For three days in June 1967, more than 30 acts descended on the Monterey County Fairgrounds, along with 200,000 fans, hundreds of tents, and a documentary crew. The event became a turning point in rock history, and the movie helped shape the new direction of music on film.

Though less famous than Woodstock, which came two summers later, it was arguably even more influential, bringing together a slate of artists from around the world, introducing huge acts to the U.S., and inventing the idea of the rock festival.

Unknowns shared the stage with established stars like Jefferson Airplane and the Mamas and the Papas (Papa John Phillips was one of the festival's organizers), and some of those unknowns -- notably the Who and Jimi Hendrix, popular in the U.K. but unheard of in the States -- vaulted to stardom after their Monterey debuts. Black performers like Otis Redding and Lou Rawls got rare exposure to a white audience, and the Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar was introduced to America.

On hand to film the experiment was pioneering documentary maker D.A. Pennebaker (fresh off his Bob Dylan classic Don't Look Back). He first distilled the hours of footage down to a documentary released in 1968, and released two shorter follow-ups in the '80s. The Criterion Collection release includes all three and adds hours of extra footage, a trove for fans of the era, but also a great document for anyone interested in rock music.

Monterey Pop
The original documentary weaves in some handlheld "direct cinema" footage (a technique Pennebaker helped invent) of the kaftans and giant god's eyes, but mostly quiet moments of people sleeping in tents and eating corn on the cob, less chaotic than the images that would define Woodstock for movie audiences two years later.

But the focus is solidly on the performances, with no introductions or narration. Rather than following the chronology of the show it jumps from song to song, day to night, a free association trip through the three days. The camera pulls in tight on the performers' faces, with shots of the psychedelic lightshows that played behind the bands.

Most of the acts only get a single number, but the list of standouts is impressive: the Who's "My Generation," which ends with Pete Townshend bashing his guitar to splinters; Big Brother and the Holding Company, with Janis Joplin singing, covering Big Mama Thornton's "Ball 'n' Chain"; Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You too Long"; Jimi Hendrix's "Wild Thing," which ends with Jimi lighting his guitar on fire, one of the indelible visual moments of the era. Another signature moment is an excerpt of Ravi Shankar's four-hour sitar performance, his first major exposure in the United States.

The only complaint is that at just 79 minutes, featuring just 13 of the 33 bands that played and completely without context, it feels too short, like there's more of a story there than Pennebaker tells. Fortunately, the extras and essays go a long way to fix that.

Extras: Typical for Criterion, the extras are exhaustive and pretty amazing. (Their treatment of Gimme Shelter, the excellent Maysles brothers documentary of the Rolling Stones at Altamont in '69, bookends this perfectly.)

Two hours of extra footage feature music from 16 acts like Simon and Garfunkel, The Byrds, and Buffalo Springfield, along with extra tracks from the Who, Jefferson Airplane, and the Mamas and the Papas. (There are some missteps; do we really need a single song from Tiny Tim, never mind five? And notably missing are Janis Joplin's earlier set with Big Brother and the Holding Company, who had initially refused to be filmed, and The Grateful Dead, who never gave permission.)

Audio commentary and a video interview from show producer Lou Adler and Pennebaker give extra insight, along with audio interviews with John Phillips and other performers, a photo essay that can be watched as a 12-minute slideshow with commentary by the photographer, the original theatrical trailer and radio spots, a "scrapbook" featuring the original festival program, and a booklet with photos and essays.

Jimi Plays Monterey
After some older archival footage and a John Phillips voiceover about discovering Hendrix and bringing him to the festival, we get his whole Monterey set, including "Foxy Lady," "Like a Rolling Stone," an apocalyptic version of "Hey Joe," and, of course, "Wild Thing." It's easy to focus on the Hendrix legend and forget just how good he really was; everything here reminds you, from the ease of his behind-the-back solos to his playing with feedback by flying his guitar through the air.

Extras: Audio commentary by music critic and historian Charles Shaar Murray, the theatrical trailer, and footage of Pete Townshend talking about Hendrix at Monterey.

Shake! Otis at Monterey
Clocking in at just 19 minutes, the bare bones Shake! is just Otis Redding's five-song set from Monterey. Though this was his first real exposure to white audiences, from the crowd's reaction it's obvious he was ready to cross over. His energy is infectious, his voice amazing, and the backup, from fellow Stax stars Booker T. and the MGs, incendiary. Six months later he died in a plane crash at just 26, three days after recording what would be his biggest hit, "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay."

Extras: Two audio commentaries by music historian Peter Guralnick (a track-by-track voiceover and a discussion of Redding before and after Monterey) and a video interview with Redding's manager.

After their closing number on the final night, Mama Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas told the crowd, "We're gonna have this festival every year, so you can stay if you want!" But it ended up being the one and only Monterey Pop Festival, and what seemed like the beginning of something was already almost the end; Redding, Hendrix, and Joplin were all dead by 1970, with Mama Cass and the Who's Keith Moon not far behind. But Pennebaker's movies live on as a document of the moment, and Criterion's treatment gives them the context and backstory to explain what that moment meant to the people who lived it.

The Complete Monterey Pop Festival: Criterion Collection is available now from Criterion.

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