What most people do not know is that there was a pre-cursor to this festival. It took place two years before, June 1967. That event was the Monterey Pop Festival.
Some historians claim Montery Pop was a better show than Woodstock and it was, for sure, the beginning of the summer of love. Monterey Pop was the brainchild of John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, a big folk-rock group of the era. San Francisco was home-base for the hippies, so Monterey was a nearby venue that drew in the flower children.
Another fact that most people do not know is that the two most sensational acts at Woodstock had performed, and been equally startling and popular, a couple years before at Monterey. A young woman named Janis Joplin became a star at Monterey Pop. It was one of her earliest public appearances. She spent much of her time on stage swigging on bourbon as she sang. The audience loved her sexy, raw blues.
The other act, that brought the house down, was already huge in Europe but had not yet been discovered in the U.S. We are talking Jimi Hendrix. This kid, originally from Seattle, became a superstar at Monterey Pop, his first American venue.
Joplin and Hendrix became legends but both would be dead, within one year of the Woodstock performances, from drug overdoses. They died only two months apart from one another in 1970. Their historical and phenomenal Woodstock performances were captured on film.
Steven L. Smith
Bellingham WA Home Inspections
Check out "This Day In History" -- music and vintage television from the 1950's through the 1980's. I enjoy writing these articles because they take me back to my days in radio broadcasting. Click on Elvis' gold record, below, to revisit those golden hits of yesteryear.
This is really cool. My son lives in Monterey and is a huge music buff. I'm going to forward this to him. Did you know there is a festival now that takes place in Manchester, TN on a huge farm that last for 4 days. It is very reminescent of woodstock. It is called Bonaroo. You might google it.
Karen,
I am glad that you found it interesting. Those early festivals were the start of the fistivals that still exist today. We have several in my area too.
Steve, I saw them both at the festival at the Atlanta International Speedway in 1969----pretty dang cool. 250,000 at that one.
hhhmmm, that is neat. I had never heard of the Monterey thing....probably because I was born that same year.
Sean Allen
Charlie B, you are the man.
Sean, based on the year of birth you are excused.
Steven, I tried the youtubes just to make sure I still don't like those singers and I still don't. But thanks for the lesson again!!
Barbara,
I could find performers at those venues that I liked better than those two as well....like the Mamas and the Papas for example. Don't tell Charlie though. If he thinks we do not like Jimi, he will pout for months. Charlie is an old "head banger"....not sophisticated in his tastes like we are.
Steven, we'll need a lesson (for seniors) on what a "head banger" is. You can run his picture as illustrations if you'd like.
Here is some true genius:
Another BIG lesson on headbanging. Which kind is Charlie, the whip, the circular, the drunk, the half circle or the figure eight or one of the myriad of others! That truly is a blog for you, Steve! Imagine one with demonstrations of the different kinds. It would take a long time to watch them all.