The Monterey International Pop Music Festival took place from June 16 to June 18, 1967. Over 200,000 people attended, and it is often regarded as the precursor to Woodstock.
Held at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California, it was planned by producer Lou Adler, John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, producer Alan Pariser, and publicist Derek Taylor. The festival board included members of The Beatles and The Beach Boys.
The artists performed for free, with all revenue donated to charity, with the exception of Ravi Shankar, who was paid $3,000 for his performance on the Sitar. Over 200,000 people attended the festival, and it is generally regarded (along with the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was released two weeks earlier) as the apex of the so-called "Summer of Love".
The festival became legendary for the first major American appearance by Jimi Hendrix (who was booked on the insistence of board member Paul McCartney) and The Who, and it was the first major public performance for Janis Joplin and Otis Redding (who died a few months later).
Many record company executives were in attendance, and many of the performers won recording contracts based on their appearance at the festival. Several acts were also notable for their non-appearance. Several reasons were given for The Beach Boys' cancellation, which was interpreted as an admission that they could not compete alongside hipper acts; more likely, the boys had yet to recover from the rift between Brian Wilson and the rest of the band over their failure to complete the follow up to Pet Sounds, Smile. British musician Donovan was refused a visa to enter the United States because of a 1966 drug bust; Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band was also invited to appear but according to the liner notes for the CD reissue of their album Safe AS Milk, the band reportedly turned the offer down at the insistence of guitarist Ry Cooder, who felt the group was not ready. While the Rolling Stones did not play, guitarist Brian Jones attended, introduced Hendrix's performance, and was hailed as the "king of the festival". Eric Burdon and the Animals, by the end of the year, sang a song about the festival entitled "Monterey", which quoted a line from the Byrds song "Renaissance Faire" ("I think that Maybe I'm Dreamin") Eric mentions the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Jimi Hendrix, the Who, the Grateful Dead, and Brian Jones as "His Majesty, Prince Jones, Smiled among the crowd." The instruments, in that song, imitated the styles of the performers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Monterey_International_Pop_Festival
