Mitchell's own version was first performed live in 1969 and appeared in April 1970 on her album Ladies of the Canyon and as the B-side to her single "Big Yellow Taxi".
Joni Mitchell's lyrics were based on the description of the Woodstock Music and Art Festival she was given by her then-boyfriend, Graham Nash.
The saga commences with the narrator's encounter of a fellow traveler ("Well, I came upon a child of God, he was walking along the road") and concludes with their arrival at their destination ("by the time we got to Woodstock, we were half a million strong").
There is also reference to the "mutual assured destruction" ideology of the Cold War ("bombers riding shotgun in the sky..."), contrasted with the peaceful intent of the festival goers ("...turning into butterflies above our nation").
[citation needed] At about the same time that Ladies of the Canyon appeared, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's upbeat rock arrangement of "Woodstock" was released as the lead single from their 1970 Déjà Vu album.
Stephen Stills sang the lead vocal, with backing harmonies from David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Young.
The Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young version of "Woodstock" was also notable for its stop-time instrument patterns, just prior to the "We are stardust, we are golden..." chorus.
"Woodstock" was one of the few Déjà Vu tracks on which Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young all performed their parts in the same session.
Then later on [Crosby, Stills & Nash] were in the studio nitpicking [with the result that] Stephen erased the vocal and put another one on that wasn't nearly as good.
Cash Box said that "C, S, N & Y steam along with a splendid song by Joni Mitchell" and "the foursome offer some much more solid undercurrents in the instrumental end.
The group performed "Woodstock" in the UK's Live in Concert program, broadcast by BBC Radio 1 on 28 June 1970.
Front man Iain Matthews recalled later that the group had prepared three songs for the session but the BBC needed one more, and he had suggested an impromptu cover of "Woodstock", having heard Joni Mitchell's version on her Ladies of the Canyon album earlier that week.
When that proved to be the case, Leigh said MCA "reluctantly released ours because of that agreement, but they wouldn't spend a penny on promotion ...
"[11] Issued on 24 July 1970, "Woodstock" debuted on the UK Top 50 on 26 September 1970 and reached #1 on 31 October 1970, remaining there for two additional weeks.
It was a #2 hit in Ireland and had widespread success in Europe, charting in Austria (#15), Denmark (#9), Finland (#23), Germany (#27), the Netherlands (#17), Norway (#2), Poland (#2), and Sweden (#2).
In November 1970, "Woodstock" by Matthews Southern Comfort had its US single release on the group's regular US label, Decca Records, another MCA affiliate.