NOW AVAILABLE TO STREAM OR DOWNLOAD
For fans of Woodstock, Friday was a big day. For the physical media-minded, the giant 38-CD/1-Blu-ray box began shipping out, and Craft's standalone Creedence Clearwater Revival Live At Woodstock album was released. Those who may have been unable to purchase the big set have reason to rejoice as several individual acts' sets from Woodstock have begun to pop up on digital download and streaming services.
Last week saw the release of Woodstock recordings from Tim Hardin; Melanie; Mountain; Blood, Sweat & Tears; and Sha Na Na (whose set is missing one unrecorded number, "Teenager In Love"). Each collection is available as a standalone digital album on iTunes, Amazon Music, and Spotify. For the audiophiles out there, HDTracks has high-resolution FLAC downloads available, as well. Tim Hardin's set is available in 24-bit/44.1kHz, while the Melanie, Mountain, BS&T, and Sha Na Na recordings can be found in 24-bit/96kHz resolution. You can find links to all those configurations below.
In other digital Woodstock news, today Craft Recordings announced a further standalone digital set featuring Joan Baez's complete Woodstock performance, totaling nearly an hour. Like the other releases mentioned, Joan Baez Live At Woodstock is available on iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify, and HDTracks.
Keep scrolling for complete track lists and links to download or stream, and don't miss TSD's review of Back to the Garden: The 50th Anniversary Experience!
Tim Hardin, Live At Woodstock (Columbia/Legacy, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon U.S. / Spotify / HDTracks)
- Introduction by John Morris: "Let's See How Bright It Can Be"
- How Can We Hang On to a Dream
- Once-Touched by Flame
- If I Were a Carpenter
- Reason to Believe
- You Upset the Grace of Living When You Lie
- Speak Like a Child
- Snow White Lady
- Blues On My Ceiling
- Simple Song of Freedom
- Misty Roses
Melanie, Live At Woodstock (Buddah/Legacy, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon U.S. / Spotify / HDTracks)
- Close to It All
- Momma Momma
- Beautiful People
- Animal Crackers
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- Tuning My Guitar
- Birthday Of The Sun
Joan Baez, Live At Woodstock (Craft Recordings, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon U.S. / Spotify / HDTracks)
- Oh Happy Day
- The Last Thing On My Mind
- I Shall Be Released
- Banter: "He's fine, and we're fine, too"
- Joe Hill
- Banter: "We three together constitute the Struggle Mountain Resistance Band"
- Sweet Sir Galahad
- Hickory Wind
- Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man
- One Day At A Time
- Take Me Back To The Sweet Sunny South
- Warm And Tender Love
- Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
- Banter: "I think it's amazing that you people are still awake"
- We Shall Overcome
Mountain, Live At Woodstock (Columbia/Legacy, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon U.S. / Spotify / HDTracks)
- Blood of the Sun
- Stormy Monday
- Theme for an Imaginary Western
- Long Red
- Who Am I But You and the Sun (For Yasgur's Farm)
- Beside the Sea
- Waiting To Take You Away
- Dreams of Milk and Honey
- Southbound Train
Blood, Sweat & Tears, Live At Woodstock (Columbia/Legacy, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon U.S. / Spotify / HDTracks)
- More and More
- Just One Smile
- Somethin' Comin' On
- I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know
- Spinning Wheel
- Sometimes in Winter
- Smiling Phases
- God Bless the Child
- And When I Die
- You've Made Me So Very Happy
Sha Na Na, Live At Woodstock (Buddah/Legacy, 2019) (iTunes / Amazon U.S. / Spotify / HDTracks)
- Get a Job
- Come Go with Me
- Silhouettes
- Teen Angel
- (Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame
- Wipe Out
- Book of Love
- Little Darlin' (incomplete)
- At the Hop
- Duke of Earl
- Get a Job (Reprise)
Release Round-Up: Week of June 20
Release Round-Up: Week of May 30
Release Round-Up: Week of May 23
Release Round-Up: Week of April 25
The only one I am interested in is Tim Hardin. It is a drag that they are not available physically, so I suppose I will have to buy it on itunes and transfer it to a disc. And there is no bonus booklet either.
No plans for cd releases? This is another situation where it goes without saying? Did anyone at Second Disc ask about this? Just so clear?
For fear of sounding like a broken record, we have no plans on inquiring “how about CD?” every time a digital title is announced. Whether we like it or not - and most longtime readers should glean how we feel about it - the industry has changed, and continues to do so. Certain titles arrive on CD, some on vinyl, some on digital, and some in a combination of those formats. CDs are not to be taken for granted; in fact, they’re the outlier format in the current business among the major labels. These decisions, agree with them or not, are made on a case-by-case basis - and always come down to the same reason. If it’s felt that a release will be profitable on CD, it will be released in that format. If it’s felt that it won’t...well, you know the answer.
If you want more CDs, buy them. Encourage your friends to buy them. Write the labels, ask stores to stock them, do what you can. We champion CDs on our own imprint. But condemning digital releases isn’t going to make more CDs happen, and labels aren’t going to share their sales figures with us so readers can question their judgment.
If there’s a special situation warranting an inquiry of a label, we’ll make it. The digital releases of Woodstock sets concurrently available on CD (as part of the 38-CD box set) do not warrant such an inquiry. The digital releases exist simply to make the music more available to a wider audience. CCR got a CD; that band is more commercially viable than Mountain, Melanie, or Sha Na Na, for example. Thanks as always for reading; I wish I had the answer you are looking for.
I would like to buy more new releases on CD, but the GREEDY companies have kept the prices too high. The physical cost of a CD is about 0.25 cents, the rest of it is royalties, marketing and the execs heroin-snorting-level salaries. They destroyed their industry. I'll keep going to local public libraries where I can check out tons of CDs and burn them. Once in a while, I will buy individual digital files of artists who are not world famous (and not wealthy). But I'll die before I pay full price for, say, another Hendrix or Beatles reissue.
Hi Joe,
I’ve harped on this point because questions posed to the labels by devoted web sites, such as yours, can serve as a reminder that a demographic exists for at least some CD (or vinyl) releases. I’ve hoped that your site would remember to reinforce that point of view on behalf of your readers. What have you got to lose by asking more often than not? And what constitutes a special situation warranting an inquiry?
Of course, I agree there may be less reason to pose these questions for some releases, although I would contend the Woodstock releases may be as good an opportunity as any. The digital-only titles are aimed at the same demographic as the CCR release. If the labels don’t share numbers, how do we know for sure that at least some of the other titles are not as commercially viable?
Also, I’d like to clarify a couple of things. First, I regularly buy CD’s, which is why I show up here. I purchased three newly issued CD’s last week, including the CCR at Woodstock release. Second, I haven’t condemned vinyl or digital releases, as your last two replies have suggested. Advocating for CD releases is not the same thing as condemning other media. This is not a mutually exclusive concept.
That said, I do appreciate that you take the time to reply and understand that you don’t have all the answers. But I do look to sites that specialize in conveying information – whether the focus is local government or new music or anything else - to pose and attempt to answer questions that are pertinent to readers. In doing so, you can provide an added voice that can, otherwise, be difficult for your readers to convey on their own.
Regards,
ed
Hi there Ed,
I appreciate your thoughtful response.
The whole reason for being for The Second Disc is to advocate for catalog music; it's why Mike, Sam, Randy, and I have been writing day in and day out for almost a decade now for very little in the way of returns. We don't take in advertising, we don't have a paywall, etc. We are almost unfailingly positive here; there's plenty of negativity elsewhere, and we don't want to contribute to that.
With that said, I don't see our news pieces as investigative journalism. We report on what's been announced; then, when/if we review a title, we will offer our opinion. Unlike so many other sites today, I try to keep those lines well-delineated here. When a label announces a CD-only title, I don't see it as our responsibility to ask "Why not vinyl?" or vice versa. Honestly, I don't even feel that's particularly helpful. (You may feel differently, and I respect that.) In a review, I might state any issues I have with a particular format choice. (See my recent reviews of Rhino's David Bowie vinyl box sets.) When it comes down to "CD or vinyl or digital," the situation is 99.9% pure economics. The CD is no longer the preferred means of delivery via the major labels in North America (and most of Europe, too), and while I personally think that's a shame, it's the fact.
As for the Woodstock situation, I don't need access to sales figures to tell you that CCR is a more commercially viable artist than Melanie, Mountain, or Blood, Sweat & Tears. A glimpse at SoundScan and even Discogs will tell you that. If every set in the big 38-CD Woodstock box was made available as a standalone release, it would diminish the appeal of the box. The digital releases, in my opinion, are a fair way to allow listeners who couldn't afford or chose not to buy the large box to still experience the music. They're a solid compromise. I think digital SHOULD be used as a complement to physical product in this manner. Take a look at Legacy's CD output over the past decade, and how it's steadily decreased every year. If they thought they could profit off releasing their Woodstock albums on CD, they would. As Mr. Dylan said all those years ago, "The times, they are a-changin'"...
I understand that this response may not answer all of your questions, or even offer you the insight you're seeking. On behalf of everyone writing here, I appreciate your reading TSD, and your candor.
All the best, Joe
For those lamenting the absence of a physical CD: Go to HDTracks, download a high-quality version of the tracks, and burn your own disc. You're still getting CD quality, and to me that's what matters more than anything else. At least the digital releases aren't all mp3, which I refuse to spend my money on.