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Music

Woodstock at 50: When Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ Rocked the Festival

While Hendrix was supposed to headline Woodstock, delays pushed his performance back nearly 9 hours. But it was well worth the wait for festival-goers.
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In mid-August 1969, an estimated 500,000 people made the trek to Bethel, New York for the Woodstock Music & Art Fair. Starting on a Friday and continuing on through the morning of August 18, the festival featured 32 performers, including The Who, Janis Joplin, and Santana.

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While singer-songwriter Richie Havens kicked off the festivities with a long set, Woodstock\u2019s headliner wasn\u2019t set to take stage until Sunday at midnight. That was Jimi Hendrix, who took home the highest pay of any act that weekend.

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By Sunday night, delays due to bad weather and technical difficulties pushed the schedule back nearly nine hours. While Hendrix was offered the chance to play at midnight, he opted to close Woodstock the following morning.

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That meant taking the stage near 9 a.m. on Monday the 18th. By then, well over half the festival-goers had departed. But those who stayed saw magic that morning, including Hendrix\u2019s version of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner.\u201d

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Hendrix played his \u2018Star-Spangled Banner\u2019 toward the end of a 2-hour set.

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AUGUST 1969: Overall shot of the huge crowd, looking towards the large yellow tents, during the Woodstock Music & Art Fair. | John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
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You can probably imagine the level of exhaustion for most those arrived at some point over the weekend then lasted through Monday morning. Hendrix seemed entirely at ease, and told bassist Billy Cox he wanted to feed off the vibe pulsing through the crowd.

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\u201cLook, the audience is sending a lot of energy to us on stage,\u201d Hendrix said. \u201cLet\u2019s use that and send it back to them.\u201d In the course of a two-hour set (one of the longest of his career), Hendrix and an unusual band lineup worked through \u201cSpanish Castle Magic,\u201d \u201cRed House,\u201d and \u201cFoxy Lady.\u201d

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\n\nIn the second half of the set, the band embarked upon a long medley that included \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner.\u201d By then, it was probably after 10 a.m. in Bethel.\n\n

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Within that 30-minute medley, the national anthem fell in between \u201cStepping Stone\u201d and \u201cPurple Haze.\u201d After that, the band mostly improvised before Hendrix closed the set and came back for an encore of his early hit \u201cHey Joe.\u201d

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Hendrix made people \u2018so ecstatic, so stunned and moved.\u2019

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Jimi Hendrix performs with his Fender Stratocaster at the Newport Pop Festival, June 20, 1969, Devonshire Downs, California. | Vince Melamed/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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Cameraman Michael Wadleigh described the scene that morning as Hendrix worked through \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner,\u201d with drummer Mitch Mitchell occasionally thrashing behind him. Wadleigh \u201csaw people grabbing their heads, so ecstatic, so stunned and moved\u201d by the performance.

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As Hendrix fans know, it was far from the first time he\u2019d played the song live. (Joel Brattin counted 28 live recordings of him playing it before Woodstock.) Regarding the political import of the performance, we\u2019ll let Hendrix, an army veteran, speak for himself.

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\u201cAll I did was play it,\u201d Hendrix told Dick Cavett. \u201cI\u2019m an American, so I played it. I used to have to sing it in school.\u201d When Cavett asked about the controversy of him playing it in \u201can unorthodox way,\u201d Hendrix responded as coolly as ever.

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\u201cUnorthodox? That\u2019s not unorthodox. I thought it was beautiful.\u201d No one can disagree with that.

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Also see:\u00a0The No. 1 Beatles Song John and Paul Recorded Without George or Ringo

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Eric Schaal

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Contact at [email protected]

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\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \n\n\n\t\t\r\n\r\n\r\n \n \r\n\r\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n", + "page_last_modified": "" + }, + { + "page_name": "How Jimi Hendrix's Woodstock Rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' ...", + "page_url": "https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/how-jimi-hendrix-woodstock-rendition-star-spangled-banner-act-protest.html/", + "page_snippet": "Jimi Hendrix's performance at Woodstock lives down in history for many reasons, including his rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'He performed a rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' that was an act of protest at a tumultuous time. ... Share: Share on Twitter: Share on Facebook: Share via email: Copy link Link copied to the clipboard! Jimi Hendrix was one of rock\u2018s breakout stars in the late 1960s. He became known for his over-the-top stage performances that often made headlines. His performance at the infamous Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August 1969 became a part of music history for several reasons, not the least of which was his rendition of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner.\u201d In August 1969, as the Vietnam War grew even more intense, Jimi Hendrix appeared at the Woodstock festival in upstate New York for a closing performance on a Monday morning. Toward the end of the performance, he began playing his song \u201cVoodoo Child (Slight Return),\u201d and transitioned into a rendition of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner.\u201d Hendrix\u2019s \u201cStar-Spangled Banner\u201d was viewed as a protest against the Vietnam War for its distortion of the national anthem and its homage to the dead left on the battlefield. It became a statement not just against the Vietnam War, but against war itself. ... By the time he performed at Woodstock, Hendrix\u2019s music career was already on shaky ground. Jimi Hendrix gave an unforgettable performance at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. He performed a rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' that was an act of protest at a tumultuous time.", + "page_result": " \r\n \r\n \n\t \r\n \r\n \r\n \t\n\tHow Jimi Hendrix's Woodstock Rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' Was an Act of Protest\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\r\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n \n \n \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\n\n\r\n\r\n\n\n
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Music

How Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock Rendition of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ Was an Act of Protest

Jimi Hendrix gave an unforgettable performance at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. He performed a rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' that was an act of protest at a tumultuous time.
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Jimi Hendrix was one of rock\u2018s breakout stars in the late 1960s. He became known for his over-the-top stage performances that often made headlines. His performance at the infamous Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August 1969 became a part of music history for several reasons, not the least of which was his rendition of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner.\u201d

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Jimi Hendrix | Walter Iooss Jr./Getty Images
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Jimi Hendrix became famous in the late 1960s

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Jimi Hendrix got his start as a professional musician playing backing guitar for big-name acts like Little Richard, Ike and Tina Turner, and The Isley Brothers. In the mid-1960s, Hendrix began to form his own band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and quickly made a name for himself as a solo star.

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The Jimi Hendrix Experience released its debut album Are You Experienced in May 1967. Hendrix\u2019s profile as a rock musician grew: in June 1967, he took the stage at the Monterey International Pop Festival in what became an iconic performance as he set fire to his guitar on stage.

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The band released their sophomore album Axis: Bold as Love in December of that year. The Jimi Hendrix Experience\u2019s third and final album, Electric Ladyland, would come out in October 1968.

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Jimi Hendrix performed \u2018The Star-Spangled Banner\u2019 in protest of the Vietnam War

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Before he was a professional musician, Jimi Hendrix enlisted in the army in 1961 and was a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne. He was honorably discharged a year later and went on to work on his music career. In the mid-1960s, however, as his career began to pick up, so too did the United States\u2019 efforts in the Vietnam War.

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In August 1969, as the Vietnam War grew even more intense, Jimi Hendrix appeared at the Woodstock festival in upstate New York for a closing performance on a Monday morning. Toward the end of the performance, he began playing his song \u201cVoodoo Child (Slight Return),\u201d and transitioned into a rendition of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner.\u201d

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His performance of the national anthem, however, was anything but reverent. It was filled with audio feedback and distortion and screeching guitar riffs that turned listening to the national anthem into a horrific experience. He ended the song with a snippet of \u201cTaps,\u201d often used to mark the death of soldiers.

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Hendrix\u2019s \u201cStar-Spangled Banner\u201d was viewed as a protest against the Vietnam War for its distortion of the national anthem and its homage to the dead left on the battlefield. It became a statement not just against the Vietnam War, but against war itself.

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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tJimi Hendrix Didn\u2019t Want the Cover of \u2018Electric Ladyland\u2019 to Feature 19 Naked Women\t\t\n\t

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Hendrix died a year later

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By the time he performed at Woodstock, Hendrix\u2019s music career was already on shaky ground. The Jimi Hendrix Experience had broken up in June 1969, two months before he took the stage at Woodstock with a new band. At the same time, Hendrix began descending further into the throes of addiction.

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In 1970, he began recording songs for what would have been his final LP. He opened his recording studio Electric Lady Studios in New York in the late summer and boarded a flight to London, where he\u2019d written and recorded many of The Jimi Hendrix Experience\u2019s songs over the years. In September 1970, Hendrix died of a barbiturate overdose in London after performing a handful of shows.

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Writer

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Marathon runner and child at heart who\u2019s in a serious relationship with their air fryer. When I\u2019m not covering entertainment news, you can usually find me listening to Donna Summer, laying out on the beach, or reading about prison abolition \u2014 sometimes all at the same time.

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Contact at [email protected]

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2 Min ReadBy Mike Duffy and Jeff Owens

The Historic Day Jimi Hendrix Rocked 'The Star-Spangled Banner'

In celebration of the 4th of July, reminisce about Jimi's legendary Woodstock performance.

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With the Fourth of July holiday arriving in the United States, renditions of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d will undoubtedly be heard across the nation to celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

And when thinking of the national anthem, it\u2019s difficult to not let your mind drift to what is probably the most famous version ever recorded \u2014 Jimi Hendrix\u2019s feedback-drenched performance of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d at the Woodstock Music and Art Festival on Aug. 18, 1969.

The iconic event occurred in Bethel, N.Y., on Max Yasgur\u2019s alfalfa field, with estimates putting peak attendance at over a half-million people. But by the time Hendrix took the stage at 8 a.m. that fateful Monday (he was scheduled to perform the previous day, but rain had washed out many of the Sunday performances), the audience had thinned to about 30,000 to 40,000.

Those lucky thousands witnessed history.

At this time, Hendrix was a global sensation, having taken the world by storm with the Jimi Hendrix Experience and groundbreaking albums like Are You Experienced? and Axis: Bold as Love.

For his headlining set at Woodstock, however, Hendrix had formed another band with bassist Billy Cox, guitarist Larry Lee, percussionists Juma Sultan and Jerry Velez, and drummer Mitch Mitchell following the breakup of the Experience earlier that year.

This group tore through several of Hendrix\u2019s most fiery favorites, like \u201cHear My Train a Comin\u2019,\u201d \u201cFoxy Lady\u201d and \u201cFire,\u201d before breaking into an improvised piece.

Hendrix expertly played his Stratocaster, free-form style, for a few minutes before launching into a distorted, wrenching interpretation of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d.

Some contended that he was making a political statement on the war in Vietnam and unrest in the United States, but Hendrix flatly stated afterward that he meant no such commentary, explaining that his motivation was purely musical and that he was simply improvising a different interpretation (\u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d had actually been in his set for about a year by that time).

And when watching it on its own, it\u2019s also easy to assume that it must have been the finale of his two-hour set when in fact it wasn\u2019t\u2014Hendrix followed it with \u201cPurple Haze,\u201d \u201cWoodstock Improvisation\u201d and \u201cVillanova Junction Blues\u201d before concluding the performance (and the festival) with \u201cHey Joe.\u201d

Woodstock is one of the singularly defining Hendrix performances, and it is a landmark moment of his career, of rock music up to that point, and of the 1960s, which were just about to end. Britain dominated rock and pop during that decade, but Hendrix dominated all as a wholly separate entity \u2014 an enigmatic and phenomenally talented musician from the United States, playing a U.S.-made Fender electric guitar model soon to be ubiquitous largely because of him.

And when he took the stage on a late summer morning in 1969, Stratocaster in hand, and played the U.S. national anthem as it had never been played before, the occasion became one of the great moments of the 1960s and of rock history ... one that guitarists young and old emulate to this day.

Want to learn how to play "The Star-Spangled Banner? Watch the lesson here from Fender Play. And if you're not a member yet, click here for a free trial.

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", + "page_last_modified": " Tue, 27 Feb 2024 20:08:11 GMT" + }, + { + "page_name": "How Jimi Hendrix's Woodstock Rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' ...", + "page_url": "https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/how-jimi-hendrix-woodstock-rendition-star-spangled-banner-act-protest.html/", + "page_snippet": "Jimi Hendrix's performance at Woodstock lives down in history for many reasons, including his rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'He performed a rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' that was an act of protest at a tumultuous time. ... Share: Share on Twitter: Share on Facebook: Share via email: Copy link Link copied to the clipboard! Jimi Hendrix was one of rock\u2018s breakout stars in the late 1960s. He became known for his over-the-top stage performances that often made headlines. His performance at the infamous Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August 1969 became a part of music history for several reasons, not the least of which was his rendition of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner.\u201d In August 1969, as the Vietnam War grew even more intense, Jimi Hendrix appeared at the Woodstock festival in upstate New York for a closing performance on a Monday morning. Toward the end of the performance, he began playing his song \u201cVoodoo Child (Slight Return),\u201d and transitioned into a rendition of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner.\u201d Hendrix\u2019s \u201cStar-Spangled Banner\u201d was viewed as a protest against the Vietnam War for its distortion of the national anthem and its homage to the dead left on the battlefield. It became a statement not just against the Vietnam War, but against war itself. ... By the time he performed at Woodstock, Hendrix\u2019s music career was already on shaky ground. Jimi Hendrix gave an unforgettable performance at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. He performed a rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' that was an act of protest at a tumultuous time.", + "page_result": " \r\n \r\n \n\t \r\n \r\n \r\n \t\n\tHow Jimi Hendrix's Woodstock Rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' Was an Act of Protest\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\r\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n \n \n \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\n\n\r\n\r\n\n\n
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Music

How Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock Rendition of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ Was an Act of Protest

Jimi Hendrix gave an unforgettable performance at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. He performed a rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' that was an act of protest at a tumultuous time.
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Jimi Hendrix was one of rock\u2018s breakout stars in the late 1960s. He became known for his over-the-top stage performances that often made headlines. His performance at the infamous Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August 1969 became a part of music history for several reasons, not the least of which was his rendition of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner.\u201d

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Jimi Hendrix | Walter Iooss Jr./Getty Images
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Jimi Hendrix became famous in the late 1960s

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Jimi Hendrix got his start as a professional musician playing backing guitar for big-name acts like Little Richard, Ike and Tina Turner, and The Isley Brothers. In the mid-1960s, Hendrix began to form his own band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and quickly made a name for himself as a solo star.

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The Jimi Hendrix Experience released its debut album Are You Experienced in May 1967. Hendrix\u2019s profile as a rock musician grew: in June 1967, he took the stage at the Monterey International Pop Festival in what became an iconic performance as he set fire to his guitar on stage.

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The band released their sophomore album Axis: Bold as Love in December of that year. The Jimi Hendrix Experience\u2019s third and final album, Electric Ladyland, would come out in October 1968.

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Jimi Hendrix performed \u2018The Star-Spangled Banner\u2019 in protest of the Vietnam War

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Before he was a professional musician, Jimi Hendrix enlisted in the army in 1961 and was a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne. He was honorably discharged a year later and went on to work on his music career. In the mid-1960s, however, as his career began to pick up, so too did the United States\u2019 efforts in the Vietnam War.

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In August 1969, as the Vietnam War grew even more intense, Jimi Hendrix appeared at the Woodstock festival in upstate New York for a closing performance on a Monday morning. Toward the end of the performance, he began playing his song \u201cVoodoo Child (Slight Return),\u201d and transitioned into a rendition of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner.\u201d

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His performance of the national anthem, however, was anything but reverent. It was filled with audio feedback and distortion and screeching guitar riffs that turned listening to the national anthem into a horrific experience. He ended the song with a snippet of \u201cTaps,\u201d often used to mark the death of soldiers.

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Hendrix\u2019s \u201cStar-Spangled Banner\u201d was viewed as a protest against the Vietnam War for its distortion of the national anthem and its homage to the dead left on the battlefield. It became a statement not just against the Vietnam War, but against war itself.

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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tJimi Hendrix Didn\u2019t Want the Cover of \u2018Electric Ladyland\u2019 to Feature 19 Naked Women\t\t\n\t

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Hendrix died a year later

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By the time he performed at Woodstock, Hendrix\u2019s music career was already on shaky ground. The Jimi Hendrix Experience had broken up in June 1969, two months before he took the stage at Woodstock with a new band. At the same time, Hendrix began descending further into the throes of addiction.

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In 1970, he began recording songs for what would have been his final LP. He opened his recording studio Electric Lady Studios in New York in the late summer and boarded a flight to London, where he\u2019d written and recorded many of The Jimi Hendrix Experience\u2019s songs over the years. In September 1970, Hendrix died of a barbiturate overdose in London after performing a handful of shows.

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Chris Malone

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Writer

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Marathon runner and child at heart who\u2019s in a serious relationship with their air fryer. When I\u2019m not covering entertainment news, you can usually find me listening to Donna Summer, laying out on the beach, or reading about prison abolition \u2014 sometimes all at the same time.

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Contact at [email protected]

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\n \n 50 years ago, Jimi Hendrix\u2019s Woodstock anthem expressed the hopes and fears of a nation\n \n

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\n \n \n \n Mark Clague, University of Michigan\n \n
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Author

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  1. \n \n \"\"\n \n Mark Clague\n \n\n \n\n

    \n Associate Professor of Musicology, University of Michigan\n

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Disclosure statement

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Mark Clague receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the University of Michigan Humanities Institute.

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Partners

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University of Michigan provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation US.

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View all partners

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\n Hendrix\u2019s version of the National Anthem combined reverence and revolution.\n nelag0/pixabay, CC BY\n
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One of the most powerful, searing renditions of the national anthem ever recorded, Jimi Hendrix\u2019s iconic Woodstock anthem, almost never happened.

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In his memoir, Hendrix\u2019s drummer, Mitch Mitchell, admitted that the band \u201chadn\u2019t rehearsed \u2026 or planned to do \u2018The Star-Spangled Banner\u2019 at Woodstock.\u201d

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The festival was supposed to wrap up on Sunday night, but a series of delays, traffic jams and rainstorms had postponed the closing set until 9:00 a.m. the next day. Hendrix hadn\u2019t slept the night before.

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Hendrix played for more than an hour that Monday morning before introducing his regular concert-closer, \u201cVoodoo Child (Slight Return).\u201d

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\u201cThank you very much and goodnight,\u201d he said, as the band continued to jam. \u201cI\u2019d like to say peace, yeah, and happiness.\u201d

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But then, instead of wrapping up his set, he launched into his iconic take on Francis Scott Key\u2019s song.

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Hendrix performed the anthem as an encore.
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Fifty years after Hendrix performed \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d at Woodstock, the rendition still serves as an exemplar of music\u2019s political potency. It inspired my own scholarship on the past, present and future of the national anthem.

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What made Hendrix\u2019s rendition so remarkable was his ability to fuse protest and horror with patriotism and hope.

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A living, breathing anthem

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Roused by the heroism of the soldiers who repelled the British attack on Baltimore\u2019s Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key wrote the song in September 1814. Using a well-known melody, the lawyer-poet composed a new set of lyrics to fit the tune.

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\n Francis Scott Key.\n Walters Art Museum\n
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In the 19th century, it was common practice to write new lyrics to old songs as a way to comment on politics and culture \u2013 a tradition known as broadside balladry. So far my research has identified roughly 200 songs written to the tune of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner.\u201d The abolitionist lyric \u201cOh Say, Do You Hear?\u201d is one particularly powerful example.

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Hendrix, in a way, continued this tradition, updating the tune to say something about the world around him.

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Rather than change the words, however, Hendrix transformed the musical arrangement.

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Mining the anthem\u2019s many meanings

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Some might think Hendrix\u2019s Woodstock Banner was an on-the-spot improvisation. But he had actually been experimenting with the song for over a year, and he would continue to perform the anthem up until his untimely death in September 1970.

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In all, Hendrix performed the piece at least 70 times, with his last known performance taking place almost a year after Woodstock \u2013 in Hawaii, on Aug. 1, 1970.

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Hendrix sometimes titled his anthem renditions \u201cThis Is America,\u201d and his arrangements were as flexible as they were potent. They could be as short as three minutes or as long as six-and-a-half.

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Building off the traditional melody, Hendrix could paint a picture of patriotic pride or commercial corruption.

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Hendrix knew how to celebrate the nation. For example, his studio version of the anthem is a patriotic fireworks display, bursting with overlapping layers of the traditional melody. It\u2019s decorated with sparkling trills, extra melodic passing tones and extreme octave shifts.

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At the other end of the symbolic spectrum are his four anthem renditions that he recorded live at San Francisco\u2019s Winterland Ballroom in October 1968. They begin with dark, atmospheric improvisations, punctuated by Mitchell\u2019s explosive drums, and include raucous quotes of TV advertising jingles and a distorted, out-of-tune version of the melody that devolves into the Civil War lament \u201cTaps.\u201d

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Hendrix also knew how to blow up the anthem.

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Fusing horror with hope

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Woodstock was a social experiment \u2013 a cultural response to a decade of protest and fear.

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On one side, there was America\u2019s youth, outraged by racial injustice and war in Vietnam. On the other side, there was an establishment terrified by the social revolution taking place: new attitudes about sex, drugs, spirituality, racial equality and communal living.

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This generational collision came to a head on the wooden stage built at Max Yasgur\u2019s farm.

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Hendrix was an unlikely countercultural hero. He was a mixed-race, rock icon who had served in the U.S. Army\u2019s 101st Airborne, earning his \u201cScreaming Eagles\u201d patch as a paratrooper. While he escaped the military to pursue his musical career, he still had friends in Vietnam.

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In his Woodstock anthem, Hendrix seems to mimics explosions, machine gunfire and a wailing emergency siren \u2013 musical images of horror.

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But these departures from the traditional melody don\u2019t dismantle the anthem. Instead, he plays notes that intone the words \u201cbombs bursting in air\u201d and \u201crockets red glare.\u201d He depicts, rather than destroys, the song.

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Hendrix then plays the \u201cTaps\u201d melody, a tune traditionally performed at military funerals to honor the sacrifice of service.

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Finally, he returns to the traditional anthem melody, offering a full and faithful conclusion to the song. He lingers on several words, extending the note sounding the word \u201cfree\u201d for six full seconds. His musical conclusion seems to echo the optimistic, if not triumphant, themes of the festival.

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When 400,000 arrived for a concert designed for, at most, half that number, a public health disaster loomed. Shortages of food, water, gas, and medical supplies, compounded by an impassable traffic jam foretold of suffering if not violence. Yet the community pulled together and a temporary city appeared. Rivers of mud made utopia impossible, but attendees persevered. Extra food was donated, volunteer doctors from the U.S. Army and Red Cross were flown in by helicopter, patience and peace reigned. Music held the world together.

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Hendrix used Key\u2019s anthem to reflect the America he experienced at Woodstock that weekend. It was a nation mired in contradiction, but also a community capable of pulling together.

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It was a cry of anguish and a vision of \u201cpeace, yeah, and happiness.\u201d

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[ You\u2019re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation\u2019s authors and editors. You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter. ]

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