Music Notes

Whenever someone’s mentions “Woodstock” there’s the inevitable commentary about the “high point of a generation,” the “zenith of peace and love,” and, if you’re land baron turned philosopher Max Yasgur, the on-stage observation of “proving to the world….that a half a million kids….can have (nothing but) fun….”

Yet, for all that banter about those three heady days of heat, mud and humanity on the aforementioned Yasgur’s Bethel, New York (yes, for the uninitiated, the show did not take place in Woodstock) farm back some 40 years ago this August, there’s one fundamental part of the festivities that, astonishingly, tends to get overlooked amid all the hoopla and nostalgia.

The music.

Ah, yes. The music. To complete Max’s comments that day, “half a million kids can have fun and music, and have nothing but fun and music.”

Indeed, in all the self-congratulatory prattle over the existential meaning of that long weekend of generational glory that germinated in an upstate New York cow pasture, it’s a peculiar irony that the music, the very soundtrack of that weekend, tends to get swept under the rug amid all the historical analysis.

Finally, the good folks at Sony Music Entertainment, along with their division labels of Columbia, Epic and RCA, have decided to do something about that.

Entitled “The Woodstock Experience,” and each adorned with the familiar white dove/guitar neck logo from the festival, the company has released a series of five double-disc titles from artists whose presence, and performance, on that stage where Yasgur spoke, did just as much, if not more, to calm and guide that half a million or so of Yasgur’s “kids” through those three days that have stamped a legacy on a generation.

The releases, from Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Santana, Sly & The Family Stone and Johnny Winter, include, in a semi-genius marketing move by Sony, seminal studio albums from each released around the time of the festival, as well as the complete Woodstock sets of each of them, providing two-disc, pivotal portraits of each artist within and without the context of their places in the festival lore.

In an era when record companies are appropriately criticized for their failure to make any kind of a dent in popular culture, these Sony releases demonstrate a solid combination of imagination, packaging and business savvy that is too often lacking in the industry. Give us more releases like this, and record companies might, just might, start to slip out of their collective doldrums.

The Airplane’s package includes “Volunteers,” their sixth and final album with their original group lineup, featuring “We Can Be Together,” “Good Shepherd,” and their version of “Wooden Ships,” co-written by band member Paul Kantner but more commonly associated with the more popular, original version released by Crosby, Stills & Nash, which is ironically heard in the Woodstock movie. The festival performance includes six previously unreleased tracks from their sunrise-welcoming set on Sunday morning.

Joplin’s hair-raisingly, underrated show comes packaged with “I Got Them Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!,” her only solo album released during her lifetime, which encompasses her cover of the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody,” “Try (Just A Little Bit Harder),” and “Maybe,” among other stand out tracks. Put those two together and the tragedy of her loss on the music world remains paramount.

The festival performance made stars out of the previously unknown Santana, notably from their farm-shattering version of “Soul Sacrifice,” which is arguably the highlight of the Woodstock film. That track is included, along with one previously unissued song, with their set, along with their debut, self-titled album, which, ironically, contains the comparatively tame, yet strong, studio version of “Sacrifice,” along with their first commercial hit, “Evil Ways.”

Another group whose jaw-dropping act propelled them into superstardom was Sly & The Family Stone, and Sony has added a whopping seven unreleased live tracks from their set, along with their breakthrough album “Stand!,” which included the hits “Everyday People,” “Sing A Simple Song,” and the studio version of “I Want To Take You Higher,” which is exactly what they did to the festival audience during their performance of that song.

Finally, the amazing guitar wizard Johnny Winter, who was still a relative newcomer at the time of Woodstock, proved in his Sunday evening set that all the hype surrounding his emergence from Texas was more than warranted. Sony has included seven unreleased songs from his set, as well as his first studio album, a stunning debut that included myriad covers of blues legends like Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl,” Lightnin’ Hopkins “Back Door Friend,” and B.B. King’s “Be Careful With A Fool.”

In addition to the terrific music, Sony went all out on the packaging of these vital performances and releases, including mini-lp covers with inner paper sleeves, replication of the front and back covers of the original albums and photos of the artists performing at the festival. They have also included a 16 by 20 inch poster with each release, showing the artist on one side and the Woodstock crowd on the other.

Some Woodstock anniversaries have all but corrupted the significance of that gathering four decades ago, by trying to carelessly imitate and recreate it, but it is clear from these stunning releases that Sony has completely captured the inspiration for the spirit, culture, and, yes, the peace and love, of the original Woodstock Festival- the music and the artists who performed on Yasgur’s farm, on that Woodstock stage, those 40 years ago.