When Jimi Hendrix Opened for The Monkees

Guitar player Jimi Hendrix was known for his lively shows, amazing skills, and amped-up sound, but Hendrix once opened for a band that was his opposite. In 1967, Hendrix became the opening act for the bubblegum pop act, The Monkees.

Hendrix was already popular in the UK, having achieved three top ten UK hits with “Hey Joe,” “Purple Haze,” and “The Wind Cries Mary,” but American fans knew little to nothing about the American born guitarist. Mike Nesmith of The Monkees first heard Hendrix on a tape recording while visiting with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Eric Clapton in London, and his fellow bandmate, Micky Dolenz, first saw Hendrix when he played in New York as the lead guitarist for the John Hammond band. Both musicians were very impressed with the young guitarist.

Dolenz and Peter Tork, another Monkee member, saw Hendrix perform at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967 along with other notable acts such as The Who, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and Otis Redding, to name a few. It was Hendrix’s first major appearance in the United States. When Dolenz and Tork heard Hendrix at the festival, they asked their manager to ask the Jimi Hendrix Experience to join them on their tour that was about to take place around the US.