In honor of Woodstock turning 50, Richie Havens reminisces on his nearly three-hour set at the festival JimmyDean 50thAnniversary
Richie Havens performs onstage at the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair in Bethel, New York, August 15, 1969.I thought, “Oh, God, they’re going to kill me. I’m not going out there first. What, are you crazy?” It was about 2:30 or 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon, and the concert was already almost three hours late. I was supposed to be fifth on the bill, but the other entertainers were still at the hotel, seven miles away. I thought, “Jeez, they’re gonna throw beer cans at me because the concert’s late.
The organizers thought that if it were like Monterey Pop — which drew 50 to 60,000 people — they’d make off like bandits. However, there were about 400,000 people the first afternoon, and it was free before it started. The only people who made off like bandits was Warner Bros., who got the movie rights. So the merits of Woodstock being love, peace, and harmony still stand on pillars of “Let’s make money.” That’s what it was in the beginning. The consciousness was realized afterward.
The movie chronicled that consciousness. It didn’t make a big deal out of the music. You saw some of the musicians playing a song or two, but it was less than half the musicians who performed. So it wasn’t a true depiction of what happened onstage, but you did see members of the older generation, like the police chief, saying, “Leave the kids alone, the kids are great, they’re not bothering anybody.” That was much more influential than the music on the people who went to see it.
A version of this story was originally published in the August 24th, 1989 print edition of Rolling Stone.
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