Monterey Pop
Encyclopedia
Monterey Pop is a 1968
concert film
by D. A. Pennebaker
that documents the Monterey Pop Festival
of 1967
. Among Pennebaker's several camera operators were fellow documentarians Richard Leacock
and Albert Maysles
. The painter Brice Marden
has an "assistant camera" credit, and Bob Neuwirth
, who figured prominently in Pennebaker's Bob Dylan
documentary Dont Look Back
, acted as stage manager. Titles for the film were by the illustrator Tomi Ungerer
. Featured performers include Big Brother and the Holding Company
with Janis Joplin
, Jefferson Airplane
, Hugh Masekela
, Otis Redding
, Ravi Shankar
, The Mamas & the Papas
, The Who
and the Jimi Hendrix Experience
, whose name-sake
set his guitar on fire, broke it on the stage, then threw the neck of his guitar in the crowd at the end of "Wild Thing".
* = Studio version, played over film footage of pre-concert activity.
The order of performances in the film was rearranged from the order of appearance at the festival. Additionally many artists who appeared at the festival were not included in the original cut of the film. (For details on the festival lineup see Monterey Pop Festival
.)
as part of a Criterion Collection
box set, The Complete Monterey Pop Festival, that also includes Pennebaker's short films Jimi Plays Monterey
(1986) and Shake! Otis at Monterey
(1986), as well as two hours of outtake
performances, including some by bands not seen in the original film.
Jean-Luc Godard
, the French New Wave
director, was so taken by Jefferson Airplane's performance in Monterey Pop that later in 1968 he set out to make a never-finished film called One A.M. (for "One American Movie") in collaboration with Pennebaker and Leacock. Godard shot a sequence of the Airplane, (included on the 2004 "Fly Jefferson Airplane" DVD) , playing at high noon on a business day on the roof of a New York hotel across the street from the Leacock-Pennebaker offices, with the tower of Rockefeller Center
in the background. Attracted by the extremely high volume of the music, the police arrived and put an end to the shooting. This incident inspired other bands, notably the Beatles
in their Let It Be
film, to mount their own rooftop performances.
In 1969, Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld
pitched an idea for a recording studio in Woodstock, New York
to businessmen John P. Roberts
and Joel Rosenman
. In the documentary Woodstock: Now and Then, Rosenman states that what really caught his eye in the proposal was the suggestion that the studio would encourage occasional rock concerts in the town. Rosenman had watched Monterey Pop the day before meeting with Lang and Kornfeld and recalled thinking it one of the best films he had ever seen, and was excited about the notion of being part of something similar. Rosenman and Roberts agreed to bankroll Lang and Kornfeld in an effort that morphed into the 1969 Woodstock Festival
.
1968 in film
The year 1968 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 30 - The film The Lion in Winter, starring Katharine Hepburn, debuts.* November 1 - The MPAA's film rating system is introduced.-Top grossing films :- Awards :...
concert film
Concert film
A concert movie, or concert film, is a type of documentary film, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by a musician ....
by D. A. Pennebaker
D. A. Pennebaker
Donn Alan Pennebaker is an American documentary filmmaker and one of the pioneers of Direct Cinema/Cinéma vérité. Performing arts and politics are his primary subjects.-Biography:...
that documents the Monterey Pop Festival
Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
of 1967
1967 in music
The summer of 1967 is "The Summer of Love" in San Francisco. It also became an important year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles The summer of 1967 is "The Summer of Love" in San Francisco. It also became an important year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles The...
. Among Pennebaker's several camera operators were fellow documentarians Richard Leacock
Richard Leacock
Richard Leacock was a British-born documentary film director and one of the pioneers of Direct Cinema and Cinéma vérité.-Early life and career:...
and Albert Maysles
Albert and David Maysles
Albert and David Maysles were a documentary filmmaking team whose cinéma vérité works include Salesman , Gimme Shelter and Grey Gardens . Their 1964 film on The Beatles forms the backbone of the DVD, The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit...
. The painter Brice Marden
Brice Marden
Brice Marden , is an American artist, generally described as Minimalist, although his work defies specific categorization. He lives in New York and Eagles Mere.Marden is represented by the Matthew Marks Gallery.-Life:...
has an "assistant camera" credit, and Bob Neuwirth
Bob Neuwirth
Bob Neuwirth is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and visual artist. A mainstay of the early 1960s Cambridge, Massachusetts, folk scene, he subsequently became a friend and associate of Bob Dylan alongside whom he appears in D.A...
, who figured prominently in Pennebaker's Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
documentary Dont Look Back
Dont Look Back
Dont Look Back is a 1967 documentary film by D.A. Pennebaker that covers Bob Dylan's 1965 concert tour in the United Kingdom.In 1998, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically...
, acted as stage manager. Titles for the film were by the illustrator Tomi Ungerer
Tomi Ungerer
Jean-Thomas "Tomi" Ungerer is a French illustrator best known for his erotic and political illustrations as well as children's books.- Biography :...
. Featured performers include Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane. They are best known as the band that featured Janis Joplin as their...
with Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
, Hugh Masekela
Hugh Masekela
Hugh Ramopolo Masekela is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer.-Early life:Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child...
, Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
, Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar , often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the best known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent...
, The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
and the Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience were an English-American psychedelic rock band that formed in London in October 1966. Comprising eponymous singer-songwriter and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until June 1969, in which...
, whose name-sake
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
set his guitar on fire, broke it on the stage, then threw the neck of his guitar in the crowd at the end of "Wild Thing".
Performers and songs
Songs featured in the film, in order of appearance:- Scott McKenzieScott McKenzieScott McKenzie is an American singer. He is best known for his 1967 hit single and generational anthem, "San Francisco ".-Life and career:...
—"San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)"San Francisco " is a song, written by John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, and sung by Scott McKenzie. It was written and released in 1967 to promote the Monterey Pop Festival....
"* - The Mamas & The PapasThe Mamas & the PapasThe Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...
—"Creeque AlleyCreeque Alley"Creeque Alley" is an autobiographical hit single written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas in 1967, narrating the story about how the group was formed. The title of the song is derived from the place Creque or Crequi Alley, home to a club in the Virgin Islands where...
"* and "California Dreamin'California Dreamin'"California Dreamin is a popular song by The Mamas & the Papas, first released in 1965. The song is #89 in Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time...
" - Canned HeatCanned HeatCanned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists...
—"Rollin' and Tumblin'Rollin' and Tumblin'"Rollin' and Tumblin" is a blues song that has been recorded hundreds of times by various artists. Considered as a traditional, it has been recorded with different lyrics and titles...
" - Simon & Garfunkel—"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)"The 59th Street Bridge Song " is a song by folk music duo Simon and Garfunkel, appearing on their 1966 album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. "59th Street Bridge" is the colloquial name of the Queensboro Bridge in New York City...
" - Hugh MasekelaHugh MasekelaHugh Ramopolo Masekela is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer.-Early life:Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child...
—"Bajabula Bonke (The Healing Song)" - Jefferson AirplaneJefferson AirplaneJefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
—"High Flyin' Bird" and "TodayToday (Jefferson Airplane song)"Today" is a folk rock ballad written by Marty Balin and Paul Kantner from the band Jefferson Airplane. It first appeared on their breakthrough album, Surrealistic Pillow, with a live version later appearing on the expanded rerelease of Bless Its Pointed Little Head. Marty Balin said, "I wrote it...
" - Big Brother & The Holding Company—"Ball 'n' Chain"
- Eric Burdon & The Animals—"Paint It, BlackPaint It, Black"Paint It, Black" is a song released by The Rolling Stones on 13 May 1966 as the first single from their fourth album Aftermath. It was originally titled "Paint It Black" without a comma. Keith Richards has stated that the comma was added by the record label, Decca.The song was written by Mick...
" - The WhoThe WhoThe Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
—"My GenerationMy GenerationMy Generation is the debut album by the English rock band The Who, released by Brunswick Records in the United Kingdom in December 1965. In the United States it was released by Decca Records as The Who Sings My Generation in April 1966, with a different cover and a slightly altered track...
" - Country Joe & The Fish—"Section 43"
- Otis ReddingOtis ReddingOtis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
—"ShakeShake (Sam Cooke song)"Shake" is a song written and recorded by Sam Cooke .The song was also recorded by Eric Burdon and The Animals, Otis Redding, The Supremes...
" and "I've Been Loving You Too LongI've Been Loving You Too Long"I've Been Loving You Too Long" is a song written by Otis Redding and Jerry Butler. It appeared as the A-side of a 1965 hit single by Otis Redding - and subsequently appeared on his third album, Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul...
" - The Jimi Hendrix ExperienceThe Jimi Hendrix ExperienceThe Jimi Hendrix Experience were an English-American psychedelic rock band that formed in London in October 1966. Comprising eponymous singer-songwriter and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until June 1969, in which...
—"Wild Thing" - The Mamas & The PapasThe Mamas & the PapasThe Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...
—"Got a Feelin'" - Ravi ShankarRavi ShankarRavi Shankar , often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the best known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent...
—"Raga BhimpalasiBhimpalasiBhimpalasi is a Hindustani classical raga.-Theory:Writing about the musical theory of Indian classical music is fraught with complications. First of all, there have been no set, formal methods of written notation...
"
The order of performances in the film was rearranged from the order of appearance at the festival. Additionally many artists who appeared at the festival were not included in the original cut of the film. (For details on the festival lineup see Monterey Pop Festival
Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
.)
DVD
In 2002 Monterey Pop was re-released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
as part of a Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...
box set, The Complete Monterey Pop Festival, that also includes Pennebaker's short films Jimi Plays Monterey
Jimi Plays Monterey
-See also:*Jimi Hendrix discography*Monterey International Pop Festival - Otis Redding/The Jimi Hendrix Experience*Live at Monterey...
(1986) and Shake! Otis at Monterey
Shake! Otis at Monterey
Shake! Otis at Monterey is a 1987 short film directed by D.A. Pennebaker documenting Otis Redding at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival....
(1986), as well as two hours of outtake
Outtake
An outtake is a portion of a work that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DVD reissues of many albums and films as bonus tracks or features, in film often, but not...
performances, including some by bands not seen in the original film.
Influence
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
, the French New Wave
French New Wave
The New Wave was a blanket term coined by critics for a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s, influenced by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema. Although never a formally organized movement, the New Wave filmmakers were linked by their self-conscious rejection of...
director, was so taken by Jefferson Airplane's performance in Monterey Pop that later in 1968 he set out to make a never-finished film called One A.M. (for "One American Movie") in collaboration with Pennebaker and Leacock. Godard shot a sequence of the Airplane, (included on the 2004 "Fly Jefferson Airplane" DVD) , playing at high noon on a business day on the roof of a New York hotel across the street from the Leacock-Pennebaker offices, with the tower of Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
in the background. Attracted by the extremely high volume of the music, the police arrived and put an end to the shooting. This incident inspired other bands, notably the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
in their Let It Be
Let It Be (film)
Let It Be is a 1970 documentary film about The Beatles rehearsing and recording songs for the album Let It Be in January 1969. The film features an unannounced rooftop concert by the group, their last performance in public...
film, to mount their own rooftop performances.
In 1969, Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld
Artie Kornfeld
Artie Kornfeld is an American musician, record producer and music executive. He is perhaps best known as the music promoter for the Woodstock Festival held in 1969.- History :...
pitched an idea for a recording studio in Woodstock, New York
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 at the 2000 census.The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county...
to businessmen John P. Roberts
John P. Roberts
John P. Roberts was a businessman who bankrolled the Woodstock Festival.Roberts was an heir to the Block Drug fortune....
and Joel Rosenman
Joel Rosenman
Joel Rosenman , conceived and co-created the Woodstock Festival in 1969. Rosenman thought of the idea for the three-day concert when he and business partner John Roberts evaluated a recording studio proposal brought forward by Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld...
. In the documentary Woodstock: Now and Then, Rosenman states that what really caught his eye in the proposal was the suggestion that the studio would encourage occasional rock concerts in the town. Rosenman had watched Monterey Pop the day before meeting with Lang and Kornfeld and recalled thinking it one of the best films he had ever seen, and was excited about the notion of being part of something similar. Rosenman and Roberts agreed to bankroll Lang and Kornfeld in an effort that morphed into the 1969 Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
.