Summer Of Love Music

Fifty years ago this summer, tens of thousands of mostly young people began to flock to San Francisco to participate in a cultural phenomenon that came to be known as the "Summer of Love." Dubbed "hippies" or "flower children," these people embraced a "counter culture" that largely embraced Timothy Leary's mantra to "turn on, tune in, and drop out." One of the early, defining events of the Summer of Love was June 1967's Monterey Pop Festival, which John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas helped to organize. Major acts ranged from Otis Redding to Jefferson Airplane to Janis Joplin to Jimi Hendrix to the Grateful Dead. The festival was immortalized in one of the greatest documentaries of its generation, "Monterey Pop," by filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker;  if you've never seen it, you're missing a gem that captures the period and the music brilliantly.

Today, we're featuring three songs that were performed at the Monterey Pop Festival (a set list can be found here).  "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)" was written by Phillips and sung by Scott McKenzie.  It was the next- to- last song performed at the festival. "Living in the U.S.A." was one of only two songs performed by the Steve Miller Band, and "Pictures of Lily" (snicker) was performed by The Who, one of only three British acts that appeared at Monterey.  We'd like to say "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now," but that's not true! Hope you enjoy.