The Esalen Institute where this concert took place began as a comparative religion institute in 1962 and still exists today attracting musicians, artists, filmmakers, authors, philosophers and other notables conducting seminars and symposiums. In 1969 it hosted it's 6th annual music festival which is the subject of this film. In the 60's such performers as Simon & Garfunkel, Arlo Guthrie, Ravi Shankar, Judy Collins, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grace Slick, James Cotton and even a 19 year old Bruce Springsteen played at various festivals. None of the afore mentioned are in this film. Many luminaries visited the institute in the 60's including Ansel Adams, Aldous Huxley, The Grateful Dead, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Hunter Thompson. As the 60's drew to a close filmmakers Baird Bryant and Johanna Demetrakas decided to capture on film the 6th annual concert at Big Sur. Bryant had five cameras to film the event including himself, Bill Kaplan, Gary Weis, Peter Smokler and Joan Churchill. About 12,000 people attended the two day event so this is a vastly scaled back outdoor concert from Woodstock that had happened only one month before. Crosby, Stills, Nash along with Neil Young who had joined CSN in their debut as a foursome at Woodstock are the featured act still working on their play list. Joan Baez who in her late teens lived at the Esalen Institute is a performer here as well as her sister Mimi Farina. Joni Mitchell, John Sebastian and Dorothy Morrison of the Edwin Hawkins Singers are the other nationally known acts on the bill. Other performers include Texas folk singer Carol Ann Cisneros and the other acts rounding out the bill are The Struggle Mountain Resistance Band, The combs sisters and Julioe Payne. The Flying Burrito Brothers and The Incredible String Band also performed at the festival but are not in the film. in an unconventional stage setting for an outdoor 60's concert the performers play on the pool deck in front of a large swimming pool that separates them from the audience. This is a low budget film that tries hard to be a combination documentary, concert film and art film but mostly fails in all three. It is a good snapshot of 60's love and peace through music however. I would give this a 6.5 out of 10.
12 Reviews
High on my DVD Wish List!
kev372 June 2006
HI! I am from the UK and I have read the other reviews posted about this film and I want to add my piece to some of the comments already posted here.
I agree that Celebration at Big Sur is probably not the definitive music documentary of this era, nonetheless it is a fascinating view into this period with some great musical performances, and in a much more intimate setting than the big festivals as conveyed in Woodstock and Monterey Pop. I wish this film was shown more often late night in UK as it apparently is in US ? I caught it only once on TV in the UK as part of a series about the era on TV over here way back in the 80's. I managed to capture it on VHS at the time along with Monterey Pop and Woodstock and have viewed it many times since,but the VHS quality was not so good and I don't have a VCR or the tape anymore.
For people who didn't grow up in this period I think this a great watch if you want to get a feeling for that period. I was quite young when all this great music was happening, so for me it was very much an education to see this film and get a feel for the period it was composed in. I would love for someone to master this to DVD so it was available more widely and with better quality, because I found it captivating to see this time capsule of the sixties.
In my opinion this film has a different feel to the era than the larger scale offerings of Woodstock and Monterey Pop and deserves its place on the DVD racks alongside them.I for one would love to see it there.
Kev, London UK
I agree that Celebration at Big Sur is probably not the definitive music documentary of this era, nonetheless it is a fascinating view into this period with some great musical performances, and in a much more intimate setting than the big festivals as conveyed in Woodstock and Monterey Pop. I wish this film was shown more often late night in UK as it apparently is in US ? I caught it only once on TV in the UK as part of a series about the era on TV over here way back in the 80's. I managed to capture it on VHS at the time along with Monterey Pop and Woodstock and have viewed it many times since,but the VHS quality was not so good and I don't have a VCR or the tape anymore.
For people who didn't grow up in this period I think this a great watch if you want to get a feeling for that period. I was quite young when all this great music was happening, so for me it was very much an education to see this film and get a feel for the period it was composed in. I would love for someone to master this to DVD so it was available more widely and with better quality, because I found it captivating to see this time capsule of the sixties.
In my opinion this film has a different feel to the era than the larger scale offerings of Woodstock and Monterey Pop and deserves its place on the DVD racks alongside them.I for one would love to see it there.
Kev, London UK
Crude but effective time capsule
JohnSeal26 February 2003
The music isn't exactly my bag, but there's no denying the historical interest of this low budget film about a low budget festival that took place in 1969 at the Esalen Institute, one of the premier psychobabble headquarters of the day. If you enjoy footage of folks flying their freak flag high, this is for you. Fans of folk music will be in heaven, but others will find the sounds pretty thin gruel--and sometimes, especially in the case of Joni Mitchell's caterwauling, the musical equivalent of a high colonic. Neil Young looks and sounds cool, especially on an organ-heavy number early in the film, and the Edwin Hawkins Singers are excellent. The film has a grittiness that sets it apart from Woodstock, and the small nature of the crowd--and the fact that the 'stage' is one side of a swimming pool--make this a valuable record of what seems to have been a genuine communal experience.
Inferior Production Values but Great Musical Moments
MRT-724 July 2000
This concert film -- a documentary of the 1969 Big Sur Folk Festival -- pales in comparison to "Woodstock" production-wise, but nonetheless features powerful footage of a number of the '60s best, incl. Joan Baez ("Song for David", "Sweet Sir Galahad"), Joni Mitchell ("Woodstock") and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young" ("4 + 20", "Judy Blue Eyes"). Never released on video and sometimes hard to find (it's frequently shown on latenight TV) but well worth the effort.
Hippies hoot and holler at R&R songfest
helpless_dancer2 January 2004
If hippies were all about peace and love why did Stills try to whip ass and take names? Amateur camera work and some really bad acts couldn't take away from the coolness of this documentary. I never heard of several of the performers and never cared 2 cents for Baez or Mitchell, but CSN&Y were worth the price of admission. Nice look at the good old days; glad I wasn't there - what a crowd scene. A better film in this genre was '67's Monterrey Pop Festival.
Strange Production, Strange Times
brutusln2 October 2006
Warning: Spoilers
What's so fascinating about this film is how its music soars, despite the pot-fogged incidents that happen offstage, and despite poor concert production planning.
Only great musicians of merit could survive this crap: An embarrassing mid-concert altercation between Steven Stills and a hostile audience member, all in full view and focus of the audience, after which Stills performs his set. Cringe-inducing interstitials of of wacked-out audience members-- from drug addict transient/philosophers with truant, abused, harmonica-chewing children, to poet wannabees with bad dentistry along Highway 1-turned-parking lot.
Did it ever dawn on Crosby, Baez or Hendricks that they're wasting their time singing to the great unwashed? People who have smeared their faces with greasepaint, siphoned stolen gas by mouth and can't find their children? People who call attention to themselves at public concerts by running naked without having trimmed their pubic hair? Luckily these great musicians don't seem to let it get to them. (Except for Stills who walks into the crowd and mauls a psychotic loudmouth.)
What becomes really clear is how naively the whole concert production was engineered. No parking. No rehearsal (as a bewildered Joan Baez looks about the stage for an ending after the 20th chorus of "Oh Happy Day".) No barrier between audience and performers-- anyone could jump in the downstage swimming pool and cause a ruckus at random. (The "swimming pool downstage" was a weed-fried concert promoter's whimsy-turned nightmare-- too odd to be believed, and would be unthinkable for today's uber-engineered concerts.)
It's hilarious to watch a generation of brilliant, carefree artists step in their own crap because of faulty production design and engineering.
This film is hideous and beautiful. Like a 1920's Montparnasse outdoor art show in a rainstorm. Or like an evening with David Crosby-- in a hot tub.
Only great musicians of merit could survive this crap: An embarrassing mid-concert altercation between Steven Stills and a hostile audience member, all in full view and focus of the audience, after which Stills performs his set. Cringe-inducing interstitials of of wacked-out audience members-- from drug addict transient/philosophers with truant, abused, harmonica-chewing children, to poet wannabees with bad dentistry along Highway 1-turned-parking lot.
Did it ever dawn on Crosby, Baez or Hendricks that they're wasting their time singing to the great unwashed? People who have smeared their faces with greasepaint, siphoned stolen gas by mouth and can't find their children? People who call attention to themselves at public concerts by running naked without having trimmed their pubic hair? Luckily these great musicians don't seem to let it get to them. (Except for Stills who walks into the crowd and mauls a psychotic loudmouth.)
What becomes really clear is how naively the whole concert production was engineered. No parking. No rehearsal (as a bewildered Joan Baez looks about the stage for an ending after the 20th chorus of "Oh Happy Day".) No barrier between audience and performers-- anyone could jump in the downstage swimming pool and cause a ruckus at random. (The "swimming pool downstage" was a weed-fried concert promoter's whimsy-turned nightmare-- too odd to be believed, and would be unthinkable for today's uber-engineered concerts.)
It's hilarious to watch a generation of brilliant, carefree artists step in their own crap because of faulty production design and engineering.
This film is hideous and beautiful. Like a 1920's Montparnasse outdoor art show in a rainstorm. Or like an evening with David Crosby-- in a hot tub.
Music Festival Film with Folk and R and R stars.
bairdbryant27 February 2005
This is the film to see if you want to open a time capsule of the sixties in California. Although it has been knocked on film quality, it doesn't matter because the viewer finds themselves transported to an event overflowing with love and beauty. Yes, arguments and fisticuffs were a minor distraction, but the wish for a better life generated ed by the crowd created a bubble of light that repelled negativity like a force-field. The sense of being there is unparalleled. The film can be appreciated even more today witness the reactions to a recent screening at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. This is one of a kind in documenting the positive aspects of the counter-culture movement.
Self Indulgent hippy nonsense
preferredfutures5 August 2022
Big Sur is a rocky outcrop of the Pacific coastline, Esalen Institute was a failing tourist resort until two brothers transformed it into the culture leading hippy headshop.
Esalen wasn't a comparative religion centre, as another reviewer stated, it was about weed, LSD, free sex, sometimes in the sulphurous spa baths and the Human Potential movement, principally Gestalt Therapy with the irascible, resident and unwanted resident psychologist Fritz Perls who liked to have intimate encounters with the people who took part in his group therapy. The "me" generation was born there and what a mess they have made of our Society. The CIA partially funded Esalen and some of the people who would be President Gorbachev's advisors were given weed and LSD there, they went on to bring down the Iron Curtain.
As a social document it's funny and appealing, I laughed out loud at the hot long haired ladies doing the now well-known willow and 5 rhythms style dancing, let it all hang out baby. And at the teacher who had discovered LSD and wouldn't control his "freak", his own words, in the classroom - guess we are seeing a lot of that nowadays too. And the guy waving a silver star around with a blue face.....ah to be young.
Musically, the highlights were Joni Mitchell singing "Woodstock", her voice and beauty are still astonishing and undimmed with familiarity. Then the climax, unquestionably was a monster 3 way guitar jam with Stills, Crosby and Neil Young, with Graham Nash on keyboards and the Deja Vu backing band, of Greg Reeves and Dallas Taylor, thank goodness someone finally got down to some rocking - cut - their incendiary solo (seriously the only time things warmed up) was edited out and we went back to the Sister Act of Joan (what a warble) Baez, fronting a gospel choir wearing a purple tent-like dress.....like I know Positively 4th Street wasn't written by Dylan about her, but really if you watch the film you will feel these words: "Yes, I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes You'd know what a drag it is to see you" Joan Baez. So after all that we get a gospel medley of Oh Happy Day which made me want to hurl, but where people look genuinely happy and I think, maybe they were onto something after all and it was pure and lovely. Maybe it was. Maybe I am bitter cos I missed it, but the hippies despite their hope and joy were insufferable weren't they? Anyway, Altamont happened at the end of 1969 and the beautiful part of the flower power era was already over.
Esalen wasn't a comparative religion centre, as another reviewer stated, it was about weed, LSD, free sex, sometimes in the sulphurous spa baths and the Human Potential movement, principally Gestalt Therapy with the irascible, resident and unwanted resident psychologist Fritz Perls who liked to have intimate encounters with the people who took part in his group therapy. The "me" generation was born there and what a mess they have made of our Society. The CIA partially funded Esalen and some of the people who would be President Gorbachev's advisors were given weed and LSD there, they went on to bring down the Iron Curtain.
As a social document it's funny and appealing, I laughed out loud at the hot long haired ladies doing the now well-known willow and 5 rhythms style dancing, let it all hang out baby. And at the teacher who had discovered LSD and wouldn't control his "freak", his own words, in the classroom - guess we are seeing a lot of that nowadays too. And the guy waving a silver star around with a blue face.....ah to be young.
Musically, the highlights were Joni Mitchell singing "Woodstock", her voice and beauty are still astonishing and undimmed with familiarity. Then the climax, unquestionably was a monster 3 way guitar jam with Stills, Crosby and Neil Young, with Graham Nash on keyboards and the Deja Vu backing band, of Greg Reeves and Dallas Taylor, thank goodness someone finally got down to some rocking - cut - their incendiary solo (seriously the only time things warmed up) was edited out and we went back to the Sister Act of Joan (what a warble) Baez, fronting a gospel choir wearing a purple tent-like dress.....like I know Positively 4th Street wasn't written by Dylan about her, but really if you watch the film you will feel these words: "Yes, I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes You'd know what a drag it is to see you" Joan Baez. So after all that we get a gospel medley of Oh Happy Day which made me want to hurl, but where people look genuinely happy and I think, maybe they were onto something after all and it was pure and lovely. Maybe it was. Maybe I am bitter cos I missed it, but the hippies despite their hope and joy were insufferable weren't they? Anyway, Altamont happened at the end of 1969 and the beautiful part of the flower power era was already over.
Far out times at the 'Sur
mdewey26 September 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Yes, I have read some of the reviews of this docu-fest and some seem to try to make more out of this movie than they need to. The late '60's was a remarkably joyous time for me and millions of other quasi-hippies: people filled with idealistic dreams of a peaceful, environmentally sound world where we shared the wealth (and our pot!) with our brothers and sisters and disdained the corporate ladder syndrome and all its trappings! This movie is a microcosm of what was going on in '69, good or bad. Esalen was trying to do its own thing to try to help people make sense of the world and happened to throw a nice party by inviting the likes of Joni Collins, Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills, Nash etc., the Combs Sisters, et al to perform. What ensues is somewhat less than spectacular camera work and some disjointed editing, but hey, it's a concert and all kinds of things are happening here that happen at 3-4 day gigs like this. This crew wasn't going for Academy Awards: they wanted to capture the festival not only in all its glory, but also in its shortcomings and inconsistencies.
You see average Joe hippies ramble on at the mouth when interviewed, smoke pot, drink wine, frolic about in hot water spas and so on and so forth: much like any number of concerts in that era, whether in Denver/Boulder, Taos, Mt. Shasta, Vermont, etc. In my humble opinion, this particular concert film was a real delight. Crosby, Stills,etc. jamming on "Down by the River", uncut and turned loose was awesome; Joan Baez's endearing ballads with her wistfully vibrato vocal renderings were sheer delight. Other acts as well (like Joni Mitchell) were also a joy to watch.
But the "creme de la creme" of the whole shindig was the glorious, climactic rendition of "Oh Happy Day". The initial collaboration between Joan Baez and the Combs Sisters group ultimately extended to every musician in the house getting onto the stage for one of the most naturally rousing and spiritually uplifting live performance I have ever seen. Everyone in a 3 mile radius seemed to be lifting up his/her voice to the gospel strains of this most joyous hymn. It was an admixture of all sorts of people and races: Carefully coiffed urban Soul Sisters; long-haired hippies, folk singers and whatever from rural and communal enclaves; straight-type promoters, producers, etc. from the business world. The spontaneous and uplifting music totally united this diverse and energetic group, kind of reminiscent of Ravi Shankar at Monterey in '67. For a short time, at least, peace was amongst us.
You see average Joe hippies ramble on at the mouth when interviewed, smoke pot, drink wine, frolic about in hot water spas and so on and so forth: much like any number of concerts in that era, whether in Denver/Boulder, Taos, Mt. Shasta, Vermont, etc. In my humble opinion, this particular concert film was a real delight. Crosby, Stills,etc. jamming on "Down by the River", uncut and turned loose was awesome; Joan Baez's endearing ballads with her wistfully vibrato vocal renderings were sheer delight. Other acts as well (like Joni Mitchell) were also a joy to watch.
But the "creme de la creme" of the whole shindig was the glorious, climactic rendition of "Oh Happy Day". The initial collaboration between Joan Baez and the Combs Sisters group ultimately extended to every musician in the house getting onto the stage for one of the most naturally rousing and spiritually uplifting live performance I have ever seen. Everyone in a 3 mile radius seemed to be lifting up his/her voice to the gospel strains of this most joyous hymn. It was an admixture of all sorts of people and races: Carefully coiffed urban Soul Sisters; long-haired hippies, folk singers and whatever from rural and communal enclaves; straight-type promoters, producers, etc. from the business world. The spontaneous and uplifting music totally united this diverse and energetic group, kind of reminiscent of Ravi Shankar at Monterey in '67. For a short time, at least, peace was amongst us.
Interesting snapshot that gets under the surface almost despite itself
grizpoet29 December 2005
I caught this film late night many years ago. I've seen it a couple times since. Their is more than one edit I assume because the hot tub scene was cut in one version I saw. The musical performances vary from spotty to captivating. Jonathon Sebastion's description of his "trip" to the Dead ranch is funny, revealing, and at points a bit incoherent. Stills throws a hissy fit that exposes his more self-indulgent persona, and Joni Mitchell's performance of her at-the-time brand new tune Woodstock (more famous in the CSNY version) makes the whole film worth a watch. My only question is where's the DVD of this unique psychedelic snapshot?
True to Life
sqeztite6 September 2006
This movie to me was an eye opener. It bares all. Sure Steve Stills was an established name in music by this time, but he is human too. The camera kept on rolling showed it. There are things in my life caught on camera I wish never happened too.
Personally, I love was the magical white guitar Still was playing. It had this vague image of a bird on the pick guard. The sound it was making was so different! The musics: What a gathering of folk rockers. It showed what they did off stage too. Crosby group chanting in a swimming pool. Stills guitar playing by a campfire, and stars going through a cafeteria line.
This movie is a glimpse in the lives of musicians in the brief time before the mass produced concerts of today. It catches the earthy feel of that time. Music was the event, not showmanship. Folkie, rockers, and gospel singers all playing separately and together. I recommend it to any music lover.
Rich, NW Louisiana
Personally, I love was the magical white guitar Still was playing. It had this vague image of a bird on the pick guard. The sound it was making was so different! The musics: What a gathering of folk rockers. It showed what they did off stage too. Crosby group chanting in a swimming pool. Stills guitar playing by a campfire, and stars going through a cafeteria line.
This movie is a glimpse in the lives of musicians in the brief time before the mass produced concerts of today. It catches the earthy feel of that time. Music was the event, not showmanship. Folkie, rockers, and gospel singers all playing separately and together. I recommend it to any music lover.
Rich, NW Louisiana
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