“Woodstock” (CSN&Y) #11 5/9/1970

A song written about the most famous music festival ever, by someone who wasn’t even there! Joni Mitchell tried to attend the last day of Woodstock, but her manager felt it was more important to stay in NYC and appear on Dick Cavett’s show the next night. She saw news reports, called then-boyfriend Graham Nash (who was there performing) and wrote a tune that perfectly captured the vibe. Joni put it out as the B-side of “Big Yellow Taxi.” Meanwhile, Nash brought it to his bandmates Crosby, Stills and Young for the group to record. Jimi Hendrix played on an early demo with Crosby and Stills; man, I’d love to hear that.