Freedom With Richie Havens

With many things at Woodstock not going to plan, one was the fact that Sweetwater was meant to open the three-day weekend. The band was stuck in traffic like many others. Despite eventually being flown by helicopter to the stage, it still caused a lot of delays.

Singer Richie Havens, a relatively unknown artist back then, took to the unfinished stage and started playing his 20-minute performance. He was only meant to buy time to entertain guests until the other artists arrived. After exhausting all material on stage, he made a song on the spot titled “Freedom.”