I've written in the past about my days selling music and movies at Barnes & Noble. The crew I worked with in that department once I'd moved to northern Indiana still cracks me up. We would have geeky pop culture discussions. Best albums by a particular artist, best songs to play at a particular time on a particular day... whatever struck our fancy. As I've said, it was like being in the record store in the film High Fidelity (or the novel), only under a corporate banner.
One day, the subject turned to concert films. When it came to what we thought was the best, I noticed that we seemed split between Jonathan Demme's 1984 film about Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense, and Martin Scorsese's film about The Band's last concert, The Last Waltz. For reasons passing understanding, I have never seen Stop Making Sense. I don't know why--I'm a fan of both Jonathan Demme and Talking Heads. Consequently, I always seemed to pick The Last Waltz. (For more, you can read what I posted here on 25 January of last year.)
In the years since that discussion, I have seen one other concert film that I feel should be in contention for anyone's list of greatest concert films.
The event was a three-day festival at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California, organized by John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas, record producer Lou Adler, Alan Pariser, and Derek Taylor. The Monterey Pop Festival was a celebration of rock music as a legitimate art form, featuring performances from both well-known artists like The Who and Simon & Garfunkel, but also artists from that area of California including The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Big Brother & The Holding Company who weren't as well-known... yet.
D.A. Pennebaker and his crew filmed all the action during that three-day period from 16-18 June, 1967. During that time, he captured some career-defining--and, in some cases, career-establishing--performances. After her appearance with Big Brother in Monterey, Janis Joplin became a star. Otis Redding performed for the first time in front of a largely white audience bringing his R&B stylings to a much broader audience. (Tragically, he died in a plane crash a mere six months later.) And Jimi Hendrix blew everyone's minds by making sounds with his guitar that no one had ever heard a guitar make before.
The resulting film, Monterey Pop, was released in 1968 and perfectly captured the hippie/counterculture zeitgeist of the time. Everything and everyone seemed cool, groovy, and peaceful, and, unlike Woodstock, the weather cooperated.
Full disclosure--I was not alive in the 1960s. When I watch the film, part of me wishes I had been. Another part of me is glad that, due to technological advancements made since 1967--particularly in film--I didn't have to wait 50 years to see the film the way I first saw it.
One year when Barnes & Noble was having a sale on Criterion DVDs and blu-rays, I took a chance and bought a 3-disc set titled "The Complete Monterey Pop." It contained not only the original movie, but a second disc featuring over two hours of performance footage that was cut from the final film, which is only 79 minutes long. The third disc contains the complete performances of Jimi Hendrix and Otis Redding. (Comedian Tommy Smothers was intent on introducing Redding to the crowd. He later confessed that that was the only time he ever appeared on stage high.)
This week, please enjoy my pick (at least for the time being) for best concert film, D.A. Pennebaker's Monterey Pop--especially if you can get your hands on that 3-disc Criterion set.
Until next week, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember that if at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
Yours in peace, love, and rock 'n' roll!
The Reverend Will the Thrill
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