an unofficial day four) with his band—
including brother Edgar, Tommy
Shannon, and “Uncle” John Turner.
Texan Winter made his first record at 15
and played small clubs until a Chicago
jam session with Mike Bloomfield
landed him a gig with the guitar ace at the
Fillmore East in New York City. Winter,
who performed B.B. King’s “It’s My Own
Fault” that night, got a huge hand, and
Columbia offered him $600,000 up front
for his self-named first album, thought
to be the largest advance in music his-
tory at that time. “For about an hour,
Winter heated things up,” Lang wrote,
“playing spectacular slide on a mix of
Texas blues, R&B, and early rock ’n’ roll,
including Chuck Berry’s ‘Johnny B.
Goode’ to end his set.”committed suicide in 1986 at 42. The
surviving members all went on to solo
work and other endeavors. Danko died
at 56 in 1999 from heart failure, believed
to have been brought on by years of sub-
stance use. Helm, who pursued acting—
with acclaimed turns in The Right Stuff
and Coal Miner’s Daughter, died from
throat cancer at 71 in 2012. Robertson,
75, has done a great deal of film and
TV score work. Hudson, whom Time
magazine has called “the most bril-
liant organist in the rock world,” still
plays occasional gigs as he nears age 82.
Johnny Winter
12–1:10 AM
The albino blues guitar icon kept
things cooking (it was now Monday,
AFTER WOODSTOCK: Johnny Winter
remained a revered and active per-
former until his death in 2014, at 70,
from emphysema and pneumonia.
Edgar Winter, 72, remains an active
musician and has contributed to many
film, TV, and commer cial projects.Blood, Sweat & Tears
1:45–2:45 AM
The jazz-blues-rock ensemble was
something like a small orchestra, with
a heavy dose of horns behind the white-
soul belting of Canadian lead singer
David Clayton-Thomas. By 1969, found-
ing member Al Kooper had left the
band, and the group’s eponymous sec-
ond album had won a Grammy, beating
out the Beatles’ Abbey Road, among oth-
ers. When they convened at Woodstock
at 1:45 a.m., BS&T had two monster sin-
gles out—“You’ve Made Me So Very
Happy” and “Spinning Wheel.” The
group’s hour-long set would include
their next hit, Laura Nyro’s “And
When I Die.” It’s difficult to assess the
performance because the set wasn’t
recorded—BS&T’s manager couldn’t
agree on financial terms for the film
and album. Saxophonist Fred Lipsius,
for one, claimed it was the group’s worst
outing, in part, he said, because Clayton-
Thomas was off pitch.AFTER WOODSTOCK: The band most
people remember began to peel off
in the early ’70s. Clayton-Thomas
departed in 1972 to pursue a solo career.
At 77 he still goes on the road, as does
BS&T which, despite myriad personnel
changes, continues to tour and record.Crosby, Stills, Nash
& Young
3:30–5 AM
This was only the second public appear-
ance of this now iconic folk-rock super-
group, whose exquisite harmonies (and
forward social consciousness) made
them essential to the era’s soundtrack.
The individual members had plenty of
cred before forming CSN&Y. Stephen
Stills and David Crosby were alums
of Buffalo Springfield and the Byrds,78 LIFE WOODSTOCK