Beatleness by Leonard Candy

Author:Leonard, Candy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
Published: 2013-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

The Summer of Love

Two weeks after the release of Sgt. Pepper, The Monterey International Pop Music Festival kicked off the “Summer of Love” and reconfirmed San Francisco as the seat of the counterculture. Estimates vary, but somewhere between fifty-five thousand and ninety thousand young music fans turned out to hear Jefferson Airplane, the Mamas and the Papas, the Byrds, the Association, the Who, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Simon and Garfunkel, Janis Joplin, and others. The event marked the first American appearance by the Jimi Hendrix Experience and introduced Otis Redding to a large, mostly white audience. It was also Ravi Shankar’s first performance before a rock crowd.

Though none of the Beatles were at the event—despite rumors to the contrary—they did play a significant role behind the scenes. The Beatles were friends with the Byrds and the Mamas and the Papas, the prime movers behind the event, and Paul sat on the festival’s planning committee. They also created artwork for the festival’s program. They were big fans of Jimi Hendrix—having just seen him perform a surprise homage to them in London—and were largely responsible for him being on the bill. Many British and American bands wanted to perform, but drug-related visa problems, miscommunication, and insufficient coolness in the eyes of planners kept significant acts off the stage.

In addition to their behind-the-scenes role at the festival, the Beatles also had a sanctifying presence. Festival staffers wore badges that read, “A splendid time is guaranteed for all,” and David Crosby, on stage with the Byrds, quoted McCartney from the recent Life magazine interview: “If we gave LSD to all the statesmen and politicians in the world, we might have a chance at stopping war.” The crowd cheered.19

One of the most important bands emerging from San Francisco at this time was Jefferson Airplane, whose “Somebody to Love”—from their breakthrough album Surrealistic Pillow—became a number five hit. The song introduced a strong, assertive, female voice to Top 40 radio, and the album further turned the attention of the nation’s youth westward.

Rock, pop, folk-rock, psychedelic—whatever it was called—there was a lot of new music to listen to that summer. Beatle fans were diversifying, but whether they were also listening to the Doors or Donovan, Motown or Moby Grape, the Beatles remained the “main course”:

Not everyone was listening to the same thing anymore—there were more options—Cream, Hendrix, Simon and Garfunkel, the Doors, the Monkees. But the Beatles were a common denominator regardless of what else you listened to. Male, b. ’58

I had a dear friend who smoked pot, loved the Grateful Dead, wore Eastern dresses, and knew nothing about politics. I was political and countercultural and I didn’t use drugs. But we both liked the Beatles. Female b. ’46

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