The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsIn 1967 Jimi Hendrix was the opening act for The Monkees (yes, really)
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/micky-dolenz-recalls-illfated-monkees-tour-with-opening-act-jimi-hendrix-yeah-it-was-kind-of-embarrassing-011357916.htmlHendrix ended up playing only seven of that tours 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! Hed go, Foxy lady! and theyd 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.
The odd pairing might have been doomed from the start, given the two artists very different audiences. But Dolenz had been a fan of Hendrix since the guitar god was still known as Jimmy James and performing in Greenwich Village nightclubs with the Blue Flames. It was 1966 or so, and the Monkees were in New York on a press junket, he recalls of the first time he saw Hendrix live. Someone said, You gotta come down to the Village and check this cat out. The actual act was, I think, the John Hammond Band or something. But when we went down there, I remember sitting in the front row and there was this young kid, and he was playing guitar with his teeth! I didn't even know his name at the time. I don't even know if he was introduced, but he was going under the name Jimmy James at that point. He was just great.
snip
Hendrix apparently did care what people thought, as he decided to quit the Monkees tour just eight days later, after dates in Miami, North Carolina, and a three-night run at New York Citys Forest Hills Tennis Stadium. Later, a seemingly bitter Hendrix told British music paper the NME that hed been replaced by Mickey Mouse. Dolenz can neither deny nor confirm the longstanding rumor that Hendrix flipped the bird at the combative crowd during that final NYC show, though he quips, I've never seen evidence of that rumor, but if it's true, he certainly aint the first person to flip off an audience.
AmyStrange
(7,989 posts)-
unfortunately the Monkees were big at the time.
The man was a genius, and the Monkees should've been following him around.
Interesting and thanks for sharing.
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Sucha NastyWoman
(2,757 posts)Silver Gaia
(4,548 posts)The Who opened for Herman's Hermits! (I was there.)
Rhiannon12866
(206,291 posts)When I was a kid, Herman's Hermits was the first group I liked - and when I was older, my friend turned me on to The Who!
And I once saw Bruce Springsteen in a fairly small venue. When my brother was at the University of Vermont, Springsteen performed in the gym, and my brother invited me! I couldn't hear for a couple of days after that...
Silver Gaia
(4,548 posts)LOL I remember their hit song that summer was "I Can See For Miles." I had heard that on the radio, but didn't much know what to expect. Oh my. I was in the third row (great seat), and was dodging drumsticks being tossed into the audience. At the end, Entwhistle destroyed his guitar, which none of us expected (or really understood at the time). And then, here came the Hermits. Ha! Paul Revere and the Raiders were there, too. It was quite a concert. I saw The Monkees that summer, too.
AmyStrange
(7,989 posts)-
was the first song I memorized word for word, and I still remember them to this day!
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Cosmo Blues
(2,497 posts)The Chicago Transit Authority opened for him, I had already seen the Dave Clark Five, and Herman's Hermits
Paladin
(28,277 posts)Thankfully, the Monkees weren't any part of his performance. Hendrix was the headliner (some obscure British band was second-billed). Outstanding concert.