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Rating: It was June 1967 and in the town of Monterey, the first major rock gathering in history was celebrated. A unique and unprecedented event, the possibility to listen over the course of three days to the new music from San Francisco and some artists who would soon make an indelible mark on the history of American music... forever.
Even now, Monterey is considered minor compared to more famous festivals like the Isle of Wight or even more so Woodstock, but the quality of the artists present at Monterey and especially the beauty of their performances cannot even be compared to those at Woodstock, except for certain artists (Hendrix, with the distorted American anthem, the explosion of Santana, the stage presence of Joe Coker, or the Tommy opera by the Who). The myth of Hendrix (then still not very famous in America), Joplin, and many others was born in Monterey.
This triple DVD is the best available regarding this event.
The First DVD includes the entire film made by the great director D.A. Pennebaker, who is still active today and also made the groundbreaking film for future rock documentaries: "Don't Look Back" about Dylan's tour in England close to the electric turn.
In this film we have: Eric Burdon and The New Animals newly formed in a twisted and hallucinatory version complete with electric violin of the Rolling Stones' "Paint it Black", Simon and Garfunkel performing in perfect acoustic solitude the delicate "Feelin Groovy". Paul Simon, among others, is one of the concert organizers along with John Phillips of the "Mama's and Papa's", Janis Joplin together with the Big Brother group from San Francisco performing a breathtaking version of "Ball and Chain", watch the audience left speechless in front of her performance. An incredible energy, a controlled yet visceral hysteria in the singing that set a standard and will never be reached.
There are the Country Joe & The Fish with the young guitarist Barry Melton who brings the audience into a state of catalepsy similar to that created by the more famous Grateful Dead, also present at the festival but unfortunately not filmed. Melton was truly an excellent guitarist who marked the most Acid Rock pages of a group that came mainly from folk music. Then come the Jefferson Airplane, who at that time were climbing the American charts with their first hits, Grace Slick stunning and Jorma Kaukonen at his best with his intricate guitar playing. Another great artist present in Monterey who unfortunately left us shortly after was Otis Redding. His performance is as engaging as one can imagine. It's too much fun to see how all these hippies in attendance let themselves be carried away by his soul music, Otis doesn't spare himself for a moment and leaves the stage greatly exhausted.
Finally, we have the Who from England and here they make their mark with a devastating version in the true sense of the word of their "My Generation", Keith Moon bashes as if possessed and Pete Townshend breaks guitars and amplifiers leaving the audience speechless, but all this is nothing compared to what will happen next on the stage when Hendrix with the Experience comes up. Jimi plays in all possible ways with his teeth, simulating orgasms, with the guitar behind his back, and finally in the historic execution of "Wild Thing" sacrificing his guitar to the public by burning it!!!! Speechless. From that day Hendrix entered the legend. After his performance, the festival closed with the more relaxing Mama's and Papa's. But the real film ends with a lengthy execution by Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen like the Monterey audience; I was completely captivated by this tribal and ancestral execution of music far from our musical norms yet fascinating. Note how Shankar's performance at the Festival inspired so much crossover between Indian music and rock music.
In the second DVD, we have the complete performances of Otis Redding and Hendrix. In the third DVD, there are the outtakes, about two hours of unseen performances. Among others, the Byrds with a David Crosby about to leave who performs a "Hey Joe" dedicated to Hendrix, the Quicksilver (whom I personally had never seen on video), Laura Nyro young, beautiful and very talented (it is said she was booed at the time but it doesn't seem that way from the video), the Buffalo Springfield with David Crosby replacing Neil Young who had recently left the band, the Electric Flag with the legendary Bloomfield on guitar, Al Kooper, Paul Butterfield, and finally other pieces by the Who, Jefferson Airplane, and others that were cut from the original version of the film.
In conclusion, this DVD is a bit difficult to find in Italy, but if you get the chance, buy it because it is a true document of an era, the colors, the clothes, the audience, the artists among the crowd watching other artists.
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