Monterey Pop

It's the legendary California music festival in June 1967. D. A. Pennebaker films the incredible iconic concert. There is great music. It is an important time capsule for popular music in general. Two of the most notorious performances are Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar and Joplin singing with Mama Cass watching in shock from the audience. One does learn a few things. I didn't think they had chairs but the metal chairs are all neatly lined up in their rows. This is more than a movie, a documentary, or a concert film. It is music history.

This is a classic documentary of 60s rock, captured live before all the hype and hoopla of hippiedom sank most of these acts (and many others). The Monterey Pop Festival kicked off the Summer of Love and remains the prime event of that epoch. The film should be seen by anyone who claims a passing interest in "Woodstock" or "the 60s." I give it 10 stars.

This has to be one of the greatest concert documentaries ever made. You get to see some of the greatest early performances by some of rock's greatest legends (Jimi Hendrix, The Who and Janis Joplin) as well as the performance of one band on their last legs, the Mamas and the Papas. The festival also could be seen as a turning point in popular music due to the fact that after the festiveal the more singles oriented acts were being pushed aside in favor of the more progressive album oriented artists.

Also, if you need more convincing of how much of a pivotal event this was, check out the outtakes video. It contains many of the performances that didn't make it to the film, including Buffalo Springfield without Neil Young who had quit the band a month before their scheduled appearance. Replacing him for this performance was David Crosby, who performed earlier with the Byrds but joined his friend Stephen Stills and the rest of the Springfield for the show (less than a year later Crosby and Stills would team up with Graham Nash and the rest is history). Also check out Laura Nyro. Legend has it that she was booed off the stage. However, she gets a nice applause for her renditions of her classics "Wedding Bell Blues" and "Poverty Train".

Organized and planned by Mamas & The Papas leader John Phillips and associates The Monterey Pop Festival was a concert featuring various acts of the time from different parts of the world. Held in Monterey, California from June 16-18, 1967 the two day event hosted an array of musical luminaries some of whom gained bigger recognition from the concert. The highlights of the gig showcase the eclectic talents involved: Hugh Masekela's loud Afrobeat Jazz; Big Brother & The Holding Company's memorable lead screecher; Ravi Shankar's lengthy sitar workout; Otis Redding's rocking Soul; The Who's pioneering high decibel destruction; and Jimi Hendrix's legendary show stealer which elevated Rock performance like no other since Elvis and raised the standard of guitar playing unparalleled since. Interposed with the performances are shots of the crowd (lots of pretty girls) and interviews with the audience. One can immediately see the influence the event and the film had on the Woodstock and Isle of Wight concerts and documentaries. A simple and effective document of a place and time, "Monterey Pop Festival" is a visual and audio legacy of an age when legends walked the earth and the promise of a better future seemed truly and genuinely real.

A most excellent time capsule of a period. No questions. If you want to see what the sixties were like...Then watch. This really does put in a time capsule more of the generation than anything I've seen. You can feel the shift happening via the music. I vote this is infinitely more important than Woodstock because the movement was already in full swing at that point. Witness the birth of so much of what we still are listening to today. This is the real unadulterated thing. Kudos to the "Criterion Collection"! If only Otis Redding would have lived longer?There is no telling the musical legacy he was going to leave? Based on the incendiary performance here it would have been formidable. This is a must see for anyone interested in the procession of rock through all the permutations of soul and blues. Not to be missed.