Anais Gutierrez
The Monterey Pop Festival returned this weekend to celebrate its 50th anniversary. This year the three-day event included Gary Clark, Jr., Regina Spektor, Jack Johnson, the North Mississippi Allstars, and much more.
It also marked the return of some of the original festival, including Eric Burdon and The Animals.
The Golden 50
With much of the same start as the original three-day festival, the Monterey Pop Festival celebrated its 50 anniversary this weekend.
Organizer Lou Adler, who helped bring the spotlight to several musical icons five decades ago, brought back some of those same acts as well as fresh talent from more recent years to commemorate the festival’s 50th birthday.
Norah Jones, Shankar’s daughter, was among the dozens of acts scheduled to take the stage at this anniversary celebration of Monterey Pop. Also in the headline were Gary Clark, Jr., Regina Spektor, Jack Johnson, the North Mississippi Allstars, and much more.
While there were modern acts, there was also the return of some of the original performers of the festival. Eric Burdon and The Animals, Booker T. Stax Revue, and the Grateful Dead’s bassist Phil Lesh with The Terrapin Family Band, they all took to the stage to remember the good old days.
For Lou Adler, the event felt like traveling back in time, as he sees this anniversary event as a way to honor the spirit of the music, the people, and the movement of those times.
He also finds similarities between the culture of the 1960s and today’s political divisions.
“It’s emotional and, in a way, it brings back lots of memories,” he said.”I’m feeling a lot of the same spirit and reverberations from the music. I think it’s because the times we are in are similar to times we were in in 1967.”
The beginning of the music festivals
The fairgrounds in Monterey, California held this weekend the Monterey Pop Festival to celebrate its ancestor and the festival that gave birth to rock festivals.
Five decades ago, the slogan “Music, Love and Flowers” marked as the message and vibe at the first Monterey Pop Festival and the centerpiece of the so-called Summer of Love.
The Festival would become the origin of rock festivals and would pretty much shape the musical industry. Monterey was the breakout moment for several artists.
At the Festival, Jimi Hendrix would be playing his first American show with the Experience. Janis Joplin, who was then almost unknown outside San Francisco; and for Otis Redding, who’d never played for a white audience.
The headlining included more than 30 artists, from the sweet folk-rock Simon & Garfunkel to the classical sitar music of Ravi Shankar.
The festival was organized by John Phillips, leader of The Mamas and The Papas, and his manager and producer, Lou Adler. They came up with everything in just seven weeks.
And it was a complete success, the shows sold out every day. “Everything was full; there were people standing along the fences,” said Adler.
The top ticket was $6.50. Almost all the acts played for charity. And the entire festival was put together in just six-and-a-half weeks — no rules, no regulations
“It was a madhouse at the Monterey Pop Festival offices, total madhouse,” said Michelle Phillips, John’s wife, and last surviving member of The Mamas and The Papas.
Film and memories
The remarkable and incredible moment in music history was captured by D.A. Pennebaker, who made a documentary titled ‘Monterey Pop.’
Pennebaker and his team recorded the three-day experience in the documentary. It was supposed to be a TV special for ABC. However, when the head of ABC saw the footage he balked.
But Pennebaker continued his work and along with his team. They even built the first portable sound-synched cameras, necessary for shooting music performances.
Even when they were all set, some artists who performed at Monterey didn’t want to be filmed.
Janis Joplin’s initial set with her band, Big Brother, and the Holding Company, was a smash, but her agent wouldn’t allow it to be recorded, said Pennebaker.
Michelle Phillips, co-organizer of the festival, recalled, “But when she saw the reaction that she got from the audience, she went back to John and Lou and she said, ‘I want one more chance. Let me do another set.'”
Naturally, that’s not the only memory of the festival.
There was a battle between The Who and Hendrix, Adler confirmed.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience had just started to make a name for themselves in England. They’d play on the same bill with another band recommended by the Board, The Who.
“True story, yeah, there was a battle, because they knew each other from England. And they knew each other’s act. So no one wanted to follow the other because it would look like they would be copying ’em.”
So a coin was flipped to determine who’d go first; The Who won.
“And Hendrix jumped up on the table and looked down at Pete [Townshend], and said, ‘You little s**t, I’m gonna do something to burn you,'” Adler recalled.
Source: CBS News
