Remember When The Monkees & Jimi Hendrix Toured Together?
Guitar god Jimi Hendrix and the fun-loving Monkees have very different styles of music and one might think that it was a very odd pairing. However, for seven shows, Hendrix opened up for The Monkees until he decided to ditch them.
Reportedly, Hendrix’s manager Mike Jeffery had the bright idea for Hendrix to team up with The Monkees to gain exposure in the United States. While he was gaining popularity in the UK, he was still relatively unknown in the U.S. Meanwhile The Monkees were blowing up and when they heard a tape of Hendrix playing, they were blown away and encouraged their manager to accept the collaboration. It was truly a way for both artists to showcase their styles to a wider audience.
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There was just one little problem. Hendrix seemingly hated The Monkees and their music! After a handful of shows, he dropped out of the tour after saying in an interview, “Oh God, I hate them! Dishwater….You can’t knock anybody for making it, but people like the Monkees?”
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Monkees member Micky Dolenz recalled that their fans were not exactly eating up Hendrix’s performance and that also could have led to him dropping out of the tour. He explained, “Jimi would amble out onto the stage, fire up the amps and break out into ‘Purple Haze,’ and the kids in the audience would instantly drown him out with ‘We want Daaavy!’ God, was it embarrassing.”
He reportedly ended the final show on July 17, 1967, with a middle finger to the audience.
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