It’s incredible for me to think that a Jimi Hendrix Concert could possibly still exist that hasn’t already been released or bootlegged after all these years … especially something from such a prestigious location as this …
But come November, the world will be treated for the first time to The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s live performance (as The Mamas and Papas warm-up band no less) from The Hollywood Bowl on August 18th, 1967.
Tracks include Jimi’s takes on “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “The Wind Cries Mary,” “Foxey Lady,” “Fire,” “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Purple Haze” and “Wild Thing.”
Jimi’s first US album had only been out for a couple of months … and had not exactly set the world on fire yet at this point (although his GUITAR was another story!)
Great review here … I definitely want to hear this release! (kk)
From Bob Merlis …
This live concert performance, captured just five days before the US release of Are You Experienced, their album debut, is notable for being one of the last times the band performed in front of an audience as relative unknowns. Having already conquered the band’s UK base as well as Continental Europe over the previous ten months, the vast majority of the 17,000 plus Los Angeles concert goers were there to see headliners The Mamas & The Papas and were caught off guard by Jimi Hendrix’s electrifying musicality and showmanship. Finally, the set can be enjoyed by the rest of the world for the first time ever; amazingly, not a single second of this unique, two-track live recording has ever been released before in any capacity, either via official channels or elsewise.
After the Seattle-born Jimi Hendrix moved to London in September of 1966, the Experience was formed with a British rhythm section consisting of drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding. The new band promptly enjoyed commercial success in the form of three top 10 singles and a string of performances that overwhelmed audiences and won praise from the likes of Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. Word of these achievements reached Reprise Records chief Mo Ostin and a US deal for Hendrix was confirmed in March 1967. Two months later, at the urging of McCartney, the Jimi Hendrix Experience made their triumphant US debut at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June. However, the immediate prosperity the band enjoyed in the UK was not replicated stateside. Their first two US singles were flops – “Hey Joe” didn’t chart at all, “Purple Haze” only reached #65 – and Are You Experienced wouldn’t be released domestically until late August. In their attempt to crack America, the Experience did a five-show stint at the Fillmore in San Francisco followed by a US tour opening for The Monkees that only lasted nine dates before Hendrix dropped off due to unappreciative teenybopper audiences who were strictly there to see the headliner. In a scramble to book dates after this debacle, John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas, who co-produced the Monterey Pop Festival, invited the Experience to open for his group at the Hollywood Bowl on August 18.
Monterey Pop To The Hollywood Bowl is a new mini-documentary which details Jimi Hendrix's tumultuous journey upon his return to the US in June, 1967, through August of that year. Featuring new interviews from The Mamas & The Papas vocalist Michelle Phillips, longtime Paul McCartney guitarist Brian Ray and others, the impact of Hendrix's Hollywood Bowl performance by eyewitnesses is discussed, and is placed in historic context.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience blazed through originals such as “Purple Haze,” “The Wind Cries Mary,” and yet-to-be-released classics “Foxey Lady” and “Fire,” as well as their own re-imagining of favorites by The Beatles (“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”), Howlin’ Wolf (“Killing Floor”), Bob Dylan (“Like a Rolling Stone”), The Troggs (“Wild Thing”) and Muddy Waters (“Catfish Blues”). The majority of the crowd had purchased tickets months in advance to see The Mamas & The Papas and were wholly unfamiliar with the jarringly different Jimi Hendrix Experience. Brian Ray, longtime guitarist for Paul McCartney and Etta James, was among The audience members transfixed by what they witnessed. “The audience was there to see The Mamas & The Papas,” recalls Ray. “They haven't heard of Jimi Hendrix. I'd never heard of Jimi Hendrix, and he couldn't be more opposite of The Mamas & The Papas as an act, culturally, physically, in every possible way he was the opposite. Here comes this guy and there's only three of them on stage and they have these afros and these wild, ornate, very theatrical clothes. Jimi proceeds to shred, and it's loud but it's musical, and then it becomes so physical. He starts playing the guitar under his leg, and now it's behind his back, and now he's playing it with his mouth, and now he's on the ground on his knees and he's like humping it, and it, to me was mind blowing. It was sort of every human characteristic; it was beauty, grace, it was sexual, violent, gentle, it was just everything all at once in one band coming out of this one guy. I wouldn't say that the audience response was quite the same as the response I was having. My sister and I were going bananas, and the audience was like [soft clapping] and they were trying to figure it out.”
However bewildered the audience may have been, their brief tenure opening for the Monkees had hardened the group, and they leaned into their repertoire with ferocity.
Michelle Phillips, the only surviving member of The Mamas & The Papas, first saw the Experience perform at the Monterey Pop Festival. “We had never heard of him,” Phillips remembers. “I had absolutely no idea what to expect. And when I saw him perform I was mortified. I had never seen anything like this, I'd never seen anybody treat their instruments like this. He was pouring lighter fluid over his guitar and then setting it on fire and – I really was shocked. I had no experience with this kind of rock and roll theatre. And that was the first time I had ever seen it.” Backstage at the Hollywood Bowl weeks later, Phillips was won over by Jimi Hendrix. “I absolutely loved him,” recalls Phillips in the liner notes for Hollywood Bowl August 18, 1967, penned by Jeff Slate. “He was a gentleman, he was lovely, he was funny.” She softened her view of “rock and roll theatre,” which was somewhat antithetical to the more stayed and pitch-perfect folk tradition from which her group emerged. This very concert wound up being The Mamas & The Papas’ last, while the Experience’s star was rising; they would return to the Bowl the following year as headliners. Phillips remembers, “In a couple of days or months, Jimi Hendrix was the hottest thing happening.”
Watch the promo clip for Monterey Pop To The Hollywood Bowl here …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-IRA5UrZ7g
Harvey Kubernik saw Hendrix at The Bowl the following year and put together these thought, memories and interviews, which were then later used in his award-winning book “Voodoo Child.”
On September 14, 1968, radio station KHJ in Los Angeles and Sight & Sound Productions promoted the Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Hollywood Bowl. Vanilla Fudge, the Soft Machine and Eire Apparent were also billed.
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Photographer Ed Caraeff: A beautiful day. Jimi was cool, calm and confident at the Hollywood Bowl soundcheck. He was so pleased to see me. And when it got close to show time the road manager, Jerry Stickells cleared everyone but always let me stay. I’d go into the tune up room. Jimi knew myself and Rodney Bingenheimer were at Monterey and all his 1967 and ’68 local L.A. concerts. I was there the entire day with Rodney. I loved shooting Jimi in the daylight. Color film.
The sound check was wonderful and Jimi was in a great mood. I was embedded. (laughs). Carmen Borrero a girlfriend of Jimi was right there.
We knew Jimi and his crew, Jerry Stickells the road manager and Michael Jeffrey.
When the show started and people then started diving into the pool pond in front of the stage, the mood was not good. We were all concerned someone could be electrocuted. We collectively thought that someone was gonna jump on stage and grab Jimi and they both would be electrocuted. It was intense for everyone, but Jimi was cool in the action. It was an incredible show and I’m glad nothing horrible happened. Jerry Stickells was really worried. Cops were trying to pull the concert goers out of the poll pond.
Concert Attendee Nancy Rose: My friends Pat, Brian and I went to the Hollywood Bowl and we also attended the Jimi Hendrix autograph signing earlier that day at the Groove Company record shop on Crescent Heights and Sunset Blvd. I touched the Buddha around Jimi’s neck. Pat and I kissed him.
“Loads of fans jumped in the pool pond at the Hollywood Bowl before Pat, Brian and I did. When Jimi started playing ‘Fire’ we couldn’t contain ourselves! Then Brian lost his keys and we had to hitch hike home in wet clothes!”
Concert Attendee Peter Piper: I got my tickets at Wallichs Music City. I was living near Washington Blvd. and La Brea Ave. by the Persian Room at the time. At the time my girlfriend Carol went all the way back to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I borrowed money to fly her back to L.A. because that is how much I loved her and wanted to see Jimi with her.
“On the day of the Hendrix Hollywood Bowl show, we went to El Segundo in the South Bay, right by El Porto, along with a guy I grew up with who went to L.A. High School. We smoked some weed and then he handed us these gigantic capsules of mescaline. We took ‘em there. And then drove all the way into Hollywood. I had a Falcon station wagon.
“We got to the Hollywood Bowl. The parking attendant for some reason, let us park at the very bottom of one of the lots near the back entrance but near a hill. Our car blocked everyone who parked behind us.
“I paid $20.00 each for tickets just above the box seats, a good location to see Jimi. I had my opera glasses. We saw Eire Apparent and Soft Machine. Then there was an intermission.
“One guy in our row had a stack of 50 joints with a rubber band around them.
“Carol and I had not come on yet to the mescaline. Vanilla Fudge was incredible. That was the big toss-up, who would play better, them or Jimi. On their recordings, they sounded tinny. But live they sounded so much better. The sound mix was terrific. The organist sang lead and used his hands to conduct the other musicians like Carmen Dragon when he conducted the orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl.
“And then Jimi comes out in a white suit, white boots and a purple scarf. It was other-worldly. The roadies were adjusting all the amps when he was doing the first song. By the second song the whole place really started feeling the vibe. And there was the pond in front of the stage so it had a waterfall aspect to it. Like a dam broke. Carol and I were really into the groove as people started going toward the front. And she started crying. ‘If he tries to leave they are gonna riot.’ (laughs).
“I see one guy in the front that jumped into the pond. Then other people dive into the water. I’m a surfer. You do not mix water and electronics and the chance of any water splashing onto the stage.
Jimi dedicated ‘Red House’ to “all the folks out there, including Buddy Miles and Carmen [Borero]. When he played “Fire,” kids started to jump into the water pool area just in front of the stage. Jimi wryly observed, “Now we proudly present: Flipper!”
“I will say, it was only during watching the concert that it became really obvious to me that it was the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
“My father, Ralph Piper, was a piano player, known for having the best left hand in the business. He did jobs with Stan Kenton, Jack and Cubby Teagarden. I knew and understood jazz trios. Jimi and the cats were like a jazz trio meets Cream.
“Halfway into the set, we came onto the mescaline. Carol and I left the concert just beaming. Then the real adventure started …
“We had no concept of where our car was. I was just flashing that we had to find this one long line of cars, as we were the car at the entrance. We kept walking around the Hollywood Bowl and could not locate our wheels. It must have been 90 minutes. Basically, all the cars and buses were pretty much gone and we’re alone in front of the Hollywood Bowl marquee.
“I found one person with a flashlight and asked for some help. He told me there was a line of cars on the other side. He had a walkie-talkie. So we go to the other side and there a few people who were angry, as we needed to move our car to create a path for them to leave so they could get to Highland Ave. And here is a van parked at the top of the hill by the back gate pretty close to us and music was playing. The only vehicle near us.
“We walked to the van and these two people come out and walking to the van are Jimi and this girl. And they are heading in our direction. And Jimi is kind of half-hiding behind her. ‘Hey, how did you like the show?’ We didn’t shake hands, but I said ‘You are the greatest, man. Nobody like you.’
“We were buzzed and feeling good. As far as we were concerned, the night was still young and I suggested we go back to Hollywood and over to Shelley’s Manne-Hole on Cahuenga to see Mose Allison. The day before I had turned age 21 but did not have an ID on me. The bartender let us in anyway and said we could come in to check it out and listen to Mose for his opening song. Then Mose walked in through the front door after his first break. We talked for a bit and I mentioned a jingle, a radio spot he did in 1960 for radio station KNOB-FM in Long Beach.
“Welcome to Hollywood during September of 1968.”
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Michelle Phillips and Mama Cass
Photo by Henry Diltz, Courtesy of Gary Strobl at the Diltz Archives
If you're a fan of Jimi Hendrix, be sure to check out Harvey's book "Voodoo Child" ... it's incredible ... with ALL kinds of memories from people who were there at the time, living the experience. (Pun intended.) kk
I asked our FH Buddy Ken Voss (who publishes the Jimi Hendrix fanzine "Voodoo Child") what HE thought about this hot, new upcoming release ... and how it could be possible that bootlegs of this concert hadn't been leaked out YEARS ago.
Here's his take on the whole deal ...
Live at the Hollywood Bowl – August 18, 1967
November 10, 2023 - Live at the Hollywood Bowl August 18, 1967 to be released on CD, vinyl and digital formats.
This will certainly be an essential addition to any Hendrix collection as this early U.S. performance by the Jimi Hendrix Experience has never seen the light of day, either commercially or on any unauthorized bootleg.
At the same time, it will be interesting to hear how Eddie Kramer and Experience Hendrix have cleaned up the concert tape and made it representative of the band as Noel Redding had commented of the performance, “We died a death at the Hollywood Bowl,” and even Jimi commented on stage when they came out and were getting laughed at by the laid-back California folk crowd, “If you’re gong to laugh, at least laugh in key.”
As the new release is said to include the band’s introduction and as they break into the opening number “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” it will be interesting to see if those Hendrix comments are included in the release.
The complete set list includes “Killing Floor,” “The Wind Cries Mary,” “Foxey Lady,” “Catfish Blues,” “Fire,” Like a Rolling Stone,” “Purple Haze” and “Wild Thing.”
As a teaser to the release, Experience Hendrix offers up a sample of what we’ll hear with “Killing Floor” https://jimihendrix.lnk.to/HollywoodBowl1967PR
The performance comes only two months after the Experience’s explosive debut at the Monterey Pop Festival.
But, as noted in the press release for Live at the Hollywood Bowl, “the immediate prosperity the band enjoyed in the UK was not replicated stateside. Their first two US singles were flops – ‘Hey Joe’ didn’t chart at all and ‘Purple Haze’ only reached #65 – and Are You Experienced wouldn’t be released domestically until late August.”
After Monterey, the Experience had been vying for dates in the U.S. Bill Graham gave them a week at the Fillmore in San Francisco. Then they tagged in as an opening act for The Monkees, an abominable tour that was thankfully cut short as the Experience pulled out after just seven dates.
In a scramble to book dates after that debacle, John Phillips of the Mamas and The Papas, who co-produced the Monterey Pop Festival and having befriended the band, invited the Experience to open for them at the Hollywood Bowl on August 18th, giving them the chance for exposure. The bill was also to include Electric Flag, but they cancelled with another California “Flowers in Your Hair” folk artist Scott McKenzie filling in.
The majority of the crowd had purchased tickets months in advance to see The Mamas and The Papas and were wholly unfamiliar with Hendrix, resulting in the audience laughing at the band’s appearance as they took the stage, and later booing during the show.
Guitarist Brian Ray, who’s worked with everyone from Paul McCartney to Etta James in his career, was in the audience. “The audience was there to see The Mamas and The Papas. They haven’t heard of Jimi Hendrix.” Even Ray at the time said, “I’d never heard of Jimi Hendrix, and he couldn’t be more opposite of The Mamas and The Papas as an act, culturally, physically, in every possible way he was the opposite.”
Continuing, “Here comes these guys and there’s only three of them on stage and they have these afros and these wild, ornate, very theatrical clothes. Jimi proceeds to shred, and it’s loud but it’s musical, and then it becomes physical. He starts playing the guitar under his leg, and now it’s behind his back, and now he’s playing it with his mouth, and now he’s on the ground on his knees and he’s like humping it, and it, to me was mind blowing.”
While Ray, as a guitarist, understood it, “I wouldn’t say the audience response was quite the same as the response I was having … the audience was like (soft clapping) and they were trying to figure it out.”
Paul Getchell was in the audience and recalls in an interview published in Eyewitness: The Jimi Hendrix Concerts 1967-1968, “Since the other better-known performers were in the folk/pop vein (The Mamas and The Papas, Scott McKenzie), there were a lot of people in the audience who were more into that bag and not into heavy psychedelic music. My recollection is that the Jimi Hendrix Experience reception was lukewarm at best. Some people actually booed; most simply sat around; not too many seemed to be getting into his trip.”
Still, there were those that did get it.
Michelle Phillips, the only surviving member of The Mamas and The Papas, first saw the Experience at Monterey. “We had never heard of him,” she remembers. “I had absolutely no idea what to expect. And when I saw him perform I was mortified. I had never seen anything like this, I’d never seen anybody treat their instruments like this.” Backstage at the Hollywood Bowl literally weeks later, Phillips was won over by Jimi Hendrix. “I absolutely loved him. He was a gentleman, he was lovely, he was funny.” In the release liner notes she softened her view of “rock and roll theatre” which was somewhat antithetical to the more stayed and pitch-perfect folk tradition of The Mamas and The Papas.
As a companion to this release, Monterey Pop To The Hollywood Bowl is a new mini-documentary which details Jimi Hendrix's tumultuous journey upon his return to the US in June 1967, through August of that year. Featuring new interviews from The Mamas & The Papas vocalist Michelle Phillips, longtime Paul McCartney guitarist Brian Ray and others, the impact of Hendrix's Hollywood Bowl performance by eye witnesses is discussed, and is placed in historic context. https://youtu.be/P-IRA5UrZ7g
Ironically, this date was the last performance of The Mamas and The Papas. And a year later the Jimi Hendrix Experience would return to the Hollywood Bowl as headliners.
You can listen to a sample of Hollywood Bowl release with “Killin’ Floor” and place a pre-order at https://jimihendrix.lnk.to/HollywoodBowl1967PR
(Article originally published by the Jimi Hendrix Information Management Institute www.facebook.com/groups/251427364936379/permalink/6617325905013128/)
I was a total fan ever since ... still am! 