At the Woodstock Festival

At the Woodstock Festival is a live album by Indian classical musician Ravi Shankar that was released in 1970 on World Pacific Records.[1] It was recorded on 15 August 1969, during the first day of the Woodstock Festival in upstate New York. Shankar's set took place during a downpour and he later expressed his dissatisfaction with the event due to the prevalence of drugs among the crowd.[2]

At the Woodstock Festival
Live album by
Released1970
Recorded15 August 1969
VenueMax Yasgur's dairy farm, Bethel, NY
GenreIndian classical music
Length41:23
LabelWorld Pacific
ProducerRichard Bock

Having performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, Woodstock was the last rock festival Shankar played, as he subsequently distanced himself from the 1960s hippie movement.[3][4] He said he felt the music was only "incidental" to the party atmosphere and likened the vast rain-soaked crowd to "the water buffaloes you see in India, submerged in the mud".[5]

The album includes an eight-minute tabla solo played by Alla Rakha. At the Woodstock Festival was issued on CD in 1991 by BGO Records.[6]

Track listing

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Side one

  1. "Raga Puriya–Dhanashri/Gat in Sawarital" (11 Beats) (adapted by Ravi Shankar) – 11:04
  2. "Tabla Solo in Jhaptal" (10 Beats 2-3-2-3) (adapted by Alla Rakha) – 8:48

Side two

  1. "Raga Manj Khamaj" (Alap, Jor, Dhun in Kaharwa Tal (8 Beats), Medium and Fast Gat in Teental (16 Beats)) (adapted by Shankar) – 21:31

"Raga Puriya–Dhanashri/Gat in Sawarital" was in fact a studio recording. The live version performed at Woodstock was released for the first time in 2009, on the six-CD box set Woodstock 40 Years On: Back to Yasgur's Farm.[7]

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ Thompson, Dave (2017). Goldmine Record Album Price Guide (9th edn). Iola, WI: Krause Publications. p. 614. ISBN 978-1-4402-4776-7.
  2. ^ "Ravi Shankar". woodstock.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  3. ^ Shankar, Ravi (1999). Raga Mala: The Autobiography of Ravi Shankar. New York, NY: Welcome Rain. pp. 211–12. ISBN 1-56649-104-5.
  4. ^ Lavezzoli, Peter (2006). The Dawn of Indian Music in the West. New York, NY: Continuum. p. 181. ISBN 0-8264-2819-3.
  5. ^ Shankar, Ravi (1999). Raga Mala: The Autobiography of Ravi Shankar. New York, NY: Welcome Rain. p. 211. ISBN 1-56649-104-5.
  6. ^ "Ravi Shankar At the Woodstock Festival". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  7. ^ "Woodstock – 40 Years On: Back to Yasgur's Farm". Rhino.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017.