©2017 Monterey International Pop FestivalThe Monterey International Pop Festival, one of the first and most famous rock festivals of the 1960s, celebrates its 50th anniversary in June, and to mark the milestone, a new version of the star-studded extravaganza will be held at the site of the original event.
According to a just-launched official website, MontereyPopFestival50.com, the new festival will take place at California’s Monterey County Fairgrounds on June 16-18, the exact dates as the 1967 event.
The New York Times reports that founding Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, whose old band played the original fest, is among the artists who will perform at this year’s event, along with Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, Gary Clark Jr., My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James and others. The full lineup officially will be announced this Monday, April 17.
According to the newspaper, famed music producer Lou Adler, who co-produced the 1967 Monterey Pop fest, is helping to organize this year’s show, along with Another Planet Entertainment and Goldenvoice, the promoters behind such popular events as Outside Lands and Coachella.
The 1967 Monterey Pop was organized by Adler and The Mamas & the Papas‘ John Phillips with a goal of presenting contemporary popular music as an art form, like jazz. Held during the famed “Summer of Love,” the festival helped introduce such then-emerging artists as Jimi Hendrix, The Who and Janis Joplin. Other acts on the fest’s impressive roster included Simon & Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane, Otis Redding, Canned Heat, Country Joe and the Fish, The Byrds, Ravi Shankar and Buffalo Springfield. The Mamas & the Papas headlined.
Interestingly, none of the artists at the original fest were paid, except Shankar, who early on had signed contract to receive a fee. Of course, the acts this year won’t be playing for free.
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