Richie Havens - Freedom (Woodstock 1969)

A: Richie Havens
S: Freedom (Woodstock 1969)

Richie Havens opened the Woodstock festival. He wasn’t scheduled to go on until later in the evening but heavy traffic had prevented the opening acts from arriving at the festival. While the other acts were stuck in traffic, Havens performed several encores, playing every song he knew. Searching for another song to sing, he began strumming, getting into a groove, when the word Freedom came to mind. He sang his now-famous song for the first time, on stage at Woodstock, making the words up as he played. He later told the story of having to see the movie Woodstock, so that he could hear how the song went so he could perform it again.

...