largest crowd of people ever assembled
for a concert, it’s dark, you can’t imag-
ine how many of you there are. Light
some matches and look who you have
next to you.” The shy singer was over-
come by the display (which is thought
to have begun the tradition of lighting
matches at rock concerts). With her
distinctive voice—clear and powerful,
with a gravelly edge—Melanie sang
seven songs: “Close to It All,” “Momma,
Momma,” “Beautiful People,” “Animal
Crackers,” Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine
Man,” “Tuning My Guitar,” and
“Birthday of the Sun.” She connected
immediately with the festival crowd,
and while her performance wasn’t fea-
tured in Wadleigh’s film, she essentially
became a star overnight.
AFTER WOODSTOCK: Her experience at
the festival inspired Melanie to write
her first major hit, “Lay Down (Candles
in the Rain),” performed with a gospel
group, the Edwin Hawkins Singers, and
released in 1970. Other big sellers she
wrote and recorded in the early ’70s
include “Brand New Key” (also called
the “Roller Skate Song”) and “What
Have They Done to My Song, Ma”
(which others have recorded as “Look
What They’ve Done to My Song, Ma”),
“Bitter Bad,” and a cover of “Will You
Still Love Me Tomorrow.” Melanie, now
72, has toured and has recorded more
than 30 albums over the past half cen-
tury, and won an Emmy for writing
the lyrics to “The First Time I Loved
Forever,” theme to the TV series Beauty
and the Beast.Arlo Guthrie
11:55 PM–12:45 AM
The curly-mopped son of folk legend
Woody Guthrie, 22-year-old Arlo had
made his own name with the droll satire
“Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,” which
appeared on his debut album in 1967.
He arrived at Woodstock with a stellar
quartet including jazz drum virtuoso
Paul Motian, best known for his work
with the sublime pianist Bill Evans.
When the rains came, Guthrie figured
he’d be sitting the evening out. “But
we decided to go for it,” Lang wrote.
“By then, Arlo, thinking he was off the
hook, had dropped some acid. He wasn’t
up for going on, but we talked him into
it. He did a great set.” Guthrie opened
with the compelling “Coming intoTHE BACKSTAGE AREA BECAME
a fertile meeting ground for the
artists, who found themselves
talking with old friends and
young comers. In one such
encounter (top), Joan Baez and
Arlo Guthrie had an impromptu
chat. Guthrie was enjoying
the buzz and recognition from
his song “Alice’s Restaurant
Massacree.” Baez, at 28 just six
years older than Guthrie, was
already a folk music legend.
A true unknown at the time,
Melanie (at the festival, above,
and, opposite, in 2010) made a
name for herself at Woodstock.36 LIFE WOODSTOCK