Posted on 09/18/2020 3:43:19 PM PDT by Rummyfan
Fifty years ago, on Sept. 18, 1970, guitar legend Jimi Hendrix died of asphyxia while intoxicated. He was only 27 years old, and his stint as a superstar lasted less than five years, but he obviously made his indelible mark — being declared by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as “arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music” and by Rolling Stone as the greatest guitarist of all time.
And one of the first mainstream rock acts to recognize Hendrix’s greatness was the Monkees. Unfortunately, the Monkees’ young fans weren’t quite as enthusiastic when that TV band’s Micky Dolenz came up with the seemingly bizarre idea to hire Hendrix as the opening act for the Monkees’ first U.S. tour in 1967.
Hendrix ended up playing only seven of that tour’s 29 dates, dropping out after having to contend nightly with thousands of nasty, impatient, jeering teenyboppers. “Yeah, it was kind of embarrassing,” Dolenz admits to Yahoo Entertainment. “Jimi would go, ‘Purple haze!’ and the kids would be like, ‘We want Davy!’ He’d go, ‘Foxy lady!’ and they’d yell, ‘We. Want. The. Monkees! We. Want. The. Monkees!’ He was coming up against that very typical opening-act dilemma for anyone touring with a big headliner, really.”
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
What genius decided that Jimi opening for the Monkees was a good idea? LOL.
Jimi Hendrix the greatest guitarist? Santana might disagree.
The same genius made the decision 20 years later to have the new Prince open for george thoroughgood and The Rolling Stones.
Holy unnecessary apostrophe, Batman.
I enjoy ice cream and I enjoy scrambled eggs, but I wouldn’t throw them in a bowl and mush them together.
Forgot about that. Clash of music there. Probably like The Partridge Family and Lynard Skynard double bill?
I think "Jimi Hendrix is the greatest guitarist" is just something you're supposed to say. Though he was very good, in my mind he clearly wasn't the greatest.
You spelled Stevie Ray Vaughan wrong.
Micky did. He saw Jimi at Monterey Pop and decided to try to help. It was good intentions. It could have worked. They have some overlap in audience... well me anyway. I would have dug it.
5 times, including Woodstock and Band of Gypsies.
Hey, Jimi Hendrix died the same way George Floyd did!
As book Monkee Business put it, Jimi was
not too crazy about playing teenybopper
crowds.
Jimi:”Foxy...”
Fans:”Davy!”
When he departed the tour they lied
and said it was because Daughters of the American
Revolution were upset at his erotic on
stage antics
Yeah, I heard about this.
Pete Townsend of The Who absolutely did not want to follow Jimi at Monterey Pop, the concert that changed rock and roll.
The Monkees concert I went to had Weird Al Yankovic as their opening act, a much better music/humor combination.
Santana can disagree all he wants.
Jimi wins hands down.
When I was eight years old, the Monkees were a huge part of my life. I watched their TV show every week. We had a cat who had kittens; and we named them Peter, Mickey, Michael and Davy. I probably had a little Monkees metal lunchbox that I carried to school every day, and I listened to my 45s each night. But that was in 1966. By 1970, Were they even still around?
The next argument is which of his pieces were his best. While I like Purple Haze, his guitar playing in "Dolly Dagger Live at the Isle of Wight" is a must-hear. (the lyrics are not so good)
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