Memories of Monterey

Very late in December, 1968, I was spending the winter recess at my cousin’s house in East Flatbush. A few days after Christmas, my Aunt bundled up our 10 year old bodies and took us for a subway ride into Manhattan. Besides the display windows and holiday shopper gawking, our prime objective was to see a film that was only playing in one theatre. It had just opened and came highly recommended by older cousins who lived in San Francisco

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The film was directed by D.A. Pennebaker, who had already directed the Bob Dylan documentary, "Don't Look Back" and would go on to direct "The War Room" among other incredible films. But on this day, I was about to be exposed to the wonder of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, captured on film. Unveiling before my eyes that day, in a darkened theatre up near Lincoln Center was the incredible specter of Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, The Who, Canned Heat one after the other, making indelible impressions that have lasted a lifetime.

This was a seminal moment in Rock and Roll history and in my young life.

 
Getting a chance to screen this film again, for probably the first time in nearly 40 years, it was remarkable how vivid the memory had remained.

I also had the opportunity to meet and work with Mr. Pennebaker nearly two decades later on a 2 part television tribute to the playwright Samuel Beckett and after the initial star struck introduction found him to be the perfect personality to have crafted the film I remembered so well, himself full of the same energy and humor as his film.

 
I hope you'll tune into WPBT/Channel 2's presentation of Monterey Pop, Sunday, August 5 at 7:30, and I hope you’ll find it as memorable as I did, especially if this is your first exposure to the film.

 

Here is a description if you need more:

During the Summer of Love, 1967, the first and only Monterey International Pop Festival ushered in a new era of rock 'n' roll. The festival launched the careers of music legends like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Otis Redding. These stellar performers, however, were just a few among a diverse and talented cast that included Simon and Garfunkel, Hugh Masekela, The Mamas and the Papas, Jefferson Airplane, Eric Burden and the Animals, and The Who. Director D.A. Pennebaker captured the decade's spirit during the three-day festival in his acclaimed documentary entitled "Monterey Pop" and immortalized moments that have become legend. Now, 40 years later, MONTEREY POP: THE SUMMER OF LOVE presents the best of Pennebaker's documentary.