Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Handsome Johnny [#] - Richie Havens
2. Freedom - Richie Havens
3. "Fish" Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag - Country Joe McDonald
4. Rainbows All Over Your Blues - John Sebastian
5. I Had a Dream - John Sebastian
6. If I Were a Carpenter [#] - Tim Hardin
7. Beautiful People - Melanie
8. Coming into Los Angeles - Arlo Guthrie
9. Walkin' Down the Line [#] - Arlo Guthrie
10. Joe Hill - Joan Baez
11. Sweet Sir Galahad - Joan Baez
12. Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man - Joan Baez, Jeffrey Shurtleff
13. Soul Sacrifice - Santana
14. Blood of the Sun - Mountain
15. Theme from an Imaginary Western - Mountain

Disc 2:

1. Leaving This Town [#] - Canned Heat
2. Going Up the Country - Canned Heat
3. Commotion [#] - Creedence Clearwater Revival
4. Green River [#] - Creedence Clearwater Revival
5. Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do) [#] - Creedence Clearwater Revival
6. I Put a Spell on You [#] - Creedence Clearwater Revival
7. Try (Just a Little Bit Harder) [#] - Janis Joplin
8. Work Me, Lord [#] - Janis Joplin
9. Ball and Chain [#] - Janis Joplin
10. Medley: Dance to the Music/Music Lover/I Want to Take You Higher - Sly & the Family Stone
11. We're Not Gonna Take It - The Who

Disc 3:

1. Volunteers - Jefferson Airplane
2. Somebody to Love [#] - Jefferson Airplane
3. Saturday Afternoon/Won't You Try - Jefferson Airplane
4. Uncle Sam Blues [#] - Jefferson Airplane
5. White Rabbit [#] - Jefferson Airplane
6. Let's Go Get Stoned [#] - Joe Cocker
7. With a Little Help from My Friends - Joe Cocker
8. Rock & Soul Music - Country Joe & the Fish
9. I'm Going Home - Ten Years After
10. Long Black Veil [#] - The Band
11. Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever [#] - The Band
12. Weight [#] - The Band
13. Mean Town Blues [#] - Johnny Winter

Disc 4:

1. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills
2. Guinnevere - Crosby, Stills & Nash
3. Marrakesh Express - Crosby, Stills & Nash
4. 4 + 20 - Crosby, Stills & Nash
5. Sea of Madness - Crosby, Stills & Nash
6. Find the Cost of Freedom [#] - Crosby, Stills & Nash
7. Love March - The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
8. At the Hop - Sha Na Na
9. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)/Stepping Stone [#] - Jimi Hendrix
10. Star Spangled Banner - Jimi Hendrix
11. Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43799 in Music
• Brand: Woodstock
• Released on: 1994-08-09
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Box set, Live

Amazon.com
This four-disc album--like the famed August 1969 rock festival it chronicles--is something of a sprawling, disorderly, engaging mess. Issued as a box set 25 years after the counterculture tribal gathering, it amasses the original three-record Woodstock set from 1970, its two-LP 1971 sequel, Woodstock II, and a generous store of previously unreleased tracks from Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, the Band, Jimi Hendrix, and others. There's plenty of chaff to go with the wheat (one is tempted to conclude John ("Far out!") Sabastian's blissed-out rant hasn't aged well, but it's just as likely most of the crowd at Yasgur's Farm would have gagged him if given half a chance, and Jefferson Airplane and Crosby, Stills & Nash clearly had better days). But Sly & the Family Stone, Joe Cocker, Santana, and Richie Havens shine, the stage patter has become part of the lexicon, and the whole package now stands as a remarkable account of a pivotal musical and cultural event. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

It has the music but forgets the festival
I was somewhat disappointed with this boxed set which I had been looking forward to playing. Although it has much of the music from the original three record set, which I have, and from the movie, plus much more, what it lacks is the real flavor of what Woodstock was. For some inexplicable reason, they left out almost all of the stage announcements and crowd noise which, for those who were there, those who saw the movie, or even for those who wished they were there, really defined the experience. Where was the "no rain" cheer, Chip Monk of the Hog Farm announcing "breakfast in bed for four hundred thousand" or Max Yasgur's greeting of praise for the the crowd? All that was a big part of Woodstock. To just have the music ignores the event itself. I'd recommend the remastered original instead.

THE MAGIC IS MISSING
This one of the best examples of when there is something special, don't tinker with it. What made the original Woostock albums was the music,the humor and the stage announcements. The second LP was a respectable follow up for people who couldn't get enough. The box set lacks direction and must have been a quick job to make $$$$. They should have combined both original albums with bonus tracks and a good remastering or put out cd's of all unreleased tracks sticking with old formula of mixing in funny stage and audience comments. On the box set, you get full versions of songs that came out better edited. Some artists get more songs (Creedence, Airplane) playing substandard sets and others (Santana, Ten Years After, The Who, Melanie ) who were "On" that weekend, get only one tune. A couple stand out performances from the original albums are missing like "Wooden Ships", "Birthday Of The Rain" and the stage comments. The sound quality of all Woodstock releases has always been inadequate, lacking no midrange and it's worse here. The booklet is lousy. They should have checked out "Monterey" and done their homework. Stick with the old albums, unless your a die hard Woodstock collector.

Essential live recordings
This is a good set but it does have some faults.

The mixes are not exactly brilliant. If you compare some of the tracks originally released on the 1970 WOODSTOCK LP you will find the earlier mixes far superior. Not only in terms of stereo but also in terms of overall sound. For example: "Joe Hill" is minus the backing instruments, "Going Up the Country" has a rather washed out lead guitar solo and some tracks, like Sly & the Family Stone's Medley, have problems with the overall mix (i.e. the wavering sound of the brass section). Whoever remixed these tracks did not desire clear definition of instruments. The classic 'orgasm' finale of "With a Little Help From My Friends" and the "Howitzer" finale of The Who are almost as muddy as the Festival site itself became. The bass is too low and the treble too flat.

The inclusion of previously released material seems to be a waste of space. Both the original Woodstock albums are still available (remastered too!) So why double up on the tracks contained in them? Why not release all new material?

Other than this, the set is worth it since it is the only way you can hear the chaos and madness that inspires such previously unreleased performances of Joplin, Creedence and The Band. The quality is not as bad as I make it out to be. (I guess I am too used to the classic stereo sound of the vinyl era.)

This was a landmark festival in terms of recording (8 track) and, as such, deserves to be heard.