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Synopsis
On a beautiful June weekend in 1967, at the height of the Summer of Love, the first and only Monterey International Pop Festival roared forward, capturing a decade’s spirit and ushering in a new era of rock and roll. Monterey would launch the careers of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Otis Redding, but they were just a few among a wildly diverse cast that included Simon and Garfunkel, the Mamas and the Papas, the Who, the Byrds, Hugh Masekela, and the extraordinary Ravi Shankar. With his characteristic vérité style, D. A. Pennebaker captured it all, immortalizing moments that have become legend: Pete Townshend destroying his guitar, Jimi Hendrix burning his. The Criterion Collection is proud to present this timeless document of a landmark event.
Cast
| Janis Joplin | |
| Paul Simon | |
| Art Garfunkel | |
| "Mama" Cass Elliot | |
| John Phillips | |
| Michelle Phillips | |
| Denny Doherty | |
| Jimi Hendrix | |
| Hugh Masekela | |
| Grace Slick | |
| Eric Burdon | |
| Roger Daltrey | |
| Keith Moon | |
| John Entwistle | |
| Pete Townshend | |
| Otis Redding | |
| Ravi Shankar |
Credits
| Director | D. A. Pennebaker |
| Producer | Lou Adler and John Phillips |
| Cinematography | James Desmond, Richard Leacock, Albert Maysles, Roger Murphy, D. A. Pennebaker and Barry Feinstein |
| Editing | Nina Schulman |
| Assistant editor | Mary Lampson |
Disc Features
- Restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by D.A. Pennebaker
- Soundtrack featuring a 5.1 mix by legendary recording engineer Eddie Kramer, presented in Dolby Digital (and DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition)
- Audio commentary by Festival producer Lou Adler and Pennebaker
- Video interview with Adler and Pennebaker
- Audio interviews with festival producer John Phillips, festival publicist Derek Taylor, and performers Cass Elliot and David Crosby
- Photo-essay by photographer Elaine Mayes
- Original theatrical trailer and radio spots
- Monterey Pop Festival scrapbook
- PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by critics Michael Lydon, Barney Hoskyns, and Armond White
From the Current
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by Nov 11, 2002Continued from Monterey Pop: The First Rock Festival - Part OneSunday afternoon was Shankar, and one felt a return to peace. And yet there was an excitement in his purity...
A Bloody Battle over Monterey Pop Festival
by Nov 11, 2002April 6, 1968MONTEREY—A second Monterey International Pop Festival has for the past month been put in jeopardy by a vicious handful of citizens, cops, and city officials in a small-town drama straight from Peyton Place and The Invaders.Fighting...
The Meeting of the ’Twain: Monterey and the Great California Divide
by Nov 11, 2002“TRAVELING UP the Coast from the ruins of the Sunset Strip to the Haight is a Dante-esque ascent,” New Yorker Richard Goldstein could write of a journey from southern to northern California in 1967. For Goldstein, pop music critic of the Village Voice at the time, the 400 miles between...
Monterey Pop: People In Motion
by Nov 11, 2002A new era in popular music deserves a new era in filmmaking. That’s the basis of the perfect, fortuitous match-up between rock and cinema in D.A. Pennebaker’s Monterey Pop. When Pennebaker and his 16mm filmmaking team came on board to cover the 1967 festival, director Pennebaker...
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by Nov 11, 2002Continued from Anatomy of a Love Festival - Part OneThe real turn-on, though, was the music—twenty-two hours of it, divided into solid chunks that usually ran more...
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by Nov 11, 2002The Monterey International Pop Festival is over, all over. And what was it? Was it one festival, many festivals, a festival at all? Does anything sum it up, did it mean anything, are there any themes? Was it just a collection of rock groups of varying levels of proficiency doing their bit for a...
Monterey Pop Artist Bios - Part Three
by Nov 11, 2002Saturday nightHugh Masekela(1939 - )Ever since the mid-1960s, Hugh Masekela has been recognized as one of the leaders in world music and fusion jazz. Among his earliest professional engagements was a gig playing with the Huddleston Jazz Band, led by anti...
Monterey Pop Artist Bios - Part Four
by Nov 11, 2002Sunday nightThe Blues ProjectDanny Kalb—Lead guitar, vocalsSteve Katz—Rhythm guitar, vocalsAndy Kulberg—Bass, fluteRoy Blumenfeld—DrumsJohn McDuffy—Keyboards, vocalsFounded in New York City in 1965, The Blues Project had...
Monterey Pop Artist Bios - Part Five
by Nov 11, 2002The Jimi Hendrix ExperienceJimi Hendrix—Guitar, vocalsNoel Redding—BassMitch Mitchell—DrumsIt was the performance of Jimi Hendrix at Monterey that made the ABC television network—which had paid an advance for the broadcast rights to the film of the event...
Monterey Pop Artist Bios - Part One
by Nov 11, 2002Friday nightThe AssociationTerry Kirkman—Vocals, brass, reeds, harmonica, percussionTed Bluechel, Jr.—DrumsJim Yester—Vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboardsRuss Giguere—Lead vocals, rhythm guitar, percussionBrian Cole—Vocals, bass...
Monterey Pop Artist Bios - Part Two
by Nov 11, 2002Country Joe and the FishCountry Joe McDonald—Lead vocals, guitarBruce Barthol—Bass, guitar Barry Melton—Lead guitarDavid Cohen—KeyboardsGary “Chicken” Hirsh—Drums, percussionEasily the most “political” act at the Festival, Country Joe...
