Since today is Grace Slick’s 85th birthday, today’s song of the day features her (and, to be fair, the rest of Jefferson Airplane) performing White Rabbit at the first Woodstock.
Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane not only performed at Woodstock but they were also among the bands who attempted to perform at the Altamont Free Concert a few months later. Needless to say, the vibe at Altamont — which featured the Rolling Stones as headliners and the Hell’s Angels providing security — was far more aggressive and hostile than the vibe at Woodstock. While the Stones were performing, a member of the audience got into a fight with the Hell’s Angels, raised a gun, and was stabbed to death.
As seen in the documentary Gimme Shelter, even before the murder that ended the 60s, the Angels were aggressive, even knocking out Jefferson Airplane’s other singer, Marty Balin, in the middle of the band’s performance. Also seen in that documentary is Grace Slick doing her best to calm the crowd and, along with Paul Kanter, rather fearlessly talking back to a drunk Hell’s Angel who tried to take over the stage.
(It should be noted that Grace did all of that even though she had forgotten to put in her contact lenses that day. Me, I can’t even walk from one end of a room to another if I forget to put in my contacts.)
White Rabbit
(Lyrics by Grace Slick)
Through the Shattered Lens