It’s pushing nine on Monday morning at the Woodstock Festival, and in a messianic white jacket and a bottle-green bandana that hangs over his eyes like a visor, the guitarist Larry Lee is every inch the counter-cultural icon. He grooves on rhythms. He plays glorious lead guitar on Jam Back At The House and Spanish Castle Magic. He even steps up to the mic to sing.
Despite that, to the frazzled Bethel crowd and the documentary directors who will scrub much of his contribution from future Woodstock films and soundtracks, he is invisible. For many, there was only one guitarist on stage that morning in August 1969, and it was Jimi Hendrix, pouring petrol over The Star-Spangled Banner, in the performance that gave the 60s its defining snapshot.
