It voice like an elaborate gag today : legendary acid rock guitar player Jimi Hendrix working as the warm - up for a teenybopper group like The Monkees ? But back in 1967 , the pairing in reality made a little scrap of sense for both Acts of the Apostles .
Micky Dolenz was the first Monkee to “ learn ” Jimi Hendrix ; while visiting New York in the spring of 1967 , a protagonist advised him to learn out this amazing player in the Village who played the guitar with his teeth . Dolenz was impressed but did n’t remember the guitar player ’s name until he saw The Jimi Hendrix Experience onstage at the Monterey Pop Festival several calendar month by and by . The Monkees were about to enter on a U.S. concert tour and Dolenz strongly recommended hiring Jimi Hendrix and his band as their opening act . Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith stomach the pick ; both were queasy to be live with as serious musician and believed that Jimi Hendrix would lend them some believability among rock critic and older disk purchaser . “ Besides , ” Tork would later say , “ it would give us the probability to watch Jimi Hendrix perform night after night ! ”
Jimi , on the other hand , thought The Monkees ’ music was “ dishwater , ” but his handler convinced him to sign on for the hitch . Hendrix already had three hits in England but was nearly unknown in America . His director want to capitalize on the bombination generated by his client ’s Monterey Pop performance , and The Monkees were just about the swelled act in the country at that prison term . What could go wrong ?
Plenty , as it turned out .
The Monkees ’ new fans were throw by the overtly intimate stage antic of Hendrix , and when he tried to get them to sing along to “ Foxy Lady ” they stubbornly cry “ Foxy Davy ! ” The Jimi Hendrix Experience played just eight of the 29 schedule enlistment dates ; then , on July 16 , 1967 , Jimi flip-flop the Forest Hills , Queens , New York , audience off , threw down his guitar and walk away from Monkeemania .
