An unexpected event - the Monterey Pop Festival

Being in Carmel this past New Year's, reminded me of when my twin sister and I attended the Monterey Pop Festival during the "Summer of Love" during the summer 1967. Over 200,000 people descended upon the fairgrounds for the three-day concert. The song San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in your Hair), written by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and sung by Scott McKenzie, was initially designed to promote the Monterey Pop Festival.

Our grandmother's friend drove my sister Cathy, me and heir daughter, who was our age, and dropped  us off at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. Little did we know, this concert was a ground breaking event, a very calm pre-cursor to Woodstock. There were three dozen singers and bands, some well-known, others new on the scene, like Jimi Hendrix. It was huge who was there: Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, the Who, the Byrds, Hugh Masekela, Joe and the Fish, Canned Heat, Steve Miller and Ravi Shankar. The Animals,  Jefferson Airplane and The Association were also there. The groups I remember being excited to see were Simon and Garfunkel, the Association and the Mamas and Papas.

The three of us had no idea how truly awesome the concert was and how significant it would become. It was definitely fun -  nothing out of the ordinary happened there, just great music in beautiful surroundings.