50th Anniversary: 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival: Performance-By-Performance

Btw, I guess I should have added that Marshalls were used at Montery, but it was by Hendrix who brought them with the Experience.

 

I also wanted to clarify from the Canned Heat video that, while I am a huge Henry Vestine fan, the slide work in Rolling and Tumbling was played by Alan Wilson, with Vestine playing rhythm.

 

There is now an entire generation of young Americans who have no idea what "conscription" or "the draft" mean.
You're welcome.

From the 1997 box set:

Steve Miller:
"The war in Viet Nam was raging, and we were very serious about how are society was showing some real sick sides of itself.
These guys were political commentators in a pop/rock arena, and they did it with humor."

Country Joe McDonald:
"Our faces were painted, I had flowers in my hair.
I had sandals on, beads, and little bags tied to my waist.
We were all trying to be very, very, very hip."

 

I have the EP and LP versions but this is my favorite...

 

Watching the Monterey performances - what a difference two years made. It seems like there's still a slight touch of innocence mixed in with the hippie vibe that appeared to be gone at Woodstock. Maybe brown acid and sleeping in the mud will do that to you.

 

Their set is amazing as is the Electric LP...

 

I wonder how long I can hold off on digging out the Criterion box?

 

The caption claimed it was Bob Hite and yes Elvin Bishop.

Ha! I like Kaleidoscope-both versions but I'll gonna have to look up who else was on the free stage. That I should have researched already. I never attended myself so I have to find a lot of stuff.

That Monterey 4CD from Rhino is so cheap on Amazon. It's been selling for under $40 this year.

Michael Lydon's essay was a harsher one than the ones that came from hindsight. With his being written like he reviewed it that week, he isn't shy with criticism so I think it was a little joke that he said Johnny Rivers sang "Help!" twice because maybe Lydon-who didn't like Rivers performance was asking for help by literally singing for help. Or the setlists I checked were wrong and Rivers really did do it. I don't think it was in his live repertoire at the time though. Also with the live albums Rivers released-none had "Help!" though one had "Run For Your Life" as a live Beatle cover. I'm guessing Lydon was writing with snark.

 

Found this great photo of The Paupers arriving at Monterey (Denny Gerrard, Chuck Beal, Skip Prokop and Adam Mitchell)...

 

Cool! Thanks for captioning it. I should be doing that more with the photos. Now we have to figure out the dog's name! And yes, you should peek at the Monterey box you have. A little peek won't hurt. I was watching the Lou Adler and D.A. Pennebaker interview in the extras-some good info. I actually took some notes this time around and I'll type 'em out.

----
Forgot something- Country Joe and the Fish lineup:
Country Joe MacDonald: lead vocals, guitar
Bruce Barthol: bass, guitar
Barry Melton: lead guitar
David Cohen: keyboards
Gary "Chicken" Hirsh: drums, percussion
(probably Al Wilson on slide guitar for a track)

 

I gave in and got out the booklet so far. Having a lot of trouble finding a reasonably priced 'A Perfect Haze' book that is willing/able to be mailed to Canada (lots on Amazon.com but say they can't be sent to Canada and my U.S. address is in transition just now).

I'd name the Snoopy relative there 'Spotty Muldoon' if it were mine.

 

That moment is in the Monterey Pop film as well.

 

On Ebay, there's only two of the book and one is for $90. There's another for #35 but the handling time is a month according to Ebay's note. I've never been on Amazon for Canada but maybe that could help.

 

John Phillips' 1980 autobiography (going by memory here, as that book got lost years ago) mentions that they didn't want all the groups performing bringing all their own equipment in because it would take longer breaking down and setting up between acts, so they provided the Fender amplifiers (not sure about drums) and mics and PA to all the groups. Phillips recounts how he didn't like Pete Townshend from the get go because Pete didn't want to go along with their prescribed routine, didn't want to use the Fender amps, didn't want to follow Hendrix, etc.

 

Still remembered? Heck, he's still active, man! He just recorded a pretty neat version of "For What It's Worth" and dropped it on Soundcloud about a month ago:

Eric Burdon - For What It's Worth - Baked 5 10 2017

He's playing next weekend's Monterey tribute festival (on the original site) with a current version of the Animals, and they also have a gig booked here in LA on July 20, an open-air show on the Santa Monica Pier. Those Pier gigs are massively attended nowadays, especially since they built the new light-rail train to SM last year. Gonna be huge!

 

I have quite a bit of interest for almost all of the acts that performed at Monterey Pop, but the Paupers will be remembered by history as the group in the beginning of the film that couldn't find the claim checks for their luggage.

 

with Jimi Hendrix at Monterey

AL KOOPER
(Introduced by Paul Butterfield)

1 I Can't Keep from Cryin' (Sometimes)
2 Wake Me, Shake Me (B+)

(Setlist incomplete)

Al Kooper was in a bit of flux when he performed in Monterey. After famously being a part of Bob Dylan going electric, he joined the NY-based The Blues Project who were somewhat successful with their live reputation and had released two albums in 1966 plus the single “I Can’t Keep From Crying” in November of that year. Sometime after that, Kooper left the group despite being a major part of its sound and released a solo single in March “New York’s My Home(Razz-a-Ma-Tazz)"/"My Piano, My Voice, and My Foot". While The Blues Project also played Monterey, Kooper did 2 Blues Project songs – both arranged by him and The Blues Project did Al Kooper stuff like “Flute Thing” later. While I couldn’t find “I Can’t Keep From Crying”, “Wake Me Shake Me” is a fine performance of a great song and though The Blues Project performed better from what I heard, Kooper proved he could bring entertainment on his own. Regardless, maybe he didn’t feel totally right as a solo artist perhaps because of this show and formed Blood Sweat & Tears soon after- before again going solo the following year. Kooper also worked with Jimi Hendrix playing piano on “Long Hot Summer Night”.

Al Kooper - Wake Me, Shake Me

 

THE PAUL BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND

1 Look Over Yonders Wall (B+)
2 Mystery Train (B+)
3 Born In Chicago (B)
4 Double Trouble (A-)
5 Mary Ann (B)
6 Droppin' Out (C-)
7 One More Heartache (B)
8 Driftin' Blues (B)

Lineup from The Resurrection of Pigboy Crenshaw

• Paul Butterfield – vocals, harmonica
• Elvin Bishop – guitar
• Mark Naftalin – keyboards
• Bugsy Maugh – bass,
• Phil Wilson – drums
• Gene Dinwiddie – tenor saxophone
• David Sanborn – alto saxophone
• Keith Johnson – trumpet

Like Lou Rawls, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band were based in Chicago and already were established as one of rock’s innovators engaging in long jamming, Chicago blues rock, and excellent instrumental work. The band was about to release the more horn-based The Resurrecton of Pigboy Crabshaw, but on this album, they still sound like the band that presented us with East-West. A lot of Chicago blues is heard here, a different blues sound than the delta-style of Canned Heat. Lots of these songs have the band driving hard into rock and it’s a great performance. Butterfield gives extended harmonica performances, with impressive ones on both “Mystery Train” and “Born in Chicago”. There’s one thing stopping them from being a top-notch remembered act of the festival and that’s guitarist Michael Bloomfield creating Electric Flag and not being present for his former band. (Or so I remember.) Selections come from their previous work but some new songs come by like the most dramatic performance here, “Double Trouble”, plus “One More Heartache” & “Droppin’ Out”. Another issue is that nothing was played from their best album East West. A couple of performances drift into average territory but otherwise it’s a fine effort that tops their later Woodstock performance.

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band- Driftin' Blues

 

Al Kooper is a wonderful musician who contributed to The Who, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and many more. He led the Blues Project (co-led is probably more accurate) and certainly Blood Sweat and Tears. A multi instrumentalist, composer, arranger. Also a weak vocalist who unfortunately sang too much.

 

I see that last post is my 2000th post total and now I realize I miss talking music to people in music stores. I spent so much time at record shops or big chain CD places and everyone was a music fan. I miss those mini-worlds. Thanks everybody who contributed to this thread so far and on my Love thread. Also thanks to Mr. Hoffman for providing a place where we all can go to discuss music and life when music stores are blowin' away in the wind. This is easily the #1 rock forum in/on the world wide web and it's great knowing we can talk to music fans around the world with the touch of some buttons at home. I need to escape the 21st century sometimes and heading back to 1967 like I've done this year and with this thread, I can relax in escape to recover in time for another 21st century go around in real life. That's why this place, this fantasy world feels like a safe haven for me. Thanks everybody.

 

Earlier this evening Country Joe and his Electric Band performed the album in full at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. I wish I could have gone. Tonight they're playing it in Grass Valley.

I've heard three interviews with Country Joe lately: last week on KPFA, yesterday on KZFR and this morning on KVMR. This morning he said that he tried to get Country Joe and the Fish to reunite for the last twenty years but he hasn't been successful, but the chance arose to play the old songs with this new group of musicians so he's going for it.

 

Three Marshalls on stage at one point during Jimi's sound check. The amp maker (Jim) Marshall wasn't there in person but Jimi and Jim ( the photographer) were.

 

QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE

1 Dino's Song (All I Ever Wanted to Do) (B+)
2 If You Live
3 Acapulco Gold and Silver
4 Too Long
5 Who Do You Love?

John Cipollina – guitar
Gary Duncan – guitar, vocals
Greg Elmore – drums
David Freiberg – bass, vocals
Jim Murray – guitar, vocals

Quicksilver Messenger Service from San Francisco was part of Saturday’s jam bands and like Beverley, they didn’t really have much of a resume but they had reputation. Dino Valenti who helped found them had released a one-off single in 1964 but the band had nothing to promote like everyone else. D.A. Pennebaker seemed to not like a whole lot of Saturday afternoon’s blues and jamming and Quicksilver was another casualty of movie editing. Without much audio around for their set nowadays, and without much talk of them at Monterey, it’s hard to gauge how good or successful they really were. Lou Adler had mentioned that they wanted ‘new music’ at the festival, not just radio hits and while Quicksilver fit the bill well, they did not get big immediately like some of the other performers. One of their most commercial songs “Dino’s Song” was captured with minor audio issues, and it’s one of the strongest attempts at radio play. A melodic and catchy composition, it’s great hard rock and the fans on the video seem really into it. Quicksilver went on to have a solid career and were one of the more memorable early jam bands.

Quicksilver Messenger Service- Dino's Song

 

I hadn't thought of that whole "record store as tribal gathering locale" but you're right, I miss it. I still frequent brick and mortar stores but I now live in a foreign country and I often don't share much in common with my hosts... talking music is hard. The internet is not a perfect substitute but I'll take it.

 

One of my Top 5 bands but, amen, if only it had been the Bloomfield lineup delivering East-West live for a dosed audience!