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Woodstock
Poster05
Original poster for the Woodstock movie
Directed by Michael Wadleigh
Produced by Bob Maurice
Edited by Michael Wadleigh
Martin Scorsese
Stan Warnow
Yeu-Bun Yee
Jere Huggins
Thelma Schoonmaker
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Released March 26, 1970
Running Time 184 min. (original length)
228 min. (director's cut)
Links

Woodstock serves as an important documentary as well as concert film. It tells the story of a festival that starts quite small with an estimated number of 50,000 visitors per day, a wooden stage, little security and almost no parking spots. But the festival is soon overrun by a huge crowd of peace-loving youth who come to party, listen to music and get stoned.

What makes this film so special is the blend of great music with scenes of people from the crowd. One sees people bathing, eating and sleeping. Little children are running around, teenagers are far from their homes and adults are enjoying the simple things of life as if they were children again.

At the Academy Awards in 1971 the movie received an Oscar for best documentary. It was also nominated for best film editing and best sound. In 1996 the movie was introduced to the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Outtakes[]

Of course, there was much more material recorded than shown in the movie. Unedited material is probably still kept under lock and key. Some black/white videos (i.e. Richie Havens, Sweetwater, The Incredible String Band) and short, incomplete cuts of performances (i.e. The Grateful Dead) are making the rounds under collectors.

The bigger part of outtakes was officially released and are a nice companion to the Woodstock movie. These are:

Versions[]

Original Version[]

The original version was 184 minutes in length. It was premiered in the U.S. cinemas on March 26th 1970. During the summer of 1970 the film was released in European countries and Japan.

Director's Cut (25th Anniversary version)[]

In July / August 1994 the director's cut version was released. It extended the running length to 228 minutes (more than 3 ¾ hours!) and added the following performances:

Ultimate Collector's Edition (40th Anniversary version)[]

The movie itself was not extended but upgraded to today's standards. This means high definition video with better picture and audio quality (many costumers complained about the bad picture quality of the Director's Cut DVD edition). It was released on June 9, 2009 in North America and a few days later in Europe.

There's plenty of bonus material included[1]:

Artists by Appearance[]

This is the running order of the Woodstock movie Director's Cut:


Disc 1
# Title Artist
1. "Long Time Gone" (no video of stage performance) Crosby, Stills & Nash
2. "Going Up the Country" (no video of stage performance) Canned Heat
3. "Wooden Ships" (no video of stage performance) Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
4. "Handsome Johnny" Richie Havens
5. "Freedom" Richie Havens
6. "A Change Is Gonna Come" (director's cut only) Canned Heat
7. "Joe Hill" Joan Baez
8. "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" Joan Baez
9. "We're Not Gonna Take It > See Me, Feel Me" The Who
10. "Summertime Blues" The Who
11. "At the Hop" Sha Na Na
12. "With a Little Help from My Friends" Joe Cocker
13. "crowd rain chant" (the audience tries to "stop" the rain) audience
14. "Rock and Soul Music" Country Joe & The Fish
15. "Coming Into Los Angeles" Arlo Guthrie
16. "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" Crosby, Stills & Nash
17. "I'm Going Home" Ten Years After
18. "Saturday Afternoon / Won't You Try" (director's cut only) Jefferson Airplane
19. "Uncle Sam's Blues" (director's cut only) Jefferson Airplane
20. "Younger Generation" John B. Sebastian
21. ""Fish" Cheer > I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag" Country Joe McDonald
22. "Soul Sacrifice" Santana
23. "Dance To The Music > I Want To Take You Higher" Sly & The Family Stone
24. "Work Me, Lord" (director's cut only) Janis Joplin
25. "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" (director's cut only) Jimi Hendrix
26. "Star Spangled Banner" Jimi Hendrix
27. "Purple Haze" Jimi Hendrix
28. "Woodstock Improvisation" (director's cut only) Jimi Hendrix
29. "Villanova Junction" Jimi Hendrix
30. "Woodstock > Find the Cost of Freedom" (director's cut only, no video of stage performance) Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young)

Recording Notes[]

The song "Woodstock" was recorded in the studio by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. It was written by Joni Mitchell who didn't perform at Woodstock. "Long Time Gone" by Crosby, Stills & Nash at the beginning of the movie is the studio version from their first LP.

References[]

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