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)
https://theseconddisc.com/2023/09/19/wild-thing-the-jimi-hendrix-experiences-hollywood-bowl-1967-chronicles-never-before-released-gig/
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.
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.”
Bumper sticker photo courtesy of Gary Strobl
%20@%20Monterey%20Pop-June%201967_2x3_300dpi(1).jpg)
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
https://www.amazon.com/Jimi-Hendrix-Voodoo-Harvey-Kubernik/dp/1454937386/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2NINCJ0IQI91H&keywords=harvey+kubernik+jimi+hendrix&qid=1695251618&s=books&sprefix=harvey+kubernik+jimi+hendrix%2Cstripbooks%2C85&sr=1-1
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/)
Thanks for this - very interesting.
The
first and only time I saw Jimi live was at the Monterey Pop Festival. I
was literally hypnotized (and was not on drugs!) When he threw his
guitar neck into the audience, the string cut my friend's face as it flew
by! She never got the scar taken care of 
I was a total fan ever since ... still am!
Blicks
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