me no good
She’s a mean mistreater,
And the woman she don’t mean me no good
Well you know I don’t blame you baby,
I’d be the same way if I could
She’s a mean mistreater,
And the girl mistreats me all the time
She’s a mean mistreater,
And the little girl mistreats me all the time
Well you know you just wants to quit me darlin’,
Because you got that on your mind
Well you remember that Monday mornin’ that I knocked up, up on your door
You had the nerve to tell me that you didn’t love, me no more
Can’t you remember baby,
When I knocked up on your door
Well you know you had the nerve to tell me that you,
Didn’t love me no more
Well you know it’s lonesome you know it’s lonesome,
When you sleepin’, all by yourself
The little girl that you lovin’,
She lovin’ someone else
And it’s lonesome,
Sleepin’ by yourself
Well you know the little woman that you involved with now,
She is loving someone else
Johnny Winter Woodstock

I Can’t Stand It

Brother Edgar Winter now joined Johnny, who explained that they’d just finished cutting their next album in Nashville and that I Can’t Stand It was one of the tracks from it. That album would be Second Winter,  but the song does not appear on it and will not appear on any album until Columbia Legacy released Winter’s complete Woodstock set as part of the The Woodstock Experience album in 2009.

Johnny Winter Woodstock

Tobacco Road

By John Loudermilk the song has become especially associated with Edgar more than Johnny. In fact, Edgar is the vocalist on this song.

I was born in a trunk
Mama died and my daddy got drunk
Let me hear two dying crows
In the middle of tobacco road
Grew up in a rusty shack
All I owned was hanging on my back
Only lord knows how I loved tobacco road
But it’s hard, hard the only life I’ve ever known
But the lord knows how I loved
Tobacco road
Gonna leave, get a job
With the help of the treesome god
Save my money, get rich enough
Bring it back to tobacco road
Bring dynamite and a crane
Blow it up and start all over again
Build a town be proud to show
Give the name tobacco road
‘Cause it’s hard, hard the only life I’ve ever known
I despise you cause you’re filthy
But I love you cause you’re home
Bring dynamite and a crane
Blow it up start all over again
Build a town be proud to know
This place called tobacco road
‘Cause it’s hard, hard the only life I’ve ever known
But the lord knows how I love
Tobacco road
Johnny Winter Woodstock

Tell the Truth 

By Lowman Pauling  wrote it and it was supposed to be included on Winter’s next album, but wasn’t released until a 2004 re-release.

Tell the truth
Tell the truth
You know you can make me do what you want me to
Tell the truth
Tell the truth
You know you can make me do what you want me to
Loving you, feelings started
But, I’m goin’ to stop it
If I could, I surely would
I would roll up around you
If I thought it would do any good
Tell the truth
Tell the truth
Well you know you can make me do what you want me to
Loving you, feelings started
But, I’m goin’ to stop it
If I could, I surely would
I would roll up around you
If I thought it would do any good
Why don’t you tell the truth
Tell the truth
Well you know you can make me do what you want me to
Whooah, come on, tell the truth, now
(Tell the truth)
And I know, I know, baby
(Tell the truth)
Every day, every night
(Tell the truth)
Whooah, hold me tight
(Tell the truth)
And I know, and I know
(Tell the truth)
You ‘oughta, you ‘oughta
(Tell the truth)
Stop Lying
(Tell the truth)
Stop Lying, whooh
(Tell the truth)
Whoooh
(Tell the truth)
Whoooh
(Tell the truth)
Oh baby
(Tell the truth)
Now tell the truth
(Tell the truth)
Every day of your life, tell the truth little girl
(Tell the truth)
What about that man you were with last night
(Tell the truth)
I want to know
(Tell the truth)
Come on baby
(Tell the truth)
Hey hey
(Tell the truth)
Every day of your life, you ‘oughta
(Tell the truth)

 

Johnny Winter Woodstock

Johnny B. Goode

The crowd called for more and Johnny Winter gives Chuck Berry’s classic composition a great treatment. It did appear on Second Winter.

Deep down Louisiana close to New Orleans,
Way back up in the woods among the evergreens…
There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood,
Where lived a country boy name of Johnny B. Goode…
He never ever learned to read or write so well,
But he could play the guitar like ringing a bell.
Go Go
Go Johnny Go
Go Go
Johnny B. Goode
He use to carry his guitar in a gunny sack
And sit beneath the trees by the railroad track.
Oh, the engineers used to see him sitting in the shade,
Playing to the rhythm that the drivers made.
People passing by would stop and say
Oh my that little country boy could play
His mama told him someday he would be a man,
And he would be the leader of a big old band.
Many people coming from miles around
To hear him play his music when the sun go down
Maybe someday his name would be in lights
Saying Johnny B. Goode tonight.
Johnny Winter Woodstock

The next act was Blood, Sweat and Tears.

The Band Woodstock

The Band Woodstock

It was still Sunday and The Band came on around 10 PM. The weekend’s most persistent rumor had been that Bob Dylan would show up. He didn’t, of course, but having having The Band was a close and satisfactory second.

They would play for about 55 minutes.

Personnel:

The Band Woodstock

  • Robbie Robertson: guitar, vocals

The Band Woodstock

  • Garth Hudson: organ, keyboard, saxophone

The Band Woodstock

  • Richard Manuel: piano
  • Rick Danko: bass, vocals

The Band Woodstock

  • Levon Helm: drums, mandolin

The Band Woodstock

Setlist:

  • Chest Fever
  • Don’t Do It
  • Tears of Rage
  • We Can Talk
  • Long Black Veil
  • Don’t You Tell Henry
  • Ain’t No More Cane on the Brazos
  • This Wheel’s on Fire
  • I Shall Be Released
  • The Weight
  • Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever
The Band Woodstock

Chest Fever

Written by Robbie Robertson and featuring Garth Brooks on organ at the start, the song was one of several in the set that had been on their only album to that point, Music From Big Pink which Capital Records had released on July 1, 1968. Bob Dylan had done the cover artwork.

I know she’s a tracker
Any style that would back her
They say she’s a chooser
But I just can’t refuse her
She was just there, but then she can’t be here no more
And as my mind unweaves
I feel the freeze down in my knees
But just before she leaves, she receives
She’s been down in the dunes
And she’s dealt with the goons
Now she drinks from a bitter cup
I’m trying to get her to give it up
She was just here, I fear she can’t be there no more
And as my mind unweaves
I feel the freeze down in my knees
But just before she leaves, she receives
It’s long, long when she’s gone
I get weary holding on
Now I’m coldly fading fast
I don’t think I’m gonna last very much longer
“She’s stoned, ” said the Swede
And the moon calf agreed
But I’m like a viper in shock
With my eyes in the clock
She was just there somewhere and here I am again
And as my mind unweaves
I feel the freeze down in my knees
But just before she leaves, she receives
The Band Woodstock

Don’t Do It

A Band cover. Motown composers Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, and  Edward Holland originally wrote and intended the for the Supremes, but eventually reassigned to Marvin Gaye to record and he had a hit with it.

From WikipediaThe Band recorded the song numerous times under the title “Don’t Do It”.  Different versions, both studio and live, appear on several of their albums and box sets, including the 1972 live release Rock of Ages.

” “Don’t Do It” was the encore performed by The Band in Martin Scorsese‘s 1976 concert film The Last Waltz, though it was featured first in the film. Although it was not included on the 1978 soundtrack album, the track was included in the 2002 box set edition of The Last Waltz soundtrack.

“The version of “Don’t Do It” from Rock of Ages was issued as a single, reaching #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the autumn of 1972; the track was the second – following “Up on Cripple Creek” – and final Top 40 single for the Band. Billboard called this version a “dynamite dance treatment.”

Baby, don’t you do it, don’t do it
Don’t you break my heart, please don’t do it
Don’t you break my heart
I sacrifice to make you happy
Get nothin’ for myself
Now you wanna leave me
For the love of someone else
My pride is all gone, whether right or wrong
I need you, baby, girl, just keep on keepin’ on
And you know I tried to do my best
Well, I try to do my best
Don’t do it
Don’t you break my heart
Please don’t do it
Don’t you break my heart
My biggest mistake was lovin’ you too much
And lettin’ you know
Now you’ve got me where you want me
You won’t let me go, no, no
My heart was made of glass
Well, then you’ll surely see
Heartaches and misery
Girl, you’ve been causin’ me
Well, I’ve been tryin’ to do my best
Well, I try to do my best
Don’t do it
Don’t you break my heart
Please don’t do it
Don’t you break my heart
Go down to the river and there I’ll be
I’m gonna jump in, girl
‘Cause you don’t care about me
Open up your eyes, can’t you see I love you?
Open up your heart, girl
Can’t you see I need you?
Oh baby, don’t do it, do it, do it
Don’t you break my heart
Please don’t do it
Don’t you break my heart
My biggest mistake was loving you too much
And letting you know
How you got me where you want me
You won’t let me go, no, no
If my heart was made of glass
Well, then you’ll surely see
How much heartaches and misery
You’ve been causin’ me
Well, I’ve been tryin’ to do my best
Well, I try to do my best
Don’t do it
Don’t you break my heart
Please, don’t do it
Don’t you break my heart
The Band Woodstock

Tears of Rage

Also from Big Pink, Bob Dylan and Richard Manual co-wrote the tune.

We carried you in our arms
On Independence Day
And now you’d put us all aside
And put us on our way
Oh, what dear daughter ‘neath the sun
Could treat a father so
To wait upon him hand and foot
Yet always tell him, “No?”
Tears of rage, tears of grief
Why must I always be the thief?
Come to me now, you know
We’re so alone
And life is brief,
It was all very, very painless
When you ran out to receive
All that false instruction
Which we never could believe
And now the heart is filled with gold
As if it was a purse
But oh, what kind of love is this
Which goes from bad to worse?
Tears of rage, tears of grief
Why must I always be the thief?
Come to me now, you know
We’re so alone
And life is brief,
We pointed you, the way to go
And scratched your name in sand
Though you just thought that it was nothing more
Than a place for you to stand
Now I want you to know that while you watched
Discovered that there was no one true
That I myself  was among the ones
Who thought It was just a childish thing to do
Tears of rage, tears of grief
Why am I always the one who must be the thief?
Come to me now, you know
We’re so alone
And life is brief
The Band Woodstock

A trickle…

Chip Monch pauses the performance for a few moments because there is an PA issue. A bit of “Testing one two” and Chip again asks those on the light tower to get down and to stay away from the tower’s guy wires as “there is [an electrical] trickle in that area.”

The interruption lasted a few minutes.

We Can Talk

The third song from Big Pink. From Wikipedia:We Can Talk” shows unrelated snippets of conversation between members of The Band. Levon Helm wrote in his autobiography “It’s a funny song that really captures the way we spoke to one another; lots of outrageous rhymes and corny puns.”

We can talk about it now
It’s that same old riddle, only starts from the middle
I’d fix it but I don’t know how
Well, we could try to reason, but you might think it’s treason
One voice for all
Echoing (echoing) echoing along the hall
Don’t give up on father’s clock
We can talk about it now
Come, let me show you how
To keep the wheels turnin’ you got to keep the engine churnin’
Well, did ya ever milk a cow? (Milk a cow?)
Well, I had the chance one day but I was all dressed up for Sunday!
Everybody, everywhere:
Do you really care?
Well, then pick up your heads and walk
We can talk about it now
It seems to me we’ve been holding something
Underneath our tongues
I’m afraid if you ever got a pat on the back
It would likely burst your lungs
Whoa, stop me, if I should sound kinda
Down in the mouth
But I’d rather be burned in Canada
Than to freeze here in the South!
Pulling that eternal plough
We got to find a sharper blade, or have a new one made
Rest awhile and cool your brow
Don’t ya see, there’s no need to slave, the whip is in the grave
No salt, no trance
It’s safe now (you know it’s safe) to take a backward glance
Because the grains have turned to chow!
We can talk about it now,
We can talk about it now
The Band Woodstock

Long Black Veil

The fourth song from Big Pink, but a cove a 1959 country ballad, written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin and originally recorded by Lefty Frizzell.

Ten years ago, on a cool dark night
There was someone killed ‘neath the town hall light
There were few at the scene and they all did agree
That the man who ran looked a lot like me
The judge said, “son, what is your alibi?”
“If you were somewhere else, then you won’t have to die”
I spoke not a word, though it meant my life
I had been in the arms of my best friend’s wife
She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave where the night winds wail
Nobody knows, no, and nobody sees
Nobody knows but me
The scaffold was high and eternity neared
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
But sometimes at night when the cold wind moans
In a long black veil, she cries over my bones
She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave where the night winds wail
Nobody knows, no, and nobody sees
Nobody knows but me
The Band Woodstock

Don’t You Tell Henry

Someone calls out “Where’s Dylan!” Another says, “We want Dylan.” He’s not there of course, but some of his songs were. Like this one. A Dylan UK site has a lot to say about the song.

Yes, I went down to the river on a Saturday morn
I was lookin’ around just to see who’s born
I spied a little chicken down on his knees
I went up and yelled to him
“Please, please, please!”
He said, “Don’t ya tell Henry
Don’t ya tell Henry
Don’t ya tell Henry
Apple’s got your fly”
Yes, I went down to the beanery at half past twelve
I was lookin’ around just to see myself
I looked high and  low, I looked above
Well who did I see but the one I love
She said, “Don’t ya tell Henry
Don’t ya tell Henry
Don’t ya tell Henry
Apple’s got your fly”
Yeah, I went down to the whorehouse the other night
I was lookin’ around, I was outta sight
I looked at a horse and I saw a mule
I looked for a cow and I saw me a few
They said, “Don’t ya tell Henry
Don’t ya tell Henry
Don’t ya tell Henry
Apple’s got your fly”
Yeah, I went down to the river on a Saturday morn
A-lookin’ around just to see who was born
I saw a little chicken down on his knees
I went up and yelled to him
“Please, please, please!”
He said, “Don’t ya tell Henry
Don’t ya tell Henry
Don’t ya tell Henry
Apple’s got your fly”
The Band Woodstock

Ain’t No More Cane on the Brazos

Ain’t No More… is a cover of a traditional work song and sometimes attributed to Huddie Ledbetter (Lead Belly), but no references can be found for that idea, nor can ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax find that connection.

Ain’t no more cane on the Brazos
Oh, oh, oh-oh
It’s all been ground down to molasses
Oh, oh, oh-oh
You shoulda been on the river in ninteen-and-ten
Oh, oh, oh-oh
They were driving the women just like they drove the men
Oh, oh, oh-oh
Go down old Hannah, don’cha rise no more
Oh, oh, oh-oh
Don’t you rise up til Judgment Day is for sure
Oh, oh, oh-oh
Ain’t no more cane on the Brazos
Oh, oh, oh-oh
It’s all been ground down to molasses
Oh, oh, oh-oh
Captain, don’t you do me like you done poor old Shine
Oh, oh, oh-oh
Well ya drove that bully ’till he went stone blind
Oh, oh, oh-oh
Wake up on a lifetime, hold up your own head
Oh, oh, oh-oh
Well you may get a pardon and then you might drop dead
Oh, oh, oh-oh
Ain’t no more cane on the Brazos
Oh, oh, oh-oh
It’s all been ground down to molasses
Oh, oh, oh-oh
The Band Woodstock

This Wheel’s on Fire

Fifth song from Big Pink and another Dylan collaboration, this with Rick Danko.

If your memory serves you well
We’re going to meet again and wait
So I’m going to unpack all my things
And sit before it gets too late
No man alive will come to you
With another tale to tell
And you know that we shall meet again
If your memory serves you well
This wheel’s on fire, rolling down the road
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode
If your memory serves you well, I was going to confiscate your lace
And wrap it up in a sailor’s knot and hide it in your case
If I knew for sure that it was yours, and it was oh so hard to tell
And you know that we shall meet again if your memory serves you well
This wheel’s on fire, rolling down the road
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode
If your memory serves you well, you’ll remember that you’re the one
Who called on them to call on me to get you your favours done
And after every plan had failed and there was nothing more to tell
And you know that we shall meet again if your memory serves you well
This wheel’s on fire, rolling down the road
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode

 

The Band Woodstock

I Shall Be Released

Sixth song from Big Pink and another Dylan song.

They say everything can be replaced
They say every distance is not near
So I remember every face
Of every man who put me here
I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
They say every man needs protection
They say that every man must fall
Yet I swear I see my reflection
Somewhere so high above this wall
I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
Now, yonder stands a man in this lonely crowd
A man who swears he’s not to blame
All day long I hear him shouting so loud
Just crying out that he was framed
I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
The Band Woodstock

The Weight

The seventh from Big Pink and arguably the best and best known song by the Band, a Robbie Robertson composition.

I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin’ about half past dead
I just need some place where I can lay my head
“Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?”
He just grinned and shook my hand, “no” was all he said
Take a load off Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And (and) (and) you put the load right on me
(You put the load right on me)
I picked up my bag, I went lookin’ for a place to hide
When I saw Carmen and the Devil walkin’ side by side
I said, “Hey, Carmen, come on let’s go downtown”
She said, “I gotta go but my friend can stick around”
Take a load off Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And (and) (and) you put the load right on me
(You put the load right on me)
Go down, Miss Moses, there’s nothin’ you can say
It’s just ol’ Luke and Luke’s waitin’ on the Judgment Day
“Well, Luke, my friend, what about young Anna Lee?”
He said, “Do me a favor, son, won’tcha stay and keep Anna Lee company?”
Take a load off Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And (and) (and) you put the load right on me
(You put the load right on me)
Crazy Chester followed me and he caught me in the fog
He said, “I will fix your rack if you’ll take Jack, my dog”
I said, “Wait a minute, Chester, you know I’m a peaceful man”
He said, “That’s okay, boy, won’t you feed him when you can”
Yeah, take a load off Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And (and) (and) you put the load right on me
(You put the load right on me)
Catch a cannon ball now to take me down the line
My bag is sinkin’ low and I do believe it’s time
To get back to Miss Fanny, you know she’s the only one
Who sent me here with her regards for everyone
Take a load off Fanny
Take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And (and) (and) you put the load right on me
(You put the load right on me)
The Band Woodstock

Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever

After Chip Monck says that he thinks the crowd will have to convince them and the crowd responding enthusiastically, The Band’s encore was another Motown-based song, “Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever.” a 1966 song written by Ivy Jo Hunter and Stevie Wonder and performed by the Four Tops

I remember yet before we met
That every night and day
I had to live the life of a lonely woman
I remember meeting you
Discovering love can be so true
When it’s shared by two instead of one
When you said you love me (when you said you love me)
We could not be parted (we could not be parted)
And I built my world around you (I built my world around you)
I’m so thankful that I found you
And loving you is sweeter than ever
(I ain’t never felt like this before)
Loving you has made my life sweeter than ever, sweeter than ever
Each night I pray we’d never part
For the love within my heart grows stronger
From day to day
As best I can, and how I try
To reassure and satisfy
‘Cause I’d be lost if you went away
‘Cause I really need you (really really need you)
And I need for you to need me too
(If you don’t go breaking my heart)
I have built my world around you
(I have built my world around you)
Baby I’m so thankful that I’ve found you
And loving you has made my life sweeter than ever before
(I ain’t never felt like this before)
And loving you has made my life sweeter than ever
So much sweeter
That’s what loving you (loving you)
‘Cause I really love (really really love you)
And I’m thankful that you love me too
(Thankful that you love me too)
I have built my world around you
(I have built my world around you)
I am truly glad, I am truly glad
That loving you has made my life sweeter than ever
(You don’t know how much this means to me)
When I’m loving you
Me, you, us
Sweeter than ever (tell me about it)
Loving you has made my life sweeter than ever
(You don’t know how much this means to me)
I’m loving you, you made my life sweeter than ever
(You’re sweeter than ever baby)
Sweeter than ever (sweeter than ever)
So much sweeter (sweeter than ever)
Loving you
Loving you is sweeter than ever…
The Band Woodstock

The next act was Johnny Winter.