Country Joe had gotten the crowd to its feet and now it was time for Santana. It is important to remember that this wasn’t Santana 1970. This was Santana 1969, the band that their manager Bill Graham had reportedly insisted be part of Woodstock if Woodstock Ventures wanted the Dead.
Whatever the story, Santana was the second scheduled act of the second day. It was about 2 PM.
The crowd politely applauded Chip Monck’s introduction and we immediately heard a style of rock that most of us had never experienced: Afro-Caribbean. While Carlos Santana is the obvious leader of the band and the lead guitarist at that, the band is always a band with each member contributing.
The band would play about 50 minutes and all the songs except the last was from their not-yet-released album and nearly all in the same track order.
Waiting… for my baby Waiting… for my baby I? m on the pier, I? m waiting for my baby I? d like to see her and I don? t mean maybe She goes by the name, the name Marcella Y mira, mira como mueve la cadera Cadera pa mi es como caramelo Ay caramelo, caramelo, caramelo Waiting… estoy esperando pr Marcella… for my baby Marcella mi vida Waiting… for my baby After all this time I? m finally with Marcella I want to marry, but I don? t know how to tell her Marcella and I, we go to the cabana We bibbi di bop and bibbi di bop and boppin to Santana Santana pa mi, Santana pa mi Pero que rico, que rico Santana Waiting… Ay Marcella mi vida… for my baby Estoy esperando pr Marcella Waiting… for my baby Pero que rico Santana En Espanol Yo estoy esperando a mi novia como un mango En Espanol Ahora viene mi Marcella huarachando En Espanol Me estuvo esperando el todo dia En Espanol En el sol ay mama mia Doe-you… goe yoe yoe yoe Goe-yoe… goe yoe yoe yoe Waiting… for my baby
Santana Woodstock
Evil Ways
Just as the band is relatively unknown, so are their songs. If the band were to play Evil Ways today, the crowd would likely immediately jump to its feet. Not yet in 1969.
You’ve got to change your evil ways, baby Before I stop lovin’ you You’ve got to change, baby And every word that I say is true You got me runnin’ and hidin’ all over town You got me sneakin’ and a-peepin’ and runnin’ you down This can’t go on, Lord knows you got to change, baby
When I come home, baby My house is dark and my pots are cold You’re hangin’ round, baby With Jean and Joan and-a who knows who I’m gettin’ tried of waitin’ and foolin’ around I’ll find somebody who won’t make me feel like a clown This can’t go on, Lord knows you got to change, baby
When I come home, baby My house is dark and my pots are cold You’re hangin’ round, baby With Jean and Joan and-a who knows who I’m gettin’ tried of waitin’ and foolin’ around I’ll find somebody who won’t make me feel like a clown This can’t go on, Lord knows you got to change, baby
Santana Woodstock
Just Don’t Care
More solid playing. I’d say the crowd is beginning to feel the groove that the band itself is definitely enjoying.
I told you You’d have to leave And you listened with a cryin stare. Now you’ve got the nerve To tell me baby Yeah, yeah, a no, no You don’t care You just don’t care baby. Sun Turns back at the sight of you And your evil only clouds the air.
You you just laugh at what you do. Hey, hey, hey, hum Now you don’t care. Hey You don’t care for me.
Your feelings smashed Now you’re leaving to find Someone who’ll dare To change all the wrong Like you done to me Hey, hey, hey, no, no You don’t care. Hey, hey, hey, you don’t care.
Santana Woodstock
Savor
“Back to the Latin.” This instrumental features everyone especially Greg Rolie on organ and Michael Shrieve on drums, but this isn’t the drum solo that we’ve all likely heard. Not yet.
Santana Woodstock
Jingo
The band segues right into Jingo. Segues are great ways to keep a crowd into the set. Breaks between songs often allow the balloon to deflate. Not today.
Jingo features much more percussion.
Santana Woodstock
Persuasion
There’s no patter. No explanation. A bit of a break, the then the percussive engine roars again.
You got persuasion I can’t help myself You got persuasion I can’t help myself Something about you baby Keeps me from goin’ to somebody else
Yeah, any way you want Now, now baby You put me in a daze All the time Look what cha got for me baby Like the devil in disguise
Something about you baby You’re one You’re one of a kind
Oh this spell you put on me Has just outdone me babe I can’t keep the rain from comin’ down
Look out now I can’t get out from under But I wouldn’t want to Even if I can
Something about you baby Make me feel Make me feel like a man
Santana Woodstock
Soul Sacrifice
And we have arrived. Listening to the whole set is far better than listening only to what many think is the best song from the set. Be that as it may, Soul Sacrifice with Michael Shrieve again soloing, is a diamond in this dazzling set.
The crowd stood. The crowd shouted, cheered, stamped, applauded, whistled, and called out. It was a human earthquake for those of us there.
This was the song that made it onto the album. This was the performance that made it into the movie. How could they not have!
Santana Woodstock
Fried Neck Bones And Some Home Fries
Encores nowadays are a formal part of most bands’ performances. We know they’ll come back, they know they’ll come back, but we all act as if it’s a surprise.
There had been Woodstock encores, but this one was definitely earned and desired.
Another amazing song that is less lustrous only because of what preceded it. I’m not sure if a 6+ minutes song with only four words isn’t still an instrumental anyway.
The night before, the little-known Melanie Safka had her famous impromptu performance. On Saturday, the far better known Country Joe McDonald did the same and did it even more famously.
Country Joe and the Fish were not scheduled to play until Sunday, but like many musicians there, Country Joe was hanging out and amazed at the size of the crowd. The organizers asked him if he could play a solo set, but he said he had no guitar.
A guitar was found, but it had no strap.
A piece of rope (clothes line?) was found.
And so Joe stepped onto the stage and into history.
His 27 minute set was:
Janis
Donovan’s Reef
Heartaches by the Number
Ring of Fire
Tennessee Stud
Rockin’ Round the World
Flying All the Way
I Seen a Rocket
Fish” Cheer > I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag
Country Joe Woodstock
Janis
No surprise that Country Joe wrote this song for Janis Joplin. They were living together in 1967 and according to Joe, she was upset with him for breaking up with her to be with Robin Menken, whom he subsequently married, but asked him to write a song for her, and this was the song. [Songfacts]
The song was on the 1967 album, I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die
Into my life on waves of electrical sound
And flashing light she came,
Into my life with a twist of a dial
The wave of her hand–the warmth of her smile.
And even though I know that you and I
Could never find the kind of love we wanted together,
Alone I find myself missing you and I, you and I.
It’s not very often that something special happens
And you happen to be that something special for me.
And walking on grass where we rolled and laughed in the moonlight
I find myself thinking of you and I, you and I, you.
Into my eye comes visions of patterns
Designs the image of her I see.
Into my mind the smell of her hair,
The sound of her voice–we once were there.
And even though I know that you and I
Could never find the kind of love we wanted toghther,
Alone, I find myself missing
You and I,
You and I,
You.
Country Joe Woodstock
Donovan’s Reef
Written by Joe, the song is from the 1969 Fish album, Here We Go Again.
Scorching the painted desert adrift off of Donovan’s reef Tossing and spinning your pills alone brings such sweet relief Open your mind and show me a sign to prove you’re insane Open your arms and show me the scars reflecting your pain Lovely lady, forgive me now If words seem cruel If words seem cruel You’ve lost your soul You’ve grown so cold You’ve learned the rules Obey the rules of their game: Life’s just a game Pig boat sails across the seven seas Servants at home are down on their knees The master’s praying and begging me, “Please Look away.” Diamonds shining through an emerald sky Watch the phantom as he flies by Trying to laugh but he knows he must die Look away, look away, look away Satan dances of death and doom our time has finally come Lower imps of sin sing an orgy of our flesh begun Excuse me, I can’t seem to recall exactly what’s happening here Your mask in the past always seemed to me to be so sincere She’s stolen you away Taken your heart Once it was mine Ah once it was mine You look so cool But I’m no fool You’ll pay for your crimes By doing your time in their game Life’s just a game Life’s just a game You know that life is just a game Life’s just a game Life’s only a game…
Country Joe Woodstock
Heartaches by the Number
After Bob Dylan had recorded the album Nashville Skyline, many other rock artists went there, too. Joe was one of them. He called his album, Tonight I’m Singing Just For You and released it in 1970. Harlan Howard wrote this song.
Heartache number one was when you left me, I never knew that I could feel this way. And heartache number two was when you came back again You came back but never meant to stay.
Now I’ve got heartaches by the number, troubles by the score, Every day you love me less, each day I love you more. Yes, I’ve got heartaches by the number, a love that I can’t win But the day that I stop countin’, that’s the day my world will end.
Heartache number three was when you called me, You said that you were coming home to stay. With hopeful heart I waited for your knock on the door, I waited but you must have lost your way.
Now I’ve got heartaches by the number, troubles by the score, Every day you love me less, each day I love you more. Yes, I’ve got heartaches by the number, a love that I can’t win But the day that I stop countin’, that’s the day my world will end.
Country Joe Woodstock
Ring of Fire
Sticking with his Nashville theme, June Carter and Merle Kilgore wrote Ring of Fire for June’s husband Johnny Cash in 1963. Joe asks the crowd to sing along. It sounds like they demur. This song also appeared on Tonight I’m Singling Just for You.
Love is a burning thing And it makers a firery ring Bound by wild desire I fell in to a ring of fire
I fell in to a burning ring of fire I went down down down And the flames went higher. And it burns burns burns The ring of fire The ring of fire.
The taste of love is sweet When hearts like our’s meet I fell for you like a child Oh, but the fire went wild
I fell in to a burning ring of fire
Country Joe Woodstock
Tennessee Stud
A third song from Tonight I’m Singling Just for You, Tennessee Stud is a classic song written by Jimmy Driftwood in 1959. Many had already covered the song, including Johnny Cash.
Back about eighteen and twenty-five I left Tennessee very much alive I never would have made it through the Arkansas mud If I hadn’t been riding on the Tennessee Stud
Had some trouble with my sweetheart’s pa One of her brothers was a bad outlaw I wrote a letter to my Uncle Fud And I rode away on the Tennessee Stud
The Tennessee Stud was long and lean The color of the sun and his eyes were green He had the nerve and he had the blood There never was a horse like the Tennessee Stud
Drifted on down into no man’s land I crossed the river called the Rio Grande I raced my horse with the Spaniards bold ‘Til I got me a skinful of silver and gold Me and a gambler, we couldn’t agree We got in a fight over Tennessee We pulled our guns, he fell with a thud And I rode away on the Tennessee Stud
The Tennessee Stud was long and lean The color of the sun and his eyes were green He had the nerve and he had the blood There never was a horse like the Tennessee Stud
I rode right back across Arkansas And I whipped her brother and I whipped her pa I found that girl with the golden hair And she was riding on a Tennessee mare Pretty little baby on the cabin floor A little horse colt playing ’round the door I love the girl with the golden hair And the Tennessee Stud loves the Tennessee Mare
The Tennessee Stud was long and lean
The color of the sun and his eyes were green He had the nerve and he had the blood There never was a horse like the Tennessee Stud
Country Joe Woodstock
Rockin’ All Around the World
Switching back to his own music, Joe next did Rockin’ All Around the World, a song that had appeared on the fifth Fish album, CJ Fish.
Rock and roll music it sure sounds sweet Makes you wanna get up and stomp your feet Clap your hands and scream and shout You know that rock and roll just knocks me out.
Rockin’ all around the world, Rockin’ all around the world Rockin’ all around the world, Rockin’ all around the world Come on boys now haven’t you heard? Come on girls did you get the word? They’re rockin’ all around the world, Rockin’ round the world.
Some people say country music is fine Psychedelic music will blow your mind Blues got soul and so does jazz But nothing’s got the something Charlie rock and roll has.
Hey rockin’ all around the world Rockin’ all around the world Rockin’ all around the world Rockin’ all around the world Come on boys now haven’t you heard? Come on girls did you get the word? They’re rockin’ all around the world, Hey, rockin’ round the world.
Old folks don’t know, they can’t understand The words and the music of a rock and roll band But the kids in the schools and the hippies in the streets Are doing their thing to a rock and roll beat.
Hey rockin’ all around the world
Rockin’ all around the world Rockin’ all around the world Rockin’ all around the world
Come on boys now haven’t you heard? Come on girls did you get the word? They’re rockin’ all around the world Rockin’ round the world.
Rock and roll music it sure sounds sweet Makes you wanna get up and stomp your feet Clap your hands and scream and shout You know that rock and roll just knocks me out.
Rockin’ all around the world Rockin’ all around the world Rockin’ all around the world Rockin’ all around the world
Come on boys now haven’t you heard? Come on girls did you get the word? They’re rocking all around the world Rocking rocking round the world you know
They’re rocking round the world yeah They’re rocking round the world yeah They’re rocking round the world yeah They’re rocking round the world yeah
Joe continues with his own composition. Flyin’ High was the first cut on their first album, Electric Music for the Mind and Body, released on May 11, 1967
I was stuck on an LA freeway Got rainwater in my boots My thumbs done froze, can’t feel my toes I’m feeling a little thirsty, too Wheels throwin’ water all over my act And Mr. Jones won’t lend me a hand Up come two cats in a Cadillac And they say won’t you hop in, man I went flying high All the way All the way
The one that’s driving has got a Bowler hat The other’s got a Fez on his head They turn around and grin and I grin back But not a word was said So I took out my harp and I played ’em a tune I could see they were diggin’ it Then the one with the Fez, well he turns and he says We’d like to help you make your trip And I went flying high All the way All the way
He said we can’t leave him out in the rain He just might freeze and die So, why not put him on a plane And send him home in the sky So, they took me to the LA airport Laid twenty dollars in my hand Well, I paid my fair, I’m a millionaire Flyin’ back home again And I went flying high All the way Yah, all the way All the way You know I went flying high All the way
Country Joe Woodstock
I Seen a Rocket
With a helicopter in the background and before beginning I Seen A Rocket, Joe asked, “How much more time?”
Fish Cheer > I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag
Things were going OK. No boos or requests called out, but no big cheers. Joe was what he was sent out to be. A placeholder. Then it happened. The story is he asked his manager standing nearby by whether he should. The manager nodded yes. Whether the story is another spoonful of Woodstock Haze, we’ll never know. But he began the Fish cheer and went into the Fish’s best known song. As the Who would sing several hours later, the crowd went crazy.
Gimme an F! F! Gimme an U! U! Gimme an C! C! Gimme an K! K! What’s that spell? FUCK! What’s that spell? FUCK! What’s that spell? FUCK! What’s that spell? FUCK! What’s that spell? FUCK! What’s that spell? FUCK!
Well, come on all of you, big strong men Uncle Sam needs your help again He’s got himself in a terrible jam Way down yonder in Vietnam So put down your books and pick up a gun We’re gonna have a whole lotta fun
And it’s one, two, three What are we fighting for? Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn Next stop is Vietnam And it’s five, six, seven Open up the pearly gates Well there ain’t no time to wonder why Whoopee! we’re all gonna die
Well, come on generals, let’s move fast Your big chance has come at last Now you can go out and get those reds ‘Cause the only good commie is the one that’s dead And you know that peace can only be won When we’ve blown ’em all to kingdom come
And it’s one, two, three What are we fighting for? Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn Next stop is Vietnam And it’s five, six, seven Open up the pearly gates Well there ain’t no time to wonder why Whoopee! we’re all gonna die
Come on Wall Street, don’t be slow Why man, this is war au-go-go There’s plenty good money to be made By supplying the Army with the tools of its trade But just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb They drop it on the Viet Cong
And it’s one, two, three What are we fighting for? Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn Next stop is Vietnam And it’s five, six, seven Open up the pearly gates Well there ain’t no time to wonder why Whoopee! we’re all gonna die
Come on mothers throughout the land Pack your boys off to Vietnam Come on fathers, and don’t hesitate To send your sons off before it’s too late And you can be the first ones in your block To have your boy come home in a box
And it’s one, two, three What are we fighting for? Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn Next stop is Vietnam And it’s five, six, seven Open up the pearly gates Well there ain’t no time to wonder why Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.
Along the way he tells the crowd that there’s about 300 thousand of you fuckers out there. How they gonna stop the war if they don’t sing.
Woodstock day 1 had ended with Joan Baez around 2 AM. People continued to arrived on the field and in the area. Traffic closed surrounding roads.
August 16 had dawned damp and misty, but by midday the sun shone and the crowd awaited. Little did they know that when Quill began around noon that it would be nearly 22 hours later when “Saturday’s” performances ended.
Quill is not on the Monument along with Keef Hartley and Tim Hardin. Quill is not in the movie nor on the original album, but once again due to the incredible and indefatigable Andy Zax, Rhino’s 50th anniversary releasehas all, including Quill.
The band had not yet released an album. That would not happen (and happened only once) until 1970. They Live the Life was the only song from their Woodstock set that appeared on that self-produced album. It is a heavily percussive tune. No lyrics available.
That’s How I Eat
That’s How I Eat is a bluesy rock tune. No lyrics available.
Apology Interruption I
We are all different parts of the same revolution. Hugh Romney.
While Woodstock is accurately known for its peace, love, and understanding, that does not mean that there were none who stretched the limits of counter-cultural patience. Hugh Romney (only later known as Wavy Gravy) suggests to the crowd that if someone is looking for a fight, just go up to them and kiss them or lick them.
And John Morris informs the crowd that the Motherfuckers, a group from NYC, has set up a food distribution site nearby.
Quill Woodstock
Driftin’
Like That’s How I Eat, Driftin’ is a bluesy tune with Phil Thayer’s saxophone prominent, but a long Roger North drum solo in the middle of the 8-minute song. No lyrics available.
Apology Interruption II
A second interruption in the brief set is an announcement regarding food by someone from the Hog Farm. They tell everyone that there is “tons of food” (all veggies) available at the Hog Farm site.
A louder and an angry John Morris tells those hassling the food merchants at the top of the hill
Quill Woodstock
Waiting for You
“You better get high or we’re gonna’ give you a tongue bath.”
According to the woodstock.fandom site, “Waiting for You” is a song which incorporates the audience. Quill used to hand out various percussion instruments so everybody could join the music. This may have worked at smaller venues but failed at a 500,000 people crowd at Woodstock.
Their enthusiasm is clear nonetheless during their 12 minute closer.
