Iconic songs from Woodstock: Learn to play these classics with Fret Zealot

The Woodstock Music and Art Fair – better known as Woodstock – was a pivotal moment for music history. The festival, which took place August 15 to 18, 1969 at a dairy farm in upstate New York, hosted 32 musical acts and almost 500,000 festival attendees. The event’s legacy is so vast that in 2017, the festival site became listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

You can recreate a Woodstock of your own with these song lessons – which were performed at the 1969 festival. 

 

Evil Ways – Santana

Carlos Santana’s band was relatively unknown when they performed on Aug. 16 at Woodstock. Their debut album Santana was released the same month, and previously they had only played locally in the San Francisco area. 


Proud Mary – CCR

Rockers Creedence Clearwater Revival had a less-than-optimal set at Woodstock. They took the stage at 3 a.m., to a tired crowd who gave the band little energy. Rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty said that “We were ready to rock out, and we waited and waited, and finally it was our turn … there were a half million people asleep. These people were out. It was like a painting of a Dante scene, just bodies from hell, all intertwined and asleep, covered with mud.” Nevertheless, they played their set, which included the hit “Proud Mary”. The set was featured on the album Creedence Clearwater Revival Live at Woodstock. 

 

Pinball Wizard – The Who 

I Can’t Explain – The Who

The Who were the second-to-last act scheduled to play on Saturday, Aug. 16. They didn’t end up taking the stage until Sunday morning at 5 a.m., playing their entire Tommy album. Their finale performance happened around 6:05 a.m., as the sun rose over Bethel Woods.

 

 Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix 

Jimi Hendrix was a major star in 1969 and earned the festival’s final spot. However, Woodstock was plagued by weather and technical delays, causing the musical acts to stretch on until Monday morning. Hendrix opted to keep his spot rather than perform at midnight. As a result, he didn’t play for the entire crowd of half a million people – there were fewer than 200,000 attendees left by the time he performed with his Woodstock band, Gypsy Suns and Rainbows. The performance included his iconic rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner”. 

Voodoo Child (slight return) / Stepping Stone – Jimi Hendrix 

Foxy Lady – Jimi Hendri

Hey Joe – Jimi Hendrix 

Hendrix rarely performed encores, but at Woodstock, he played his first hit, “”Hey Joe” to close out the festival. 

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