Which band performed "Going Up the Country" at Woodstock?

Canned Heat performed “Going Up the Country” at Woodstock.

The song was written and sung by Canned Heat vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Alan Wilson. Released in 1968 on the album Living the Blues, it became one of the band’s signature recordings and an anthem of the late-1960s back-to-the-land movement.

The song was adapted from “Bull Doze Blues,” a 1928 recording by Texas musician Henry Thomas. Wilson retained much of Thomas’s melody and rhythmic feel, while rewriting the lyrics. The famous flute line recreated Thomas’s quills, an early wind instrument resembling panpipes.

Canned Heat played Woodstock on the festival’s second day, arriving by helicopter and performing at sunset. Their set included “Going Up the Country,” which appeared on the original Woodstock soundtrack and became strongly associated with the festival. A common mix-up is confusing the song with “Woodstock,” Joni Mitchell’s later song about the event.