The Complete Monterey Pop Festival - Criterion Collection

Starring:Scott McKenzie, 'Mama' Cass Elliot, John Phillips (II), Denny Doherty, Michelle Phillips, Bob Hite, Henry Vestine, Frank Cook (III), Alan Wilson, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Hugh Masekela, Marty Balin, Jorma Kaukonen, Paul Kantner, Spencer Dryden, Jack Casady, Grace Slick, Sam Andrew, Dave Getz, D.A. Pennebaker, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin
Director: D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus
Studio: Criterion
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video
The Monterey International Pop Festival, the three-day event staged in 1967 that has become one of rock music's most famous and in some ways greatest concerts, gets the royal treatment with this three-disc boxed set.

Material on two of the three discs has already been widely available. Monterey Pop, D.A. Pennebaker's 79-minute, 1968 film, effectively sets the scene for the festival, which took place during the fabled "Summer of Love," when the hippie ethos was in its fullest flower, especially on the West Coast. And while not all the featured performances are thrilling, those that are--principally by the Who, Jimi Hendrix, and the amazing Ravi Shankar--are worth the price of admission, especially in the high-definition digital transfer and new 5.1 mix seen and heard here. The same can be said for Jimi Plays Monterey and Shake! Otis at Monterey, which appear in the boxed set on a separate disc and provide a much fuller look at Hendrix's and Otis Redding's incendiary sets (literally, in the former case).

Those two discs are also loaded with bonus features, including audio commentary by Pennebaker, festival producer Lou Adler (on Monterey Pop), and author Peter Guralnick (Shake!); audio-only remarks by some of the performers; photos; trailers; and other material. There's also a substantial booklet, filled with essays and photos. But it's the third disc, "The Outtake Performances," comprising some two hours of music that didn't make the final film edit, that will be of most interest to many viewers. The disc supplies a taste of some of the artists who didn't appear in Monterey Pop at all (the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Quicksilver Messenger Service), and a more complete look at some who did (the Who, Simon and Garfunkel, the Mamas and the Papas). A nice addition to an already very impressive DVD collection. --Sam Graham
Description
DISC ONE: "Monterey Pop" New high-definition digital transfer, supervised by D.A. Pennebaker. New 5.1 mix by legendary recording engineer Eddie Kramer, presented in Dolby Digital and DTS. Audio commentary by Festival producer Lou Adler and D.A. Pennebaker. New video interview with Lou Adler and D.A. Pennebaker. Audio interviews with Festival producer John Phillips, Festival publicist Derek Taylor, and performers Cass Elliot and David Crosby. Photo essay by photographer Elaine Mayes. Original theatrical trailer. Orginal theatrical radio spots. Monterey Pop scrapbook. Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition.

DISC TWO: "Jimi Plays Monterey" and "Shake! Otis at Monterey" New high-definition digital transfers, supervised by D.A. Pennebaker. New 5.1 mixes by legendary recording engineer Eddie Kramer, presented in Dolby Digital and DTS. Audio commentary on Jimi Plays Monterey by music critic and historian Charles Shaar Murray. Two audio commentaries on Shake! by music critic and historian Peter Guralnick: the first on Otis Redding's Monterey performance, song by song; the second on Redding before and after Monterey. Interview with Phil Walden, Otis Redding's manager from 1959 to 1967. Original theatrical trailer for Jimi Plays Monterey. Video excerpt: Pete Townshend on Monterey and Jimi Hendrix. Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Amazon.com essential video

The Monterey International Pop Festival, the three-day event staged in 1967 that has become one of rock music's most famous and in some ways greatest concerts, gets the royal treatment with this three-disc boxed set.

Material on two of the three discs has already been widely available. Monterey Pop, D.A. Pennebaker's 79-minute, 1968 film, effectively sets the scene for the festival, which took place during the fabled "Summer of Love," when the hippie ethos was in its fullest flower, especially on the West Coast. And while not all the featured performances are thrilling, those that are--principally by the Who, Jimi Hendrix, and the amazing Ravi Shankar--are worth the price of admission, especially in the high-definition digital transfer and new 5.1 mix seen and heard here. The same can be said for Jimi Plays Monterey and Shake! Otis at Monterey, which appear in the boxed set on a separate disc and provide a much fuller look at Hendrix's and Otis Redding's incendiary sets (literally, in the former case).

Those two discs are also loaded with bonus features, including audio commentary by Pennebaker, festival producer Lou Adler (on Monterey Pop), and author Peter Guralnick (Shake!); audio-only remarks by some of the performers; photos; trailers; and other material. There's also a substantial booklet, filled with essays and photos. But it's the third disc, "The Outtake Performances," comprising some two hours of music that didn't make the final film edit, that will be of most interest to many viewers. The disc supplies a taste of some of the artists who didn't appear in Monterey Pop at all (the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Quicksilver Messenger Service), and a more complete look at some who did (the Who, Simon and Garfunkel, the Mamas and the Papas). A nice addition to an already very impressive DVD collection. --Sam Graham

Description

DISC ONE: "Monterey Pop" New high-definition digital transfer, supervised by D.A. Pennebaker. New 5.1 mix by legendary recording engineer Eddie Kramer, presented in Dolby Digital and DTS. Audio commentary by Festival producer Lou Adler and D.A. Pennebaker. New video interview with Lou Adler and D.A. Pennebaker. Audio interviews with Festival producer John Phillips, Festival publicist Derek Taylor, and performers Cass Elliot and David Crosby. Photo essay by photographer Elaine Mayes. Original theatrical trailer. Orginal theatrical radio spots. Monterey Pop scrapbook. Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition.

Customer Reviews:

The Complete Monterey Pop Festival.......2007-06-28

It was 1967, the Summer of Love and "Sergeant Pepper's," a charged moment when rock'n'roll was evolving in daring new directions, fueled by psychedelic drugs, the sexual revolution, and a new generation finding its voice. Documentarian D.A. Pennebaker covers the Monterey Pop Festival like a blanket in this feature-length concert film--the first ever--filming everything and everyone, while showcasing landmark performances by immortals Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and The Who, among others.

Revelatory performances........2007-01-07

The film restoration work looks and sounds magnificent. Eddie Kramer gets extra congratulations on the 5.1 audio mix. That said, the 3rd disc is mainly in stereo only.

Karen's review below is a bit harsh. If you actually listen to the main film's commentary, you will understand why more footage isn't available: Not every second of 3 days of performances were captured. Concert films did not exist as a genre at this time (see the annoyingly choppy 'Festival!' documenting Newport), so this was new territory and the point of the film was to make a document that gave an overall feel for the event and time. Pennebaker and his crew had to decide which songs to film, which seems to have been predetermined by Dylan's buddy Bob Neuwirth who was more familiar with the scene than the filmmaker. They would turn on a red light on stage to signal to start filming the next song. At some times, they didn't have a plan and the camera men would shoot at their discretion, so some performances may have been captured by only 1 camera and therefore considered not presentable. Also, film reels would end during performances and need to be changed (approx every 20 minutes), hence footage missing from two of Jimi's songs.

Regarding the lack of more outtake footage:
1. Your precious Janis and Big Brother's new manager Albert Grossman didn't allow them to be filmed the first day, but finally they were asked to play again the next day because of the crowd reaction and the desire to get something on film. The whole set could exist but I doubt it. Grossman and his need for control is probably to blame, and it's no coincidence that Woodstock's filmmakers were also refused to use her footage in the original release. She only appears now in the directors cut.
2. The Byrds set is extremely historic, and that is one that should have been included in whole if it exists.
3. The Who's set is only missing 'Pictures of Lily' not counting 'My Generation' which is in the proper film. It is on bootleg Who dvd's so why that wasn't included is inexplicable. I would have like to have seen all footage from each artist's set put together on the bonus disc including the songs included in whole or in part in the actual final film, so that it's all in one place. What we get is anything besides what made the final cut.

4. As far as Tiny Tim, yes his impromptu performances are annoying, but they are part of just that, impromptu candid backstage footage supplied as bonus, not part of the 2 hours of bonus footage. So, skip past it like I did and get over it.

5. Regarding the Grateful Dead, a small glimpse is seen at the beginning of the 'Jimi Plays Monterey' film, but the liner notes from the 4CD box set from 1992 tells us, that like Janis, the band and or management refused to allow any audio or visuals to be used. I assume they didn't like their performance, or wanted to control it like the rest of their own vault. The whole festival was for charity, as we also learn from the supplementary interviews, and the artists therefore had to sign waivers releasing the rights to their performances. My guess it the Dead refused to comply.
6.The real shame is that there is no footage of Lou Rawls' electrifying set, which would also show more of the diversity of genre's that were at the festival.
7. Charles Shaar Murray's commentary during the Hendrix film is actually quite insightful and entertaining. Yes, there are some funny comments about substances and clothing. He wrote a definitive biography of Jimi, and his commentary is well founded and gives context to why his perfomance at the festival was revolutionary.

That said, this is a definitive package, and a must own release for a serious rock collector's library.

Not complete.......2006-12-10

I know i give this five stars and it is worth the high price, but complete. Not even close. Since i first heard about montery pop on some vh1 thing years ago ive been interested in monterey pop. The fact that it was the first real festival, besides newport, and in my opinion the best.
I originally bought the vhs tape, and then the hard to find 4 disc box set, and then this 3 disc dvd. I even have a bootleg of the grateful deads performance there. It would just be a lot cooler if it was actually complete. Its just kinda of a tease to see one buffalo sprinfield song when you know they most likely have their whole performance on tape.

Jimi Hendrix plays Wild Thing at Monterey Pop.......2006-10-15

Unforgeteable performance, that I first watched in a movie theater in 1975. The sound in big space is much different,you hear the crakles of fire in the guitar, and the acoustic couplings between guitar and Marshalls are richer in tremeloes and vibrations. May be the remastering for DVD filtered too much, but unless you own a superb stereo equipment, you better watch it as a movie!

Everything I wanted.......2006-08-15

I have been looking for the Hendrix concert footage for awhile. This is worth the full price alone.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Kiss Me Monster

Tom Green Show-Early Exposure

Lucky Numbers [2001] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Beginner Blues Harmonica

Nickelodeon