Chords for Woodstock Remembered by Jorma Kaukonen/Jack Casady

Tempo:
119.05 bpm
Chords used:

F#

E

B

A

G#

Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Show Tuner
Woodstock Remembered by Jorma Kaukonen/Jack Casady chords
Start Jamming...
Coming up next on Adventurer, two founding members of the groundbreaking 60s San Francisco sound.
Don't you need somebody to love?
Stick around.
Welcome to Adventurer, the show with guests who truly push their lives to the limits.
No talking heads here, just the real deals.
I'm Jim Clash.
In the 1960s our guests pioneered the famous San Francisco
psychedelic sound.
Their work in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group Jefferson Airplane
included the hits White Rabbit and Somebody to Love, both of which they performed live at Woodstock.
It is a true honor to welcome lead guitarist Jorma Kalkanen and bassist Jack Cassidy.
I want to go to Woodstock and I want to know from each one of you what you remember about being on that stage in the morning.
Did you have any idea the significance of it at the time?
What do you remember?
Jack, you go first.
Well, you look out and you see I guess 300,000 people and of course the magic of the nighttime
it's sort of fallen away by the reality of the morning.
This is what I remember and it was a pretty bedraggled looking bunch out there [F#] including the guys on the stage.
But it was something
[C]
amazing to behold [F#] and it was [B] something I think we all felt that [F#m] we had a part in putting [N] together.
There was really kind of a them against us mentality going on back in those days.
And this was us and all of us we were impressed how [A] much of us was [E] out there.
Jorma, you know, the dawn is [F#] coming up and maybe at night you can't see all those people but as Jack says there's 300,000 people.
Does it make you nervous?
Are you empowered?
What are you feeling?
Well, first of all we'd been there the week before when they were setting things up so we'd seen [N] it in its nascent state.
And that was during the day also but I mean it was just
First of all I don't wear my [D] glasses on stage because it's better that [G#] way, trust me.
I mean I just don't need [F#] to see what's going on so it was a little
You know, it's always a psychedelic blur for me when I'm on stage anyway but just the magnitude
We just played the Asbury [N] Park Pop Festival before that and
Or Atlantic City [B] Pop Festival [F#] and you know so
And that was a large festival too but of course it was nothing compared to Woodstock.
I mean we had nothing to [E] gauge it against.
[N] Do you remember everything about it or is it a blur being on that stage?
Well, it's kind of a blur.
It's kind of a blur but you know we went on 18 hours later or something.
I forget, I'm sure somebody has the exact statistics of this but everything was really kind of disorganized
and in a lovable sort of way and by the time we got on
I mean when you see pictures of us there everybody looks like they've been up for 18 or 20 hours.
Which you had been.
Which we had been.
Jack, compare Woodstock say to Monterey which of course is another one of those amazing festivals that people remember.
Well, Monterey was the first chance we had to play in front of a lot of people like that.
But also Monterey was great because as musicians we got to hang out and meet a lot of the people that we admired in the business.
So, I mean, Lord, you know, Otis Redding is there and I always loved Booker T and the MGs
and [D] I had all their 45s from the DC days [B] and I got a chance [E] to meet those guys [Bm] and watch them at [G] work.
Of course, Jimi Hendrix [A] was there and Dahoo.
[F] [D#m]
But for that, that was [Gm] a fairly [G#m]
small affair by today's standards of the way [Bm] it worked.
But [E] it was [G#] unique in that I think what had been contained in the San Francisco area as the San Francisco music [E] scene and whatnot,
those [B] people and those fans got to see a wide palette of music [N] that wasn't necessarily associated with San Francisco and those bands.
So, I think it opened up a lot of people's minds to different music and the musicians on stage had more fun than anybody.
Let me tell you.
I want to read a quote that Yorma has here and this kind of sums up the airplane and explain it to me.
Here you say in this article, it's really a crystal of what art is.
Things come together in that moment and all of a sudden there is something.
All the people that were involved in that band were talented people.
Would any of us be the same if we had not played together?
Obviously not.
So clearly it had an influence.
[G#] Oh sure.
I mean, you know, Jack and I are moderately talented guys and I'm sure we would have been okay no matter what happened.
But just the miracle of the chemistry, what happened with the airplane, it really set us up for the rest of our lives to do whatever it
is that we want to do.
And the disparate group of characters, you know, and everybody brought such a different approach to the table.
For example, you know, people are talking about how did you figure out the lead guitar part for any one of the songs that Paul Grace or Marty wrote.
And the answer was it was so different from anything I would have written had I been writing a lot of songs back then that it was a real
challenge to pull something together.
So if I had a cool guitar solo, I owe them a debt of gratitude for giving me a canvas, you know, to paint that thing on.
There's no question about it.
I mean, it wasn't like playing blues, wasn't like playing traditional folk music.
It was really interesting stuff.
I remember that I heard it a million times in my head, but at the end of Need Somebody to Love, those haunting guitar notes.
How did you come up with that?
Exactly.
I mean, it really is haunting stuff.
Right.
[F#] And the answer is, I [B] wish I [F#] knew.
I do it all the time.
Once again, it [G#m] was the song.
It was [F#] a great song to do it.
Now [E] people say, what pedal [Am] did you use for this?
And I [B] go, pedals [A] didn't exist back then.
You know, and that was [F#] that [E] surestic pedal.
That was a [F#m] four track tape recording, too.
And they didn't have noise reduction.
So you couldn't endlessly do stuff.
So the pressure was on to come up with stuff.
The answer is, I got really lucky.
I had a great song to play and I got lucky.
Jack, you know, I mean, we think of White Rabbit and that great bass line.
How did you write that?
I mean.
Well, it reminded me of Bolero and the song did, the chord change going up a half step.
And it just seemed natural.
[G] And I was beginning to move out of the traditional R&B [F#]
band format and approach and kind
of mix in [G] a little of the sensibilities of the jazz approach where you try different things
on the instrument as a bass guitar.
So I started out as a guitarist and to me it was just kind of natural to start the song
out with that lick and do it with a triplet with my fingers as if it was the snare and
Bolero, you know, that had that long ascending build up to the song.
But we're going to end the first show here on the airplanes.
Fabulous stuff.
Jack Thang.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Sir.
And we're going to talk about the Hot Tuna next.
Cool.
For more adventures in Iconoclast, see Forbes.com slash To The Limits or pick up a copy of my
book, To The Limits.
And thanks for watching the Forbes.com video network.
[A] Clash.
James Clash.
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12341112
A
1231
G#
134211114
F#
134211112
E
2311
B
12341112
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Coming up next on Adventurer, two founding members of the groundbreaking 60s San Francisco sound.
Don't you need somebody to love?
Stick around.
_ _ Welcome _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ to Adventurer, the show with guests who truly push their lives to the limits.
No talking heads here, just the real deals.
I'm Jim Clash.
In the 1960s our guests pioneered the famous San Francisco
psychedelic sound.
Their work in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group Jefferson Airplane
included the hits White Rabbit and Somebody to Love, both of which they performed live at Woodstock.
It is a true honor to welcome lead guitarist Jorma Kalkanen and bassist Jack Cassidy.
I want to go to Woodstock and I want to know from each one of you what you remember about being on that stage in the morning.
Did you have any idea the significance of it at the time?
What do you remember?
Jack, you go first.
Well, you look out and you see I guess 300,000 people and of course the magic of the nighttime
it's sort of fallen away by the reality of the morning.
This is what I remember and it was a pretty bedraggled looking bunch out there [F#] including the guys on the stage.
But it was something
[C]
amazing to behold [F#] and it was [B] something I think we all felt that [F#m] we had a part in putting [N] together.
There was really kind of a them against _ us mentality going on back in those days.
And this was us and all of us we were impressed how [A] much of us was [E] out there. _
Jorma, you know, the dawn is [F#] coming up and maybe at night you can't see all those people but as Jack says there's 300,000 people.
Does it make you nervous?
Are you empowered?
What are you feeling?
Well, first of all we'd been there the week before when they were setting things up so we'd seen [N] it in its nascent state.
And that was during the day also but I mean it was just_
First of all I don't wear my [D] glasses on stage because it's better that [G#] way, trust me.
I mean I just don't need [F#] to see what's going on so it was a little_
You know, it's always a psychedelic blur for me when I'm on stage anyway but just the magnitude_
We just played the _ _ Asbury [N] Park Pop Festival before that and_
Or Atlantic City [B] Pop Festival [F#] and you know so_
And that was a large festival too but of course it was nothing compared to Woodstock.
I mean we had nothing to [E] gauge it against.
[N] _ _ Do you remember everything about it or is it a blur being on that stage?
Well, _ _ _ it's kind of a blur.
It's kind of a blur but you know we went on 18 hours later or something.
I forget, I'm sure somebody has the exact statistics of this but everything was really kind of disorganized
and in a lovable sort of way and by the time we got on_
I mean when you see pictures of us there everybody looks like they've been up for 18 or 20 hours.
Which you had been.
Which we had been.
_ Jack, compare Woodstock say to Monterey which of course is another one of those amazing festivals that people remember.
Well, Monterey was the first _ chance we had to play in front of a lot of people like that.
But also Monterey was great because as musicians we got to _ hang out and meet a lot of the people that we admired in the business.
So, I mean, Lord, you know, Otis Redding is there and I always loved Booker T and the MGs
and [D] I had all their 45s from the DC days [B] and I got a chance [E] to meet those guys [Bm] and watch them at [G] work.
Of course, Jimi Hendrix [A] was there and Dahoo.
[F] _ _ [D#m]
But for that, that was [Gm] a fairly [G#m]
small affair by today's standards of the way [Bm] it worked. _
But _ [E] it was [G#] unique in that I think what had been contained in the San Francisco area as the San Francisco music [E] scene and whatnot,
those [B] people and those fans got to see a wide palette of music [N] that wasn't necessarily associated with San Francisco and those bands.
So, I think it opened up a lot of people's minds to different music and the musicians on stage had more fun than anybody.
Let me tell you.
I want to read a quote that Yorma has here and this kind of sums up the airplane and explain it to me.
Here you say in this article, it's really a crystal of what art is.
Things come together in that moment and all of a sudden there is something.
All the people that were involved in that band were talented people.
Would any of us be the same if we had not played together?
Obviously not.
So clearly it had an influence.
[G#] Oh sure.
I mean, you know, _ _ _ _ Jack and I are moderately talented guys and I'm sure we would have been okay no matter what happened.
_ But just the miracle of the chemistry, what happened with the airplane, it really set us up for the rest of our lives to do whatever it
is that we want to do.
And the disparate group of characters, you know, and everybody brought such a different _ _ _ approach to the table.
For example, you know, people are talking about how did you figure out the lead guitar part for any one of the songs that Paul Grace or Marty wrote.
And the answer was it was so different from anything I would have written had I been writing a lot of songs back then that it was a real
challenge to pull something together.
So if I had a cool guitar solo, I owe them a debt of gratitude for giving me a canvas, you know, to paint that thing on.
There's no question about it.
I mean, it wasn't like playing blues, wasn't like playing traditional folk music.
It was really interesting stuff.
I remember that I heard it a million times in my head, but at the end of Need Somebody to Love, those haunting guitar notes.
How did you come up with that?
Exactly.
I mean, it really is haunting stuff.
Right.
[F#] And the answer is, I [B] wish I [F#] knew.
I do it all the time.
Once again, it [G#m] was the song.
It was [F#] a great song to do it.
Now [E] people say, what pedal [Am] did you use for this?
And I [B] go, pedals [A] didn't exist back then.
You know, and that was [F#] that _ [E] _ surestic pedal.
That was a [F#m] four track tape recording, too.
And they didn't have noise reduction.
So you couldn't endlessly do stuff.
So the pressure was on to come up with stuff.
The answer is, I got really lucky.
I had a great song to play and I got lucky.
Jack, you know, I mean, we think of White Rabbit and that great bass line. _
How did you write that?
I mean.
Well, it reminded me of Bolero and the song did, the chord change going up a half step.
And it just seemed natural.
[G] And I was beginning to move out of the traditional R&B _ [F#] _
band format and approach and kind
of mix in [G] a little of the sensibilities of the jazz approach where you try different things
on the instrument as a bass guitar.
So I started out as a guitarist and to me it was just kind of natural to start the song
_ out with that lick and do it _ with a triplet with my fingers as if it was the snare and
Bolero, you know, that had that long ascending build up to the song.
But we're going to end the first show here on the airplanes.
Fabulous stuff.
Jack Thang.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Sir.
And we're going to talk about the Hot Tuna next.
Cool.
For more adventures in Iconoclast, see Forbes.com slash To The Limits or pick up a copy of my
book, To The Limits.
And thanks for watching the Forbes.com video network.
[A] Clash.
James Clash. _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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