The Jimi Hendrix Experience I went to see him play, I thought that was it, the game was up for all of us, we may as well pack it in." The group came to prominence in the US after the June 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, one of the first major rock music festivals. The band's performance ended with Hendrix famously setting his psychedelically painted Fender Stratocaster on fire. After the festival they toured with the Monkees, but left the tour two weeks later, reportedly due to lack of audience response. With the Experience, Hendrix recorded several hit singles, such as "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze",
Jimi Hendrix 24, 1966, and signed him to a management and production contract with himself and ex-Animals manager Michael Jeffery. On September 24, Hendrix gave an impromptu solo performance at The Scotch of St James, and later that night he began a relationship with Kathy Etchingham that lasted for two and a half years. Following Hendrix's arrival in London, Chandler began recruiting members for a band designed to highlight the guitarist's talents, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hendrix met guitarist Noel Redding at an audition for the New Animals, where Redding's knowledge of blues progressions impressed Hendrix, who stated that he also liked