DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE: You’ve seen the movie. You’ve heard the soundtrack. You’ve even heard Joni Mitchell’s anthemic account of the seminal music and arts fair held in August 1969 in Bethel, NY. So why watch a new account, one that’s less about performance footage and more about the recorded music and national mood of the period? Because the perspective here is informative, and relatively clear-eyed. It also adds new elements to the story, such as the surprising fact that the Woodstock concert was planned originally as a small, low-key event to showcase local musicians, including Bob Dylan and John Sebastian, to promote the opening of a new recording studio. Instead, the studio idea was scrapped, and the concert concept expanded. But there is lots of music from the stage, too, starting with Richie Havens’ “Freedom,” which I never knew he basically made up on the spot. What a weekend. “The New York State Thruway is closed, man!”
Check local listings. For information on the coverage of the documentary at the TCA Press Tour, see Roger Catlin's TV Eye.