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Friday Nite Videos | August 16, 2019: Woodstock 50

The Woodstock music festival was 50 years ago this week. It was an epic example of the power of music. Here we present three performances from Woodstock, plus a prelude (D.A. Pennebaker/Duke Ellington) and a coda (Bernie Sanders/Cardi B). Enjoy.

To view an video, click an image below,

Daybreak Express | D.A. Pennebaker / Duke Ellington

Prelude: a generation before Woodstock (1953) D.A. Pennebaker's short first film created the visual accompaniment to Duke Ellington's Take the A Train. The music without lyrics and documentary without narrator broke ground by allowing people's activity to speak for itself.

Jimi Hendrix | The Star Spangled Banner

We all know the lyrics; without a word Jimi Hendrix' rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock provided a searing commentary on the anguish of its failed promises

Country Joe | Fixin' to Die Rag

Vietnam was the longest war in U.S. history ... then. But the mad dream of world domination has since brought us war that never ends.

Jefferson Airplane | Volunteers

Not equal to the poetry of Grace Slick's White Rabbit lyrics (also performed at Woodstock), but a prescient generational shout out to the changes that Gen X is forging

Bernie x Cardi B

Cardi B takes one of the biggest social media followings in the world, won through music, into political engagement in this interview with Bernie. 
 

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