Last year Rich Ruth (aka Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist Michael Ruth) released his superb album I Survived, Now It's Over, a superb mixture of neo-jazz fusion and experimental psychedelic music. His influences spread from Santana to John McLaughlin's cosmic attitudes and the sounds Tortoise gave us decades ago. His ambient influences were best shown on It's The Water. When I thought I Survived... was a studio album and can't work live I was proved wrong by the release of the live album from a concert for the release of I Survived... at his label Three Man Records. If your ears are willing for a new sound, so give him a chance.
The legendary festival of peace and music took place in Woodstock. As a venue pasture fields of a milk farmer served in White Lake near the provincial town of Bethel in the US federal state New York, about 35 miles southwest from the name-giving and originally planned venue in Woodstock.
Before respected 400,000 visitors stars kicked of 32 bands and solo artists of the music directions folk, rock, psychedelic rock, blues and country on, under it like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and The Who. The expected numbers of spectators were excelled around more than the double. Besides, countless potential spectators got stuck in traffic rope all around the festival area. During the event catastrophic states ruled on account of bad weather and organizational mismanagement partly. In spite of these adverse circumstances "Woodstock" has become known for his peaceful mood. Numerous musicians, employees and visitors spent the festival days under the influence of drugs like LSD, mescalin, hashish and marihuana.
Although from commercial interests the organizer, tape manager and a lot of musician escorts, "Woodstock" embodies till this day the mystified of peaceful, artistic and "other" America. By contrast the split USA were during the Vietnam war, was shocked by political murders of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy and stood under the impression of the social conflicts picked out as a central theme by the counter-culture.
My older friends glorified this festival as the high times of hippies, freedom and a way of feeling common to all others. For me it is a sentimental looking back to times when people lived together in peace and freedom where problems could be dissolved. I miss these spirit in our times now.
