Celebration at Big Sur

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Celebration at Big Sur
Directed by Baird Bryant, Johanna Demetrakas
Produced by Ted Mann, Carl Gottlieb
Cinematography Baird Bryant, Johanna Demetrakas, Gary Weis, Peter Smokler, Joan Churchill[1]
Distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox
Release date(s) 1971-12-10
Running time 82:24[2]
Language English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Celebration at Big Sur (also known simply as Celebration) is a film of the 1969 Big Sur Folk Festival in California, featuring Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and others.

Released in 1971, the film was directed by Baird Bryant and Johanna Demetrakas. A young Gary Weis was among the cinematographers;[3] other members of the camera and sound crew also went on to become famous in their fields, including Peter Smokler,[4] Peter Pilafian,[5] and Joan Churchill.[6]

As of 2007, Celebration has never been officially released in any home video format (such as DVD or VHS).

The festival, one in an annual series of concerts held on the grounds of the Esalen Institute in Big Sur from 1964 to 1971, was held on the weekend of September 13-14, 1969,[7][8] only one month after the famous and considerably larger Woodstock Festival, which is referred to repeatedly. Celebration at Big Sur did not receive the same critical acclaim as Woodstock film.[9]

Contents

[edit] Performances

The concert occurs on a low stage by the Pacific Ocean, which the audience faces. Musical performances dominate the film, with footage of surrounding occurrences interspersed and montaged into the music sequences.

[edit] Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

The film includes early footage of Neil Young,[10] who had recently appeared at Woodstock with Crosby, Stills & Nash, but refused to be filmed. Here, fortified by session drummer Dallas Taylor and Motown bassist Greg Reeves, CSNY perform Young's "Sea of Madness" and "Down By the River". Perhaps the film's most famous scene is an altercation between Stephen Stills and a heckler.[11]

[edit] Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell, who did not appear at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, performs the song "Woodstock" prior to any album release, first attempting to teach the audience to sing the melodically complicated refrain. Ironically, Mitchell would later develop a well-known distaste for festival gigs, but in this performance her enthusiasm is evident. Mitchell talks about having spotted whales off the coast, and is generally seen with then-boyfriend Graham Nash of CSNY. She also sings "Get Together" with members of Crosby, Stills & Nash in a seemingly impromptu jam.

Although Mitchell had made earlier televised appearances, this may be her earliest filmed performance.[12]

[edit] Joan Baez

Joan Baez was a Big Sur festival regular whose 1965 folk music workshop at Esalen helped attract pop/rock acts later to the festival.[13] She is featured prominently throughout the film. Celebration begins with Baez opening the festival with Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" and closes with her leading a large crowd in the song "Oh Happy Day" in the event's finale.

[edit] Others

In addition to CSNY, Baez and Mitchell , other performers featured in Celebration included John Sebastian, Dorothy Morrison and The Combs Sisters, Mimi Farina, Carol Ann Cisneros, Julie Payne, Chris Ethridge, and The Struggle Mountain Resistance Band.[9]

While Ruthann Friedman, Flying Burrito Brothers and The Incredible String Band performed at this event,[14][8] they do not appear in the film.

In the opening scene the film makers attempt to interview local patrol police, but fail to get permission.

[edit] Songs performed

  1. "I Shall Be Released" – Joan Baez
  2. "Mobile Line" – John Sebastian with Stephen Stills
    • offstage
  3. "Song for David" – Joan Baez
    • shown rehearsing offstage, with stage performance of same song cut in
  4. "All of God's Children Got Soul" – Dorothy Morrison and the Combs Sisters
  5. "Sea of Madness" – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
  6. "4 + 20" – Stephen Stills solo performance
    • Stills introduces this number discussing his interaction with a heckler in the previous scene
  7. "Get Together" – Joni Mitchell with Crosby, Stills & Nash and John Sebastian
  8. "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" – Dorothy Morrison and the Combs Sisters
    • incomplete
    • non-musical footage of nude sauna, audience happenings
  9. "Swing Down Sweet Chariot" – various
    • offstage, incomplete
  10. "Rainbows All Over Yours Blues" – John Sebastian
  11. "Woodstock" – Joni Mitchell
    • non-musical footage of self-identified "freak" with Woodstock-themed bus
  12. "Red-Eye Express" – John Sebastian with Stephen Stills
  13. "Changes" – Mimi Farina and Julie Payne with Stephen Stills
    • incomplete
  14. "Malagueña Salerosa" – Carol Ann Cisneros
  15. "Rise, Shine, and Give God the Glory" – The Struggle Mountain Resistance Band
    • incomplete
  16. "Down By the River" – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
    • incomplete, over 7 minutes
    • folk musician improvising outside the festival
  17. "Sweet Sir Galahad" – Joan Baez
  18. "Oh Happy Day" – Dorothy Morrison and the Combs Sisters with Joan Baez
    • opens with Baez rehearsing same number with Dorothy Morrison

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Celebration at Big Sur (1970). Hollywood.com. Hollywood Media Corp. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  2. ^ Overview for Celebration at Big Sur (1971). Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.Turner Classic Movies lists this run time as 80, 82 or 85 minutes.
  3. ^ Gary Weis. The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  4. ^ Peter Smokler. The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
  5. ^ Peter Pilafian. The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
  6. ^ Joan Churchill. The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
  7. ^ Masaki M.. John B. Sebastian. Night Owl Cafe. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. Fan site lists John Sebastian playing Saturday, 13 September. The Rolling Stone Big Sur article describes this as a two-day event starting Saturday.
  8. ^ a b Hopkins, Jerry (1969-10-18). Big Sur. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  9. ^ a b Greenspun, Roger (1971-04-10). Celebration at Big Sur (1971). The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved on 2008-04-09. “The movie making ... ranges from the obligatory coy to the needlessly reverent.”
  10. ^ Neil Young Biography (1945-). Film Reference. NetIndustries. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. This is the earliest listed film appearance by Young.
  11. ^ Unterberger, Richie. Big Sur Folk Festival September '69. Allmusic. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  12. ^ Irvin, Les; et al.. Biography: 1968-1970 Emerging Popular Artist. JoniMitchell.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. N.B.: fan site.
  13. ^ Chronology. The Joan Baez Web Pages. Joan C. Baez/Diamonds & Rust Productions. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  14. ^ Cooke, Douglas. The Big Sur Folk Festival, 1964-1971. The Richard & Mimi Fariña Fan Site. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.

[edit] External links