{"id":17564,"date":"2019-08-14T01:14:14","date_gmt":"2019-08-14T01:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=17564"},"modified":"2019-08-15T01:28:47","modified_gmt":"2019-08-15T01:28:47","slug":"fifty-years-ago-jimi-hendrixs-woodstock-anthem-expressed-the-hopes-and-fears-of-a-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/fifty-years-ago-jimi-hendrixs-woodstock-anthem-expressed-the-hopes-and-fears-of-a-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifty years ago, Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock anthem expressed the hopes and fears of a nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Clague<\/a>, University of Michigan<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

One of the most powerful, searing renditions of the national anthem ever recorded, Jimi Hendrix\u2019s iconic Woodstock anthem, almost never happened.<\/p>\n

In his memoir, Hendrix\u2019s drummer, Mitch Mitchell, admitted<\/a> that the band \u201chadn\u2019t rehearsed \u2026 or planned to do \u2018The Star-Spangled Banner\u2019 at Woodstock.\u201d<\/p>\n

The festival was supposed to wrap up on Sunday night, but a series of delays, traffic jams and rainstorms had postponed the closing set until 9:00 a.m. the next day. Hendrix hadn\u2019t slept the night before.<\/p>\n

Hendrix played for more than an hour that Monday morning before introducing his regular concert-closer, \u201cVoodoo Child (Slight Return).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you very much and goodnight,\u201d he said<\/a>, as the band continued to jam. \u201cI\u2019d like to say peace, yeah, and happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

But then, instead of wrapping up his set, he launched into his iconic take on Francis Scott Key\u2019s song.<\/p>\n