PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: ALL YOU NEED IS THE SUMMER OF LOVE {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented at The Paley Center for Media in New York. This evening celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the "Summer of Love" of 1967, known for its many iconic pop-culture moments. Host Ron Simon (curator, The Paley Center for Media) offers opening remarks and introduces a series of clips, including "CBS News Special: Inside Pop – The Rock Revolution" (1967), the concert film "Monterey Pop" (1968), and "Our World" (1967), featuring The Beatles and their famous "All You Need is Love" recording session. At the end of the evening, the "Our World" segment is shown again in its colorized format.
After the clips, musician Graham Nash moderates the following panelists: music critic Allan Kozinn (The Wall Street Journal), musician Kenny Loggins, musician/actress Michelle Phillips, and filmmaker Donn "D.A." Pennebaker, director of "Monterey Pop."
The panelists touch on such topics as: Nash's memories of hearing about the Beatles' "television thing"; Phillips' memories of discovering their 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"; the memorable scene in "Monterey Pop" in which Jimi Hendrix lights his guitar on fire; how "Sgt. Pepper" served as a cultural "zeitgeist" for the era; Nash's memories of the beloved "tea lady" at the famous Abbey Road recording studio; why record producer and "magician" George Martin was unsure about the eccentric "Sgt. Pepper" title; Kozinn's recollections of his first encounter with The Beatles at age ten when he saw their iconic performance on "The Ed Sullivan Show"; Nash's first meeting with the band in 1959 when promoter Carroll Levis "discovered" them; Phillips' near-romance with Nash, when Mamas & the Papas bandmate Cass Elliot attempted to introduce them; and Nash's unique way of honoring his late mother, who also harbored artistic dreams before settling down with a family.
Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics, among others: Nash's "shocking" experience of seeing his 25-year-old self in the "Inside Pop" clip; Phillips' memories of seeing "most" of the performers at the Monterey Pop Festival, including Ravi Shankar, who managed to tame the fun-loving crowd; Pennebaker's early sense of having "no idea" how to record a pop concert; an incident in which Nash accidentally upset Elliot with comments about her celebrity crush, John Lennon; his gratitude to her for introducing him to his longtime musical partner David Crosby; the "fateful" incident that led Loggins to the Monterey concert; Nash's appearance at Woodstock with Crosby, Still, Nash & Young; how the "Summer of Love" actually affected the end of the Vietnam War, despite President Nixon's decision to allow it to continue for several more years; why many musicians changed bands and worked with different artists in an attempt to "stay current"; how the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco gained fame as a "magnet" for hippie counterculture, in part due to the "Human Be-In" event in January 1967, attended by Timothy Leary and many others; the importance of owning one's own song rights, including how Nash made "millions" thanks to the generosity of music publisher Dick James; Loggins' song "House at Pooh Corner" and his interesting method for negotiating with Disney Company lawyers over the trademarked character; Columbia Records producer Clive Davis' "epiphany" about rock music upon seeing Janis Joplin at the Monterey concert; why Lennon was "not that interested" in the band's "Sgt. Pepper" era; a funny story about teenage Lennon and McCartney's determination to learn a certain chord; the overall effect of narcotics on the music of the era; John Phillips' writing of the unofficial Summer of Love anthem "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" specifically for the festival, and why John's best friend Scott McKenzie – and not The Mamas & the Papas – recorded the song; the musical talents of many of their children, including Phillips' daughter Chynna, who formed the group Wilson Phillips with Beach Boy Brian Wilson's daughters Wendy and Carnie; Nash's decision to quit The Hollies and team up with Crosby, Stephen Stills and Neil Young after discovering their remarkable gift for harmony, as described in his 2013 memoir "Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life"; his strong belief that the media has censored depictions of significant world events ever since the upsetting footage of the heavily televised Vietnam War; and praise for Martin's audio engineer Geoff Emerick, seen in the background of the "Our World" footage.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: 6:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: N/A
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 129660
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ron Simon … Host
- Graham Nash … Moderator
- Allan Kozinn … Panelist
- Kenny Loggins … Panelist
- Michelle Phillips … Panelist
- Donn Pennebaker (see also: D.A. Pennebaker) … Panelist
- Beatles, The
- David Crosby
- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (see also: Crosby, Stills & Nash)
- Clive Davis
- Cass Elliot
- Geoff Emerick
- Jimi Hendrix
- Hollies, The
- Dick James
- Janis Joplin
- Timothy Leary
- John Lennon
- Carroll Levis
- Mamas & the Papas, The
- George Martin
- Paul McCartney
- Scott McKenzie
- Richard Nixon
- Chynna Phillips
- John Phillips
- Wilson Phillips
- Ravi Shankar
- Stephen Stills
- Brian Wilson
- Wendy Wilson
- Neil Young