A new posthumous Jimi Hendrix live album titled Jimi Hendrix Experience: Hollywood Bowl August 18, 1967, will hit shelves on Nov. 10, documenting the power trio on the cusp of stardom with a collection of 10 never-before-heard recordings.
Jimi Hendrix Experience: Hollywood Bowl August 18, 1967 is available to preorder now on vinyl, CD and digital. You can see the full track listing and preview the album with a live cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” below.
Hollywood Bowl August 18, 1967 was recorded five days before the Jimi Hendrix Experience released their debut album, Are You Experienced, in the U.S. The group — which also included drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding — was opening for the Mamas & the Papas, whose John Phillips helped organize the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, where the Experience made their triumphant U.S. debut at the recommendation of Paul McCartney.
Hendrix Still Had to Prove Himself in the United States
Despite their standout Monterey Pop performance, the Jimi Hendrix Experience did not enjoy immediate stateside success. The first two singles off Are You Experienced failed to ignite on the charts, and the LP took more than a year to reach its peak position of No. 5 on the Billboard 200. The trio was also poorly received on a short-lived stint opening for the Monkees in July 1967.
Following the Monkees debacle, Phillips invited Hendrix to open for the Mamas & the Papas at the Hollywood Bowl, which proved to be the headliners’ final show. The Experience burned through originals such as “Purple Haze,” “The Wind Cries Mary” and “Foxey Lady,” as well as covers such as the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.”
READ MORE: Did the DAR Really Force Jimi Hendrix Off the Monkees’ Tour?
“I absolutely loved him,” says Michelle Phillips, the sole surviving member of the Mamas & the Papas, in the Hollywood Bowl August 18, 1967 liner notes. “He was a gentleman, he was lovely, he was funny.”
He was also on his way to becoming a star. Thirteen months after their fateful opening slot for the Mamas & the Papas, the Experience would return to the Hollywood Bowl as headliners. As Phillips recalls, “In a couple of days or months, Jimi Hendrix was the hottest thing happening.”
‘Jimi Hendrix Experience: Hollywood Bowl August 18, 1967’ Track Listing Side One1. Introduction2. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”3. “Killing Floor”4. “The Wind Cries Mary”5. “Foxey Lady”6. “Catfish Blues”Side Two1. “Fire”2. “Like a Rolling Stone”3. “Purple Haze”4. “Wild Thing”
The Stories Behind All 85 Posthumous Jimi Hendrix Albums
All the official collections of studio outtakes, live records and compilations since the guitar legend’s 1970 death.
