Customer Reviews

Woodstock Diary

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 1994, for the 25th anniversary of the Woodstock festival, this budget CD was released, as well as the brown-covered boxed set (which I will not review here). WOODSTOCK DIARY came and went with little fanfare, but is worth seeking out, as it contains several tracks that can be found nowhere else. Most of the music is very good, especially the pair of Joe Cocker tunes (Let's Get Stoned and I Shall Be Released), Richie Havens (I Can't Make It Anymore), Janis Joplin (Try and Ball & Chain).

Sly & The Family Stone's "Love City" is a great track from their celebrated set. The other Amazon.com reviewer on this page is incorrect regarding this track. "Love City" was NOT the set opener but the set closer...BEFORE the famous encore. Sly DID in fact lead the crowd to a "higher" chant to Love City, left the stage, then came back to do Dance To The Music/Music Lover/ Higher/I Want To Take You Higher." Believe it or not, the higher chant was already a well-established routine in the Sly Stone set long before it was done at Woodstock. Most of the people already knew and expected it by August of '69, and was ready to do it whenever Sly asked them to.

There are many nice rarities here, and the liner notes are informative. Of course, I am another one who wishes that more Woodstock performances were released than what has been offered on this single CD. I wanted to get more music from Richie, Tim Hardin, Mountain, Ten Years After, and especially Canned Heat. Maybe more CDs like this for the 35th and/or 40th anniversaries? Let's hope so!!! By the way, the opening song in Sly & The Family Stone's Woodstock set was "M'Lady."

Some hot tracks here! Unlike the mellowed out album "Woodstock 2," this 3rd general Woodstock album brings back some of the fire of the first album. "Love City" is intense soul, with Sly at his rockin' best. "Somebody To Love" is unrecognizable until it hits the chorus, but it totally cooks, with Grace Slick's soaring voice sliding in and out of the rock guitars. "Southbound Train" has a very powerful rock sound, with terrific guitar sustain on the lead solo. Other tracks didn't impress me nearly as much--a lot of cover tunes, ballads, and sleeze. "Blackbird" is sweet with all its vocal harmonies. "If I Were A Carpenter" has Tim Hardin's voice breaking constantly, maybe intended, maybe not, but very distracting nevertheless. However, I definitely recommend this album for its high points.

It's a perfect album to celebrate "The Quintessential Music Festival" of the century

Joe Cocker's tune serves as a fitting album opener. Janis' passionate intensity in the 2 songs fires you up. Tim Hardin's classic "If I were a Carpenter" spices up the collection. Cannot imagine a Woodstock collection without "Blackbird" and Hendrix's "Voodoo Child". I would have preferred "I Cant make it anymore" and "I Shall be Released" to be the perfect closing act. Overall, a must-have album in your collection

My sister did her very best to hide this diary from me but, I found it and she never got it back as I'm a bad brother and always will be.

In 1994 this CD was brought forth as part of a 25th anniversary celebration for the sixties biggest tribal gathering and it's a darn good lil' disc of more Woodstock music that hadn't seen a proper release at this time. With: Joe Cocker, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Richie Havens, Jefferson Airplane, Sly & The Family Stone, Mountain and Jimi Hendrix that had all appeared on the original three LP 1970 Woodstock release and the double LP follow-up of a year later: Woodstock Two, it was real great to hear more of their sets as a part of this disc. And with: Johnny Winter, Tim Hardin, Janis Joplin and The Band also being a part of this set made "Woodstock Diary" a little more special to me. And for the record this is the only official Woodstock music disc that has any music from The Band on it.

Stand-out tracks found herein are: "Let's Go Get Stoned" by Joe Cocker, "The Weight" from The Band, "Mean Town Blues" by Johnny Winter & "Love City" from Sly & The Family Stone that are really great to hear and hold up well over repeated listens. Five of these selections can be found on the six disc set of 2009 and the Johnny Winter, Janis and Jefferson Airplane Woodstock complete sets that are already available.

Woodstock, will always be remembered as a great event that really (for a little while) changed the world and right here is a little more magic from those three days in that muddy field in upstate New York.
This is good stuff....
Four Stars!!!

All caught up in the 40th anniversary of Woodstock this past weekend, I pulled out this disc which I've had for a long time but haven't listened to in, like, forever! So here are my fresh thoughts after a back to back spin: First off, as with Joe and his Grease Band, all the tracks on this CD sound superb. Rich deep base,plenty of high-end and a broad spectrum of stereo icing, make all these performances a delightful listen.
Joe kicks the disc off with Let's Go Get Stoned..fitting yes?...he and the band sound great. Mid-song, Joe ad-libs about waiting in New York in the weeks leading up to the festival. You really hear the blueprint for the style Joe created for his Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour which was just around the corner.
All songs on this set merge into one another, or, rather, the cheering and clapping upon a songs conclusion merges into the cheering and applause leading into the next track which I liked much better than a silent seperation.
The Band are up next and deliver a perfect The Weight. Such a pleasure to listen with their intertwining vocals, Levon's trademark shuffle drum style and especially, for me, Richard Manuals' piano highlighting each verse ending and during each chorus. All the way through actually.
Next is a shot of Texas delta blues-Johnny and his Mean Town blues. Only thing is, if I could JUST figure out what he's singing!! But that's quite alright-love the way he sings. But his slide guitar playing is the star here, featuring a sly solo. I can picture Mr. Hendrix himself off to the side of the stage with a fat grin on his face, had he been listening to this. Really excellent guitar playing.
With that, we arrive next at around 4:30 A.M. on that Sunday/Monday morning for Crosby, Stills and Nash's rendition of The Beatles' Blackbird. I had never heard this before, their performance of this at Woodstock and it is a jewel. "Blackbird singing in the dead of night" Stephen sings in a very deliberate manner as his two mates join in softly. This performance alone is, in my opinion, reason enough to own this disc.
Janis Joplin's "Try" begins next with a snakey groove and as with the Cocker group, her band sounds fabulous. Ball and Chain is next and I just have to say that, for me, the Ball and Chain on Cheap Thrills is the definitive version which I love to pieces. This Woodstock version is quite different with the addition of a horn section and organ and I have to say Janis' okay reading...good, but not that once-in-a-lifetime experience found on that Cheap Thrills performance.
Festival opener Richie Havens' song next is a real treat, being a song we don't recognize from the film. A very pretty but moody song, his acoustic guitar complimented by the 2nd guitar. Real nice after the bombast of Ball and Chain.
Next we go from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning as Jefferson Airplane wake up the sleeping field with their morning maniac music. Love the way Grace ad-libs in the middle of their Somebody To Love..."I think your eyes...look like it's morning" with just the drums backing her. A great version of this song. Listen very closely for Nicky Hopkins piano wayyyy in the background.
Next up, a very spooky and ultimately immaculate version of White Rabbit. A real A+ I deem this! The Airplane were certainly not the worse for wear when they finally got to the stage that morning after dead tired, waiting all day and all night for their turn.
Next, back to Friday evening for Tim Hardin and his beautifully sung If I were a Carpenter. His voice cracks a couple time but if you stick with it you are rewarded with a deeply felt performance accompanying himself on guitar, very nicely I'd like to add.
Next up, the textbook early 'heavy' sound of Mountain-interesting but not overly impressive. Still it was nice to hear this super Woodstock rarity. Southbound Train by Mountain at Woodstock. How many times have you heard that?
Sly and his familys' Love City sounds like they had just learned it that night but you know what?...it STILL sounds great! Love those short sharp horn blasts. Complete with an instructive spelling lesson(it won't do you no harm)
Joe Cocker returns with his band for a heartfelt cover of Dylans' I Shall Be Released. very good performance.
...and then...daylight. Monday morning daylight. with just 25,000 attendee's still present. talking very fast: "before we go any further I'd like to say man y'all really had a lot of patience. 3 days worth, you proved to the world what can happen with a little love, understanding....and soundzzzzz". I thought the recording of Voodoo Chile (SR) here sounds a little boxy but it is packed with goodies nonetheless such as some demonic laceration of his guitar..slashing and slicing..purring and teasing, and 6 minutes in Jimi introduces the band and comes back to play around with the words "I didn't mean to take up all your sweet time......". resuming the song's jam..."you can leave if you want, we'll just jam".
13 months after his Woodstock appearance Jimi was dead.
the last thing you hear on this disc is the sound of people cleaning up late that morning. Really does put you back there. In that field. That field caked with mud and trash. On that sunny Monday morning.
This CD is a very nice souvenier of the legendary festival.

Woodstock Diary: This old CD should have been made obsolete several times over and yet, there are still a couple of cuts here that are not in the 40th anniversary box set or any of the previous sets. This has Richie Havens' "I can't make it anymore" and Mountain's "Southbound Train" (If I am not mistaken, this may be the only place to find these Woodstock performances on CD).

This CD has a few tracks that were not available on Woodstock I, II or the boxed set. This in itself might persuade you to buy it. I still think that it's a missed opportunity though, as they could have released just previously unreleased tracks (there are plenty more in the vaults).

This CD does have a few good qualities. CSN's "Blackbird" was played with great harmony and clarity.The version of the Ban's "The Weight" sounds a little better than the studio version, due to more vocals and a reedy organ. The two cuts from Joe Cocker were superb- not to mention the only other songs played in his set- with gritty and loud vocals, along with a supportive backup band. Janis played her heart out with pure energy as usual in the two songs here.

This is the only good qualities I observe- with the exception of Mountain and Tim Hardin. Various songs were overdubbed with announcements and extras which are not made in the proper time as they were actually made. For example: in this CD, Grace Slick says her opening announcement and then the band takes off playing "Somebody to Love." "Somebody to Love" was the song actually played second to the last one- "White Rabbit."

It would also be nice if there would had been more selections fron Sly and the Family Stone besides one track. Though a good song, I wish there was more. Hopefully, in time, more material will surface.

In my opinion, music, especially classic rock and live complications, should be heard as THEY WERE PLAYED- IN THE ENTIRETIES OF THE SONGS. Studio "touch ups" just make good music sound bad and takes away the purpose of enjoying live recordings like music from Woodstock. Furthermore, it would be nice if music from the Incredible String Band, Sweetwater, CSN with Neil young, the Who, and Blood Sweat and Tears would be in a complication or box set of unreleased performances. I hope that rock/classic rock fans will agree.

I ordered the disc for my boyfriends birthday I recieved an email that it may not get here until weeks later I recieved it the day of THANK YOU.