Musicians Who Turned Down Playing At Woodstock

April 2024 ยท 2 minute read

By the summer of 1969, Jethro Tull had released one album in the US and was about to release its second, both of them collections of the group's signature combination of blues, jazz, and progressive rock. The band's frontman Ian Anderson is one of the most unique in music history in how he dressed like a wizard onstage, hopped on one foot, and, in addition to singing, also played the flute, a rare rock 'n' roll instrument. 

He's also apparently one of the few stars of the '60s and '70s, rock's most hedonistic age, who was averse to chaos and debauchery. Anderson told SongFacts that when his manager proposed Jethro Tull playing Woodstock, he asked what other bands were set to perform. "And he listed a large number of groups who were reputedly going to play, and that it was going to be a hippie festival, and I said, 'Will there be lots of naked ladies? And will there be taking drugs and drinking lots of beer, and fooling around in the mud?'" 

Manager Terry Ellis prophetically confirmed that yes, all of those things that would come to define Woodstock were definite possibilities, which is why Anderson said no to Jethro Tull playing the festival. "I don't like hippies," Anderson said, "and I'm usually rather put off by naked ladies unless the time is right."

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