Remembering Woodstock 1969 | The Lost Performances | The Band, Canned Heat, Joan Baez, Crosby Stills Nash, Janis Joplin
WOODSTOCK ROCKS
Bethel, New York | August 15 – 17, 1969
The largest rock concert ever, arrived and left, and we will never be the same again. The police estimated that there were a million people on the road trying to get to the festival. Controlling the overwhelming crowd was next to impossible.
The festival actually took place on Max Yasgur's farm about fifty miles away. Woodstock was the original location since that was where Bob Dylan was currently residing.
There were no clear headliners; the lineup included: Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Band, Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Santana, The Who, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Sly and the Family Stone, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Sha-Na-Na, Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix, and many more.
Jimi Hendrix’s guitar solo of the "Star Spangled Banner" might be the most memorable musical event of the festival. Woodstock was a peaceful gathering for one million young citizens who were virtually left on their own and discovered the words Sharing, Helping, Consideration, and Respect. Thousands left the Woodstock event with a totally different outlook on life, and rock music moved to the forefront of American pop culture.
Remember When
A New York Story - Polo Grounds
Polo Grounds I was originally built in 1883 and, after many modifications, was named Polo Grounds IV in 1911. The Giants played there until moving west in 1957. The horseshoe shape had the left and right field walls less than 300 feet and the centerfield wall was almost 500 feet. The bullpens were in fair territory in left and right center. The New York Mets played there in 1962-1963.
The phrase "Hot Dog" was coined by NY Journal sports cartoonist Tad Dorgan when he couldn't remember how to spell the word "dachshund" in describing the "red hot dachshund sausages" served at a game here in April 1901. Memorable moments were when Willie Mays made his greatest catch in the 1954 World Series and Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard Round the World" homer occurred here at 4:11 pm on October 3, 1951 against the Dodgers. The capacity was increased often and reached its peak of 55,000 in 1923.