June 16, 2017
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Πριν 50 χρόνια, σαν σήμερα, ξεκινούσε στο Monterey το φεστιβάλ που άνοιξε το δρόμο σ'εκείνο του Woodstock. Πάνω από 30 μεγάλα ονόματα της μουσικής (rock, pop, soul) παρέλασαν από τη σκηνή και έγραψαν ιστορία.
Ας διαβάσουμε τι έγραψε χθες ο Paul Ingles στο NPR για το festival αυτό:
In the 21st century, destination music festivals seem like a dime a dozen. But just 50 years ago, there was only one: the Monterey International Pop Festival, which featured more than 30 artists and bands playing over the course of three days in the summer of 1967.
Monterey Pop set the template for all the huge rock festivals that would follow — Woodstock, Coachella, Bonnaroo and all the rest — and its influence would spread even further via a documentary, Monterey Pop, that was helmed by D.A. Pennebaker and would set a gold standard for concert films.
The festival's star-studded lineup reads like a who’s who of rock royalty, but four names rise to the top of any conversation about the festival. There was Janis Joplin. ("When she sang, all of her sang," Pennebaker remembers.) The Who left the audience in awe after Pete Townshend concluded "My Generation" by smashing his guitar. As for Otis Redding, "the power and the feeling in his voice was something that a lot of us had never seen before," photographer Henry Diltz says.

Finally, there was Jimi Hendrix, who threw his guitar down onstage and doused it with Ronson lighter fluid. "Then [he] lights it, and then leans back in this sacrificial rite of giving his guitar to the gods," photographer Tom Gundelfinger O'Neal remembers. "One of the most iconic rock 'n' roll moments in musical history."
The musicians who weren't playing were watching Hendrix, transfixed, from behind the curtains at the side of the stage, says Grace Slick, who performed at Monterey Pop with Jefferson Airplane. 'We hadn't seen a lot of these people. And everybody was just blown away by Jimi Hendrix in particular, because w-e hadn't seen him live. But we were amazed at each other."
Most of the Monterey Pop musicians played for free, with ticket proceeds going to charity. A foundation set up for the festival still donates royalties from any Monterey-related releases and from Pennebaker's documentary, which was released in theaters the following year. 

 


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