With the 40th Anniversary of “Woodstock ’69” now here, the Woodstock celebration continues. What bands that should have been booked to perform at Woodstock ‘ 69?
1. Led Zeppelin – They were asked to perform at Woodstock ’69, but the band turned it down. A shame, they would have been good. In 1969, Led Zeppelin were a new band at the time as they only released Led Zeppelin I album that year. Even though Led Zep didn’t have much original material that year, I’m sure the band would have thrown in a bunch of cover songs to fill the set time at Woodstock.
2. The Doors – They would have been a great addition to the Woodstock ’69 lineup, they turned down the gig ’cause Jim was uncomfortable playing outside gigs.
3. Fleetwood Mac – with Peter Green fronting the band at this time of year in ’69, this would have kicked ass!
4. Pink Floyd – Enough said?
5. Bob Dylan – As much as I don’t like Bob Dylan too much, it was very weird on why he didn’t play the festival.
6. Tommy James and the Shondells – Another band that was asked to play but turned down, I’ve always loved this band, them being a part of Woodstock would have been something very special.
7. Jethro Tull – I wonder why they never played, it would have been a great opportunity for them.
8. Cream – Eric Clapton’s 1960’s heavy rock blues band would have been great!
9. B. B. King – Don’t hurt to have a little blues, don’t it? B.B. would have been perfect as well.
10. The Allman Brothers Band – Although they only had one album released that year, I can definitely see them playing on that Woodstock stage.
Kev
K'Brocking 
I was hitching around Europe in 69 and missed Woodstock, but in June of 69 I did go to the Bath Blues Festival in the UK which featured some of the bands you mentioned:
Led Zeppelin & Fleetwood Mac – BTW, Peter Green was still with them, he quit in 1970.
Now on to your list.
I like your picks: Allman Brothers, Jethro Tull, Led Zep., Doors
I would add: The Rolling Stones, Chicago, Iron Butterfly (booked, but were stuck at an airport), Cream disbanded in 1968, but Clapton’s Blind Faith would have been great at Woodstock. His opening act: Deleney and Bonnie and Friends would have been an excellent fit too.
As long as we’re dreaming, the Beatles were in the studio in Aug ’69, so technically together, imagine them backed up by Clapton and an all-star band at Woodstock.
This is a great list and I couldn’t agree more, I never took the time to think about who wasn’t there, always focused more on who was there – well done!
According to Wikipedia, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham did not joint Fleetwood Mac until Dec. 31, 1974. so even if the band had appeared at Woodstock, Stevie Nicks wouldn’t have been there.
The Beach Boys. They turned down Monteray Pop.
yup good additions cept #6, unsure how tommy james would have fit into the scheme.
Their song “Crimson and Clover” sounds like a hippie kind of song, a song like that is perfect to get stoned and trip on acid over, I think that’s why they were asked to play. Tommy James are the ones that started this psychedellic revolution in the 60’s.
Kev
The Beatles
Stevie Nicks did not join Fleetwood Mac until 1975.
I think if you blotted Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young from the Woodstock-verse forever the concert would’ve been impossibly improved. Replacing them with Led Zeppelin would’ve caused several acid-addled concert-goers to see the dark heart of their hippie dream long before Altamont.
Brad, I love CSN(as long as it’s with Y), but that was a great comment right there.
Well I dont see how anyone can even begin to talk about what could have made it better. What in our current generation even comes close to WoodStock? The bands anymore are here today gone the next, and it’s more about how sexy they are. The artist today are famouse for being famouse.
Yep, plus most of today’s music is fake and most all bands/artists of today lip synchs and the musician’s don’t even really play their instruments.
In Woodstock ’69, they didn’t have that technology where musicians have to fake everything…so everything had to be real at Woodstock. At Woodstock ’69, the musicians really sang and played their instruments for reals. We don’t get that anymore in the music industry today and it’s sad. I miss the old days of music when everything used to be real.
Kev
I found this about Jethro Tull. It’s odd that they did play at Isle of Wight. Wonder how they felt about their music being played even though they declined.
Jethro Tull declined to perform. Ian Anderson is reported to have later said he “didn’t want to spend [his] weekend in a field of unwashed hippies”. Another theory proposes that the band felt the event would be “too big a deal” and might kill their career before it started.However, other artists from the time have expressed the view that, before the festival, there was little indication of the importance the event would eventually come to assume. Although Jethro Tull did not perform, their music was played over the public address system. In the film, during the interview with the promoters (where they are discussing how much money they will be losing on the venture), the songs “Beggar’s Farm” and “Serenade to a Cuckoo”, from the album This Was, can be heard in the background. Jethro Tull did perform at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970.
Thanks to wordpress staff for putting this blog entry on the front page of wordpress.com. That’s awesome!
Kev
I read once the promoters had a fair amount of say about who made the bill, and booked their lesser-known acts in return for bringing their big-ticket performers. That’s why the concert includes acts like Quill, for example.
There’s actually a story that the Allman Brothers Band were actually en route to the festival as attendees and when the traffic started to get REALLY bad, they turned around and went back home.