50 Rarely Seen Images From Woodstock 1969

We Shall Overcome Was Joan Baez’s Song As The Rain Started

Joan Baez
Joan Baez/BethelWoods

Joan Baez was one of the 1960s biggest stars and a major draw at Woodstock. Her first set was on the first day of the festival, right as the storm clouds started rolling in.

It started lightly raining, but Baez continued to play; but as the rain became heavier, she played We Shall Overcome to the sodden crowd. The storm turned the entire area into a mud pool; there were waves of torrential water hitting thousands of people that had nowhere to go.