- Monterey Pop Festival Emcee: And now, the next act, is one of the hottest bands from England, the... American, Jimi Hendrix. And here to introduce him, he's come all the way over from London, is Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones. Ladies and gentlemen, Brian Jones.
- Brian Jones: I bring you, a very good friend, a compatriot of yours, a brilliant performer, the most enticing sounds I've ever heard, The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
- Jimi Hendrix: [singing] I should of quit you, A long time ago, Oh, I should of quit you baby, A long time ago...
- Narrator: Pete Townsend and Jimi almost came to blows backstage; because, neither of them wanted to follow the other. So, I flipped a coin - and Pete won. Jimi jumped upon a chair and yelled if he was gonna follow The Who, he was gonna pull out all the stops and blow everybody away. And that's the way it started.
- Narrator: Right away, he was a celebrity - even before his first record hit. All the big musicians were intrigued by him - especially the guitar players, like Clapton and Townsend. I guess they felt a little threatened. They'd all been brought up on Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry and thought they knew all about Rhythm and Blues. But, this was different. It was blues all mixed up with feedback and weird noises he seemed to pull out of the air. Nobody had ever heard anything like it. I mean, the crazy thing was, you could watch him like a hawk, but you could not figure out how he did it.
- Narrator: Lou and I invited him to the festival - so everybody in the States could hear him. And back he came. It was the beginning of the Summer of Love.
- [first lines]
- Narrator: The first time I ever saw Jimi play was here in the Village, in the sixties. I think it was down in the basement of the old 'Cafe Wha?'. He played with pickup bands. He called himself Jimmy James then. Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. Everybody was talkin' about this guy and his crazy Stratocaster. He had it strung right-handed, he was playing it lefty. Hell, he was playing it every which way, upside down, backwards, sometimes with his teeth. But, knocking out great blues.
- Narrator: People started coming down just to watch him. People like The Animals, The Rolling Stones. One of The Animals, Chas Chandler, hauled him back to London, put Noel Redding behind him and Mitch Mitchell and he was The Jimi Hendrix Experience. By the time we got him to play at Monterey, he was the hottest act around. A couple of years later he was dead. He just went like a fireball, once he hit London.
- Jimi Hendrix: Yeah, what's happenin' brother? Here's somethin' else. We got a new little thing called 'Foxey Lady'. My fingers will move, as you see. You don't hear no sound as you hear; but, dig this.
- [singing]
- Jimi Hendrix: Now, you know you're a cute little heart breaker, And you know you're a sweet little love maker, I'm gonna take you home, I won't do you no harm no, You've got to be all mine, all mine, Ooh! Foxey lady...
- Jimi Hendrix: No buttons to push. Right now, I'm gonna dedicate this song to everybody here with hearts - any kind of hearts and ears. It goes something like this here.
- [starts playing his guitar]
- Jimi Hendrix: Yeah. Yeah, what I say now. Hey! Yes, as I said before, it's really groovy here. I'd like to bore you for about six or seven minutes to do a little thing. Yeah! You'll excuse me for a minute. Just let me play my guitar. Right. - Right now, we'll do a little thing by Bob Dylan. That's his grandma over there. This, like, thing called 'Like a Rolling Stone."
- [sings]
- Jimi Hendrix: Once upon a time you dressed so fine, Threw the bums a dime in your prime, a didn't you? People call say 'beware doll, you're bound to fall', You thought they all - were kidding you, You used to ha-ha laugh about, Oh, everybody that was a hangin' out, Look at ya! But, now you don't talk so loud, But now you don't, baby, seem so proud, About havin' to be scroungin, yeah, your next meal, Yeah! How does it feel? Oh, how does it feel, baby? To be on your own, With no direction home, Look at ya! Like a complete unknown, Yeah! Like a rolling stone...
- Jimi Hendrix: Babe, what's happenin'? Dig! I tell you what, let's get down to business. All right? Just give me one second to get down to business.
- Jimi Hendrix: I could sit up here all night and say thank you, thank you, thank you, you know, but, I just want to grab you man and just oh, mmmm
- [kisses the air]
- Jimi Hendrix: One of them things, man, you know what I'm sayin'. But, dig, I just can't do that.
- Jimi Hendrix: I'm gonna sacrifice something that I really love, man. This - don't think I'm silly doing this, you know, because I'm not - I don't think I'm losing my mind. Last night, man, Oo-God. But, anyway, wait, wait, wait, honest, wait, anyway man, but, today I think its the right thing, all right. So, I'm not losing my mind. This is - this is for everybody here, man. This is the only way I can do it, you know. So, we're gonna do the English and American combined anthem together, okay? Don't get mad. Noooo. Don't get mad. Everybody - I want everybody to join in too, all right? Don't get mad. This is - this is it man. There's nothing I can do more than this. Oh, look at those beautiful people out there.
- [guitar feedback and sound effects begin, followed by opening power chords]
- Jimi Hendrix: Come on! Come on, man! Let's go! Sing it with me.
- [sings]
- Jimi Hendrix: Wild Thing, You make my heart sing. Come on! You make what everything, groovy. Wild Thing! Wild Thing, I think you move me, But I want to know for sure. Come in and - ssssssssssssssock it to me one time. You move me. Look out...
- Jimi Hendrix: [sings] Yeah! I'm goin' way down south, Way down where I can be free, Ain't no one gonna find me, Ain't no hangman's gonna get and put a rope around me, Yeah! You better believe it, baby...
- Jimi Hendrix: There's an old big story about we couldn't make it here so we go over to England and that America doesn't like us because, you know, our feets too big or we got fat mattresses and we wear golden underwear. Ain't no scene like that, brother. You know, its just, dig man, its just, you know, layin' around and I went to England and picked up these two cats. And now, here we are man. Its just so - you know, groovy, to come back here this way, you know. And really get a chance to really play.
- Jimi Hendrix: Yeah! Well, dig, we got our own little 'Rock Me Baby' that goes something like this here. The words will be wrong. But, that's all right. Dig this, anyway.
- [sings]
- Jimi Hendrix: Rock me baby, rock me all night long, Rock me baby, rock me all night long, Rock me baby, rock me all night long, Roll me baby, like a wagon wheel, Roll me baby, like a wagon wheel, Roll me baby, you just don't know how good you make me feel...