March 1967

As the month begins, the Jimi Hendrix Experience begins to get press coverage in the U.S. and make unforgettable television appearances on Beat-Club and, during the first of two European tours this month, on the Belgian show Vibrato. In a series of interviews, Hendrix addresses his stressful childhood, love for blues music, and dislike of the “ordinary.” Sting recalls the Experience’s performance in Yorkshire as “the first time I’d ever seen a black man.” With the release of the “Purple Haze”/“51st Anniversary” single, the band embarks on tour of Germany, while Michael Jeffery secures them an American deal with Reprise Records. In studio sessions, the Experience record “Manic Depression” and other tracks. On the opening night of the Walker Brothers tour, Jimi Hendrix upstages the other acts by burning a guitar onstage for the first time, nearly setting the Finsbury Park Astoria ablaze. As the Walker Brothers tour progresses, Jimi’s onstage antics become front-page news.