Jimi Hendrix (Pink Floyd) – Warwick University 1967
by Pete Clemons
JIMI HENDRIX WILL BE COMING TO PLAY at the Warwick Week Big Dance,
It is an eye-catching headline from May 1967, maybe not so at the time as Jimi was relatively unknown in the UK and still breaking through. At the time of the headline, which did happen by the way, Jimi had just played the Monterey Festival. But known he was and this gig 'kind of' very nearly happened.
The striking headline was announced by the then entertainments secretary who also added that the date may be threatened because Hendrix has to re-apply for a work-permit. The Jimi Hendrix Experience is at present at No. 5 in the Hit Parade with the record 'Purple Haze'. Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones said that Jimi Hendrix was the only worthwhile new artist to hit the British pop scene for 2 years.
However, no sooner had that announcement been made when, almost as quickly, the following headline popped up 'HENDRIX DATE OFF'
As rumoured about the University, the star of this year's Warwick Week dance, Jimi Hendrix will now not be appearing. An entertainments committee member announced that a contract had been signed but the last entertainments secretary had lost it. The present entertainments sec. does not think that there ever was a contract and that the previous entertainment secretary had been bluffing from the start. Hendrix will in actual fact be in America (Fillmore Auditorium) until the day before the dance and then will return to England to fulfil outstanding engagements. In Jimi's place will be The Pink Floyd, one of the most famous psychedelic groups, who will be playing. We are assured, however, by the current entertainments secretary that The Pink Floyd are every bit as good as their hit parade reputation suggests, and that the quality of the dance will not be marred in any way.
Jimi Hendrix performed at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, California from June 20–26, 1967. Hendrix was relatively new at the time and was billed third on the bill, opening for Gabor Szabo and the Jefferson Airplane.
MONDAY 26th JUNE (Piper at the Gates of Dawn was released August 67)........................... Mid-Summer Ball with The Pink Floyd, The Mike Cotton Sound, The Factotums, and the New Economic Model
THE PINK FLOYD "The Pink Floyd cannot be thought of merely as a beat group". The 'Floyd' are undoubtedly the best of the so-called 'psychedelic' groups which are dominating the scene at the moment. Even their brilliant hit record "Arnold Layne" is unable to carry over the full effect they can produce an a live show, filling the hall with such deafening sounds of their music, with their well known light show heaving and glooping in the background in a multiplicity of colours reminiscent of Chelsea Flower Show viewed through a goldfish bowl, and spotlights flashing in time to the music. They have appeared at many of the Psychedelic clubs in London, and were prominent at the technicolour freak-out at the Alexandra Palace in May, where their skill and stage presence was greater than those of most of the other groups appearing with them. Since then they have had their own concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank, which was apparently something of a San Francisco Hippy Love Festival, and their new disc, "See Emily Play" has just been released.
The Mike Cotton Sound with Lucas will be well known to many readers, since they have appeared here several times in the last two years , including last years Warwick Week. They were recently voted top group playing on the University circuit, and give a consistently good and lively performance. Their singer Lucas, attempts to give the same type of performance as Geno Washington and the atmosphere that the group create is an excellent one. According to Brian Morris, resident vocalist and connoisseur of the group scene, The Factotums are the best in Britain for Beach Boys and Four Seasons numbers - rumour has it that the lead singer is a natural tenor. The NEM will be in devastating form again one hopes no more Blow-ups or is that a dirty word like Ulysses.
Further details about those Jimi Hendrix Fillmore gigs............
Jimi commissioned a poster for the event from artists Michael English and Nigel Waymouth, also known as Hapshash and the Coloured Coat.The poster depicts Hendrix in a way that references his Native American Indian ancestry.
The poster also incorporates Victorian dragons, Japanese floral patterns, and a Tarot triangle with the Third Eye.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience's performance at the Fillmore Auditorium is included on the posthumous live album Paris 1967/San Francisco 1968, released in 2003.
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