Monterey Pop Festival
The most memorable musical event of 1967 was the Monterey
International Pop Festival, held in the Californian sunshine over
three days between June 16th - 18th.
If the "Summer of Love" was largely a media
construct, the good vibes at Monterey were definitely for real.
The Monterey city fathers, who had braced themselves for an
onslaught of debauched hooligans, were pleasantly surprised to see
thousands of well-mannered, neatly-groomed (most of then men
weren't even sporting shoulder-length hair) flower children
milling peacefully around the festival grounds.
Organized by record mogul Lou Adler and John Phillips of The
Mamas & The Papas, the festival attracted 50,000 fans and
showcased the cream of the San Francisco music scene, including The
Grateful Dead, Country Joe
& The Fish, Big
Brother & The Holding Company (featuring Janis
Joplin), Moby Grape, Quicksilver
Messenger Service, Steve Miller
Band and Jefferson Airplane,
who were currently bringing some San Francisco magic to the charts
with Somebody To Love and White Rabbit, from the Surrealistic
Pillow LP.
The festival also fielded a diverse array of acts from around
the globe, including The Who, Ravi Shankar
and Jimi Hendrix. The latter, a former
sideman with Little Richard and The
Isley Brothers, had transformed himself into a psychedelic
guitar god during his recent stay in England.
Monterey marked the first time Jimi had performed for an
American audience since 1966, and he made it count; by the time
his set was finished, his Stratocaster was in ashes and the
audience were shaking their heads in disbelief.
Otis Redding also experienced a
major breakthrough at Monterey. A recording artist for the
legendary Memphis record label, Stax (whose
roster included Rufus Thomas, Booker
T & The MGs, Eddie Floyd and Sam
& Dave), Otis specialised in down-home soul. Given the
fair to moderate pop success of singles like Try A Little
Tenderness and I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now),
he was completely unprepared for the ecstatic response he received
from the Monterey festival-goers.
Back home in Georgia after the festival, Otis penned Sitting
On The Dock of the Bay as a heartfelt tribute to the San
Francisco "love crowd" that had made him feel so
welcome. Sadly, he died in a plane crash on December 10, just
three days after recording the song. Released in early 1968 it
would become his first and only Number One single.
The Beach Boys were supposed to
headline the festival but Brian Wilson backed out at the last
minute. Neil Young quit Buffalo
Springfield just prior to the show and David Crosby of The
Byrds filled in.
D.A. Pennebaker produced an excellent film of the Pop Festival
(imaginatively titled Monterey Pop), including classic
performances from Jimi Hendrix, The Who and Janis Joplin with Big
Brother and the Holding Company. Several bands did not make it
into the movie including Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, Simon
& Garfunkel and The Grateful Dead.
A planned 1968 Monterey International Pop Festival was
cancelled due to pressure from local government bodies. In the
wake of the cancellation, $52,000 was found to be missing from the
previous year's profits. The festival's bookkeeper, Mrs Sandra
Beebe, was also discovered to be missing without trace
|
