Monterey Pop Festival, 1967
Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company's performance at the Monterey Pop Festival was so powerful, the festival organizers hastily provided a second performing slot for the band to ensure it was captured by D.A. Pennebaker's film crew. Janis Joplin's performance of "Ball and Chain" was a small part of the energy and power of that performance, but it was a major part of helping them to get signed to Columbia Records later that year. Established artists such as Cass Elliot stared in jaw-dropping wonder as Joplin delivered a blues-soaked performance.
Jimi Hendrix Experience
Rarely does a performer debut as a fully formed artist. The Jimi Hendrix Experience's appearance at Monterey instantly placed the group as the most incendiary in rock and roll and made a legend of Hendrix.
Otis Redding
Backed by fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Booker T. and the MG's, Otis Redding put on a devastating set of soul music, some of the finest of its day. Redding was riding a wave of success at the time, but he was known primarily to African-American audiences. Monterey put him in front of the largest white audience of his career to date, and the crowd went crazy. Redding died just six months later, and the performance is one of the high water marks of his career.
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These books can be found at the Rock Hall's Library and Archives, but you can also click the links to see if they are available at a library near you!
These recordings can be found at the Rock Hall's Library and Archives, but you can also click the links to see if they are available at a library near you!
These recordings can be found at the Rock Hall's Library and Archives, but you can also click the links to see if they are available at a library near you!
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