By the time they got to Woodstock, The Who, Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix and other legendary rock acts had already played Long Island gigs

The 57th anniversary of that glorious musical mudfest in Bethel, New York known as the Woodstock Music and Art Fair will be celebrated later this month. By August 1969, most of the big-name acts who played there had already performed on Long Island, many at Stony Brook University's (then SUNY-Stony Brook) gymnasium, which at the time was Long Island's major venue for counterculture bands. Here's a look at 11 Woodstock acts and their Long Island connections.

Joan Baez

Feb. 26, 1965 at Island Garden, West Hempstead

A venue more suited to wrestling and the circus hosted the world's most famous female folk singer as part of her 1965 national tour. Her setlist that evening opened with her rendition of Bob Dylan’s "The Times They Are A-Changin'."

The Band 

May 3, 1969 at SUNY-Stony Brook's Gymasium

This landmark gig was  Robbie Robertson & Co.'s first public concert under the name "The Band. Before this, they were famous as Bob Dylan's backing group (The Hawks). The Long Island proto-metal group Soft White Underbelly (who would soon rename themselves Blue Öyster Cult) opened the historic show.

Canned Heat

Sept. 22, 1967 at The Action House, Island Park

The Los Angeles blues-rockers fronted by Bob "The Bear' Hite made their unexpected local debut as a last-minute fill-in act for Moby Grape. The band shared the marquee that night with a long-forgotten local group called The Neons, as well as the headliners, the British power trio Cream (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker). 

Joe Cocker 

Aug. 13, 1969 at Freeport Municipal Stadium

Just 48 hours before Woodstock commenced, the twitchy British rocker was part of the two-night "Long Island Music Festival" (tickets: $4.50) held at a venue best known for its auto races. Other acts included several bands soon to knock out audiences at Yasgur's Farm, including Sly and the Family Stone, Ten Years After and Canned Heat.

Country Joe and the Fish

Feb. 27, 1968 at Stony Brook Gymnasium

The Berkeley, California-based psychedelic rock band famous for their anti-war anthem "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag," shared the university bill with the East Village-based satirical band The Fugs. 

Creedence Clearwater Revival 

John Fogerty's swamp rockers never played Long Island. (Well, at least Fogerty himself will play Northwell at Jones Beach Theater on Sept. 12.)

Grateful Dead

May 4, 1968, at Stony Brook Gymnasium

This took place during Carnival Weekend with Scotland's Incredible String Band opening, and was reportedly the San Francisco band's first paying gig in the East (they had played a free benefit at Columbia University the day before).

Jefferson Airplane

Feb. 18, 1967, at Stony Brook Gymnasium

Just two weeks after their landmark album "Surrealistic PIllow" was released, the San Francisco psychedelic rock band embarked on its first East Coast tour. They would return here in November for two more shows.

Jimi Hendrix

March 9, 1968, at Stony Brook Gymnasium

Hendrix played here with his original band The Jimi Hendrix Experience (he famously closed out Woodstock with a mind-bending version of "The Star Spangled Banner" backed by other musicians). Opening were the British prog-rock band Soft Machine, who later that year, would share a bill with Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company, and the Chambers Brothers at Flushing's Singer Bowl (now part of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center).

Sly and the Family Stone

March 22 and 23, 1968, The Action House

When the pioneering rock-soul-funk band first came here, its breakthrough single "Dance to the Music" was No. 14 on the Billboard chart, on its way to cracking the top 10. Sharing the bill was The Beacon Street Union, a psychedelic band hyped as part of the "Bosstown Sound," an attempt to market Boston as the East Coast equivalent of San Francisco.

The Who

Dec. 1, 1967 at the Long Island Arena in Commack.

The show was part of a brief American tour hosted by legendary disc jockey Murray the K. Supporting acts were two of L.I.'s favorites: Vanilla Fudge and The Illusion. Of course, Pete Townshend smashed his Fender Stratocaster to bits to end the show.