SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - The SUBSIM Music Thread

Today, 16 June, is the 50th anniversary of the beginning of a three-day event marking a turning point in rock and pop music history. In the then sleepy little seaside village and scenic tourist spot of Monterey, California, about 120 miles south of San Francisco, the very first major rock/pop music festival was held from 16 June to 18 June 1967. Monterey had been the site of a few jazz and folk festivals, but they were low-key events. The time also was the beginning of San Francisco's "Summer Of Love" and the height of the Hippie period. By a strange bit of irony, the festival was the brainchild of two Los Angeles music scene notables, John Phillips of the Mamas and Papas and Lou Adler, record producer and LA live venue impresario; they were further aided by Derek Taylor, close friend and press officer to The Beatles. The event was organized as a charity and all of the performers, with the exception of Ravi Shankar, played for free and the organizers paid for their travel and accommodations. To further cover the costs, the festival was filmed and recorded with an eye towards a possible feature-length film release and/or album release(s). A film, Monterey Pop, was released and a number of the performances have been released in various forms. The festival was overshadowed by later, flashier rock festivals, but Monterey was the first and the archetype...

Tickets to the festival ranged from about US$3.00 to about US$8.00. For those staggeringly high prices, festival-goers got to see some of the best acts, across a number of genres; this is a link to the set lists for all three days:

http://www.setlist.fm/festival/1967/...-53d6bba1.html

For three of the acts, the festival would be the springboard for the beginning of their stardom; Here are their landmark performances:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1zFnyEe3nE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onHYwJ8koCs

Jimi Hendrix - Wild Thing

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...a529679670.jpg

https://vimeo.com/190315596

(Sorry about the Vimeo link; there were no complete clips on YT...)...

Incidentally, the proceeds from the festival were, indeed, used to benefit many charities and causes, among them The Los Angeles Free Clinic, who had just opened their doors in 1967; the money donated by the festival saved the struggling clinic, and today, five decades later, the clinic and its branches are still going strong. On the wall of one of the clinic waiting rooms is a 5 x 15 foot mural, donated by Lou Adler, of the performers at the Monterey Pop Festival:

http://www.gibsonarts.com/images/708...order_copy.jpg

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