Woodstock Memories

Woodstock – billed as “3 Days of Peace & Music” – happened exactly 50 years ago from August 15-18, 1969. A total of 32 acts performed there – some well-known, some on the rise, and some now mostly forgotten. It was a watershed moment for the 1960’s counterculture, and the music which was played there continues to resonate to this day.

Here are some Woodstock memories from the musicians who were there, from the archives.

Interview: Larry Taylor

There are only a handful of bands/artists that performed at both the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and Woodstock in 1969: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Ravi Shankar, David Crosby (in The Byrds and filling in for Neil Young in Buffalo Springfield at Monterey, then in CSN at Woodstock), Stephen Stills (in Buffalo Springfield at Monterey, then in CSN at Woodstock), and Canned Heat.

Larry “The Mole” Taylor played bass for Canned Heat during their prime years, including at Monterey, at Woodstock, and for the hits “Go Up the Country” and “On the Road Again”. He has also had a fascinating musical history outside of Canned Heat, having played on early surf rock recordings by The Gamblers, as a session bassist for The Monkees, with John Mayall, with Tom Waits, and much, much more.

This interview was for a preview article for the Canned Heat concert on 7/10/15 at SOhO in Santa Barbara. It was done by phone on 6/29/15.