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V.A. - The Complete Monterey Pop Festival 1967 (2002) 2xBD50
(The Criterion Collection)
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The Complete Monterey Pop Festival arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The set contains D.A. Pennebaker's legendary documentary "Monterey Pop" (1968) as well as "Jimi Plays Monterey" (1986) and "Shake! Otis at Monterey" (1989). The set also contains an enormous amount of supplemental features - audio commentaries, interviews, outtakes, promotional materials, and more.

On a beautiful weekend in 1967 at the height of the so called "summer of love," the first and only Monterey International Pop Festival raored forward - capturing a decade's spirit and ushering in a new era of rock and roll. Monterey would launch the careers of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Otis Redding, but they were just a few among a wildly diverse lineup including Simon & Garfunkel, The Mamas and the Papas, The Who, The Byrds, Hugh Masekela, and the extraordinary Ravi Shankar. The Criterion Collection is proud to present the most comprehensive document of The Monterey International Pop Festival ever produced, featuring all three films of the festival: "Monterey Pop," "Jimi Plays Monterey and Shake! Otis At Monterey" along with "Monterey Pop: The Outtake Performances.

A special message from Lou Adler, an original promoter/producer for the Monterey International Pop Festival:

It was the first major Rock ‘n’ Roll Festival. No prerequisite…no precedents. We had no idea what to expect. The question of would people come was answered by mid-week prior to the start of the festival. They came and kept on coming. A major surprise was the extent of mainstream media coverage. When John Phillips and I arrived at the fairgrounds on the morning of the first day there were camera crews, photographers and journalists from all over the world. Add to that the advent of FM radio; and the following year Rolling Stone Magazine…Rock ‘n’ Roll was here to stay. Monterey gave birth to the first rock charity Monterey International Pop Festival Foundation, which continues to fund worthwhile causes in the names of the artists who appeared at Monterey. Precedents and prerequisites would be set for future concerts and festivals, including the overall treatment of the artist…Derek Taylor’s handling of the press…Chip Monks’ sound and lights…Pennebaker’s groundbreaking movie “Monterey Pop. The true legacy of The Monterey International Pop Festival is not the crowd size…not the weather…not a violent incident…it is the music. The groundbreaking artists who were introduced (Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and The Who) and the “rock royalty” (Simon & Garfunkel, Otis Redding and The Mamas & The Papas) that performed there continue to be revered and continue to impact to this day the music and musicians who came after it happened in Monterey on June 16, 17, and 18, 1967.


Actors: Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, Country Joe McDonald, Eric Burdon
Directors: D.A. Pennebaker
Producers: John Phillips, Lou Adler
Format: Multiple Formats, AC-3, Blu-ray, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Full Screen, NTSC
Language: English (Dolby Surround)
Region: Region A/1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 2Date of publication: 2009
Genre: Pop, Rock
Playing time: 482 minutes


Tracklist:

BD 1:
Monterey Pop is essentially a raw documentary – it contains footage from unedited performances by The Who, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, The Mamas and The Papas, Hugh Maskela, Big Brother and The Holding Company, Scott McKenzie, Canned Heat, Simon & Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother & The Holding, Eric Burdon & The Animals, Country Joe & The Fish, and Ravi Shankar. In between each of these performances, director Pennebaker also captures the reactions of the audience, many of which are just as fascinating to behold.

"Combination of the Two" - Big Brother and the Holding Company,
"San Francisco" - Scott McKenzie,
"Creeque Alley" & "California Dreamin'" - the Mamas and the Papas,
"Rollin' and Tumblin'" - Canned Heat,
"59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" - Simon and Garfunkel,
"Bajabula Bonke (Healing Song)" - Hugh Masekela,
"High Flyin' Bird" and "Today" - by Jefferson Airplane,
"Ball and Chain" - Big Brother and the Holding Company,
"Paint it Black" - The Animals,
"My Generation" - The Who,
"Section 43" - Country Joe and the Fish,
"Shake" and "I've Been Loving you too Long" - Otis Redding,
"Wild Thing" - Jimi Hendrix,
"Got a Feelin" - the Mamas and the Papas,
"Raga Bhimpalasi" - Ravi Shankar

BD 2:
Jimi Plays Monterey (50 min) was assembled in 1986. The film offers a quick summation of the famous guitarist's life while at the same time shows additional footage (a total of nine songs) from his appearance at the Monterey International Pop Festival. It is narrated by John Phillips from The Mamas and the Pappas. In 1987, Jimi Plays Monterey was screened at the Sundance Film Festival.
Shake! Otis at Monterey (19 min) was assembled in 1989. The film offers the complete set of songs (a total of five) Otis Redding performed at the Monterey International Pop Festival. This proved to be one of his very last performances as the gifted singer was killed in a plane crash just a few months after he had dazzled the crowds with his incredible voice.

01. Jimi Hendrix - Can You See Me?
02. Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze
03. Jimi Hendrix - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
04. Jimi Hendrix - Monterey
05. Jimi Hendrix - Killing Floor
06. Jimi Hendrix - Foxy Lady
07. Jimi Hendrix - Like A Rolling Stone
08. Jimi Hendrix - Rock Me Baby
09. Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe
10. Jimi Hendrix - The Wind Cries Mary
11. Jimi Hendrix - Wild Thing
12. Otis Redding - Shake
13. Otis Redding - Respect
14. Otis Redding - I've Been Loving You Too Long
15. Otis Redding - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
16. Otis Redding - Try A Little Tenderness

Disc Features?:
Jimi Plays Monterey
* Restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker
* Soundtrack featuring a 5.1 mix by legendary recording engineer Eddie Kramer, presented in Dolby Digital (and DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition)
* Audio commentary by music critic and historian Charles Shaar Murray
* Trailer
* Video excerpt of Pete Townshend discussing Jimi Hendrix
Shake! Otis at Monterey
* Restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker
* Soundtrack featuring a 5.1 mix by legendary recording engineer Eddie Kramer, presented in Dolby Digital (and DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition)
* Two audio commentaries 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, Redding’s manager from 1959 to 1967
* A booklet featuring an essay by music critic David Fricke

Special Features:
High-Definition Digital Transfers of All Three Films
Soundtrack Featuring 5.1 Mixes by Eddie Kramer
Presented in Dolby Digital and DTS-HD Master Audio
Two Hours of Outtake Performances
Audio Commentaries by Pennebaker, Lou Adler, Charles Shaar Murray, & More
Video Interviews with Adler and Pennebaker, and Phil Walden
Audio Interviews with John Phillips, Derek Taylor, Cass Elliot and David Crosby
Photo Essay by photographer Elaine Mayes
Original Theatrical Trailers and Radio Spots
Monterey Pop Festival Scrapbook
Essays by Critics Armond White, Michael Lydon, Barney Hoskyns, and David Fricke


Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 34966 kbps / 1080p / 23,976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: English / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Audio: English / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4468 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio: English / Dolby Digital Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps
Subtitle: -
Playtime: 08h:02min