You may not get to all the great concerts but you can own them on DVD and now Blu-Ray – tops has to be Woodstock

Gracie Slick of Jefferson Airplane at Woodstock 1969

Everyone knows about Woodstock– 3 crazy days in up-state New York filled with sex, drugs and rock and roll.

400,000 people went to a farm outside Woodstock New York to celebrate youth and rock music. Enjoying the video at home is much safer for aging boomers. 

The music on the DVD / Blu-Ray set is excellent, with some slow spots for the documentary. That’s what fast forward is about.

Almost everybody from the 60s rock scene was there except the Beatles and Bob Dylan.

Dylan wigged out even though he lived next door. Too much commotion for him.

Jefferson Airplane – “Somebody to Love” Woodstock 2009
There are several recordings of Woodstock.

Along with the “Director’s Cut”, there is an Ultimate Collectors Edition. The publisher promotes extra music and improved sound.

“The Blu-ray transfer is definitely an upgrade, as is the soundtrack, which was originally recorded on 8-track tape under less-than-ideal conditions. (Using modern digital technology, audio engineer Eddie Kramer, who was hunkered down in what passed for a recording booth at the Woodstock site, has painstakingly restored the soundtrack–even bringing in some of the musicians to re-play their original parts, as on Santana’s “Evil Ways,” one of the previously unreleased bonus performances.”

The Blu-Ray with improved sound does not included the “lost performances”. They are on the DVD.

I haven’t heard the Blu-Ray version but it has been remastered and sounds better according to some reviewers. Considering the concert was recorded on an 8-track, that would be easy to believe.