Today in History : June 18, 1967
The Monterey International Pop Festival ushers in the summer of love, a three-day event that takes place June 16 through June 18 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. Monterey is where WHO, Ravi Shankar and Jimi Hendrix made their U.S. debuts. It was also the first time Janis Joplin and Otis Redding performed in front of a larger mainstream audience. The show that rocked Woodstock cut its teeth in Monterey.
The Monterey Pop Festival was a truly groundbreaking event that set the standard for all music festivals. Monterey organizer John Phillips of Mamas and Papas, producer Alan Pariser, promoter Lou Adler, and Beatles press officer Derek Taylor arranged for the 200,000 attendees to have adequate medical and security staff, as well as trained volunteers whose sole function was to deal with those who were not well-traveled.
Lou Adler remembers,
Our idea for Monterey was to provide the best of everything-sound equipment, sleeping and eating facilities, transportation-something that had never been provided for an artist before Monterey...
We set up an on-site first aid clinic because we knew that medical supervision would be needed and that we would have problems with medications. We didn't want people who were asking for trouble and needed medical attention to go untreated. We also didn't want their problems to disrupt or in any way disturb other people or disrupt the music ......
Our security guards work with the Monterey Police. Local law enforcement never expected to like the people they come in contact with as much as they do. They never expected the spirit of "Music, Love and Flowers" to allow themselves to be adorned with flowers.
Musically, the festival meant something to everyone. From the associations to the animals were there. The Lorax, the Burz, Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Buffalo Springfield, Mamas and Papas, Booker T and the MGs... Monterey Pop set a creative blueprint for today's festival.
Young people ran west to Monterey Pop and even had their own theme song, "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear a Flower in Your Hair)," by Scott McKenzie, a tune written by John Phillips specifically to promote the festival. Keeping this advice in mind, thousands of flower girls traveled to San Francisco. Some just for the festival, some for a whole summer of love, and some for longer. There may still be some out there, wondering what time of year it is ......
The Monterey Pops achieved legendary status by the end of the year. Eric Burdon and the Animals recorded a song called "Monterey" in late 1967 that mentioned the Byrds, Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead, among others. Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones didn't play Monterey, but he attended the festival ("His Majesty, Prince Jones, smiled in the crowd.").
A documentary that captures the festival was made by noted filmmaker D.a. Pennebaker, who was instrumental in making "Monterey Pops" Anyone claiming to be a classic rock fan watches it. It captures a time before Woodstock, and definitely before Altamont, when you wore flowers in your hair without a hint of irony.
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