According to Billboard, the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s live U.S. debut at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival will be released on CD, DVD and vinyl in the U.S. on Oct. 16.
The DVD will present all of filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker’s footage of the legendary June 18 performance as well as previously unreleased performances in England; previously unreleased interviews with Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding; a documentary about the Monterey Pop Festival and “copious” liner notes co-written by Mitchell.
The DVD track list:
Introduction by Brian Jones
“Killing Floor”
“Foxy Lady”
“Like a Rolling Stone”
“Rock Me Baby”
“Hey Joe”
“The Wind Cries Mary”
“Purple Haze”
“Wild Thing”
The CD and vinyl releases include “Can You See Me,” which is sandwiched between “Hey Joe” and “The Wind Cries Mary.”
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the inaugural Monterey Pop Festival and the Summer of Love. Monterey is perhaps the blueprint upon which subsequent music festivals like Woodstock and the Altamont Free Concert were based. More importantly, it is widely considered to be the launching pad for the careers of Hendrix, The Who and Janis Joplin. (Otis Redding was already popular with black audiences, but his set with Booker T & The MGs brought him crossover success mere months before his death. Personally, I’d like to see that performance get a proper release.)
Of course, Hendrix’s set was perhaps the most anticipated: Born in Seattle, Hendrix rose to stardom in the UK, which explains why Paul McCartney personally lobbied for his Monterey appearance, and Brian Jones personally introduced him. Even with that kind of build-up, Hendrix blew the audience away with an iconic, drug-induced performance that included dry-humping a stack of Marshalls and setting his guitar on fire.
Coinciding with these releases is the Experience Hendrix Tour, which assembles guitarists like Buddy Guy, Robert Randolph, Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd for a five-city U.S. tour. Those dates are as follows:
Oct. 16: Washington, D.C. (Constitution Hall)
Oct. 17: New York (Beacon Theatre)
Oct. 18: Hampton Beach, N.H. (Casino Ballroom)
Oct. 19: Atlantic City, N.J. (Trump Casino)
Oct. 20: Waterbury, Conn. (Palace Theatre)