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ROCKOLLECTIONS: A ROCKOLLECTIONS LOOK AT WOODSTOCK PT.2

I came back in this half kidding about the name Wavy Gravy.
Engineer Ken told me what his real name was- you will not believe it, lol!
As I mentioned before, the premise of my doing Woodstock was to bring a different look at it.
So the first priority was to NOT play any of the songs that were on the original Woodstock album from 1970.
Remember, that 3-disc LP that was so amazing back then?
I mean, nobody put out 3 vinyl records in one album!
But by now, most people have heard those songs over and over, and I wanted to avoid making you do so again.
However there were necessary exceptions- and you will hear 2 of them in this episode.
To open, I have Richie Havens in his own words, talking about how they wouldn’t let him off the stage.
No one else was prepared to play, and they kept sending him back out there over and over.
And I have a confession to make- I have always done my show as a local one, a show from New York that does not try to be more than it is.
Nowadays there are so many sterile, syndicated shows that go nationwide.
As a result, they aim at such a broad audience that they lose all local color.
I want to be an exception and a throwback to when radio was your friend, and when I say it is a beautiful day I am talking about a beautiful day in New York City.
Even though terrestrially I am on over 70 affiliated stations across North America, never mind the internet where the reach is around the world.
Hell if I thought about that, I might get stagefright, lol!
All of this is leading me back to what was our local FM Rock station WNEW-FM again, and a reporter from there that would only be recalled by us New Yorkers.
His name was Mike Eisgrau, I don’t know if he is still around- but I will play the first of one of his reports filed live from the Woodstock Festival.
Also in this chapter a Bob Dylan song that I have never heard sung by Dylan, not even on bootleg.
Do enjoy our trip, definitely not on LSD, as we get ourselves Back To The Garden!
There are two more of these to come!

Mike

The audio clips used in this series were obtained from the archives of Dennis Elsas of WFUV, and they can be heard there along with much more, at Dennis’ website www.denniselsas.com.

I personally thank him for the memories.

Tags: Back To The Garden, Bob Dylan, Engineer Ken, FM Rock, Local New York Radio, Mike Eisgrau, Original Woodstock Album, Richie Havens, Wavy Gravy, WNEW-FM, Woodstock Festival 1969