Customer Reviews

Monterey International Pop Festival [30th Anniversary Box Set]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The importance and far-reaching impact of the original musical mega-fest, Monterey Pop '67, is a fascinating cultural study in it's own right. While I have not seen the video of this event, I have a feeling that it may better convey the mood and significance of the event much better than the music on this box-set does; in fact, the beautiful booklet that accompanies the cds even does a better job at that. The basic problem - a) the sound quality on the bulk of these performances is just not that flattering and b) the bulk of the performances do not show the artists on the top of their game. Before any of you get angry, let me elaborate:

First off, the big exception to the rule is Jimi Hendrix's amazing set, his first performance in the states. This should really be available on it's own - the musicianmanship is top-notch, the song selection is definitive, the engineering is flawless (I'm pretty sure Eddie Kramer himself was on hand to capture this performance) and the closing performance of Wild Thing IS historic AND breathtaking as Jimi smashes his axe to pieces, the trusty stratocaster making noise till the very end. The Mamas and Papas follow Jimi with a surprisingly funky, punchy festival closing set.

Unfortunatley, most of the performances preceding Jimi's set are entirely dispensable and NON-definitive. Don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE fan of bands like Jefferson Airplane and the Byrds, but their sets here are rather sloppy - the likes of which you would never really want to hear twice. These bands are encountering the same problems the Beatles were a year or so earlier: the increasing complexity of their music begins to render it impossible to re-create on stage (at least with the resources they had at the time). This is not to fault the bands in any way; but at the height of the psychedelic era, spending hours in the studio perfecting individual parts, carefully mixing ,and experimenting with new sounds via electronic methods was the norm, leaving the musicans ill-prepared for a live translation of the groundbreaking recordings they were releasing.
This is especially evident in the vocal harmonies. Listen to how AWFUL some of the harmony sounds when the Association tries to pull of "along comes mary" or when the Byrds struggle thorugh "rennaisance fair". It's not because they can't harmonize, but when your used to the cozy acoustics of a studio, and then you try to pull off complex three-party harmony in a huge outdoor venue like Monterey - well you get the idea.
There are exceptions to this besides Jimi: Lou Rawls, a seasoned live performer, turns in an incredibly soulful set. The Who, and Big Brother also prove that they rock out best on stage. But even these tight performances are undermined by the second big problem: sound quality.
Kudos to the engineers for capturing such an historic event on tape - it's definitley no easy task. The main problem here is balance and mixing (a technical note: the "mix" heard on most of these recordings probably reflects the live mix at the time as it was captured on two-track, or maybe four-track tape, therefore making the balance irreversible). Too often the guitars just sound horribly thin; the bass if often barely audible; the drums lack any punch; the vocals are generally placed WAY forward in the mix; when horn sections are used, they sound very close and compressed.

So what's the verdict? Well, I'd say just over a quarter of the music here (the bulk of that being Hendrix) is top-notch, rousing, sixties-revolution-in-full-effect. Also, the booklet is gorgeous. I'd say 'buy it for the pure historical value', but in truth, if you compiled all the Studio versions of every song here, you'd have a much clearer picture of the musical contributions and innovations of these artists (try it!).

This four-CD box is expensive but it's surely worth. It's a beautiful example of the best period of the pop, rock and soul music. The box includes the whole concert of Jimi Hendrix, that was historical because it was the first time he played with his Experience in front of the american public. At the Monterey Pop festival, Hendrix played wonderfully and the box also records the final moments when he destroyed his guitar. Also, you will listen the legendary performance of Otis Redding , that unfortunately died few months later for a plane accident. But the box also includes several other groups that, at this moment, were at the best. For instance I love the blues that was played by the Butterfield Blues Band, by the Big Brother & The Holding Company with Janis Joplin, the Canned Heat. Also the performance by Mamas & Papas and the Byrds were extraordinaly . The quality of the recording is excellent and also the booklet, that reports several pictures of the musicians, is really very nice. I hope that one day they will release the WHOLE Monterey Pop Festival, maybe in a box of 15 or 20 Cds.....

These four discs have some of the greatest music from back then. The 8 songs performed by the great Jimi Hendrix are worth it for any Jimi fan. The recording and version of his popular "Purple Haze" is the best I've heard. This cd is truly on of his greatest performances. The Who's performance was also awesome, for it was their first show in America. Their explosive songs amazed the crowd, and shows some of Townsend's best. These two performances are the highlights, but theyre are also many other tremendous performances with some of the best recordings I've heard.

Amazing collection of great music. The eclecticism of the festival is well-represented in the box set, which features outstanding performances from Jimi Hendrix, The Byrds, The Butterfield Blues Band, and many more. However, I think it's a shame that several bands weren't included or better represented in this set. Buffalo Springfield (who performed with David Crosby instead of Neil Young) and the Grateful Dead were at this concert, and it's a shame that such wonderfully capable and legendary artists were left out in favor of The Association. Many of the other artists represented on the box set have much better concert recordings commercially available (Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Big Brother and the Holding Co.). Still, buy it anyway for a slice of an era and a feeling.

Disc: 1

1. Festival Introduction - John Phillips Listen Listen Listen
2. Along Comes Mary - The Association Listen Listen Listen
3. Windy - The Association Listen Listen Listen
4. Love Is a Hurtin' Thing - Lou Rawls Listen Listen Listen
5. Dead End Street - Lou Rawls Listen Listen Listen
See all 17 tracks on this disc
Disc: 2

1. The Flute Thing Listen Listen Listen
2. Mystery Train - The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Listen Listen Listen
3. Born in Chicago - The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Listen Listen Listen
4. Double Trouble - Butterfield Blues Band Listen Listen Listen
5. Mary Ann - Butterfield Blues Band Listen Listen Listen
See all 18 tracks on this disc
Disc: 3

1. Somebody to Love - Jefferson Airplane Listen Listen Listen
2. Other Side of This Life - Jefferson Airplane Listen Listen Listen
3. White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane Listen Listen Listen
4. High Flyin' Bird - Jefferson Airplane Listen Listen Listen
5. She Has Funny Cars - Jefferson Airplane Listen Listen Listen
See all 19 tracks on this disc
Disc: 4

1. Killing Floor - Jimi Hendrix Experience Listen Listen Listen
2. Foxey Lady - Jimi Hendrix Experience Listen Listen Listen
3. Like a Rolling Stone - Jimi Hendrix Experience Listen Listen Listen
4. Rock Me Baby - Jimi Hendrix Experience Listen Listen Listen
5. Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix Experience Listen Listen Listen
See all 16 tracks on this disc

NOTE: To see all the tracks check-out the other Rhino listing for the Monterey International Pop Festival.

This box set shows how important and how great the sound of Monterey Pop was to popular music. It had showed that pop music can now be an art form, along with classical. Unfortuantly, that isn't true about the pop music today. (Damn Britney Spears, she ruined everything!) But, the music on this album isn't what you would call pop. It's very eccentric. THere's pop rock, of course, but there's also soul, blues, pshcheydelia, folk rock, jam rock, swing, and classical. The 1st disc alone shows great variety. I start out my review with this disc

1.John Phillips Introduction-A short intro which sums up the feel of the show. Music, love, flowers.

THE ASSOCIATION

2.Along Comes Mary-The Association start the show playing a more rock version of this song. I espiecially enjoy the flute solo. It's quite silly. There was a little controversy about this song being about marijuana, but I think it's more about hippies than anything else.

3.Windy-This is a great pop song. It's got good harmonies, nice chords, and it rocks near the end. I like the drum beat on this one.

LOU RAWLS

4.Love Is A Hurtin' Thing-Lou Rawls is a great soul singer who, in my opinion, started rap. He had long jive-talk intros which could've influnced rap. This song is probably one of his best.

5.Dead End Street-Another "Rock and soul" song that has a great inro about being in Chicago. Excellent singing.

6.Tobacco Road-LONG intro, but really really cool song. I love it when Lou holds a C note for about 40 seconds.

ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS

7.San Fransico Nights-Eric Burdon and the Animals are a great blues and folk rock band. And when I mean rock, i mean it. This is a pleasent ballad about San Fransico with some sloppy, yet nice guitar solos.

8.Hey Gyp-One of the highlights on the 1st disc. A pshyadelic version of an old Donavan song. Eric's singing is so ood, and the guitars sound like the'yre having sex with each other. Quite good.

CANNED HEAT

9.Rolling and Tumbling-I do't know why I like this band. They sound like any other Blues rock band, but there's something about them. This is a great song. The only cool song to use a polka beat. Very cool.

10.Dust My Broom-How many bands have played this song? Anyway, this is another great blues song with some really clever lyrics. I sure they were improvised on the spot.

11.Bullfrog Blues-Quite interesting. I'm sure this song's about licking frogs. I don't know. But, it's their best song on this album. Pretty fast and cool.

COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH

12.Not-So-Sweet Marta Lorraine-I always liked Country Joe, but I wished that they had more of them at Monterey. But this is..um, strange. Strange singing, cool solos, and some lyrics about a girl who destroys men. Either that or heroin. I'm not sure.

BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY

13.Down On Me-When Janis Joplin was in Big Brother, it fealt more like a group than a solo act. But it's still pretty good. This sounds like a 60's British Invasion version of an old traditional song with a banshee singing. It's very very cool.

14.Combination Of The Two-More of a team song, but it's decent. Should do something about the vocal mics though.

15.Harry-Uh.....Ok. Let's move on.

16.Road Block-Probably the best gospel rock song ever. This is the 2nd highlight of the disc. Amazing singing and screaming.

17.Ball And Chain-WHOAH! How does Janis sing like that? I was impressed when I heard this. She loses her voice at the end, so you can tell she was singing with all her voice. Quite powerful.

So ends Disc 1.


Song List
1. Introduction
2. Along Comes Mary
3. Windy
4. Love Is A Hurtin' Thing
5. Dead End Street
6. Tobacco Road
7. San Franciscan Nights
8. Hey Gyp
9. Rollin' And Tumblin'
10. Dust My Broom
11. Bullfrog Blues
12. Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine
13. Down On Me
14. Combination Of Two
15. Harry
16. Road Block
17. Ball And Chain
18. Look Over Yonders Wall
19. Mystery Train
20. Born In Chicago
21. Double Trouble
22. Mary Ann
23. Mercury Blues
24. Groovin' Is Easy
25. Wine
26. Bajabula Bonke
27. Renaissance Fair
28. Have You Seen Her Face
29. Hey Joe (Where You Gonna Go)
30. He Was A Friend Of Mine
31. Lady Friend
32. Chimes Of Freedom
33. So You Wanna Be A Rock'N'Roll Star
34. Dhun- Fast Teental (Excerpt)
35. Flute Thing
36. Somebody To Love
37. Other Side Of This Life
38. White Rabbit
39. High Flyin' Bird
40. She Has Funny Cars
41. Booker-Loo
42. Hip Hug-Her
43. Philly Dog
44. Shake
45. Respect
46. I'Ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)
47. Satisfaction
48. Try A Little Tenderness
49. Substitute
50. Summertime Blues
51. Pictures Of Lily
52. Quick One While He's Away
53. Happy Jack
54. My Generation
55. Killing Floor
56. Foxy Lady
57. Like A Rolling Stone
58. Rock Me Baby
59. Hey Joe
60. Can You See Me
61. Wind Cries Mary
62. Purple Haze
63. Wild Thing
64. Straight Shooter
65. Got A Feelin'
66. California Dreamin'
67. I Call Your Name
68. Monday Monday
69. San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)
70. Dancing In The Street


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Where else can you listen to The Association,Canned Heat, Ravi Shankar,Lou Rawls together with the Who, Janis Joplin and the amazing Jimi Hendrix. Listening to it made me remember how enjoyable rock and roll was in 1967. The sad part is that many of the performers who played that day are no longer with us. This cd is for anyone who was a part of that magical era and those who wish they were. The sets by Hendrix and Otis Redding are worth the price ot the cd alone.

This box set shows how important and how great the sound of Monterey Pop was to popular music. It had showed that pop music can now be an art form, along with classical. Unfortuantly, that isn't true about the pop music today. (Damn Britney Spears, she ruined everything!) But, the music on this album isn't what you would call pop. It's very eccentric. THere's pop rock, of course, but there's also soul, blues, pshcheydelia, folk rock, jam rock, swing, and classical. The 1st disc alone shows great variety. I start out my review with this disc

1.John Phillips Introduction-A short intro which sums up the feel of the show. Music, love, flowers.

THE ASSOCIATION

2.Along Comes Mary-The Association start the show playing a more rock version of this song. I espiecially enjoy the flute solo. It's quite silly. There was a little controversy about this song being about marijuana, but I think it's more about hippies than anything else.

3.Windy-This is a great pop song. It's got good harmonies, nice chords, and it rocks near the end. I like the drum beat on this one.

LOU RAWLS

4.Love Is A Hurtin' Thing-Lou Rawls is a great soul singer who, in my opinion, started rap. He had long jive-talk intros which could've influnced rap. This song is probably one of his best.

5.Dead End Street-Another "Rock and soul" song that has a great inro about being in Chicago. Excellent singing.

6.Tobacco Road-LONG intro, but really really cool song. I love it when Lou holds a C note for about 40 seconds.

ERIC BURDON AND THE ANIMALS

7.San Fransico Nights-Eric Burdon and the Animals are a great blues and folk rock band. And when I mean rock, i mean it. This is a pleasent ballad about San Fransico with some sloppy, yet nice guitar solos.

8.Hey Gyp-One of the highlights on the 1st disc. A pshyadelic version of an old Donavan song. Eric's singing is so ood, and the guitars sound like the'yre having sex with each other. Quite good.

CANNED HEAT

9.Rolling and Tumbling-I do't know why I like this band. They sound like any other Blues rock band, but there's something about them. This is a great song. The only cool song to use a polka beat. Very cool.

10.Dust My Broom-How many bands have played this song? Anyway, this is another great blues song with some really clever lyrics. I sure they were improvised on the spot.

11.Bullfrog Blues-Quite interesting. I'm sure this song's about licking frogs. I don't know. But, it's their best song on this album. Pretty fast and cool.

COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH

12.Not-So-Sweet Marta Lorraine-I always liked Country Joe, but I wished that they had more of them at Monterey. But this is..um, strange. Strange singing, cool solos, and some lyrics about a girl who destroys men. Either that or heroin. I'm not sure.

BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY

13.Down On Me-When Janis Joplin was in Big Brother, it fealt more like a group than a solo act. But it's still pretty good. This sounds like a 60's British Invasion version of an old traditional song with a banshee singing. It's very very cool.

14.Combination Of The Two-More of a team song, but it's decent. Should do something about the vocal mics though.

15.Harry-Uh.....Ok. Let's move on.

16.Road Block-Probably the best gospel rock song ever. This is the 2nd highlight of the disc. Amazing singing and screaming.

17.Ball And Chain-WHOAH! How does Janis sing like that? I was impressed when I heard this. She loses her voice at the end, so you can tell she was singing with all her voice. Quite powerful.

So ends Disc 1.

I agree with "A music fan" in the other review here. The reason I'm looking at this Boxed set is for the Jimi Hendrix and Otis Redding performances. I've got an old, out of print LP of just four songs from each of them on each side, and I have to say it's outstanding. I wore it out from playing it so much and alas, my turntable is put away in the basement right now.

Otis went on stage close to midnight on Saturday night. He got the whole crowd back up on their feet. Six months later he was killed in a plane crash. It's been said the Monterey Pop performance was perhaps the high-point of his career.

Throw in The Who and Janis Joplin and this has to be a great deal.

If you don't like all the music on this massive set, I really don't care. That is not to give you a cold shoulder, or a cold anything. But if you are cherry picking artist by artist here, you've missed the point.

Before 1967, there was counterculture rock, but no one gave this a name. There were a lot of bands that, suddenly, did not fit on top forty radio--bands that played in clubs, that gained fame by word of mouth. There were, progressively more and more. Hendrix, Doors, Jefforson Airplane, Blues Project. So many in fact, that FM progressive radio was invented, since AM would only play, if at all, edited versions of these tracks.

The Monterey Pop Festival was the introduction for many of these new bands. The counterculture was arriving, and so was its music. Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin made it and got famous overnight. The new guard had arrived. The Beach Boys missed it--Brian was getting more and more sick mentally--and sank from one of the most inventive bands in the world to what seemed like an oldies act, almost overnight.

"You'll never hear surf music again," said Hendrix during his set.

Actually, Hendrix was wrong. You well could have. I found interesting that with Jimi and Janis, you also had The Association, Lou Rawls, acts that had little to do with the underground, along with the Mamas and The Papas, who bridged the pop and rock, the AM and FM.

The lesson reinforced here is not in counterculture rock, but in the all-encompassing view of music that made the 1960s so fertile, and the formats and marketing labels have make modern mainstream music so vapid. You probably were never going to see the Letterman on the guest list, but being able to see Ravi Shankar and .Otis Redding and Simon and Garfunkel in the same place should tell you a great deal--about how we SHOULD think of music.

There are deficits: Country Joe and the Fish's "Section 43," perhaps the most daring and experimental piece of the whole weekend, is not here. Neither is the Animals violin version of "Paint It Black," another proto-art rock gem. You can get "Section 43" on the Monterey International Pop Festival.

But these are particulars. If you want to understand the start of counterculture rock and why 1967 was so important for rock in general, buy, listen, and consider this box.

Lots of nostalgia. Take a trip down memory lane. This set is a collectible.