Despite being a Woodstock resident, Bob Dylan was famously not at the historic 1969 festival. But just because the musician himself skipped the event, that doesn’t mean his music did. By the end of the decade, Dylan was being held up as the mouthpiece of the generation, as if the divine spoke through his socially and politically conscious take on folk. So, as the peace and love crowd gathered, his tracks were sung like standards by plenty of artists.
As Woodstock has gone down in history, there’s a prevailing myth that absolutely everyone was there. Too often, when it’s talked about, it’s assumed that every big name on the music scene at the time was in attendance. The actual lineup of the festival has been lost to time and is less known, while the poster for the event or images from the crowds exist in shared cultural consciousness as instantly recognisable images of music history. But really, there were a lot of artists missing.
Though Woodstock is now considered to be one of the most important events of the decade, at the time, the buzz was relatively muted. If anything, it was even lesser than other festivals as it was a brand new operation, without the trust and reputation of other events. So as the Isle of Wight Festival was the week after, a fair few artists turned down the invite to play Woodstock to instead start their journey across to the UK.
That was Dylan’s excuse. Apparently, he was worried that the festival might disrupt the peace he’d found in Woodstock. Either way, he was already booked for the Isle Of Wight, so he skipped the event in order to travel and prepare for that.
But even though he wasn’t there, his music was. By that point, Dylan’s songs already felt like folk standards. Music, in general, was more of a shared thing back then, as artists would commonly cover songs by others at their shows or even record their own version of popular songs. The folk legend’s tracks were firm favourites amongst his peers and the rest of the music scene. It felt as if Dylan has said what he wanted to say so perfectly, his songs became the final or ultimate word on whatever distinct scene or feeling they capture. Other artists simply sang his songs rather than attempting to one-up him, leading to a beautiful collective atmosphere amongst the stars of the ‘60s.
At Woodstock, four artists dedicated time in their sets to Dylan, giving him a presence on all three days of the festival despite his absence. First up, on Friday, August 15th, right as the first day ticked into the second around midnight, Melanie took to the stage. During her slot, which proved to be a breakout moment for the artist, she played ‘Mr Tambourine Man’. Performed with her soft vocals and almost shy stage presence, she added a level of intimacy to the track that isn’t found in the original.
Next up, playing directly after Melanie, Arlo Guthrie sang ‘Walkin’ Down The Line’, a lesser-known 1962 track that only existed in Dylan’s Bootleg series. But this moment felt like a beautiful full circle. His father, Woody Guthrie, was a huge influence on Dylan and really served as a kind of idol to him. So, having Arlo sing one of Dylan’s songs is a moving moment.
Continuing the string of Dylan songs on that first night, Joan Baez then took to the stage. Dylan and Baez have a long and complex history during which their songs and careers have always been intertwined. To a degree, it’s always felt like their songs are shared somehow as they both regularly sang each other’s tracks or came together for a duet. At Woodstock, Baez delivered her version of ‘I Shall Be Released’, one of his most moving protest songs with a clear message of hope.
Then, between 2pm and 3.45pm on Sunday, August 17th, Joe Cocker sang not one, not two, but three Bob Dylan songs during his Woodstock set. First, there was ‘Dear Landlord’, then ‘Just Like A Woman’ and finally, his own version of ‘I Shall Be Released’, dedicating a fair amount of his own set to Dylan’s words.
So, even though Dylan wasn’t there in the flesh, his work had a strong presence at the festival as his peers celebrated his talent in his absence.
Bob Dylan covers performed at Woodstock:
- Melanie – ‘Mr Tambourine Man’
- Arlo Guthrie – ‘Walkin’ Down The Line’
- Joan Baez – ‘I Shall Be Released’
- Joe Cocker – ‘Dear Mr Landlord’
- Joe Cocker – ‘Just Like A Woman’
- Joe Cocker – ‘I Shall Be Released’
