Destiny's Challenge

I try to make my sets interesting and fresh, and in doing so, most days I include a couple of songs that I don’t think I’ve ever played before in Second Life.  It keeps me from getting caught in a rut.  I was talking with my SL daughter, Destiny, last night and the subject of “songs she has never heard before” came up.  One thing led to another and then she came up with an idea.  Her idea quickly became a challenge.

Could I do a complete show of nothing but songs I’ve never played in Second Life before?

Of course I could.  I could probably do two hours of bagpipes or even circus calliope greatest hits.  There is even a cache of Conway Twitty relatively untouched in the vault.  I happen to like bagpipes; a little calliope music is useful for themes and events; and I keep a small stash of greatest hits by many artists I don’t particularly care for, just so I can fill requests.  I needed to go into the deepest parts of my music vault and blow the dust of some records that I have never played in SL.

The question wasn’t if could I do a two hour show of never before played tunes, but could I do one that I would consider one of my regular signature sets?  Could I do a good set, up to my regular standard, and still have it be one you’d like.  Better still, if I didn’t say anything, would you even notice?

There is the challenge.

I promised Destiny I’d do that set tonight and I’m about to put it together.  I’m trawling long ago forgotten portions of my music library.  My DJ software stores data along with my music library and this has been transferred from computer to computer through the years.  Among this data is information on if I’ve ever played a song before.  While this information doesn’t go back to the very beginning of my DJ career, it starts sometime during my first year.  When I load a playlist, a yellow flag next to a song means that it has never been seen before by my software or loaded onto one of my decks.  Can I put together a set list that loads as ALL yellow flags?  Will it be any good?  Come to AWT tonight from 7-9 PM to find out.

Thomas Earl Petty (1950-2017)

Tom Petty passed away last night at 8:40 SL time (PDT), seven or eight hours after the news was reporting his death, seven or eight hours after social media exploded with condolences and remembrances for an artist passed.

So what happened?

Tom Petty was found in his home in cardiac arrest yesterday morning.  Resuscitative measures were performed and Tom wound up at UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica, on life support.  Yesterday afternoon, his family made the hard decision to remove him from life support.  It was that one fact yesterday afternoon that lead the media to report that he had passed.  However, as often happens in these cases, the removal of life support did not result in Petty expiring immediately.  As he lay in his hospital bed, still alive, the media was reporting his death.

Our rock heroes are often larger than life to us and it is easy to forget, amongst the media hype surrounding something like this, that there are real people and families suffering.  The media can often exacerbate this as is evident from this Instagram post by Tom’s daughter, Annakim Violette, during the height of the debacle…

“dadlivesmatteronelove@rollingstone my dad is not dead yet but your fucking magazine is ⚡️⚡️⚡️your slime😵 has been pieces of tabloid dog shit. You put the worst artists on your covers do zero research. How dare you report that my father has died just to get press because your articles and photos are so dated. I will fucking shit down your throat and your family's . Try not being a trump vibe. This is my father not a celebrity. An artist and human being. Fuck u”

We can certainly understand her pain and anger.

When I heard the erroneous news that he had passed yesterday, I was deeply saddened and began to weep.  As that began to subside, I learned that he might not be dead.  Then I learned that he still lived and I found myself on a roller coaster of emotions.  I can’t begin to imagine what his family went through yesterday.

My sincerest condolences to the Petty family.

Let us move forward.  When I do these pieces they are normally retrospects, remembering all of the wonderful times and accomplishments we attribute to the artist.  Let us look at Tom Petty in that regard.

He was one of so many artists of my generation who saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and knew that was what they wanted to be.  One of his early guitar teachers was Don Felder, who would later gain fame as the lead guitarist for the Eagles.  He not only had the natural talent, he also had an equally talented instructor.

He and some buddies formed a band called the “Epics,” but they soon evolved into a band called “Mudcrutch.”  They released one single in 1974, “Depot Street,” which I’ll play during my set tomorrow.  Eventually, Tom and a couple members of Mudcrutch formed Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Their self-titled debut album was released in 1976 and didn’t fare so well in America but did much better in the United Kingdom.  Their second album, “You’re Gonna Get It!” finally charted, reaching #23.  After that, there was no looking back.  They would release eleven more albums for a total of thirteen, the last in 2014.  That album was Hypnotic Eye and it charted at #1 on the Billboard charts.  They went out on top!

That isn’t even the complete story.  Through the years, Tom Petty also released three solo albums without the Heartbreakers, each one charting in the top ten!  The most recent was in 2006 when his album, Highway Companion, reached #4.

From 1988 to 1990, he was a member of famed super-group, the Traveling Wilburys, with Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynn (of ELO) and George Harrison (of the Beatles).  They released two albums and had several big hits.

In 2008, he reformed Mudcrutch with several of the original members and they released a self-titled album.  The album did well and charted at #8.  EVERYTHING Tom Petty touched (read recorded) turned to GOLD…  Literally!  Mudcrutch would reform one last time and released an album, simply called “2,” in 2016.  It would be Petty’s last recording.

He also had many collaborative efforts, recording songs with other artists including Bob Dylan, Hank Williams Jr., Roger McGuinn (of the Byrds), Eric Clapton, Carl Perkins, Billy Idol and Joni Mitchell to name a few.  However, his most famous was probably with Stevie Nicks, which resulted in the hit, Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.

Tom Petty was one of the Greats!

Whenever I think of him, my first thoughts go back to a video he made back in 1985 for his hit song, Don’t Come Around Here No More.  The video portrays the song as a psychedelic romp through Alice in Wonderland and Petty plays the part of a psychedelic Mad Hatter with a giant cup of tea as he sings the song.  The video won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Visual Effects.

This morning my heart was broken once again as I came to terms with Tom Petty’s death for a second time.  While I had held out some hope for a recovery, knowing what I do about cases like this, I was not in the least bit surprised to wake up to the news.  This morning, his official webpage confirmed it with the screen shot below.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a couple of months after September 11, 2001.  In the aftermath of the tragedy, I Won’t Back Down became a rallying song for the American people.  He has been such a fixture in our lives and culture.

For some reason this death has really hit me hard, harder than most ever do.  Maybe it was all the confusion; I don’t know.  A five song mini-set during my show tomorrow just doesn’t seem to cut it.  I will be dedicating the entire set to Tom Petty.  Join me at AWT from 2-4 PM SL time on Wednesday, October 4, as we remember this musical great.

“Well I know what's right;

I got just one life,

In a world that keeps on pushin' me around,

But I'll stand my ground and I won't back down.”

And he never did.

Woodstock at AWT - 48th Anniversary

Yes, that time of year is here.  It is time for Woodstock at AWT and it will be held this weekend, August 11, 12 and 13.  This year we have a new club set up and this will require the building of a new festival ground at AWT.  I plan to make this one bigger and better than the last one.

This has become something of a tradition at AWT and we do it every August now.  I have over 20 hours of the original concert and I play it in its historical order over the three days.  We also redo the club area to totally give you the Woodstock experience from 1969.

If you missed the original in 1969, this might just be your best chance to experience the original Woodstock in cyberspace with us at AWT.  A number of people who attended last year said that in a way they now felt like they were there.  Below, you will not only find the times, but I have printed the entire set lists for this weekend.  Furthermore, if you scroll past the massive set list, you will find interesting moments you will hear this weekend, like when the Dead blow their amplifiers or Pete Townsend of the Who hits Abbie Hoffman over the head with his guitar.  Each event is explain and an approximate to the minute time that you will hear it this weekend.

So pack up your car or micro-bus.  Drive as far as you can down the SL Thruway, then abandon your car and hike the rest of the way to a Woman’s Touch.  When you get here, the chain link fence is down on the west side of the concert field.  It’s a free concert.  Roll out your sleeping bag and enjoy the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair, an Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music.

Concert Times (all times in SL time) 

Friday, August 11 
5:30 - 9:00 PM 

Saturday, August 12
11:00 AM - 9:15 PM 

Sunday, August 13
1:30-9:15 PM

Here are the set lists for this weekend.  Bands and artists with an asterisk (*) in front of their name, denote that we have their complete set.  No song is missing.

Friday, August 11, 5:30-9:00 PM 

Richie Havens 
High Flying Bird 
I Can't Make It Anymore
With a Little Help From My Friends 
Handsome Johnny 
Strawberry Fields/Hey Jude
Freedom (Motherless Child) 

His Holiness Sri Swami Satchidananda 
Festival Blessing 

Sweetwater 
Motherless Child
Look Out
What’s Wrong
Two Worlds
Why Oh Why 

*Bert Sommer 
Jennifer
The Road to Travel
I Wonder Where You Be
She’s Gone
Things Are Going My Way
And When It's Over
Jeanette
America
A Note That Read
Smile 

Tim Hardin 
How Can We Hang On to a Dream?
If I Were a Carpenter
Simple Song of Freedom 

*Ravi Shankar 
Raga Puriya-Dhanashri/Gat In Sawarital
Tabla Solo in Jhaptal
Raga Majh Khamaj 

Melanie 
Momma Momma
Beautiful People
Birthday of the Sun 

Arlo Guthrie 
Coming into Los Angeles
Wheel of Fortune
Walkin' Down the Line
Every Hand in the Land 

Joan Baez 
Joe Hill
Sweet Sir Galahad
Hickory Wind
Drug Store Truck Driving Man (duet with Jeffrey Shurtleff )
I Live One Day at a Time (duet with Jeffrey Shurtleff )
Swing Low Sweet Chariot
We Shall Overcome

Saturday, August 12, 11:00 - 9:15 PM

Quill 
They Live the Life
That's How I Eat
Driftin’ 

Country Joe McDonald 
Donovan's Reef
Flying High
The "Fish" Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag 

*Santana 
Waiting
Evil Ways
You Just Don't Care
Savor
Jingo
Persuasion
Soul Sacrifice
Fried Neckbones and Some Home Fries 

*John B. Sebastian 
How Have You Been
Rainbows All Over Your Blues
I Had a Dream
Darlin' Be Home Soon
Younger Generation 

The Keef Harley Band 
Spanish Fly 

The Incredible String Band 
The Letter
This Moment
When You Find Out Who You Are 

*Canned Heat 
I’m Her Man
Going Up the Country
Leaving This Town 
Too Many Drivers at the Wheel
I Know My Baby 
Woodstock Boogie
On the Road Again 

Mountain 
Blood of the Sun
Theme for an Imaginary Western
For Yasgur's Farm
Beside the Sea
Southbound Train 

The Grateful Dead 
Mama Tried
Dark Star
Turn on Your Love Light

*Creedence Clearwater Revival 
Born on the Bayou
Green River
Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)
Commotion
Bootleg
Bad Moon Rising
Proud Mary
I Put a Spell on You
Night Time Is the Right Time
Keep on Chooglin’
Susie Q 

*Janis Joplin 
Raise Your Hand
As Good As You've Been to This World
To Love Somebody
Summertime
Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)
Kozmic Blues
Can't Turn You Loose
Work Me, Lord
Piece of My Heart
Ball 'n' Chain 

*Sly & the Family Stone 
M'Lady
Sing a Simple Song
You Can Make It If You Try
Everyday People
Dance to The Music
Music Lover
I Want to Take You Higher
Love City
Stand! 

*The Who 
Heaven and Hell
I Can't Explain
It's a Boy
1921
Amazing Journey
Sparks
Eyesight to the Blind
Christmas
Acid Queen
Pinball Wizard w/ Abbie Hoffman incident
Do You Think It's Alright?
Fiddle About
There's a Doctor
Go to the Mirror
Smash the Mirror
I'm Free
Tommy's Holiday Camp
We're Not Gonna Take It
See Me, Feel Me
Summertime Blues
Shakin' All Over
My Generation

Here is where Saturday ended during the weekend back in 1969.  We are continuing tonight with the first show of Sunday in order to fit everything in within our schedule this year.

*Jefferson Airplane 
The Other Side of This Life
Somebody to Love
3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds
Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon
Eskimo Blue Day
Plastic Fantastic Lover
Wooden Ships
Uncle Sam Blues
Volunteers
The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil
Come Back Baby
White Rabbit
The House at Pooneil Corners 

Sunday, August 13, 1:30 – 9:15 PM

*Joe Cocker 
Dear Landlord
Something Comin' On
Do I Still Figure in Your Life
Feelin' Alright
Just Like a Woman
Let's Go Get Stoned
I Don't Need a Doctor
I Shall Be Released
Hitchcock Railway
Something to Say
With a Little Help from My Friends 

Country Joe and the Fish 
Rock & Soul Music
(Thing Called) Love
Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine
Summer Dresses
Silver and Gold
Love Machine
Rock & Soul Music (Reprise) 

Ten Years After
I’m Going Home 

*The Band 
Chest Fever
Don’t Do It
Tears of Rage
We Can Talk
Long Black Veil
Don’t Ya Tell Henry
Ain’t No More Cane
This Wheel’s on Fire
I Shall Be Released
The Weight
Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever 

*Johnny Winter 
Mama, Talk to Your Daughter
Leland Mississippi Blues
Mean Town Blues
You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now / Mean Mistreater
Can't Stand It (with Edgar Winter)
Tobacco Road (with Edgar Winter)
Tell the Truth (with Edgar Winter)
Johnny B. Goode 

Blood, Sweat & Tears 
More and More
Something Comin On
Spinning Wheel
You've Made Me So Very Happy 

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young 
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
Blackbird
Guinnevere
Marrakesh Express
4 + 20
Sea of Madness
Wooden Ships
Find the Cost of Freedom 

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band 
No Amount of Loving
Driftin' 
Morning Sunrise 
Love March
Everything's Gonna Be Alright 

Sha-Na-Na 
Get a Job
Teen Angel
Wipe Out
(Who Wrote) The Book of Love
Duke of Earl
At the Hop
Get a Job (reprise)

Jimi Hendrix 
Message to Love
Hear My Train A Comin'
Spanish Castle Magic
Red House
Lover Man
Foxy Lady
Jam Back at the House
Izabella
Fire
Voodoo Child (Slight Return)/Stepping Stone
The Star-Spangled Banner
Purple Haze
Woodstock Improvisation/Villanova Junction
Hey Joe

Notable Incidents You Will Hear This Weekend (All times are in SL time this weekend.) 

Arlo Guthrie’s Microphone (Friday, 8:17 PM)
Arlo Guthrie starts off his set with Coming Into Los Angeles but there is just one problem.  You can’t hear the vocals.  There was trouble with his microphone and it wasn’t until about a minute into his first song that the engineers fixed the problem.  You can barely hear him singing, probably through the microphone set up to pick up his guitar.  Despite the problem, this song did make the movie and the first soundtrack album released in 1970.  The song was begun in the middle, after the solo, going into the refrain.  Thus, the flawed part was edited out and only the second half of the song is used.  We will hear it in its entirety, failure and all. 

Country Joe McDonald Stalls for Time (Saturday, 11:17 PM)
Joe McDonald was the front man for the band, Country Joe and the Fish.  After Quill finished their set, Santana was not ready to take the stage for theirs.  McDonald was reluctantly recruited to go on stage and do a few songs solo to placate the crowd.  He was not prepared to go on alone so he used the excuse that he had no guitar.  One was located backstage, so he then used the excuse that he had no guitar strap.  A piece of rope was tied to the guitar and he had run out of excuses.  Joe McDonald improvised a solo set and it included one of the most memorable moments of the weekend.  He got the crowd worked up.  “Give me an F…  Give me a U…  Give me a C… Give me a K…  What’s that spell? [FUCK] What’s that spell? [FUCK]… 

Yeah, c’mon on all you big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He’s got himself in a terrible jam
way down yonder in Vietnam,
so put down your books and pick up a gun.
We’re gonna have a whole lot of fun.
And it’s 1, 2, 3, what’re we fighting for?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn;
next stop is Vietnam. 

Part way through the song he addresses the crowd. “Listen people, I don't know how you expect to ever stop the war if you can't sing any better than that. There's about 300,000 of you fuckers out there…”

Joe McDonald, borrowed guitar and rope

Bob Hite of Canned Heat has to Pee (Saturday, 1:00 PM)
Canned Heat took the stage and lead singer, Bob Hite, announced to the crowd, “…There is only one thing I wish, I sure gotta pee!”  It was a direct reference to the lack of adequate sanitary facilities at the concert.  It should also be noted that just before introducing them, Chip Monck, the emcee, remarked about how well they were holding up with the help of the US Army. 

The Grateful Dead are Delayed (Saturday, 2:34 PM)
The Grateful Dead were supposed to take the stage after Mountain.  Well, several things kept that from happening. First, the switching between bands was supposed to be facilitated by a turntable type stage.  While one band was on stage (in front), they could be setting up the next one backstage.  The mechanism failed and they had to manual set up the Grateful Dead’s stage.  Furthermore, the stage had flooded due to rain and this was causing all sorts of grounding issues and there were safety concerns.  While there was time to kill on stage, Jerry Garcia, along with Joe McDonald, addressed the crowd and gave their advice about the bad acid that was going around.

The Grateful Dead at Woodstock

The Grateful Dead End Early (Saturday, 3:34 PM)
The fear about the water and electrical systems may have been well founded. As they ended a monster rendition (over 37 minutes long) of Turn on Your Love Light, a loud bang can be heard as they blew their stage amplifiers and had to end their set early. 

Abbie Hoffman Crashes the Stage on the Who (Saturday, 6:44 PM)
Abbie Hoffman was a notable 60’s activist and radical who was always controversial and often in trouble with the law.  Between Sly and the Family Stone and the Who, Hoffman had addressed the “politics of the situation” with an angry rant (6:11 PM) about the plight of John Sinclair, manager of Detroit rock band, the MC5.  Sinclair was serving a ten year prison term in Michigan for possessing two joints of marijuana.  After the Who was part of the way through their set and tuning their instruments, Hoffman crashed the stage, taking the microphone from Roger Daltry.  He began another stoned rant about Sinclair saying, “I think this is a pile of shit while John Sinclair rots in prison.”  Pete Townsend then attacked Hoffman, hitting him over the head with his guitar.  Townsend can plainly be heard saying, “Fuck! Off my fucking stage!” The Who then went on to Pinball Wizard. 

Breakfast in Bed for 400,000 (Saturday, 9:13 PM)
Sunday morning, after Jefferson Airplane had finished their set, Hog Farm leader, Wavy Gravy (Hugh Romney), took to the stage and addressed the crowd.  “What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000.” (To fit the schedule this year, we are present the first act of Sunday in 1969 at the End of our Saturday Set.)

Max Yasgur Addresses the Crowd (Sunday, 1:30 PM)
When the original location for the festival fell through, weeks before the concert, Max Yasgur, a local dairy farmer, made his 600 acre farm available.  It was only fitting that he got his few minutes of fame and got to address the crowd.  An older looking man, who looked very out of place, wearing black plastic rimmed glasses, took the stage.  There was no less hip person in the place, yet he sang the praises of the concert attendees.  It was another wonderful Woodstock moment.  Joe Cocker took the stage after him and dedicated his first song to him. “And we’re going to do this um this little number to start off with, the title suggests that farming guy who just came out, did you see that nice little bloke…"

Max Yasgur

Yasgur would later be immortalized in Joni Mitchell’s classic song, made famous by CSNY, Woodstock. 

I came upon a child of God,
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, "Where are you going?"
And this he told me... 

I'm going on down to Yasgur's Farm,
I'm gonna join in a rock and roll band.
I'm gonna camp out on the land.
I'm gonna get my soul free. 

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young are Scared Shitless (Sunday, 6:08 PM)
Although all four were seasoned concert performers with other bands, this was only the second time that CSNY had played in front of people and the crowd happened to be 400,000.  After finishing their opening number, Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, Stephen Stills admits, “Thank you, we needed that.  This is the second time we've ever played in front of people, man. We're scared shitless." 

Emcee, Chip Monck, Closes the Festival (Sunday, 9:04 PM)
Chip Monck was the voice of Woodstock.  His voice filled the void between sets with announcements, messages, directions and warnings about the brown acid.  He worked relentlessly all three days.  The thing is that he was hired to build and operate the stage lighting for the event.  After he designed and built it, the location of the concert changed and the stage was built to different specifications to accommodate the new space.  The new roof over the stage was not compatible with the lighting design Monck had worked ten weeks building.  There was actually no stage lighting at Woodstock.  Only follow spots, operated from those towers that ironically Monck kept warning people about all weekend long.

Michael Lang realized at the last minute that he never hired an emcee, but there was Chip Monck, a man he had already paid $7000 and who no longer had a function.  Thus, Woodstock became the only concert in history to have the lighting director supplying some of the most famous quotes.