Bands that should have been at Woodstock

Radiohead

The Four Seasons, The Monkees, The Cowsills, and The Association?! You are joking...right? When The Association played at Monterey in '67 they were reportedly nearly booed off the stage because most of the audience saw them as an uncool and unhip 'pop' band. The Beatles were out of the question simply because by 1966 they were no longer a live performance group (with the exception of the Let It Be sessions). Then again, there was the inexplicable appearance of Sha Na Na, the only reason I can see that they were on the bill was because of their campiness.

A lot of your other suggestions are definite 'shoulda-been-there' bands like Frank and The Mothers, The Chambers Brothers, Spirit, as well as The Steve Miller Band and Vanilla Fudge, etc.

There were some 'younger' lesser known bands that I wish played Woodstock such as Chicago Transit Authority and Grand Funk Railroad, both of whom became hugely popular concert headliners just a few years later.

I'M A TRAVELING SALESPERSON. I SELL BANJOS.

Gong should've been there. One of the most psychdelic bands ever. True hippies and still going strong...

From http://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/music0_woodstock.html

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Cancelled Acts

Jeff Beck Group (The band broke up in July, forcing cancellation)
Iron Butterfly (Stuck at the airport, their manager demanded helicopters and special arrangements just for them. Were wired back and told, as impolitely as Western Union would allow, "to get lost", but in other 'words'.)
Joni Mitchell (Joni's agent put her on "The Dick Cavett Show" instead)
Lighthouse (Feared that it would be a "bad scene".)
Ethan Brown (Arrested for LSD three days before the event.)

Declined Invitations

The Beatles (John Lennon said he couldn't get them together)
Led Zeppelin (Got a higher paying gig at the Asbury Park Convention Hall in New Jersey that weekend)
Bob Dylan (Turned it down because of his disgust of the hippies hanging around his house)
The Byrds (Turned it down because of a melee during their performance at the first Atlanta International Pop Festival, held at the Atlanta International Raceway on July 4 and July 5, 1969)
Tommy James & the Shondells (Turned it down because of being misinformed about the size and scope of the event)
Jethro Tull (Turned it down because they thought it wouldn't be a big deal.)
The Moody Blues were included in the original posters as performers, but backed out after taking a gig in Paris on the same weekend.
Spirit (they had other shows planned and did not want to back out of their commitments; not knowing how big that Woodstock would ultimately become)
Mind Garage (Declined because they thought it wouldn't be a big deal and had a higher paying gig elsewhere)
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I think Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, Tull and a few others can issue a collective "DOH!!!!" Not that their careers suffered, but think how much cooler they would've been if they had been at Woodstock.

WOODSTOCK - the 3 week festival of so-so music!!!
(I'm lookin' at you, Cher, Gary Puckett, the McCoys, Ted Nugent, THE MC5!!!)
I wish Quicksilver would have been there. And I never got to see Spirit. Another missed opportunity for them! (Mom won't let 15yo Randy to go to England with Hendrix, to form the Experience. Opening-act Led Zep/ Page steals his melody to create 'Stairway'... What a storied existence Spirit lead!)

You forgot The International Silver-String Submarine Band.



He's taking the knife out of the Cheese!
Do you think he wants some cheese?

Jeez, what's this? A list of every band you could think of that was around at the time?

The Cowsills? lol. The audience would have pelted them with mud and granola.