Woodstock Diary [1994]

• Artist: Various Artists
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1994
• Total Time: 68:05
• Type: Live, Collection (various artists)
• Genre: Rock

Review

Released in 1994 (the same year as the definitive four-disc Woodstock box set, Woodstock: Three Days of Peace & Music [25th Anniversary]), this album, may, at first glance, seem like an afterthought. Actually, it's a pretty neat compilation. Shorn of the long, indulgent jams, crowd chants, and warnings against bad acid that were an integral part of the earlier, better-known records, Woodstock Diary is a polished little gem -- an alternate take on the mother of all rock festivals. Woodstock minus the melodrama, if you will. It isn't a faultless set list by any means: Jimi Hendrix's performance -- revelatory and inspired as it was -- has been covered enough elsewhere, so you can't help wishing that they'd given his 12 minutes to, say, the Grateful Dead or Blood Sweat and Tears, both of whom haven't been featured on any of the Woodstock compilations to date. That said, there are lovely moments aplenty: Crosby, Stills and Nash doing the Beatles' "Blackbird"; Johnny Winter dropping hot riffs all over "Mean Town Blues" (the only song he performed at Woodstock); and Joe Cocker's cover of "I Shall be Released," on which he manages to be affecting without burning the tune down to the ground like he did far more famously on "With a Little Help From My Friends." Along with the Band's "The Weight," Richie Havens' tender version of Gordon Lightfoot's "I Can't Make It Anymore," and Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter," they make this album predominantly a celebration of the quieter moments at Woodstock. Nine of the 14 tracks here are featured on the 1994 box set, so, for those who own that album, this may not be vital, but as a companion piece to the Woodstock and Woodstock 2 albums, it is excellent value. ~ Leslie Mathew, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Let's Go Get Stoned (Lyrics)	Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Joseph Armstead	Joe Cocker	(5:30)
The Weight	Robbie Robertson	The Band	(4:30)
Mean Town Blues	Johnny Winter	Johnny Winter	(4:20)
Blackbird (Lyrics)	John Lennon, Paul McCartney	Crosby, Stills & Nash	(2:35)
Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)	Chip Taylor, Jerry Ragovoy	Janis Joplin	(4:15)
Ball and Chain	Big Mama Thornton	Janis Joplin	(6:14)
I Can't Make It Anymore	Gordon Lightfoot	Richie Havens	(3:50)
Somebody to Love (Lyrics)	Grace Slick, Darby Slick	Jefferson Airplane	(4:00)
White Rabbit (Lyrics)	Grace Slick	Jefferson Airplane	(2:25)
If I Were a Carpenter (Lyrics)	Tim Hardin	Tim Hardin	(2:35)
Southbound Train	Norman Landsberg, Leslie West, John Ventura	Mountain	(3:30)
Love City	Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart	Sly & the Family Stone	(6:21)
I Shall Be Released (Lyrics)	Bob Dylan	Joe Cocker	(5:50)
Voodoo Child (Slight Return)	Jimi Hendrix	Jimi Hendrix	(12:10)

Credits

Tim Hardin (Performer), Richie Havens (Performer), The Band (Performer), Joe Cocker (Performer), Crosby, Stills & Nash (Performer), Jefferson Airplane (Performer), Janis Joplin (Performer), Mountain (Performer), Sly & the Family Stone (Performer), Johnny Winter (Performer), Rick Danko (Bass (Electric)), Rick Danko (Vocals), Alan Douglas (Producer), Jimi Hendrix (Performer), Michael Fairchild (Liner Notes)