Search - :: Woodstock: 40 Years on: Back to Yasgur's Farm (6CD, Limited Edition)

6 Discs and YOU-ARE-THERE!

M. McKay | Downey, CA United States | 08/11/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is an incredible set! The best Woodstock collection yet! The sound quality is stellar. The packaging? Fantastic! Similar to Rhino's "Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970" but with the CD's in plastic DVD length cases, so no worry about scratching your CD's. I would like to give this set four and A HALF stars, just shy of five. Why only four and a half and not five? Well, first off, it can't be helped that Keef Hartley Band, Ten Years After, and The Band backed out of being a part of this collection. I'm sure Rhino tried all they could, but what can you do? What I'm at a loss about is the repeated inclusion of CSN&Y's non-Woodstock performance of "Sea Of Madness." It's been established that this performance was at the Fillmore East a week later from the festival. Why couldn't "Blackbird," "Mr. Soul," or "Helplessly Hoping" been included instead? Anyways, the included booklet is awesome featuring the COMPLETE listing of Woodstock performers and their complete sets for the first time! FINALLY! This set is 6-CDs long so are you ready for this? Here we go.



DISC ONE:



1. RITCHIE HAVENS: The remix makes his performance sound much more intimate and close.

2. SWEETWATER: Better than expected! "Look Out" ROCKS and "Two Worlds" is faster than the studio version.

3. BERT SOMMER: To have left this guy off for 40 years is criminal! A BEAUTIFUL, inspired sounding acoustic set. What a voice!

4. TIM HARDIN: Tim is all his disheveled glory. "Simple Song Of Freedom" will make you smile and cry at the same time.

5. RAVI SHANKAR: I've heard better from Ravi (Monterey, etc.), but this rather short raga is good.

6. MELANIE: A POWERFUL three songs from the raspy voiced singing/songwriting princess of the early '70s.

7. ARLO GUTHRIE: Well now we know why his Woodstock performance of "Coming Into Los Angeles" was replaced on the soundtrack, Arlo's mic was off for the first verse of the song!



DISC TWO:



1. JOAN BAEZ: Aside from the inclusion of "Hickory Wind" this is pretty much the same as you've always known from Joan.

2. QUILL: IT'S ABOUT TIME THIS BAND GOT SOME RECOGNITION! A percussion based psychedelic rock band that were REALLY theatrical!

3. COUNTRY JOE MCDONALD: Did you know he came back for another verse of "Fixin' To Die" after his shouted "ALRIGHT!" Me neither.

4. SANTANA: A killer "Persuasion" and an unedited "Soul Sacrifice."

5. JOHN B. SEBASTIAN: Yep, John was stoned. His stage patter is finally in the correct places after all these years.

6. INCREDIBLE STRING BAND: Very hippie, very acoustic, very folk, very good.



DISC THREE:



1. CANNED HEAT: The Bear has to pee before "Going Up The Country" and "Woodstock Boogie" KILLS...ALL 28 MINUTES OF IT!

2. MOUNTAIN: A better "Blood Of The Sun" than on "Woodstock Two." And a great "For Yasgur's Farm" with Leslie belting it!

3. GRATEFUL DEAD: A 19-minute "Dark Star" that's not all that bad despite being from one of The Dead's worst performances.

4. CCR: Creedence was TIGHT after following The Dead. "Green River," "Bad Moon Rising," and "I Put A Spell On You" are all KILLER! The inclusion of "Keep On Chooglin" would have been nice though.



DISC FOUR:



1. JANIS JOPLIN: A better mix than the 25th Anniversary set! Janis wasn't in her best form but she got the point across.

2. SLY & THE FAMILY STONE: The UNEDITED medley that almost brought the stage down early that Sunday morning. 100% PURE FUNK!

3. ABBIE HOFFMAN: "John Sinclair...John Sinclair...blah...blah...blah"

4. THE WHO: INSANE, ghostly feedback from Pete's amp for "Amazing Journey." And Abbie and Pete duet. Ha ha ha.

5. JEFFERSON AIRPLANE: Morning maniac music. The Airplane rocked Sunday morning with the opening "The Other Side Of This Life."



DISC FIVE:



1. JOE COCKER: No "Something's Coming On" but Joe and the band sound FANTASTIC with this remix. Funny backing vocals as always.

2. THE RAINSTORM: Got everyone's attention after Joe but never got a record deal. Very soothing...for 4 minutes.

3. COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH: A ROCKING set from The Fish! A "reprise" version of "Rock And Soul Music" that lasts 12 minutes.

4. JOHNNY WINTER: The full "Mean Town Blues" which features some KILLER slide work from Johnny.

5. BLOOD, SWEAT, & TEARS: Their last song, "You've Made Me So Very Happy," and they sound really good here. Good horn section!



DISC SIX:



1/2. CSN&Y: They were alright. "Marrakesh Express" is the best of THIS set, but no "Blackbird" which WAS their best that night.

3. BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND: "No Amount Of Loving" is plagued by a faulty mic but this thing grooves so good it makes up for it.

4. SHA NA NA: Would have like to have heard "Teen Angel" as well. "Get A Job" was their opener. Face it, these guys ruled.

5. JIMI HENDRIX: The same as you've heard but it doesn't sound remixed for the box set.



Well there you go, all six discs. Not only does the music sound better than it has ever sounded before but the stage announcements included are great as well. I guess they read my review for the 25th Anniversary box set. You're going to hear some pretty funny announcements that were not included on the original soundtrack. Come to find out the brown acid warning was at night after Canned Heat's set and that wasn't the only problem, both John Morris and Chip Monck were CONSTANTLY having to tell festival goers to get off of the towers! There's even some advice on taking the green acid tabs from none other than the San Francisco acid team themselves, Jerry Garcia and Country Joe! And most importantly, the full unedited speech from Mr. Max Yasgur. God Bless your memory Max. By opening your heart, you made history.



"

40 YEARS ON--WOODSTOCK STILL LIVES

Stuart Jefferson | San Diego,Ca | 08/11/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Wow! As a stand-alone overview,this is a fantastic release.



Six discs crammed (almost 8 hours-still only 1/5 of all the music) with exciting music from great artists. An 80 page large-format book,filled with wonderfully printed color and b&w photographs from the festival. A written introduction by producer Andy Zax,who originally wanted to release all the music from Woodstock-on 30 discs. And notes by Bud Scoppa detailing events over the three days and the era in general. There is a set list of the performers,and who played what instrument in this collection,and a complete list in chronological order of all the performers/songs played at Woodstock.



There's great unreleased music from artists (COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH,Tim Hardin among others) heard on previous Woodstock releases. But listeners,finally,get to hear people/groups (the great Bert Sommer,THE GRATEFUL DEAD),plus,full-length versions of already released songs,and authentic sets (MOUNTAIN,Ravi Shankar) not heard on past releases-all in improved sound. The tracks have been remastered and are clean and crisp-yet still retain their original warmth and immediacy. Another plus is that the performances are heard in the original order as experienced at the three day festival. This brings listeners closer to what actually happened,which gives this collection even more weight.



Combine all this with Max Yasgur's complete speech to "the kids",Abbie Hoffman's attempt at politicizing the crowd and THE WHO's Pete Townshend's words to that attempt,the sometimes humorous yet very atmospheric stage announcements and sounds from the festival,and it all adds up to a stunning collection.



The packaging is similar to Rhino's hardcover "Love Is The Song We Sing:S.F. Nuggets 1965-1970" release from awhile back,except the discs are snapped in,inside the front and back covers. The book is slipped into its own inside cardboard pocket. INSIDE the pocket is a color picture of a Yasgur's dairy box and on the other side,a quote. All in all,a pretty good presentation.



Yes,there's a lot of previously released music here. THE BAND,TEN YEARS AFTER,and THE KEEF HARTLEY BAND are not represented. And once in a while the mix isn't as perfect (Arlo Guthrie's "Coming Into Los Angeles",CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL) as some listeners might wish. But what listeners do have is a collection of good,important,,exciting music from some of the greatest bands/performers of the era. Artists who came together to create one of the most important,far-reaching,musical events in our history. Something which can never be repeated.



Forget nostalgia. Sit back and listen to this still vital music. It has the power to set your feet moving and put a smile on your face. And that's a sure sign of good music. With this collection,"Woodstock nation" still lives.



P.S. As of today (08/11/09) I notice that Amazon is no longer selling this set. So if you're thinking of purchasing it-don't wait. Maybe in this instance "limited edition" actually means what it says. Also,for anyone who wants to know the tracks on this collection,they can be found on one of the discussion sites under this collection's title. S.J."

NOT QUITE THE MOTHERLODE...

Michael D. Zungolo | Philadelphia, PA USA | 08/14/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...but it looks as if this is as close as we're going to get. In the accompanying booklet, Andy Zax, the compiler of this magnificent box set, begins by telling us: "When we began working on this project four years ago, the original intention was to try to put out all three days' worth of music from the festival on 30 CD's. Though we were able to locate, assemble and reconstruct about 99% of the music from Woodstock...some rather non-Aquarian logistical realities ultimately dictated that this project would take a slightly less sprawling form".



1960's, meet the 2000's...



That said, this collection, which brings us about a fifth of what went down (musically) at the festival, is sonic heaven. The remixes are brilliant, the sound crisp and vibrant. Though some of the performances were a little, ahem, muddy (I'm looking at you, Sweetwater), the box is on the whole cheap at twice the price. I only wish I could get the thought of the whole festival on 30 CD's out of my head. Sigh...



I personally have created a not-too-shabby Woodstock playlist on my Ipod by combining this box with the missing performances from the 25th anniversary set (TYA, The Band, etc.), the Sly/Airplane/Winter/Joplin/Santana shows from the Woodstock Experience box, the complete Hendrix show, and a few odds and ends from my collection (such as John Sebastian's complete performance from his Rhino Handmade set).



Still, though, I just can't stop thinking about those 30 CD's. Maybe someday...



"