Hendrix flashed a
peace sign at the start of his performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock, August 18, 1969.
By 1969, Hendrix was the world's highest-paid rock musician.
[195] In August, he headlined the Woodstock Music and Art Fair that included many of the most popular bands of the time.
[196] For the concert, he added rhythm guitarist
Larry Lee and conga players
Juma Sultan and
Jerry Velez. The band rehearsed for less than two weeks before the performance, and according to Mitchell, they never connected musically.
[197]
Before arriving at the engagement, Hendrix heard reports that the size
of the audience had grown to epic proportions, which gave him cause for
concern as he did not enjoy performing for large crowds.
He was an important draw for the event, and although he accepted
substantially less money for the appearance than his usual fee, he was
the festival's highest-paid performer.
[nb 30]
As his scheduled time slot of midnight on Sunday drew closer, he
indicated that he preferred to wait and close the show in the morning;
the band took the stage around 8:00 a.m. on Monday.
[201] By the time of their set, Hendrix had been awake for more than three days.
The audience, which peaked at an estimated 400,000 people, was now
reduced to 30–40,000, many of whom had waited to catch a glimpse of
Hendrix before leaving during his performance. The festival MC,
Chip Monck, introduced the group as
the Jimi Hendrix Experience, but Hendrix clarified: "We decided to change the whole thing around and call it
Gypsy Sun and Rainbows. For short, it's nothin' but a
Band of Gypsys".
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An excerpt from the
beginning of "The Star-Spangled Banner", at Woodstock, August 18, 1969.
The sample demonstrates Hendrix's cutting-edge use of feedback.
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Hendrix's performance featured a rendition of the U.S. national anthem, "
The Star-Spangled Banner",
during which he used copious amounts of amplifier feedback, distortion,
and sustain to replicate the sounds made by rockets and bombs.
[204] Although contemporary political pundits described his interpretation as a statement against the
Vietnam War,
three weeks later Hendrix explained its meaning: "We're all
Americans ... it was like 'Go America!'... We play it the way the air is
in America today. The air is slightly static, see". Immortalized in the 1970 documentary film,
Woodstock, his guitar-driven version would become part of the sixties
Zeitgeist. Pop critic Al Aronowitz of the
New York Post wrote: "It was the most electrifying moment of Woodstock, and it was probably the single greatest moment of the sixties."
Images of the performance showing Hendrix wearing a blue-beaded white
leather jacket with fringe, a red head-scarf, and blue jeans are widely
regarded as iconic pictures that capture a defining moment of the era.
[207][nb 31] He played "Hey Joe" during the encore, concluding the 3½-day festival. Upon leaving the stage, he collapsed from exhaustion.
[nb 32] In 2011, the editors of
Guitar World placed his rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock at number one in their list of his 100 greatest performances.
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