The Way to Monterey:
Kicking Off the Summer of Love
by Rusty DeSoto
POP MUSIC retrospectives usually give short shrift to the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival in favor of of Woodstock -- the bigger, higher-profile, more decadent rock festival held two summers later.
But Monterey Pop was a seminal event: it was the first real rock festival ever held, featuring debut performances of bands that would shape the history of rock and affect popular culture from that day forward.
The County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California -- all ocean breezes, morning fog, 24 acres of lawns and spreading live oaks -- had been home to folk, jazz and blues festivals for many years. But the weekend of June 16 - 18, 1967 was the first time it was used to showcase rock music. And what a showcase that turned out to be -- most notably for launching Janis Joplin, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Who -- and for featuring Otis Redding in one of his last important performances before his death six months later in a plane crash.
The First Rock Festival
The Monterey International Pop Festival was a crazy quilt of more than 30 bands, performing in the space of three idyllic California June afternoons and evenings. A festival of this size was unheard of -- never before in rock history had so many musicians performed together at the same event, and combining the genres of soul, folk, rock and psychedelic rock was unprecedented.
Pop music had strong regional roots at this stage in history, with distinct sounds and styles coming from different parts of the country. If regional musicians were talented and lucky enough, they broke through and became nationally or internationally known. In 1960s America, "making it" in entertainment usually meant an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, one of the most popular variety shows in the history of television.
British Still Ruled
Regional music camps were sometimes fierce rivals, and as a result, they didn't mingle much. This was especially true between the California cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco -- and between the Brits and the Americans.
In 1967, America was still very much in the throes of the British invasion, which had swept American radio in the early 1960s. Starting with the Beatles, then followed by others such as Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Dave Clark Five, the Rolling Stones and many, many more, England was where the really hip music was happening, according to the world.
The popularity of the Brits meant that many of America's musicians lost their native on-air prominence and some musical genres almost disappeared completely. But in 1967, even the British were curious about the new American music emanating from Across the Pond.
The Beats Went On
San Franciscans enjoyed dozens of talented local bands headlining in two big rock venues: The Avalon Ballroom, run by Chet Helms and The Family Dog; and The Fillmore run by Bill Graham's Winterland Productions. The funky Victorian mansions of the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco became communal homes for the musicians of the San Francisco scene. Golden Gate Park was their hangout by day; the Avalon Ballroom and the Fillmore were their showcase by night.
The Beat poets and their fans continued to exert their influence in northern California, espousing eastern religion, spirituality and mind expansion through drugs such as marijuana and LSD. Beginning in 1965, Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters staged Acid Tests in the Bay Area. These were multimedia events held in random locations, attended by several hundred people enjoying the effects of oil-based psychedelic light shows, appearances by Neal Cassady, Alan Ginsberg and music by a scruffy band called the Warlocks -- who later became famous as the Grateful Dead. And, of course, there was the ubiquitous tub of punch or wine spiked with large amounts of LSD, supplied by "the Henry Ford of acid," the infamous Bay Area kitchen chemist, Augustus Owsley Stanley III.
Behind The Scenes
In 1967, music producer Lou Adler and John Philips of the Mamas and the Papas teamed up with Alan Pariser and music publicist Derek Taylor to produce a rock festival that would bring together important musicians from all parts of the United States as well as from Great Britain and India for a weekend of peace, love and flowers. Monterey Pop was the embodiment of the 1960s hippie and flower-child movement. The festival program instructed attendees to "Be happy, be free; wear flowers, bring bells -- have a festival." For a moment in time, the country's problems of war and racial strife were seemingly put aside. 100,000 orchids were flown in from Hawaii and strewn by airplane over the crowd. Attendance peaked at 50,000, with more than 200,000 peacefully attending over the three days.
The festival was not without its critics, many of whom questioned the motives of the organizers. The inaugural issue of Rolling Stone, published in November, 1967, lambasted the event as extravagant and claimed that it was simply a vehicle for Phillips' and Adler's self-glorification. In "San Francisco Nights," Gene Sculatti and Davin Seay commented on the commercial aspects of Monterey, stating that it was "a combination trade show and shopping spree where [record company executives] might browse 'till they saw something they liked, then inquire about the price." And in a review that was most likely balled up and eaten later, Billboard magazine panned Jimi Hendrix's debut, reporting that "his chicken choke handling of the guitar doesn't indicate a strong talent."
The cheerful festival atmosphere didn't reveal clues that in the space of just a few years, some of the most memorable Monterey musicians would be gone forever from drug overdoses or accidents: Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Keith Moon, Cass Elliott and Monterey audience member Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones.
Revenues from Monterey Pop '67 were donated to various causes championed by the organizers and musicians, such as the LA Free Clinic, the LA Children's Museum, the UCLA Children's Hospital. Net proceeds from the sale of festival videos and CDs continue to be donated to worthy causes, thirty years after the event.
The Monterey International Pop Festival Lineup
Friday Evening, June 16
The Association
The Paupers
Lou Rawls
Beverly
Johnny Rivers
Eric Burdon & The Animals
Saturday Afternoon, June 17
Canned Heat
Big Brother & The Holding Company
Country Joe & The Fish
Al Kooper
The Butterfield Blues Band
Quicksilver Messenger Service
The Steve Miller Band
The Electric Flag
Saturday Evening, June 17
Moby Grape
Hugh Masekela
The Byrds
The Butterfield Blues Band
Laura Nyro
Jefferson Airplane
Booker T & The MGs with The Mar-Keys
Otis Redding
Sunday Afternoon, June 18
Ravi Shankar
Sunday Evening, June 18
The Blues Project
Big Brother & The Holding Company
The Group With No Name
Buffalo Springfield
The Who
The Grateful Dead
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Scott McKenzie
The Mamas & The Papas
Kicking Off the Summer of Love
by Rusty DeSoto
POP MUSIC retrospectives usually give short shrift to the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival in favor of of Woodstock -- the bigger, higher-profile, more decadent rock festival held two summers later.
But Monterey Pop was a seminal event: it was the first real rock festival ever held, featuring debut performances of bands that would shape the history of rock and affect popular culture from that day forward.
The County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California -- all ocean breezes, morning fog, 24 acres of lawns and spreading live oaks -- had been home to folk, jazz and blues festivals for many years. But the weekend of June 16 - 18, 1967 was the first time it was used to showcase rock music. And what a showcase that turned out to be -- most notably for launching Janis Joplin, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Who -- and for featuring Otis Redding in one of his last important performances before his death six months later in a plane crash.
The First Rock Festival
The Monterey International Pop Festival was a crazy quilt of more than 30 bands, performing in the space of three idyllic California June afternoons and evenings. A festival of this size was unheard of -- never before in rock history had so many musicians performed together at the same event, and combining the genres of soul, folk, rock and psychedelic rock was unprecedented.
Pop music had strong regional roots at this stage in history, with distinct sounds and styles coming from different parts of the country. If regional musicians were talented and lucky enough, they broke through and became nationally or internationally known. In 1960s America, "making it" in entertainment usually meant an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, one of the most popular variety shows in the history of television.
British Still Ruled
Regional music camps were sometimes fierce rivals, and as a result, they didn't mingle much. This was especially true between the California cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco -- and between the Brits and the Americans.
In 1967, America was still very much in the throes of the British invasion, which had swept American radio in the early 1960s. Starting with the Beatles, then followed by others such as Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Dave Clark Five, the Rolling Stones and many, many more, England was where the really hip music was happening, according to the world.
The popularity of the Brits meant that many of America's musicians lost their native on-air prominence and some musical genres almost disappeared completely. But in 1967, even the British were curious about the new American music emanating from Across the Pond.
The Beats Went On
San Franciscans enjoyed dozens of talented local bands headlining in two big rock venues: The Avalon Ballroom, run by Chet Helms and The Family Dog; and The Fillmore run by Bill Graham's Winterland Productions. The funky Victorian mansions of the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco became communal homes for the musicians of the San Francisco scene. Golden Gate Park was their hangout by day; the Avalon Ballroom and the Fillmore were their showcase by night.
The Beat poets and their fans continued to exert their influence in northern California, espousing eastern religion, spirituality and mind expansion through drugs such as marijuana and LSD. Beginning in 1965, Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters staged Acid Tests in the Bay Area. These were multimedia events held in random locations, attended by several hundred people enjoying the effects of oil-based psychedelic light shows, appearances by Neal Cassady, Alan Ginsberg and music by a scruffy band called the Warlocks -- who later became famous as the Grateful Dead. And, of course, there was the ubiquitous tub of punch or wine spiked with large amounts of LSD, supplied by "the Henry Ford of acid," the infamous Bay Area kitchen chemist, Augustus Owsley Stanley III.
Behind The Scenes
In 1967, music producer Lou Adler and John Philips of the Mamas and the Papas teamed up with Alan Pariser and music publicist Derek Taylor to produce a rock festival that would bring together important musicians from all parts of the United States as well as from Great Britain and India for a weekend of peace, love and flowers. Monterey Pop was the embodiment of the 1960s hippie and flower-child movement. The festival program instructed attendees to "Be happy, be free; wear flowers, bring bells -- have a festival." For a moment in time, the country's problems of war and racial strife were seemingly put aside. 100,000 orchids were flown in from Hawaii and strewn by airplane over the crowd. Attendance peaked at 50,000, with more than 200,000 peacefully attending over the three days.
The festival was not without its critics, many of whom questioned the motives of the organizers. The inaugural issue of Rolling Stone, published in November, 1967, lambasted the event as extravagant and claimed that it was simply a vehicle for Phillips' and Adler's self-glorification. In "San Francisco Nights," Gene Sculatti and Davin Seay commented on the commercial aspects of Monterey, stating that it was "a combination trade show and shopping spree where [record company executives] might browse 'till they saw something they liked, then inquire about the price." And in a review that was most likely balled up and eaten later, Billboard magazine panned Jimi Hendrix's debut, reporting that "his chicken choke handling of the guitar doesn't indicate a strong talent."
The cheerful festival atmosphere didn't reveal clues that in the space of just a few years, some of the most memorable Monterey musicians would be gone forever from drug overdoses or accidents: Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Keith Moon, Cass Elliott and Monterey audience member Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones.
Revenues from Monterey Pop '67 were donated to various causes championed by the organizers and musicians, such as the LA Free Clinic, the LA Children's Museum, the UCLA Children's Hospital. Net proceeds from the sale of festival videos and CDs continue to be donated to worthy causes, thirty years after the event.
The Monterey International Pop Festival Lineup
Friday Evening, June 16
The Association
The Paupers
Lou Rawls
Beverly
Johnny Rivers
Eric Burdon & The Animals
Saturday Afternoon, June 17
Canned Heat
Big Brother & The Holding Company
Country Joe & The Fish
Al Kooper
The Butterfield Blues Band
Quicksilver Messenger Service
The Steve Miller Band
The Electric Flag
Saturday Evening, June 17
Moby Grape
Hugh Masekela
The Byrds
The Butterfield Blues Band
Laura Nyro
Jefferson Airplane
Booker T & The MGs with The Mar-Keys
Otis Redding
Sunday Afternoon, June 18
Ravi Shankar
Sunday Evening, June 18
The Blues Project
Big Brother & The Holding Company
The Group With No Name
Buffalo Springfield
The Who
The Grateful Dead
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Scott McKenzie
The Mamas & The Papas