Woodstock. Woodstock is something that I know that, uh, none of the members of this group will ever forget, it's very special. But at the beginning we didn't think it was special. Um, it was just another, just another place to play as far as we were concerned. One thing I do remember and, and it was very thrilling for me. And that is, we started playing about three in the morning, would you say about three in the morning. [Overlapping talk] Okay, we saw a lot of candles, they were lighting candles, we saw a lot of candles, but we had no idea how many people were there. So we're playing three o'clock in the morning, we're just playing, we're just doing our regular set. And then here comes the sun. And I look out and I say, wow, and everybody seems to look at the people at the same time. And we saw how many people were there we started looking at each other. Because I think it just blew us away. We had no idea that, that, did you have any idea? I didn't have any idea that there were that many people out there. I mean it was just wall-to-wall-to-wall-to-wall people.

It looked like waves when they were moving around.

I'm telling you it was absolutely great. And, and to play, and then it became an honor, you see, after I saw how many people were there, then it became, wow, it is an honor to play in front of all of these people. Then the, the, then the whole situation changed for me. Then I was really, then I'm, in my spirit, I'm really glad I'm playing here man, because this is, this is really good, this is really cool, this is really nice. We play, and I tell you, we play, and it seemed like when everyone saw the people, it's like they got into another gear. You know, we thought we were playing good. But all of a sudden everybody put it in overdrive, and we, we shifted into, like we talked about earlier, we shifted into another gear. Talk about a great time. It was great.

My experience is a little different. When you say Woodstock, there's two definite things that come to mind. I'll go to the stage experience first because that's where Freddie just was. And my experience was, I, you could feel, you couldn't see, it was three o'clock in the morning so you couldn't see. It had just rained as a matter of fact. And we were supposed to go on at eight. So we were, adrenalin going and everything from eight, we had to juggle this like six, seven hours around. Anyway, but you could feel, I had walked around, but I had, I didn't really have a sense, you could feel the audience, the energy was so incredible. And you couldn't really see yet, because it was dark, and you couldn't see that far back. But you could definitely feel, there was a hum coming from, literally a hum. We got on stage, and you could feel the tension, and were, you know, what are you going to do with this, and it had rained, and people were already there for, this was the second day. So, you know, this, this was, cut the BS out, this was real now. You know people had slept, woke up, ate, looked where to go to the bathroom and were living at this point. So it's like you're going to, you're going to go on the stage and you're going to have to take responsibility for this next hour, what are you going to do with it. And it just started out, we just started out, you know, sure-footed with our thing. And then by about maybe the third, fourth song, we started getting a heavy response. People start waking up, getting up --

Out of their sleeping bags.

Listening, they were tuned in.

Who was on before us?

And then, I don't, um, Janis Joplin.

She had gotten three encores,

and the Who, or no, the Airplane --

The Jefferson Airplane came on --

After us. And by the third or fourth song then Sly started responding, because you know, he's at the helm, so he started responding and taking control of, the control the audience gave us. It was like, you know, it's a thing that trades back and forth. You give a little and you give some back. And it just kept escalating, by the time at the end of the set, it was, it was gone.

I know one thing that drove us too is the fact that Janis, they had, had loved her so much, and she had come back once, she had come back twice, she had come back three times, and then we have to go on behind Janis. And even today that would do a little something to you. Anyway.

Well, yeah, but it was so many great acts there.

But of course, I mean it would be Creedence Clearwater --

Yeah, Hendrix, Santana. [Overlapping talk]

Yeah, but it was always like that. It was always like that. Every time we did a gig it was always with somebody else that was happening. You could pay five dollars to go see a concert, you'd see Jimi Hendrix, us, uh, uh, and what is that, Clarence Carter. And you know, you'd just see, uh, everybody that you saw was somebody that was known.

And they had the same feeling about you too, you know. We got to go on after them?

They found out after awhile you had to set people in different slots, otherwise the show could bomb after the first act because you put the wrong person up. But we really didn't care what we went. But a lot of people did. I remember one particular person, that group, I won't say the name, because I -- [Overlapping talk] -- I won't say the name.

C'mon, c'mon.

Don't say the name.

She's not going to say the name.

She won't kiss and tell.

But when they came back and said they want to change the order of what the groups were going to play and they wanted us to finish up because they had seen our show at the gig before and so the, the group that was supposed to be the headliner came, no, we're supposed to go on last, we're the stars of the show! And Sly just said, okay, fine. They want it, let 'em have it man. Just like that. And not in any angry way. Because we never even thought about, we never went up there with the mind, oh, we going to blow those guys away, it was never like that. We were getting ready to play the best that we can and then when we do this song, when we do this, it was about. It wasn't about what we were going to do to somebody else. That's what was fantastic, because I've played in groups where people say, we're going to burn them up. We never went out with that attitude.

We liked to play and we would share our confidence with each other. We were confident that the group itself was tight. And so that's the only thing that we really were concerned with. Are we tight, are we ready? If we're ready and we're tight, then we just go out and do what we do. And then it always comes off, when you're tight, because when you're not tight, they could also see that. And there were sometimes when we weren't tight and they could see that.

What do you mean?

When you're tight, you're tight, it's just like anything else.

The other image that always comes to mind when someone says Woodstock, there's two, the stage experience, and the other one is an undocumented, because there were no cameras there, but it was really a significant experience because a lot of the content of Woodstock was there. It was at the Holiday Inn, it was about 20 miles away from the gig where we all stayed. And I could picture vividly, we had the whole top floor, all the groups, actually we had the whole Holiday Inn, but I remember the top floor where we were, there was, and you know in the old Holiday Inns the doors would open to the rooms would adjoin, so everybody's doors were open, the hallways, it was like one big --

It looked like a 747.

It was like one big, you know, convention. And it was Janis, Hendrix, us, the Who, were all running around, the Southern Comfort's going and the whiskey and beer, and everybody is, we're hearing, but we hadn't been up there yet. And we know there were helicopters and there was roadblocks and all this stuff that was kind of out of control was on the news. And so we're kind of like trying to gauge what's going, what are we getting into here, what's happening. And uh, it was a, it was really, I'll never forget that. It was uh, just, it was, you know, all the groups wondering, what are we going to do? Are all these people there? What's going on up there? There's no food, there's, it's out of control, it was like fear and excitement and anxiety, and it was --

The motive, the motive for the people going there, I'm saying that because I'm reminded of the Woodstock that we just had. And the motive, they weren't the same motives at all.

Not at all.

You see, the motive for the people going there then was extremely different. Like even those that went there and they got loaded on their pot or whatever they wanted to get loaded on, you know, that's, that's one element. But the, but the, the main ingredient was they were going there for a peaceful intent. Their hearts were, they, they wanted something.

Love City.

They really wanted it. It's different because it was motivated by that and when you got there, when you ministered to them, that's what I call when you're playing, when you begin to do that, it came across like that, and you can tell. It's not like it was, from what I hear… Yeah, and it was just something that came on, it just came.

More like Woodluck.

Were you aware as a group, in terms of as you were building the career, and building the recognition of Sly and the Family Stone, did you feel like after Woodstock…, did you feel like…

Well, we felt a response like when the movie came out, you know, first just doing the gig and all that, that, that, the recognition that came with it even before the movie, which there was a lot, because there was a lot of press on it, and it as a significant gig. I mean it was something that wasn't planned, it happened, it came off good, and the end result was very positive.

It raised us to another level financially.

But yes, you did, uh, you did feel, you did feel there was a response when you went and played a concert, uh, not only in just numbers of people that came had increased, but the energy and expectations and the exchange you had with the audience was definitely ….. -- was there, as a result of Woodstock, yes.

I never, personally, I never felt that I had arrived or the group had arrived until they bestowed upon us the, the honor of enrolling us, you know, into the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. That's when I thought that we really did make an impact. I never knew all these years what kind of relationship we had with the people. I never thought about it, I never knew we impacted them good. I didn't know anything like that until I found that, that we were, um, uh, we were voted on to go into the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. And that's when it began to hit me, the impact that we made when I saw how the people in the industry felt about us. Had I known the way they felt about us, you know, had I known that ahead of time, I would've changed a lot of things. There were a lot of things I would not have done, because I didn't know that we were making that kind of impact. I didn't know that we were, you know, changing lives and doing positive things to influence that, that many people. I had no idea.

Cynthia did, every little part that Cynthia had, it was always a bright part. Cynthia was like the bright, whenever Cynthia came in and said anything it was a light, the song got a little brighter. Like when she said: "Get up! And dance to the music!" Then she says it again, but she put a little growl into it: "Get on up and dance!" Let's hear a little. It was great, it was great. And then she had another part in "Simple Song". "Sing a simple song!" "Try a little

do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti do!"

I got one word. Hey Jerry? What!! That was it.

Yeah, but Jerry played a lot of words on his horns, a lot of words on his horns.

Oh yes he did, yes he did.

Silent communication.

Okay, okay, what song is this, what song is this. [sings] [all join in on "Thank You"] We had a lot of fun. Don't get us together in one room.

You know before we did "Dance to the Music" we had another song out that, that, uh, didn't, I think we put out "Love City" first. We put out "Love City" first, we were back out, and uh, it just got, a, a little, little play. And we came out with "Dance to the Music" and "Dance to the Music" was like, uh, an instant hit. It came off really well, everyone had a little part in there to play. And, and it was just great. Everyone had their own part. Cynthia came up, you know, she started off with that, you know, "Get up! And dance to the music!" Larry was right on it with the bass and that, that, in fact that was the bass part that started everything going. And Greg, Greg had his part there, I mean, everybody had a little part to play, and it was, it was very solid, very solid. I tell you these musicians were the best, I'm telling you, great musicians.

…

You know, there was a guy, there was a guy -- no, there was a guy that we used to know --

I know the answer, teacher, teacher! [Overlapping talk]

Where did we get the boom-boom from.

Well, one night, we were, uh, at a club, and we were working, and we were singing the song and Sly forgot the words and so in order to fill the spot, he just, he boom-boomed the rhythm and the next phrase, Freddie came in and did it in harmony, so Larry said, oh, so the next phrase, Larry did it in harmony, and they just played with it, they just went off from the song that we were actually doing. And it was a cover song I believe, it wasn't an original. So the next time I heard them boom-booms again, I was shocked because he had written the song and put the boom-booms in it, and then in other songs, they were just varying it, doing different rhythms or different harmony things. But it was like, all the mistakes, even mistakes were turned into victories with us.

Yeah, always. Little discoveries.

They just learned from our mistakes.

Boom-shakalakalaka.

Oh yeah, that's just another variation. [Overlapping talk]

Way before Shaka Zima.

This is way before Shaka Zima.

Boom-shakalakalaka.

And then they get real fancy with it. A boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-shaka ...

But the boom started like, like, uh, the other things. Like a lot of the other things started. Someone went off and did something. And the next musician immediately worked with it. And that's how a lot of the things came into play, like a lot of the grooves and things of that nature. It was just something. I'm telling you, we had, to be at one of our rehearsals --

It was an experience.

It was an experience, absolutely great, it was just great. And then to go on the road, we would go on the road, we would always have fun. I mean, we were, we weren't the type of group that would, that we, we, we caught up with each other and then we got together and we played, or we talked with each other and got together and rehearsed. I mean we were just like with each other. We had, we got motorcycles, we rode together. [Overlapping talk] We were just together. [Overlapping talk] We had 26 dogs.

This is what we're doing to do, we're all going to do this, we're all going to get dogs, okay. [Overlapping talk]

who could come up with the name of the breed of the dog. We had breeds of dogs, we had, what did you have?

I fell in love with an Afghan, Bouve? [Overlapping talk]

Jerry had a Great Pyrenees, St. Bernard.

Rotweiler, an Alaskan Malamute.

It seems like...

We had a army of dogs, I know that.

We were like a, a well-polished little army, a well polished army. We, we were together.

My body and soul.

And Sly was?

Who, who was Sly? Sly was the individual that, uh, what he did, now see, he's four years older than I am. Had I been four years older it probably would have been Freddie and the Family Stone.