back in 1987 bbc radio ran a 5-part series on the Monterrey fetival of 1967. i guess it was a 20th anniversary thing. Monterrey was the first big festival, though for some reason people seem only to talk about Woodstock. anyway, i recorded the whole thing on tape, carefully (but not altogether successfully) cutting out the verbiage in between tracks. i’ve been listening to those tapes for 20 years and i love them. right now i have just 2 usable tapes. but i was never worried. eventually, i figured, i’d be able to buy an album (or several) with those same performances. it never happened, though hendrix at moneterrey was released.
now, however, the wonderful youtube rides to the rescue. metafilter lists some of the stuff available.
i have many favourites, here’s just three:
big brother and the holding company - joplin at her best
buffalo springfield - sans neil young
feelin’ groovey
that last one lacks the intro i have on tape, paul simon speaking like a hip cat. worth the price of admission alone.
unfortunately there’s no country joe and the fish, or punky’s dilemma from simon and garfunkel, or the mamas and papas best stuff. but it’s good.
