Michael’s Musical Musings: Woodstock by Joni Mitchell — 1969
“…everywhere there was song and celebration…”
The world almost didn’t have this song. Joni penned “Woodstock” while she followed the event unfolding on her hotel TV set in NYC, her manager insisting she stay in Manhattan instead to do an interview with Dick Cavett. It was fortuitous she didn’t attend the iconic gathering, since we would not have been blessed with this enduring, Aquarian tribute. It is a composition that is frozen in time…marking a historical and cultural event while simultaneously decreeing the New Generation’s “declaration of independence.”
Her first public rendition of the song was featured a month after Woodstock at another, much smaller gathering at the Esalen Institute. The documentary film, Celebration at Big Sur, captured her solo performance, playing alongside music luminaries Crosby Stills Nash & Young and Joan Baez. The film is a perfect slice of Flower Child culture, depicting a rapt and peaceful crowd at California’s epicenter of blissful cool. Based on these two back-to-back music events and the popularity of musical shows like Hair, it appeared the values of the “Woodstock Generation” were finally coalescing nicely for a few months…just before the cold reality check of Altamont sent it all crashing back for re-examination.
Two covers of “Woodstock” cemented its legacy as an anthem, capturing the imaginations of youngsters and the general public. CSN&Y recorded their version on their sophomore effort, Deja Vu, released in the Spring of 1970, while the UK group Matthews Southern Comfort, had a hit with it simultaneously “across the pond.” It’s interesting to compare these three versions…significant in their own uniqueness. Joni’s version, although celebrating a historical event, has an elegiac tone, starting in an E minor chord with a reminder that humans have been cast out of the Garden of Eden. CSN&Y’s take embraces straightforward rock-n-roll exclusively in major chords. Subtlety is swapped for celebration and attitude, which is what one would expect from Woodstock headliners.
Iain Matthew’s interpretation, found on 1970’s Later That Same Year, is sublime if I had to choose one word to describe it. His soothing vocal, lush harmonies and bright guitar cascades create a rapturous and memorable song, elements that made it a #1 hit in the UK. Being an admirer of the American pop and rock idioms from a distance, he approached the lyrics not as an important anthem but as a well-written and evocative song. Having recently seen Iain at Berkeley's venerable Hillside Club, he confirmed his career is built mainly on cover songs, with a sound leaning toward American-based country-rock bands like the Byrds and singer-songwriters like James Taylor and Jackson Browne. (He was a founding member of Fairport Convention).
Iain’s newest interpretation of "Woodstock" is more upbeat rhythmically and bluesier, a stylistic choice based on different factors. Some musicians who perform the same material repeatedly in live shows often distance themselves from their original recordings, Bob Dylan being a case in point. In his recent show, Matthews performed Van Morrison’s upbeat “Brown Eyed Girl” in a slower waltz time, giving the song a very unique but pleasant dynamic. Also, many musicians excel at making covers their own by deconstructing and then re-assembling them in new and energizing ways reflecting their own stylistic choices. Even Joni has updated her arrangement since the original recording, making it jazzier (in keeping with her newer musical direction).
The song continues to embody idealism and humanity and can still evoke the lofty promises of the Aquarian Age. However, where do we stand now, collectively, in relation to those ideals after being tempered by fifty years of ups and downs…some accomplishments…some failures? We hoped, when scientists first mentioned Global Warming in 1975, leaders would sound the alarm and do what was necessary to turn it around. But wait a minute, now we’re not only dealing with Climate Deniers; those very people are in charge! Ultimately, the values and positivity inherent in the Aquarian Age were never - now or before - going to be dropped into our collective laps; we will have to work and struggle for them like everything else. The delaying of a dream doesn’t necessarily mean its demise…it can be an opportunity to strengthen one’s resolve and press forward.
Joni’s words, “We are stardust, we are golden,” although sounding out of our reach, are verifiable scientific facts. Our bodies are made up of the fabric of ancient stars…our souls, although invisible, are one with the Universal Life Force. The American Museum of Natural History concurs: “Every atom of oxygen in our lungs, of carbon in our muscles, of calcium in our bones, of iron in our blood - was created inside a star before Earth was born.”
