3 Days of Peace & Music - August 15, 16 & 17, 1969

1969's Woodstock Festival was a seminal event in U.S. pop culture and artist Arnold Skolnik's poster artwork is one of the most-recognizable images from that era in American history. Although the promoters had wanted their festival to show off the creativity and lifestyles of the youth of the day (hence the title "Music and Art Fair"), whether you were there or not, Woodstock remains first and foremost the time and place where music became the focus of a generation (and a way to differentiate youth from "The Establishment").

It was also the place where many of us were first introduced to a wide range of acts, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (their second-ever public performance), Santana and Joe Cocker, and also where bands such as the Jefferson Airplane and Country Joe & The Fish played as they approached the end of their "classic" line-ups.

And, of course, there was Hendrix's riveting performance - a reason alone to get the DVD. 

Performers who played during the three-day event included:

Joan Baez

The Band

Blood, Sweat & Tears

Canned Heat

Credence Clearwater Revival

Joe Cocker (& The Grease Band)

Country Joe McDonald (& The Fish)

Crosby, Stills & Nash

Grateful Dead

Arlo Guthrie

Tim Hardin

Keef Hartley Band

Richie Havens

The Incredible String Band

Jimi Hendrix

Jefferson Airplane

Janis Joplin (and the Kozmic Blues Band)

Melanie

Mountain

Quill

Santana

John Sebastian

Sha Na Na

Ravi Shankar

Sly & The Family Stone

Ten Years After

The Who

Johnny Winter (& Edgar Winter)

Trivia tidbit #1 - according to Skolnik, the bird on the poster was originally sitting on a flute (since he was listening to jazz the day he was working on the artwork), but in the final version, the bird was perched on a guitar. He also had to change a fair amount of copy, as the festival was forced to move from one location to another practically overnight!

Trivia tidbit #2 - bands that were either scheduled to appear and did not, or those that turned down the invitation to appear include - The Byrds, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Tommy James & The Shondells, It's a Beautiful Day, Led Zeppelin, Mind Garage, Joni Mitchell, The Moody Blues, Spirit, and Jethro Tull