Amidst threats of thunderstorms, Richie Havens began the music at 5:07 p.m.

Richie recalls,"The fact that those of us with acoustic instruments could be set up quickly was the only reason why we went on first." Following him to the stage on Friday were (in order:)Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian, Incredible String Band, Sweetwater, Tim Hardin, Bert Sommer, Ravi Shankar, Melanie, Arlo Guthrie, and Joan Baez.

Sprinkles turned to showers around midnight as warm thunderstorms blew in. There were no lights to shine on the audience after the music stopped. Rather than get up for a long trek to the johns without hope of finding a way back to friends in the dark, many campers simply fertilized the field while five inches of rain fell in the space of three hours.

But the dampness at Woodstock was nothing compared to the deluge brewing in the South on Friday night. All along the Florida panhandle storm-warning flags went up as Hurricane Camille blew across Cuba and headed into the Gulf of Mexico. The Evil Wind headed for the Mississippi Delta, racing towards the birthplace of the blues, aimed at the origins of rock 'n' roll. The roots of Woodstock were in Mississippi. As this weekend progressed, both roots and fruits of blues became covered in mud. With winds howling at 115 miles per hour, Camille was already the worst hurricane in half a century.

By Saturday, the rains over Yasgur's farm had transformed People's Hill into a slippery slope. An aerial photo of what authorities called a "disaster area" appeared on the front page of the New York Times. The three-inch-deep black silt was the consistency of brownie mix and smelled like hashish. It was mud that made you itch. But the media couldn't see the rain's improbable effect. A spirit of concern and gentleness washed over the soaked crowd. Their shared discomfort and crisis-driven bonding inspired communal regard on the farm.

And then rainless Saturday concerts brought a euphoric peak as participants grooved to the music of (in order:) Quill, Keef Hartley Band, Santana, Mountain, Canned Heat, Creedance Clearwater Revival, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Sly & the Family Stone, the Who, and the Jefferson Airplane.

Meanwhile, Michael Lang took a trip to Dylan's nearby hideaway in hopes of persuading his hero to play. Dylan was scheduled to leave for England to headline the Isle Of Wight Festival, but those plans were delayed when his son fell ill over the Woodstock weekend.

On Sunday morning lines of exhausted freeks streamed from Yasgur's farm long before an afternoon thunderstorm triggered the big migration. Chants of "NO RAIN!" did little to calm the skies over White Lake.

And in the Gulf Of Mexico, Camille hovered, now swollen to monster-proportions.

The music at Woodstock continued straight through Sunday and into Monday morning, interrupted only by the heavy rains. People who remained heard (in order:) Joe Cocker, a speech from Max Yasgur, Country Joe & the Fish, a lecture by Swami Satchidananda, Ten Years After, The Band, Blood Sweat & Tears, Johnny Winter, CSNY, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Sha Na Na.

Michael Lang later wrote, "Jimi Hendrix wanted to close the show because usually the headliner does close the show. His manager, Michael Jeffery, insisted. I said, 'Listen, it's not like that. They're all headliners. Why don't you go on around midnight?' Jeffery said no, Hendrix had to close the show; so I said, 'Okay. You got it,' even though I knew it was not really a great spot to have, waiting up all night and knowing many of the people would have left already. On Monday morning, Hendrix did play an incredible set, but by the time he got to the stage there were only about 60,000 people left."

Shortly past 8 p.m. on Sunday a caravan of cars brought Jimi's band to Yasgur's farm. "No one knew if he would get to go on that night," recalled sound engineer Eddie Kramer, "because the circular stage had broken during the day, and the band changeovers had been taking too long." Jimi's musicians were shown to a shelter to wait.

"Hendrix was in a farm shack," reports Leslie Aday, an aide to Bob Dylan's manager, "but he was the only artist who didn't have to crowd into the tents backstage...I could see that Hendrix was ill, dosed, I'm afraid, by drinking the water backstage. He seemed really sick, or really high, and was sweating bullets. I was feeding him vitamin C, fruit, and having him suck on lemon slices. As we sat there, he seemed nervous and didn't think he could pull it off."

At one point Jimi took a trip to the medical tent. "We didn't know who he was," remembers middle-aged Nurse Sanderson. "Just a black man laying on the stretcher. Then everybody started saying, 'Hey, isn't that Jimi Hendrix?' There was a big stir about it. He lay on the stretcher for about 30 minutes before roadies hauled him out."

By the middle of the night Jimi felt well enough to visit the stage. He and Mitch listened to old friends Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young test run their new group. Neil Young recalls "meeting Jimi in a pick-up truck at an airport, about ten miles from the site, when we came in. We came in on these chartered planes, and we were riding around in this stolen pick-up truck with Hendrix and these people - I remember that more than the show. I think stealing a pick-up truck with Jimi Hendrix was one of the high points of my life. Absolutely the best electric guitar player that ever lived."