The Who and Hendrix goto America
The Monterey Pop Festival took place over
three days, from June 16th to the 18th, 1967. Although it
may not be remembered by as many as Woodstock which took place two years later,
it was still an important festival which had a large impact on the careers of
several artists who would go on to become music icons, as well as creating the
blueprint for future festivals such as Woodstock. The festival featured already
established artists such as Simon and Garfunkel, The Byrds and Eric Burdon with
his ‘New Animals’ which helped to attract the larger crowds, as well as lesser
known acts with smaller followings, many of which would go on to have hugely
successful careers. In the end, it was the lesser known artists that were to
have some of the most iconic musical performances of all time, and turn Monterey
into a historic music festival. It is estimated that the festival may have attracted
crowds of up to 90,000 people.
The
most notable and historic performances came from the Who and Jimi Hendrix. The
Who had not yet gone to perform in America so had not yet been exposed to an
American audience other than a handful of shows in New York, and Hendrix, despite
being from America, had travelled to the UK to start his career, and this
performance marked his return to a major American audience. The Who performed
before Hendrix, after flipping a coin on who would perform first. Both acts had
been impressed by each other’s previous performances, and were worried about
being upstaged by the onstage theatrics of the other. They finished their set
with an energetic performance of ‘My Generation’, and when it had finished,
their lead guitarist Pete Townshend shocked the audience by smashing his
guitar, smoke bombs were set off, and drummer Keith Moon kicked over his drum
kit. The explosive end to their set was something they had done often in the
UK, but was new, exciting, and reasonably terrifying for their new American
audience. 
The
Who were directly followed by the Grateful Dead, who were then followed by Jimi
Hendrix, who would give one of his most iconic performances, and create a piece
of music history. Hendrix’s loud sound, unique style and dramatic guitar
playing technique which included playing using his teeth was completely new to most
of the audience, and his style of clothing and on-stage theatricals had not
been seen before. His performance included his biggest hits, as well as a cover
of Bob Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone as a tribute, as Dylan was recovering from
a motorbiking accident so couldn’t attend. He ended his performance with a frenetic
performance of Wild Thing, and to try to match The Who’s ending, had hidden a
bottle of lighter fluid behind a speaker. Hendrix knelt and poured it on his
guitar, and then set it on fire, before smashing it over the stage and throwing
it to the crowd. The quality of his songs, the energy in his performance, his
style and the dramatic ending to his set made a huge impact on the American audience,
and marked the beginning of his career in the US.
The
festival was an embodiment of the 60s counterculture, and is seen as the
possible starting point of the 1967 ‘Summer of Love’, and the donation of all
revenues to charity encapsulates the style of the 1960s counterculture. Although
it often gets overshadowed by the larger, more well-known Woodstock festival,
it’s importance is massive. It introduced two of the biggest stars from the UK
to a US audience, as well as kickstarting the careers of artists such as Joni
Mitchell, who was signed to Columbia records because of her performance as part
of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Otis Redding, who had only really
played in front of black audiences until Monterey, by exposing them to a much
wider audience. The Who’s performance established them as the top British performing
act, as the Beatles were not to tour again, and the rolling stones would not
tour for some years. As well as changing the musical hierarchy, it also set the
standard for music festivals for the future, inspiring Woodstock, and so it’s
importance should never be underestimated.
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