Monterey

[DDAJon@aol.com]

I was in Monterey for a work related conference the last couple of days, so
it was interesting to read  all the discussion of the Pop Festival in the
Digest. 

The Rhino boxed set of the festival is expensive, but is first rate.  It has
four CDs and a large full color paperback book with extensive notes and color
pictures about all the acts and the numbers they played.   According to Chris
Charlesworth, the the Rhino boxed set contains the complete Who set.
 (Substitute, Summertime Blues, Pictures of Lily, A Quick One, Happy Jack and
My Generation.)  The paperback book also has a complete history of the
festival.  This was some of what was said in the boxed set's paperback book
about the Who's performance, as told by various artists who saw it.  

Eric Burdon:  "Man, it was 'Ladies and gentleman-The Who!' then {sings power
chords} and during 'My Generation' the whole stage just went {sound of H-bomb
exploding}.  The American audience went, 'What the hell is this?'  The climax
of the show was just like a terrorist attack, with the bombs and the smoke.
 It was just shocking!...And when the last notes just died away and the smoke
cleared off the stage, I was shaking from the effect of it.  I had seen The
Who before--they were no surprise to me.  What shoook me was the audience's
reaction to this."

Jackson Browne:  "Townshend just took an incredible swipe at the mike stand
with his guitar and sent it flying.  And I remember seeing a technician,
obviously with the recording truck, holding onto his glasses and lunging out
into the middle of the stage, trying to protect his head and get the mike.
 He didn't know what was happening, but his microphones were being launched
by this crazed band....It was revolutionary and somehow so expressive and so
mystifying...'What did that mean?'  People went nuts.  They lovedit"

Tommy Smothers:  "The neck of the guitar broke off, and Townshend threw it
out into the audience.  I thought there'd be a shaft of wood through
someone's heart!  I mean, I was really concerned about the welfare of the
people out there.  But it was like a fly-ball in the stands--everyone was
reaching to catch it."

Country Joe McDonald:  "Watching a rock band, you didn't expect that to
happen.  Drumsticks flying in the air, arms flying all over the place,
microphone stands and equipment being thrown down--it was kind of a
combination of wrestling and music."

Chris Hillman:  "It wasn't fashionable for anybody to be violent at that
time.  That's why it was so weird to see The Who and then Hendrix breaking up
their equipment as entertainment.  It was weird, because we were all trying
to be cool and mellow, and have good vibes."

Henry Diltz:  "Backstage, Townshend and Hendrix had been going back and forth
about who should folllow whom.  John Phillips had finally resolved the issue
by flipping a coin.  The Who lost, which is why they came out and played with
such a vengeance."

John Phillips:  "The Who knew how good Jimi was and wouldn't be outdone, so
they blew the entire stage up with bombs and fireballs and things.  That's
why Jimi burned up his guitar and made love to his amp."

Not every act who performed there is on the boxed set, but it appears that
most are.  (Not all acts agreed to be on the set.)  However, the acts
featured in the boxed set are, in order:

The Association, Lou Rawls, Eric Burdon & the Animals, Canned Heat, Country
Joe & the Fish, Big Brother & the Holding Company, the Butterfield Blues
Band, The Steve Miller Band, The Electric Flag, Hugh Masekela, the Byrds,
Ravi Shankar, The Blues Project, Jefferson Airplane, Booker T & the MG's,
Booker T & the MG's with the Mar-Keys, Otis Redding, The Who, The Jimi
Hendrix Experience, The Mamas & the Papas, Scott McKenzie, and The Mamas &
the Papas singing the festival finale.