These nine songs from the iconic, guitar-charring 1967 show have appeared in many editions, first as the incomplete Historic Performances Recorded at the Monterey International Pop Festival, a wonderfully strange split album which contained about half of the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s set and all of Otis Redding’s. The complete 1986 edition marked the first full performance, wherein Hendrix updates the blues “Killing Floor”, shouts out his hero Bob Dylan (“Like a Rolling Stone”), turns one garage rock standard into electric mourning “Hey Joe” and soaks another one in feedback before soaking it in lighter fluid and creating the most important free noise coda ever caught on tape
Monterey Festival helped launch the careers of many performers, catapulting them from local, or relative obscurity, into the forefront of American and worldwide awareness. Today it’s easy to forget that before Monterey Jimi Hendrix had not had a hit record in America. Neither had The Who managed to get a record into the Billboard Top 20 and only one of their four minor hits had got higher than No.51; nor was Otis Redding very well known among white audiences. Rolling Stone, Brian Jones was there according to one report he was, “In a mind shattering gold lame coat festooned with beads, crystal swastika & lace, looked like a kind of unofficial King of the Festival” Brian Jones was the king of Hippie-chic
Back in 1967 Jimi Hendrix made his US live debut with The Experience at the Monterey Pop Festival. .
Please check out the DVD “ Hendrix Live at Montery “
The DVD has been digitally remastered and mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound by Jimi’s original sound recording engineer, Eddie Kramer. The picture quality is sharp as a razor, almost impeccable. The original analogue recording mixed in 5.1 is raw, punchy, dangerous and exciting.
The film footage is crystal clear, almost three dimensional. There is no no sign of grain. It’s like you are watching a rock’n’roll hologram.
Live at Monterey, continues to celebrate the genius that is Jimi Hendrix.
It’s Hendrix at his most exciting; a raw, untamed, sexually explicit and pulsating guitar performance from one of the greatest guitarists known to man.
What really gives this release the ultimate rush, are the extras. The DVD is steeped with several documentaries including the brand new film American Landing.
48 years ago. Live at Monterey is a masterpiece.
The Fat Angel Sings 