Mini doc recounts Jimi Hendrix Experience’s gig opening for The Monkees

Avalon/Getty Images

A new mini documentary is giving fans a look at Jimi Hendrix’s rise to fame in the U.S. 

From The Monkees To The Hollywood Bowl features previously unseen footage recounting the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s stint as openers for The Monkees in July 1967, a performance that was not embraced by The Monkees’ young fans.

Jimi Hendrix Experience eventually left the tour. By that August, they were opening for The Mamas and the Papas at the Hollywood Bowl, which helped them break big in America. Those gigs happened right before the release of the band’s debut album, Are You Experienced.

From The Monkees To The Hollywood Bowl features interviews with Monkee Micky Dolenz and Hendrix manager Chas Chandler as well as former Experience band members Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell.

The short film comes as the new live album, Jimi Hendrix Experience: Hollywood Bowl August 18, 1967, is set to drop November 10. The concert, one of the band’s opening gigs for The Mamas and the Papas, features performances of classics like “Purple Haze,” “The Wind Cries Mary” and “Foxey Lady,” along with covers of The Beatles‘ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” Bob Dylan‘s “Like a Rolling Stone” and more.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.