May 12, 20212 min read

Woodstock - Various Artists (1969-71) 5/13/21

In 1969, Joni Mitchell was invited perform at the Woodstock Music Festival, but her manager, Elliott Roberts and Asylum Records boss David Geffen, felt it was more important (and safer) for her to appear on the Dick Cavett Show--especially after watching the news.

The TV networks were calling it a counter-culture disaster, hampered by impossible traffic, heavy rain, knee-deep mud, rampant drug use and "free love." At first Joni was on board with Elliott and David--but then she heard from her boyfriend, Graham Nash. Graham told her how he and Neil Young got to Woodstock by way of a stolen truck and a helicopter...how there were thousands and thousands of people "groovin'" to the music, how everyone was getting along and how the event signaled a more peaceful world to come. It all sounded so positive, and romantic! And that's when Joni's youthful "hippie" idealism kicked in. She sat down and used her imagination to create a second-hand account of the festival that became a "Great Song of the '70s." Joni released it first, on the flip side of her 1969 single "Big Yellow Taxi," but it didn't become a hit until 1970, when THREE different groups released the song to great success in different parts of the world. The first, of course, was the rockin' version by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Graham learned the song first-hand from Joni and in 1970, CSNY released it as a single from their critically-acclaimed album, "Deja Vu." This is the version that most of us know--reaching #3 in Canada, and #11 on Billboard's Hot 100. (What you may NOT know is that Jimi Hendrix played the guitar solo on the demo track...with Neil Young overdubbing it on the final release!) The second version was by the instrumental group Assembled Multitude, who took the song to #23 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart--also in 1970. The third version was by the British group, Matthews Southern Comfort. The interesting thing about this version is it became a hit because of the "Canadian Content" Rule. I've mentioned before that Canadian radio stations were required to play a large percentage of Canadian-based songs. Joni was Canadian, and that was all Matthews Southern Comfort needed. Then, thanks to legendary music director Rosalie Trombley at CKLW in Windsor (across the river from Detroit), the song was beamed into Ontario, Michigan, Ohio and elsewhere several times a day...and easily became a hit one more time.

In 1971, It reached the Top 5 in 5 countries, including #1 in the UK and #5 in Canada...and in the US, it reached #17 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart and #23 on the Hot 100! "Woodstock:" an iconic song about an iconic event, and a "Great Song of the '70s" three times! (Thanks to Joni' Mitchell's original 1969 version!) CSNY: