Jimi Plays Monterey

Jimi Hendrix's United States debut set at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival is widely regarded as one of the most radical and legendary live performances in rock history. Virtually unknown to American audiences at the time—though he was already an established force in the U.K.—Hendrix and his two-piece Experience erupt on stage, tearing through blues staples Rock Me Baby and Howlin' Wolf's Killing Floor, interpreting and electrifying Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone, debuting tracks from his yet-to-be-released first album, and closing with the now-iconic burning of his guitar during an unhinged rendition of Wild Thing that even its writer Chip Taylor would never have imagined. Hendrix wields feedback and distortion to enhance the songs in whisper-to-scream intensity, forging a sonic territory never before explored with such soul-frazzled power.