Richie Havens - Freedom at Woodstock 1969

[Dulcinea]

&t=292s

[Norrrm]

1. Richie Havens played several songs

One of the Woodstock recap videos said that it was not very organized at the
beginning. They kept bringing Richie Havens out because they had nobody else at the
moment. Finally, he ran out of good stuff and had to make one up. This might be the one.

[Norrrm]

2. Yes

https://www.woodstock.com/lineup/richie-havens/

Havens as a live performer earned widespread notice. His Woodstock appearance in 1969 catapulted him into stardom and was a major turning point in his career. As the festival’s first performer, he held the crowd for nearly three hours. In part, Havens was told to continue playing, because many artists scheduled to perform after him were delayed in reaching the festival location with highways at a virtual standstill. He was called back for several encores. Having run out of tunes, he improvised a song based on the old spiritual Motherless Child that became Freedom. The subsequent Woodstock movie release helped Havens reach a worldwide audience. He also appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival in late August 1969.