"Peace to Monterey"

I've been living, breathing and sleeping Monterey Pop for the last couple of weeks.

And not because of the glut of nostalgia that's overtaken the entertainment media, thanks to this weekend's 40th anniversary of the monumentally historic musical event.
It's because I've been very fortunate to make friends with art director Tom Wilkes, one of the original organizers of the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Tom was designer of all the art concepts and print materials that helped define the event, including the iconic poster (pictured below) that is symbolic of not only three unprecedented days of "music, love and flowers," but of the whole Summer of Love in general.


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During our trip out to the Wild West last month, I met with Tom and discussed doing some marketing and promotions work for him and his Monterey Pop merchandise while the 40th anniversary celebration is in full swing. Tom has a type of Lou Gehrig's disease, and lives alone in the high desert mountains of Rimrock, CA. Not many people know that he has lithograph reproductions of his famous Monterey Pop poster for sale, and he's the only place you can get them at the moment. I hope to change all that in the coming weeks.

And that's not even the coolest part... Tom has a little-known but prized souvenir from the 80-page program book that he created for the festival.
From his website, www.wilkesworks.com:

"It was in February, 1967 when the Beatles were asked by Derek Taylor, the group's publicist, to contribute a drawing for an ad in the Monterey International Pop Festival program book. The "Fab Four" complied with a psychedelic masterpiece which was included by Tom Wilkes, art director for the event, as part of the festival book he was designing and producing.
The drawing is an original piece of art that was created by the Beatles. It is a felt marker, colored pencil and ink artwork that speaks of many things including "Loving You, PEACE to Monterey from Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "How are you Bob."
"The Monterey Pop Festival was a great success and opened the door to the concept of Pop Music as a forum to communicate important social issues. It was immediately followed by other monumental concerts such as Woodstock, Stonehenge, Bangla Desh, and Live Aid.
"The priceless creation has been in the hands of Tom Wilkes for 40 years. It was published in the Pop Festival program in 1967 and once again, with Wilkes' permission, in Derek Taylor's book, "Fifty Years Adrift" and currently in "The Beatles Anthology."
"The classic piece of rock'n roll art commemorates a time of great spiritual, political and creative change in the world. As such, "Peace to Monterey" has significant cultural value as a historical, artistic document."

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To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Monterey Pop, and given the relevance of political tensions in today's society to that of 1967, the original Beatles "Peace to Monterey" art of 1967 will be offered for sale later this year. Proceeds from the sale of the rare artwork will go to Project Interspeak, a not-for-profit environmental and human rights organization, with world peace groups as the designated beneficiaries.

To learn more about the Beatles' Peace to Monterey artwork, visit www.peacetomonterey.com, or for more information on Tom Wilkes visit www.wilkesworks.com.

I feel very lucky to be associated with somebody of Tom's influence, let alone work for him. He won a Grammy™ in 1974 for his album art package of "The Who's Tommy Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra." He's designed album covers for everyone from Gram Parsons and Neil Young to Janis Joplin and the Rolling Stones; not to mention George and Ringo. He even directed the design of the Beatles' "Red" and "Blue" albums that I studied as a child for hours on end, matching up the similarities between the two.

To see the (nearly) complete list of album covers that Tom has designed, directed and photographed, visit allmusic.com, search for Tom Wilkes, and click on the "credits" tab. You'll be amazed at how many of those records you have, or had at one time. I sure was. And I feel blessed.