Whenever any holiday rolls around you can almost count on the History channel or VH1 to re-broadcast the August 2009 documentary of “Woodstock Now & Then.” This two-hour documentary television special that aired on both the History channel and VH1 commemorates the fortieth anniversary of the Woodstock Festival.
There are numerous interviews with attendees, festival staff, members of the Woodstock Ventures, a New York Times columnist, an ABC news journalist, filmmakers, band members who performed there and other ancillary stories. A lot of the “Woodstock Now & Then” documentary shows clips and footage from the 1970 film “Woodstock.” The director and one of the film editors are extensively interviewed. Of course one of the stars of the festival, film and the fortieth anniversary special is none other than Santana.
Overview of the 40th anniversary of Woodstock documentary
During the first hour you learn a great deal about the festival’s original location and how they had to scurry for a new one in record time. Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld, along with John Roberts and Joel Rosenman, talked throughout reminiscing how they got it all together.
You get a sense of its development until that Friday evening for the first series of concerts. Richie Havens was the first performer to begrudgingly go on due to the chaotic traffic jams setting back another band that was scheduled first. The second day the bands from the west coast were on. One Latin rock band in particular was to go on later that Saturday night, but was changed in the last minute to the afternoon. That was of course Santana.
The second half of the documentary continues with the Saturday night performances of the well known bands and singers. There was rain and mud everywhere. More clips are shown from a few of those performances. The festival closed out with Jimi Hendrix performing Monday morning.
It was suppose to end Sunday evening, but everything was set back due to the rain, mud and other circumstances. We get to learn a lot of the post-Woodstock operations from the Woodstock Ventures team. Ironically 1969 ended with the horrific incident at the Altamont concert with The Rolling Stones. Woodstock brought three days of music, memories, peace and harmony.
Santana’s iconic performance at Woodstock
Fifteen minutes before the first hour of “Woodstock Now & Then” you hear the initially clapping of Santana’s percussionists getting the crowd pumped up. A Woodstock attendee by the name of Arnold Robinson went with his wife and young son. He vividly recalls seeing Santana that memorable afternoon where “they brought the whole hillside down.”
Michael Shrieve, the drummer for Santana, recalls about playing earlier then expected. Carlos Santana retells how he was peaking on mescaline at the time they were to go on. He constantly prayed to God for him to play in time with the music. Rob Thomas, the featured vocalist on Santana’s hit song “Smooth”, said that his guitar was like a snake and he was holding it so tightly, because it was trying to get away.
Gregg Rolie, the organist and vocalist, said everything came together when they played “Soul Sacrifice.” Shrieve also downplays his famous two-minute drum solo by stating it isn’t a great solo. He admits the performance of the band overall was ridiculous. Their piece closes out the hour with a clip from the end of “Soul Sacrifice” while the crowd is yelling “more…more.”
Their Woodstock performance of “Soul Sacrifice” video
When Santana’s moment was showcased on the “Woodstock Now & Then” TV special film clips from their unforgettable performance were shown throughout. Here in its entirety is the 9-minute segment from the “Woodstock” film featuring Santana’s instrumental performance of “Soul Sacrifice”. At 3:07 begins Michael Shrieve’s drum solo. Please be aware there features nudity (from concertgoers) starting at 7:40 and beyond in the video.
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