PIC of the Week – The Complete Monterey Pop Festival
Article series by Ray Schillaci
Growing up in the ’70s there were four concert films that were priority to see. Woodstock, billed as 3 days of peace and music, The Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter, The Concert for Bangladesh, organized by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, and the first breakthrough concert film before any one of these, Monterey Pop. In fact, Michael Wadleigh was so inspired by D.A. Pennebaker’s Monterey Pop film that he took his camera to Upstate New York when he heard about a couple thousand hippies gathering to listen to music. That turned out to be more than 400,000 and Wadleigh chronicled over 120 hours worth of footage to create Woodstock.
But the Monterey Pop Festival became iconic with such powerhouse performances by legendary rock and rollers: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, The Byrds, Simon and Garfunkel, and so many more. The Criterion Collection gave us a beautiful presentation of the theatrical version on Blu-ray in 2009. Now in 2017, The Criterion Collection offers us the most complete version of the Monterey Festivals, including the 79-minute original theatrical version to the latest incarnation at a whopping 147 minutes. The difference in the presentation is quite noticeable regarding audio and video.
The Monterey International Pop Festival was the first and only one of its kind in Monterey. It captured the “summer of love” and the height of the hippie movement. The festival and the film also gave us the electrifying performances of Jimi Hendrix performing “Wild Thing”, Janis Joplin hammering away at “Ball and Chain”, and Otis Redding killing it with “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”. Also, a band that was not part of the West Coast rock scene delivered a very impressive performance that would have people talking for years to come, The Who.
Included with this newest Criterion 3-disc set is Monterey Pop, and the films Jimi Plays Monterey and Shake! Otis Redding at Monterey. Here is the most comprehensive document of complete performances in Monterey. For anybody that is a fan of the ’60s, this is a must-own. Criterion not only gives us a new 16-bit 4K digital restoration of Monterey Pop that is director approved, but it also comes with an uncompressed stereo soundtrack along with a bevy of extras including performance outtakes from famed bands of the ’60s, never before seen on film that include Country Joe and the Fish, Jefferson Airplane, The Mamas and the Papas, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and “Tiny Tim!” Also included in this “complete” set:
¥ Restored high-definition digital transfers of Jimi Plays Monterey and Shake! Otis at Monterey with uncompressed stereo soundtrack
¥ Alternate soundtracks for all three films featuring 5.1 mixes in DTS-HD Master Audio
¥ Audio commentaries by director Pennebaker and festival producer Lou Adler (of Rocky Horror Picture Show fame) and music critics and historians
¥ New interviews with Pennebaker and Adler
¥ Chiefs, a short film that played with Monterey Pop
¥ Monterey International Pop Festival scrapbook
¥ + lots MORE!
Best price: Amazon Prime – $44.49*
*Quick note; be careful not to purchase the regular theatrical version which is just about $10 cheaper. The covers are very similar, but you will not receive the most comprehensive docket of these films.
