Monterey International Pop Festival podcast
One of the very early rock festivals. It was the start of American fame for Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and the Who. Monterey International Pop Festival podcast
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Monterey International Pop Festival Podcast
Author of Rock’n’Roll Unravelled, Derek Shelmerdine with John Lebang – talking about the legendary Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.
The John Lebang Show recorded on 27 May 2018.
Monterey International Pop Festival
Held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in California, 16 to 18 June 1967. It is certainly a landmark in the history of rock’n’roll.
The Who, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin all did well as a result of appearing at Monterey. After that they all found considerable success in America. One of the great moments saw Hendrix set fire to his guitar. Moreover, after his performance the Monkees invited him to open for them on their upcoming American tour.
The Who and Jimi Hendrix argued backstage about who should go on first. They had both seen each other’s spectacular stage performances. Consequently, neither band wanting to follow the other. The impasse was settled by the toss of a coin. The Who won. As a result, the Jimi Hendrix Experience headed to the stage first.
Guitarist Mike Bloomfield chose Monterey to debut his new band, The Electric Flag. However, it wasn’t all ground-breaking performances. Grateful Dead considered their set to be disappointing. Consequently, they refused to allow their performance to appear on any festival albums or movies.
In addition, a host of other rock luminaries also appeared, including Country Joe and the Fish, Jefferson Airplane, The Mamas and The Papas Otis Redding and The Byrds.
Not technically the first rock festival but Monterey undoubtedly qualifies as one of rock’n’roll’s true landmark events.
