Santana Stays in the Moment
41 Years After Woodstock
July 31, 2010
BETHEL, NY- "Most people
are prisoners, thinking only about the future or living
in the past," Carlos Santana famously stated.
"They are not in the present, and the present
is where everything begins." Forty-one years
after his Woodstock debut, Santana returned to the
Bethel, NY site July 17, sharing his moment as a bonafide
rock legend. The original Woodstock site is now home
to a booming cultural center, including the Bethel
Woods Museum and an annual summer concert series.
Santana
took the stage to the opening chords of "Soul
Sacrifice," his career-launching tribute to Afro-Latino
spirit. A montage of images from his Woodstock '69
performance flashed behind him. Although Santana played
the festival's 25th anniversary in Saugerties, NY,
this summer marked his official homecoming to the
grounds that made him a music icon.
"It's nice to meet
again," he murmured into his microphone.
Bodies
jumping like flames, someone punched a beach ball
overhead. It was Woodstock all over again: defiantly
carefree. Santana opened his two-and-a-half-hour set
with "Maria, Maria," his 1999 number one
hit from his smash album Supernatural.
The
artist's endurance is a testament to his spiritual
philosophy. "We all have lights within us,"
Santana remarked halfway through the show. These lights,
he continued, feed God-and each other. "If it
sounds like I am preaching," he said dryly, "it
is because I am."
The
guitarist's inspiration from other performers is evident
in his 2000 Grammy for Record of the Year for "Smooth,"
featuring Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty. Santana's
magic also scored Billboard-toppers for Chad Kroeger
of Nickelback ("Why Don't You and I") and
Michelle Branch ("The Game of Love"). He
has also collaborated with Shakira, Jennifer Lopez,
Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Sean Paul and Joss Stone.
Next,
he wants to work on an album with 2010 tour mate Steve
Winwood, a renowned fixture in the music industry
for the last five decades. While Winwood's solo hits
include "Higher Love," the Englishman also
thrives on the power of artistic partnership. A highlight
of his opening set July 17 was a soul-chilling rendition
of "Dear Mr. Fantasy," his hit with 1970s
group Traffic.
In contrast
to Winwood's at times melancholy "blue-eyed soul,"
Santana was a Latino dance party. Bodies throbbed
under pulsating red, gold and purple lights to timeless
hits including "Black Magic Woman," "Oye
Como Va" and "Evil Ways." Santana also
paid homage to classic rock groups with stirring renditions
of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" and the
Doors' "Riders on the Storm."
Santana's
ten-piece band stayed firmly in the spotlight, including
lengthy solos from drummer Dennis Chambers and guitarist
Tommy Anthony. Vocalists Andy Vargas and Tony Lindsay
slipped easily from African rhythms into rock n' roll
grit. In the end, "love, peace and freedom"
were still the answer, Santana said. These values
were the Holy Trinity of contentment in a world marred
by the same social uncertainties of 1969: war, political
divisiveness and economic struggle.
Part
of the proceeds of the July 17 concert benefited The
Milagro Foundation, Santana's charity organization
supporting underprivileged children worldwide. Since
its inception in 1998, the Foundation has facilitated
educational, social and medical support for youth
in Africa, Haiti and the Americas. Milagro means "miracle"
in Spanish. It was also the title of Santana's sixteenth
album in 1992.
Bethel
Woods Center for the Arts
Since opening in June 2008, the Bethel Woods Center
for the Arts has formed a bridge between the past
and the present. Its annual summer concert series
has featured other Woodstock '69 performers including
Crosby, Stills and Nash. The exhibit is a walking
narrative through the timeline of the 1960s. Set under
a kaleidoscope of lights, the museum features multimedia
presentations, including documentaries and original
festival footage. Relaxing in a colorful school bus,
visitors can listen to the Who's "Magic Bus"
while watching Woodstock Ventures' Michael Lang discuss
how a small-town rock show became a revolutionary
moment in American history.
Another
unique museum feature is its legacy booth. Woodstock
'69 attendees can record their memories and listen
to the accounts of others. Guests can also peruse
artifacts including milk bottles from Max Yasgur's
farm, ticket stubs and 1960s-era clothing. The museum
also presents generation-linking events ranging from
lectures by Vietnam veterans to autumn harvest festivals.
On the
day of the Santana concert, the museum hosted a book
signing for Barry Z. Levine, author of The Woodstock
Story Book. The book is a 300-piece compilation of
Levine's photographs for Woodstock, the 1970 Academy-Award
winning documentary. The former Columbia Records producer
recounted "sipping champagne and eating strawberries"
backstage with Janis Joplin and Jefferson Airplane's
Grace Slick. "When I was approached by Woodstock
producers about taking still shots, I said yes,"
Levine remembered with a shrug.
After
the documentary, many of the original photographs,
candid shots of musicians, attendees and the upstate
New York landscape, lay untouched for decades. A few
years ago, Levine's wife, Linanne, discovered the
pictures in a drawer. Published in time for Woodstock's
fortieth anniversary last year, the book features
Linanne's Dr. Seuss-style prose. The book raised Levine's
visibility in the public eye. Last August, he was
the "Celebrated Artist" of Italy's 2009
Biografilm celebration in Rome, Milan and Bologna.
Both Levine and his wife agreed they were bigger hippies
now than in 1969.
"Back then, everyone
had long hair," Levine said. "Everyone looked
the part." Being a true hippie, however, is the
core of self-acceptance. If love is your religion,
you automatically remove yourself from the fray of
keeping up with the Joneses.
"Keep the [hippie]
spirit," Linanne said. "It keeps you young."
On July
29, the museum opened Collecting Woodstock: Recent
Museum Acquisitions, a special exhibit running through
January 2, 2011. The exhibit includes festival photographs
by Doug Lenier and Richard Gordon, artists' journals
and a tribute to The Hog Farm, a New Mexico commune
hired by Woodstock promoters to assist in public safety.
Other volunteers joined. By the time the event opened,
more than 100 "Hog Farmers" were on hand
setting up campgrounds and kitchens to provide shelter
and food for the half-million crowd.
As Santana
notably said, "The most valuable possession you
can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon
you can be is an instrument of peace."
The
museum features a café, restroom facilities
and a gift shop. Concert prices for the 1,000-seat
pavilion and lawn generally range from $36 to $100
before tax. There is no parking admission. Museum
tickets are $13 for adults; $11 for seniors; $9 for
youths age 8-17 and $4 for children age 3-7. Children
under 2 are free with an adult. Please allow a minimum
of two hours to enjoy the exhibits. Hours are 10 a.m.
to 7 p.m. seven days a week through September 6.
To learn more about the
Bethel Woods museum, visit www.bethelwoodscenter.org.
To learn about artifact submission to the museum,
contact Shannon McSweeney at (845) 295-2420 or by
email at smcsweeney@BethelWoodsCenter.org. To learn
more about Barry Z. Levine, visit www.woodstockwitness.com.
Santana
Stays in the Moment 41 Years After Woodstock
