Chip Monck
Encyclopedia
Chip Monck is a Tony Award winning lighting designer, most famously serving as the Master of Ceremonies at the 1969 Woodstock Festival
.
), to a mother from Nutley, New Jersey
and a father from Liverpool
, he acquired the nickname "Chip" at a summer camp in Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. While Monck went to the South Kent School
on Ice Hockey and Crew scholarships, he became more interested in welding and machinery, designing a potato harvester that he sold to McCormick
. He began volunteering with a summer theater group at Wellesley College, learning the basics of theatrical lighting from Greg Harney. He began auditing classes at Harvard while working with the university's theater company.
in 1959, lighting comedians and Jazz and Folk artists, and living in the basement apartment under the club (Bob Dylan
reportedly wrote A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
in Monck's apartment). He began an eight year long relationship with the Newport Folk Festival
, and a nine year one with the Newport Jazz Festival
, while continuing to work at the Gate. He became friends with Charles Altman of the Altman Lighting Co.
, repairing equipment and borrowing lighting instruments to improve the stage lighting of the Gate. He began lighting the stage of the Apollo Theater
in Harlem.
In 1967, he lit the Monterey Pop Festival
, which featured the first major American appearances by Jimi Hendrix
and The Who
, as well as the first major public performances of Janis Joplin
. Monck's work can be seen in the D. A. Pennebaker
film Monterey Pop
. That year, he also did the Byrds at the Hollywood Bowl
and his first Rolling Stones
concert. The following year, he worked with Crosby, Stills and Nash in Europe, and began working with concert impresario Bill Graham
, renovating the Fillmore theaters.
Monck was hired to plan and build the staging and lighting, ten weeks of work for which he was paid $7,000. Much of his plan had to be scrapped when the promoters were not allowed to use original location in Wallkill, New York
. The stage roof that was constructed in the shorter time available was not able to support the lighting that had been rented, which wound up sitting unused underneath the stage. The only light on the stage was from spotlights.
He was drafted just before the concert started as the master of ceremonies
when Michael Lang noticed that they had forgotten to hire one. He can be heard (and seen) in recordings of Woodstock making the stage announcements, including requests to "stay off the towers" and the warning about the "brown acid".
In 1974, Monck was the host of "Speakeasy," a short-lived rock and roll talk show that featured mostly chat and some live performances by such acts as Tom Waits
, Frank Zappa
and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Monck's persona was well-known enough to be parodied as "Chick Monk" on SCTV
by Tony Rosato
as a marriage councilor employing strobe lights and a fog machine.
Also in 1974, he provided production services for the Muhammad Ali
/George Foreman
boxing match The Rumble in the Jungle
, and the associated three day music festival Zaire 74
, which featured performances by James Brown
, Celia Cruz
and the Fania All-Stars
, B.B. King, Miriam Makeba
, The Spinners, Bill Withers
, and Manu Dibango
. Monck's work can be seen in the films Soul Power
and When We Were Kings
.
As of 2011, Monck resides in the Melbourne
suburb of Fitzroy
, Australia concentrating on corporate and retail lighting. He was the lighting designer for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics
in Los Angeles
, as well as consulting on the 2000 Summer Olympics
in Sydney.
In 2011, he has a new rock vintage project. He is the Director of Production of the One Great Night On Earth Festival. This event will raise funds to help regional Australians whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated by environmental disaster.
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
.
Personal History
Born on March 5, 1939 in Wellesley, MassachusettsWellesley, Massachusetts
Wellesley is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of Greater Boston. The population was 27,982 at the time of the 2010 census.It is best known as the home of Wellesley College and Babson College...
), to a mother from Nutley, New Jersey
Nutley, New Jersey
2010 Census Data:*TOTAL: 28,370 or 100%*White: 23,405 *African American: 628 *Asian: 2,824 *American Indian and Alaska Native: 36 *Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander: 4...
and a father from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, he acquired the nickname "Chip" at a summer camp in Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. While Monck went to the South Kent School
South Kent School
South Kent School is a private boarding school for boys in South Kent, Connecticut, United States. The school is located on a campus in the hills of Litchfield County. It was founded in 1923 as a joint venture between Reverend Frederick Herbert Sill, headmaster of Kent School, and two of his...
on Ice Hockey and Crew scholarships, he became more interested in welding and machinery, designing a potato harvester that he sold to McCormick
International Harvester
International Harvester Company was a United States agricultural machinery, construction equipment, vehicle, commercial truck, and household and commercial products manufacturer. In 1902, J.P...
. He began volunteering with a summer theater group at Wellesley College, learning the basics of theatrical lighting from Greg Harney. He began auditing classes at Harvard while working with the university's theater company.
Early Career
Monck began working at the Greenwich Village nightclub The Village GateThe Village Gate
The Village Gate was a nightclub at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, New York.Art D'Lugoff opened the club in 1958, on the ground floor and basement of 158 Bleecker Street. The large 1896 Chicago School structure by architect Ernest Flagg was known at the time as...
in 1959, lighting comedians and Jazz and Folk artists, and living in the basement apartment under the club (Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
reportedly wrote A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall
"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is a song written by Bob Dylan in the summer of 1962. It was first recorded in Columbia Records' Studio A on 6 December 1962 for his second album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. The lyric structure is based on the question and answer form of the traditional ballad "Lord...
in Monck's apartment). He began an eight year long relationship with the Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
, and a nine year one with the Newport Jazz Festival
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
, while continuing to work at the Gate. He became friends with Charles Altman of the Altman Lighting Co.
Altman Lighting Co.
The Altman stage lighting company, established in 1953, is one of the leading manufacturers of theatrical lighting instruments. They are located in Yonkers, New York and have been a family run business since the 1950’s...
, repairing equipment and borrowing lighting instruments to improve the stage lighting of the Gate. He began lighting the stage of the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
in Harlem.
In 1967, he lit the Monterey Pop Festival
Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
, which featured the first major American appearances by Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, as well as the first major public performances of Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
. Monck's work can be seen in the D. A. Pennebaker
D. A. Pennebaker
Donn Alan Pennebaker is an American documentary filmmaker and one of the pioneers of Direct Cinema/Cinéma vérité. Performing arts and politics are his primary subjects.-Biography:...
film Monterey Pop
Monterey Pop
Monterey Pop is a 1968 concert film by D. A. Pennebaker that documents the Monterey Pop Festival of 1967. Among Pennebaker's several camera operators were fellow documentarians Richard Leacock and Albert Maysles...
. That year, he also did the Byrds at the Hollywood Bowl
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...
and his first Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
concert. The following year, he worked with Crosby, Stills and Nash in Europe, and began working with concert impresario Bill Graham
Bill Graham (promoter)
Bill Graham was an American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death.-Early life:...
, renovating the Fillmore theaters.
Woodstock
In 1969 he did the concert that would define his career and make his a public figure.Monck was hired to plan and build the staging and lighting, ten weeks of work for which he was paid $7,000. Much of his plan had to be scrapped when the promoters were not allowed to use original location in Wallkill, New York
Wallkill, Orange County, New York
Wallkill is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 24,659 at the 2000 census.The Town of Wallkill is centrally located in the county. Interstate 84 crosses New York State Route 17 in the southern part of the town. U.S...
. The stage roof that was constructed in the shorter time available was not able to support the lighting that had been rented, which wound up sitting unused underneath the stage. The only light on the stage was from spotlights.
He was drafted just before the concert started as the master of ceremonies
Master of Ceremonies
A Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....
when Michael Lang noticed that they had forgotten to hire one. He can be heard (and seen) in recordings of Woodstock making the stage announcements, including requests to "stay off the towers" and the warning about the "brown acid".
Later Career
Four months after Woodstock, Monck and Lang planned the Altamont Free Concert for the Rolling Stones, which also had to move from the original planned location with unfortunate results.In 1974, Monck was the host of "Speakeasy," a short-lived rock and roll talk show that featured mostly chat and some live performances by such acts as Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Monck's persona was well-known enough to be parodied as "Chick Monk" on SCTV
SCTV
SCTV can refer to:*Second City Television, a Canadian sketch comedy television program*SCTV , an Indonesian TV station*SCTV , a television station of Sichuan province in China...
by Tony Rosato
Tony Rosato
Tony Rosato is an Italian-Canadian animated voice actor who has appeared in television and movies in both Canada and the United States....
as a marriage councilor employing strobe lights and a fog machine.
Also in 1974, he provided production services for the Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
/George Foreman
George Foreman
George Edward Foreman is an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, ordained Baptist minister, author and successful entrepreneur...
boxing match The Rumble in the Jungle
The Rumble in the Jungle
The Rumble in the Jungle was a historic boxing event that took place on October 30, 1974, in the Mai 20 Stadium in Kinshasa, Zaire . It pitted then world Heavyweight champion George Foreman against former world champion and challenger Muhammad Ali...
, and the associated three day music festival Zaire 74
Zaire 74
Zaire 74 was a three day live music festival that took place on September 22 to 24,1974 at the 20th of May Stadium in Kinshasa, Zaire...
, which featured performances by James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, Celia Cruz
Celia Cruz
Celia Cruz was a Cuban-American salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, having earned twenty-three gold albums...
and the Fania All-Stars
Fania All-Stars
The Fania All-Stars was a musical ensemble established in 1968 by the composer, Johnny Pacheco, as a showcase for the musicians on the record label Fania Records, the leading salsa record company of the time.-Beginnings:...
, B.B. King, Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
, The Spinners, Bill Withers
Bill Withers
William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands"...
, and Manu Dibango
Manu Dibango
-External links:*...
. Monck's work can be seen in the films Soul Power
Soul Power (film)
Soul Power is a 2008 documentary film directed by Jeff Levy-Hinte about the Zaire 74 music festival which accompanied the Rumble in the Jungle heavyweight boxing championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in October 1974....
and When We Were Kings
When We Were Kings
When We Were Kings is a 1996 documentary film directed by Leon Gast about the famous Rumble in the Jungle heavyweight championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. The fight was held in Zaire on October 30, 1974.The film features a number of celebrities, including James Brown, Jim...
.
As of 2011, Monck resides in the Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
suburb of Fitzroy
Fitzroy, Victoria
Fitzroy is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra. Its borders are Alexandra Parade , Victoria Parade , Smith Street and Nicholson Street. Fitzroy is Melbourne's...
, Australia concentrating on corporate and retail lighting. He was the lighting designer for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, as well as consulting on the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
in Sydney.
In 2011, he has a new rock vintage project. He is the Director of Production of the One Great Night On Earth Festival. This event will raise funds to help regional Australians whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated by environmental disaster.