Monterey Pop Festival

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

COMPANION BLOG for the show…

Monterey International Pop Festival

Author of Rock’n’Roll Unravelled, Derek Shelmerdine with John Lebang.

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 great 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.

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 and The Byrds.

Monterey International Pop Festival