The Woodstock story is now familiar: how it marked the end of an era against a background of social and cultural change, the beginning of musical careers for some, the end for others, triumph in the face of adversity. It really is a musical story worth telling.

The key smallprint in this latest festival tome, is "in association with the The Museum at Bethel Woods ". This is the arts centre close to the original site and it has given the authors access to its archive.

'Woodstock Three Days That Rocked The World' is the definitive coffee table history, filled with evocative photographs and quotations and placing the event in context. There is mention of Vietnam and popular culture and those festivals that paved the way in the late sixties as well as some reference to the Woodstock legacy.

This work is, though, a job of compilation and no doubt those archives served the authors well. It is not clear which is the new interview material compiled specifically for this project and it may have been helpful to put a date to the many quotations.

The book does remind us of those performers that were somewhat overshadowed by events and by the film more specifically: a comprehensive day by day chronicle of each set reminds us of those names that became a mere Woodstock footnote - Sweetwater, Bert Sommer, Quill and Keef Hartley - whilst a "where are they now?" section answers the reader's natural curiosity.

Together with the anniversary reissue of the Woodstock movie, this book is all you'll ever need to appreciate those 3 heady days of peace, music and mud.

****

Review by David Randall

DVD review