Another milestone anniversary today: the Monterey Pop Festival began on June 16, 1967 in Monterey, California. This may have been the first rock festival as it predated Woodstock by a couple of years and practically equals it in available talent.Check out the line-up:
Friday, June 16
• The Association
• The Paupers
• Lou Rawls
• Beverly
• Johnny Rivers
• The Animals
• Simon and Garfunkel
Saturday, June 17
• Canned Heat
• Big Brother & The Holding Company
• Country Joe and The Fish
• Al Kooper
• The Butterfield Blues Band
• Quicksilver Messenger Service
• Steve Miller Band
• The Electric Flag
• Moby Grape
• Hugh Masekela
• The Byrds
• Laura Nyro
• Jefferson Airplane
• Booker T and The MG's
• Otis Redding
Sunday, June 18
• Ravi Shankar
• The Blues Project
• Big Brother & The Holding Company
• The Group With No Name
• Buffalo Springfield
• The Who
• Grateful Dead
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• Scott McKenzie
• The Mamas & The Papas
Ok, so ending out the festival with Scott McKenzie and The Mamas & The Papas seems a tad underwhelming and the first day seems a little weak with the exception of Simon & Garfunkel (keep in mind, even The Animals weren’t the original line-up, but Eric Burdon’s piece of shit hippy line-up that penned and performed the utterly stupid hit “Monterey,” based on the show). But the rest of Sunday (love that Who/Dead/Hendrix spot!) looks awesome as does the Saturday night show.
But the thing that makes the Monterey Pop Festival even better is the fact that it only cost a buck to get in.
It makes you want to go back in time…
