9193

Monterey Pop Festival Backstage Pass

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD
Monterey Pop Festival Backstage Pass

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Auction Date:2019 Aug 15 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:15th Floor WeWork, Boston, Massachusetts, 02108, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Extremely rare original 3 x 2 backstage pass for the Monterey International Pop Music Festival held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds between June 16–18, 1967, with red ticket text reading, "Guest, Admission to: Hunt Club/Gate," and typed caption issuing the pass to "Ralph Gleason, 154." In fine condition. Backstage passes for the Monterey Pop Festival are virtually unobtainable, with this example representing only the third to have appeared on the market.

A seminal festival that kicked off the 1967 'Summer of Love,' the Monterey Pop Festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, and Ravi Shankar, the first large-scale public performance of Janis Joplin, and the introduction of Otis Redding to a white audience. Although the Beatles did not appear (despite rumors), they were supporters of the festival and recommended that the organizers include The Who and Jimi Hendrix Experience in the lineup. Hendrix would famously close out his set by lighting his guitar on fire, which is widely believed to be his method of upstaging The Who; the two acts, well aware of each other's intimidating and crowd-stealing stage shows from their time in England together, flipped a coin to determine who would play first, with The Who ultimately losing the gamble.

Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Jeff Gold of Recordmecca, which reads, in part: "This pass came from the archive of the late Ralph J. Gleason, co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine, and arguably the most influential music critic ever. Gleason joined the San Francisco Chronicle in the 1950's, as the first full time music critic at a daily newspaper, and was instrumental in lending important early support to artists as varied as John Coltrane, Hank Williams, and Bob Dylan. Gleason also played a critical role in putting together the Monterey Pop Festival…There were at least three different kinds of backstage passes for Monterey Pop; Guest Passes such as this one, and passes for Artists and the Press."