Monterey Pop [Criterion Collection]

Monterey Pop was filmed by a stellar seven-person directorial crew, captained by James Desmond. This granddaddy of all concert films was shot during the 1967 Monterey "Summer of Love" Pop Festival, featuring a parade of talent that can be conservatively described as awesome. Highlights include Jimi Hendrix' marine-raiders rendition of "Wild Thing." Others making memorable appearances are Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, The Who, The Mamas and the Papas, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, Booker T. and the MGs, and The Animals. In retrospect, Monterey Pop, for all its exuberance, is tinged with sadness: one cannot view the film without the overriding awareness that so many of its participants are no longer alive.