At 5:07 PM on August 15, 1969, folk hero Richie Havens walked onto a stage at a farm in Bethel, NY, and played the first notes of music for a crowd nearly half-a-million strong. Woodstock, as it was called, became a generation-defining event. And Havens' medley of 'Freedom/Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child' (captured in the documentary film) became a political rallying cry for change, heard by every generation since.

As Havens, now 67, watched President Elect Barack Obama's acceptance speech Tuesday night -- in front of a crowd estimated to be about half the size he played for at Woodstock -- he was reminded of that life-changing afternoon in New York.

"I felt what I felt onstage at Woodstock almost 40 years ago," Havens tells Spinner. "This is our collective voice, our time and our right. We will be heard."

Of course, in light of this election (which, Havens says, he was "thrilled to witness"), he may now wish to retract the title of his latest disc -- 'Nobody Left to Crown.' On the other hand, he did have the foresight to include a cover of the Who's 'Won't Get Fooled Again.'

President-Elect Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech Tuesday night from a stage in Chicago's Grant Park. Music fans should've recognized the landscaping and the view of the skyline: it's the same location Lollapalooza parks itself for three days come August.

Ironically, Obama's musician endorsement list looks like a dream line-up for next year's fest: Dave Matthews, Jay-Z, R.E.M., Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam and so on and so forth.

Add Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello to that list. In the middle of a solo tour under his moniker the Nightwatchman, Morello tells Spinner that, for once, he's pleased with the American majority. "I honestly thought I'd never live to see this day," Morello tells Spinner. "Obama's election is a huge step towards civilization for a country whose past is so steeped in racism."

Although she isn't eligible to vote in the US election, M.I.A. is using Election Day to discuss the politics of Joy Division. Just hours before the polls opened on Tuesday, she posted a video for a brand new track -- a collaboration with DJ Blaqstarr entitled 'S.U.S. (Save Ur Soul)' -- on her MySpace blog. The low-frills video ends with a visually stirring image that M.I.A. says they pulled from a Joy Division video. The image caused her to think "about the election and that's how people want you to see the world," she writes in the blog. "Black/white, good/evil, Jesus/Devil. For you the words are Obama vs. McCain. For me, it's terror vs. genocide."

Not to belittle terror or genocide, by any means, but we're glad the words aren't "early retirement."

When Spinner caught up with Flaming Lips' frontman Wayne Coyne recently to discuss all things Lips, we asked him his thoughts on the presidential election. An outspoken foe of the Bush administration, Coyne is decidedly voting for Barack Obama. No surprise there. Always the loquacious spokesperson, Coyne then delivered the following monologue:

"Let's say the worst thing in the world happens and Obama doesn't win. Well, on a local level, on my level that I'm working with here in Oklahoma City, I still have high hopes that my senator that lives in my district wins, even if we don't win the bigger election. These little elections, I tell people all the time, have more influence on your life than the presidential election. And you can never give up. You can never say, 'I don't care anymore' because someone is going to care, so either you care or they care. In my case, I hope that Obama wins. And I hope that my senator, my guy from my area, has more say in what goes on, not just in Washington, but in my own little neighborhood here.

Just one day before the big election, Drive-By Truckers' Patterson Hood has released a song entitled 'Uncle Phil and Aunt Phyllis in the Month After the Election.' The track is available as a free download today and Tuesday only.

Hood explains that, as the name implies, the song was written following the 2004 election, right before his daughter was born and right after George W. Bush was re-elected President. "I was depressed to think of her born into the world during a Bush presidency," writes Hood in a statement.

The song features Hood's father on bass, and producer (plus long-time member of Bob Mould's Sugar) David Barbe on keys. They're joined by fellow Truckers Johnny Neff and Brad Morgan on guitar and drums, respectively.

Hood's statement goes on to encourage everyone to vote, while giving his own endorsement for Barack Obama. In typical Drive-By language, Hood states, "Jr. has wrapped the Camaro around too many telephone poles and it's time to take his keys away. LONG LIVE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY." (And, we hope, the Drive-By Truckers.)

One-time Lester Bangs in Birdland band member and a long-time president of Ramones Productions (he's Joey Ramone's brother), Mickey Leigh released a statement over the weekend declaring that Linda Cummings, widow of the late Johnny Ramone, has hijacked the "Ramone" name to campaign for the Republican ticket.

"I just want it to be clear that Linda Cummings does not represent the political views of the Ramones," reads the statement. "Surely, as for Joey Ramone, the only Ramones song he would sing at a Republican campaign event would be 'Glad to See You Go!'"

Acknowledging that Johnny Ramone declared 'God Bless George Bush' during a shocking moment at the 2002 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Leigh retorts, "Yes, God bless George Bush for paving the way to Obama."

Can we get an 'Amen'?

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has come out in support of Republican presidential candidate John McCain. It marks the first time the guitarist has publicly endorsed a presidential candidate.

"We pretty much stay out of it," Perry tells the Boston Herald. "But seeing so many people come out for Obama, I just felt like 'What the hell. I might as well raise my hand for this side.'"

Perry cites national security and economic concerns as his reason to throw his support toward the Arizona Senator.

"I've been a hard-core Republican my whole life," Perry says. "My mother and father drilled into me from the very start that if you work hard and be positive, you'll get what you're working for."

And although McCain is trailing in the polls, the guitarist says, "I think that he's got a chance."