Rare bootleg performance was recorded at Syracuse University’s Jabberwocky Club in 1971

Since writing “Woodstock” inside a New York City hotel room, Joni Mitchell‘s counterculture anthem has been covered repeatedly throughout the last 50 years, most famously with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s electrifying version on Déjà Vu. 

Now, a folky rendition by Bonnie Raitt has been unearthed, recorded at a March 27th, 1971, performance at Syracuse University’s Jabberwocky Club. Raitt was just 21 and eight months away from dropping her self-titled debut. Unlike many covers of Mitchell’s spiritual song, Raitt’s is stripped-down and acoustic, using solely her voice to channel the muddy festival on Max Yasgur’s farm. Her register is akin to Mitchell’s, soaring through the octaves with each line: “And I dreamed I saw the bombers/Riding shotgun in the sky/And they were turning into butterflies/Above our nation.”

Bonnie Raitt – The Jabberwocky Club, Syracuse University, Syracuse, 27 March 1971

Bonnie Raitt – The Jabberwocky Club, Syracuse University, Syracuse, 27 March 1971

Bonnie Raitt – The Jabberwocky Club, Syracuse University, Syracuse, 27 March 1971

Bonnie Raitt – The Jabberwocky Club, Syracuse University, Syracuse, 27 March 1971

Bonnie Raitt – The Jabberwocky Club, Syracuse University, Syracuse, 27 March 1971

Bonnie Raitt – The Jabberwocky Club, Syracuse University, Syracuse, 27 March 1971

Bonnie Raitt – The Jabberwocky Club, Syracuse University, Syracuse, 27 March 1971

Bonnie Raitt – The Jabberwocky Club, Syracuse University, Syracuse, 27 March 1971

Bonnie Raitt – The Jabberwocky Club, Syracuse University, Syracuse, 27 March 1971

Bonnie Raitt – The Jabberwocky Club, Syracuse University, Syracuse, 27 March 1971

Prior to closing its doors in 1985, the Jabberwocky Club hosted James Brown, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Roger McGuinn, and more. The campus’ FM radio station, WAER, would broadcast the live performances in New York. Raitt’s set has been bootlegged, but is extremely rare.

MUSICIANS ON MUSICIANS Bonnie Raitt & Brandi Carlile

“She illuminated the path I could have,” Carlile says as she sits down with her hero for the first time. “She taught me I could lead and not apologize.” On a recent L.A. afternoon, Brandi Carlile is talking about the moment when everything changed for her. It was the 2019 Grammys, when she played her ballad “The Joke” live and took home three awards. “I was 39, kind of an outlier underdog character,” says Carlile. That week, her sixth album, By the Way, I Forgive You, went to Number 22.

About The Author

Angie Martoccio

Angie Martoccio is a senior writer at Rolling Stone, where she covers music and pop culture. She’s written cover stories on Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, and Boygenius, the latter of which won a Los Angeles Press Club award. She’s interviewed iconic musicians and actors like Neil Young, Jamie Lee Curtis, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, and more. She also focuses on in-depth features on the unsung women of the music industry, from Seventies singer-songwriter Judee Sill to singer Nicolette Larson. Her feature on Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and Papas won The Newswomen’s Club of New York’s Front Page Award in 2023.

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