For his eighteenth birthday, Dusty Baker's parents gave him a great
present: Two tickets to the Monterey Pop Festival of June 1967, a
three-day event featuring more than thirty bands, and use of the family
station wagon for the weekend so young Dusty could drive down from
Sacramento to the Monterey Bay Area. He was another young person, trying
to take it all in, sleeping on the beach with his buddy, having the time
of his life soaking up the vibe and every different musical style
represented there. Baker's lifelong love of music was set in motion, his
wide-ranging, eclectic tastes, everything from country to hip-hop. He
also caught the Jimi Hendrix Experience, who put on such a show that to
this day Baker calls Hendrix the most exciting performer he's ever seen.
He went on to years of friendship with musicians from B.B. King and John
Lee Hooker to Elvin Bishop. This account grabs a reader from page one
and never lets up.