Why Jimi Hendrix Ruled at Woodstock

The Root at Slate reminds us all why Jimi Hendrix ruled at Woodstock.

About midway through his two-hour set, he launched into a medley of tunes including “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The national anthem had long been part of the Hendrix repertoire; he played it nearly 50 times in his career, but never as long and with as much riding on it as at Woodstock. His performance, filled with blasts of feedback that mimicked the sound of fighter jets, which had become familiar from news coverage of the Vietnam War, was backed only by Mitchell, who changed deftly from routine accompaniment to a more propulsive approach akin to the late Rashied Ali backing John Coltrane, as Jimi’s sounds grew more abstract. Forty years later, it still ranks as one of the greatest guitar performances ever.

“I’m an American, so I played it,” he explained to TV talk show host Dick Cavett in an interview weeks after the performance. When Cavett tried to characterize Hendrix’s take as unorthodox, the guitarist corrected him. “It’s not unorthodox; I thought it was beautiful.” And indeed, to all those on the wrong side of the generation gap who denounced Woodstock Nation as un-American, Jimi had the proper retort; they were embracing freedom, not their opponents who yearned for conformity.