The classic CSNY song Jimi Hendrix covered first
Throughout their history together, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were always concerned with getting to the heart of every song they wrote. Even though they never claimed to be the most proficient musicians in the world, their way of inhabiting every song they sang made for musical magic whenever they harmonised together, each working on the other’s material to create something beautiful. While one of the cornerstones of their album Deja Vu would be centred around their cover of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Woodstock’, guitar legend Jimi Hendrix beat them to the punch by only a few months.
Before looking at either version, it’s important to note where Mitchell was when she began writing the song. After being unable to go to the namesake fabled festival, Mitchell poured her soul into writing the track, singing about the children lost to time trying to find their way back to the garden. Although the CSNY version would get a shot in the arm from Stephen Stills’ sizzling guitar part, it was destined for much greater things a few months later.
After cutting his teeth in Buffalo Springfield with Neil Young, Stills went through different jam sessions in 1968 when he found himself face to face with Hendrix, about to undergo one of the greatest creative runs of his career with the double album Electric Ladyland.
With the prospect of working with the guitar impresario in front of him, Stills leaned on some already learned material and showed the musician ‘Woodstock’. Once Stills showed Hendrix the main progression, Hendrix picked it up and eventually produced and played bass on a version of the tune with Stills alongside Buddy Miles, who would go on to perform with Hendrix on the live album Band of Gypsys.
Although Stills would eventually return to his supergroup to cut the band’s debut album, it’s easy to hear what Hendrix brought to the recording. Since Hendrix already had his creative heights to reach on his own, the song didn’t make it past the demo stages; instead, it was just a test run for what Stills would flesh out once he returned to Crosby, Nash, and Young.
Then again, hearing Hendrix take part in the song is much more interesting, considering how the song ended up. Compared to the tame studio version they started at the time, the jammed recording with Stills and Miles captures a rawer version of what the tune could have sounded like. Hendrix finds time to sprinkle bits of his studio magic over a song bound to become a classic.
It’s also interesting to hear a song like ‘Woodstock’ being interpreted by someone on the ground floor the day of the festival. Being responsible for the immortal version of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ from that day, Hendrix’s sparse take on the song makes it sound like the Stills is the messenger of Woodstock as if he’s returning from that life-changing festival and spreading the good word to all within earshot.
While the song wouldn’t make it onto various Hendrix compilations throughout the years, it eventually resurfaced when included on the 2018 compilation of rough cuts entitled Both Sides of the Sky. While Hendrix may not have played a note on the finished version of the album, his aura looms large on every second of this version.
