Three sets that became legends
Of the dozens of acts at Monterey in June 1967, three performances are remembered more than the rest: the Who’s set, which ended with the destruction of instruments, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, whose closing number ended with a guitar set alight, and Otis Redding’s Saturday night appearance. All three were captured on film, which helped. They also happened at a time when each artist was poised for a bigger career in the United States, and that timing gave the performances a weight they might not otherwise have had.
The Who
The Who were by then well known in Britain, and Monterey was among their first major American appearances. They played on the Sunday evening, in a set that is usually described as short and very loud. It ended with “My Generation”, during which Pete Townshend smashed his guitar and the drummer Keith Moon wrecked his kit. Smoke bombs added to the chaos.
Guitar smashing was not new for the band. They had been doing it in British clubs and on stage for some time, and it was a part of their act rather than a spontaneous act at Monterey. What made it notable in California was the context. The audience was largely there for the new, relaxed West Coast sound, and the Who’s confrontational approach struck a contrast. The set was a showcase of aggression at a festival that was otherwise often gentle, and that contrast helped make it stand out.
The behind-the-scenes arguments about the running order are well-known but contested. Several accounts describe a disagreement between the Who and the Jimi Hendrix Experience over who would play first, and some give a role to a coin toss. Because the stories vary, it is safest to say only that the Who went on before Hendrix.
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix was an American guitarist who had made his name in London in 1966 and 1967, after being brought there by Chas Chandler, formerly of the Animals. Monterey was his first major appearance in the United States as a headline-level act. Reportedly, Paul McCartney, who had a connection with the festival organisers, recommended him for the bill.
His set drew on songs from his early singles and album, including “Wild Thing”. At the end of the song, he knelt over his guitar, poured lighter fluid on it and set it alight, then broke it up and threw the pieces into the crowd. The moment lasted only a few minutes, but photographs of it have become among the best-known images of rock in the 1960s. The phrase Hendrix guitar burning is now shorthand for the festival as a whole. His debut album, Are You Experienced, came out in the United States in the late summer of 1967, and Monterey served as an advertisement for it.
As with other events of that weekend, later stories have added detail that is hard to verify, including claims about what Hendrix intended and how the audience reacted. The reliable parts are that he played, that he burned the guitar, and that the event was filmed.
Otis Redding
Otis Redding, the soul singer from Georgia, played on Saturday night with Booker T. and the MG’s and a horn section. He was a major figure in soul music by 1967, but his audience was largely black and Southern, and Monterey introduced him to many young white listeners. His set included “Shake”, “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”, and a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction”, and ended with “Try a Little Tenderness”, according to accounts of the performance.
The set’s reputation was increased by what came after. Redding died on 10 December 1967 in a plane crash in Wisconsin, at the age of 26. His recording of “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”, completed shortly before his death, was released after it. Because of this, Monterey is often remembered as the high point of a career that was cut short, a framing that can colour later descriptions of the set.
Why these moments lasted
Several factors explain why these performances, and not others, became icons.
- They were filmed. D. A. Pennebaker’s crew recorded all three, and the footage is among the most replayed of the decade.
- They were visually striking. Burning and smashed guitars make simple, memorable images, in a way that a quiet folk set does not.
- They came at turning points. The Who and Hendrix were reaching the American market, and Redding was being heard by a new audience.
- They have been retold many times, and each retelling has added drama.
A cautious reading is that the performances were real highlights, but their legendary status comes partly from the film and the retelling. Many other acts that weekend were praised at the time and have since been forgotten.