The Monterey Pop Festival Celebrates Its 45th Anniversary on Saturday

Cinefamily.orgSaturday marks the 45th anniversary of the first day of the Monterey International Pop Music Festival in Monterey, California.  The historic three-day event was headlined by The Mamas and the Papas and also featured star-making performances by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, Janis Joplin and Otis Redding.  Among the other major rock and pop stars of the 1960s who played the festival were Simon & Garfunkel, The Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, The Grateful Dead, The Association, Eric Burdon and the Animals, Canned Heat, Steve Miller Band, Laura Nyro, Booker T. & the MG's and The Buffalo Springfield.

In commemoration of the milestone, a special screening of D.A. Pennebaker's classic 1968 concert documentary Monterey Pop will be held Sunday at the Silent Movie Theatre in Los Angeles.  The event will be hosted by Michelle Phillips, the last surviving original member of The Mamas and the Papas, and renowned producer Lou Adler, who helped organize the festival.  Phillips and Adler also will participate in a Q&A session after the screening.

In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Adler spoke with pride about the lasting influence of the Monterey Pop fest, noting that some iconic artists "that were introduced on one level or another at [the event] still have an impact on music."

He added that the charitable foundation founded in conjunction with the festival "was the first rock and roll charity established and maybe it led to Live Aid and Farm Aid."

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Monterey Pop (45th Anniv. trailer) from Cinefamily on Vimeo.