Jimi Hendrix Upstages Eric Clapton

Terry David Mulligan interviews The Jimi Hendrix Experience in Vancouver on September 7, 1968. Jimi talks about the state of music in London following The Beatles, saying that things are "all screwed up" because people are "stuck on ballads and pop." The band also discusses their upcoming album Electric Ladyland, and Jimi talks about how much better music is then compared to the days of Chuck Berry and Fats Domino. The problem, he says, is that people don't realize it.

Just two days after The Beatles released "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in 1967, Jimi Hendrix took the stage at the Saville Theater in London and performed a guitar-shredding interpretation of the song. Prior to starting to play, he warned the audience (which included Beatles band member Paul McCartney), "Watch out for your ears!"

Jimi Hendrix's unorthodox Woodstock performance of America's National Anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner", ignited controversy in August of 1969. Hendrix was originally scheduled to close out Woodstock on Sunday night, but he didn't end up taking the stage until Monday morning, after most of the crowd had left. Still, his performance lived on through recordings and was heard and seen by both his fans and his detractors. It is considered by many to be the defining performance of Woodstock.

Watch the Jimi Hendrix interview from The Dick Cavett Show in 1969. Jimi talks about performing at Woodstock, the lack of violence at the festival, and his performance of the National Anthem. He humbly responds to being called "one of the best guitar players in the world," a moniker that lived on and has become synonymous with Hendrix. He says that he doesn't read music. He also states that he doesn't ever see himself getting married.

Jimi Hendrix lights his guitar on fire at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. The famous performance features Hendrix burning his guitar using lighter fluid and then tossing the can of lighter fluid into the fire (not recommended). He picks up his guitar and at first tries to smash the can, then he lets loose swinging his guitar into the stage until it breaks in half.

OutKast's André Benjamin stars as Jimi Hendrix in this biopic from writer-director John Ridley (12 Years a Slave). The film spans a year in Hendrix's life from 1966-67, during which time he went from being an unknown backup guitarist playing New York's Cheetah Club to making his mark on London's music scene, culminating with him en route to his Monterey Pop Festival triumph.