Woodstock Remembered

Blawg Review #225 reminds us that this week marks the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, which became synonymous with the name Woodstock, a music festival billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music", held at Max Yasgur's 600 acre dairy farm in the rural town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969.

The host of this week's Blawg Review, Seattle Trademark Lawyer, notes that another name in music history, Seattle's own Jimi Hendrix, emerged as one of the brightest young stars at Woodstock.



This "unorthodox" electric rendition of The Star Spangled Banner was seen by some as controversial at the time but has become an iconic and much-loved version of the American National Anthem.

Hendrix and his lasting contribution to music history is recorded and presented in a museum in Seattle, the Experience Music Project, which is marking the 40th anniversary of Woodstock with a special presentation for which Jimi Hendrix is expected to be a big attraction.

Less well-known, except perhaps to thousands of freedom loving people gathered this past weekend for Seattle's 18th annual Hempfest, is another band at Woodstock, Country Joe and The Fish. The Fish is not of Seattle's Pike Place Market but, rather, coming to Woodstock from Berkeley and the Monterey Pop, none other than Barry Melton, a criminal defense attorney for the past 20 years, who recently retired as the Public Defender of Yolo County, California.

We leave you with a little Rock and Soul Music and the thought-provoking question for many, "What were you doing 40 years ago?"