Sept 4th in Pop History
On this day, September 4th, in:
• 1957 - On this day Buddy Holly released the single Peggy Sue. It climbed to # 3 on the Billboard charts in the Fall of that year
• 1962 - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr begin recording together for the first time at EMI's St. John Studio. They laid down six songs including Love Me Do and P.S. I Love You, which will ultimately become their first single
• 1968 - After the other Beatles had gone home for the evening (2:00 am), Paul McCartney stayed behind and recorded Mother Nature's Son, taping 25 takes at Abbey Road studios. The song was included on the White Album
• 2002 - Singer Kelly Clarkson was voted the first American Idol on the Fox TV series
• 2008 - On this day, Sep 4, 2008, the Fender Stratocaster Jimi Hendrix torched onstage at the Astoria in London in 1967 (the first guitar he ever set fire to), sold at auction for $467,000.00. It’s a very strange world…. 🎸
All Along The Watchtower on Spotify:
(Performed by Jimi Hendrix, song written by Bob Dylan) Give it a listen…
Jimi Hendrix was an American guitar wizard and singer-songwriter whose career spanned from 1962 to 1970, until his tragic and untimely death from a drug overdose at the age of just 27. In his relatively short career, he sold more than 30 million records.
“There are some instruments that helped build the foundation of rock ‘n roll – one of them was Jimi Hendrix’s 1965 Fender Stratocaster which he infamously burned during a performance. And then he did it repeatedly!
(According to rockpasta.com…)
Back in the ’60s, you needed to step up your game if you want to rise above the rest. Pete Townshend (The Who) was known for destroying his guitar after every gig and so of course, Hendrix had to follow suit because apparently, his mad axeslinging skills weren’t enough.
Before the Monterey Pop Festival, Hendrix already pulled off and somehow mastered his stunt. It started in early 1967 when they embarked on their European tour and he accidentally cracked his guitar. Since it was already damaged, he decided to smash it altogether. In March that same year, Hendrix was part of a British tour. And since he was in the company of other iconic musicians like Cat Stevens, he and Chas Chandler brainstormed ideas on how he can take their new song Fire to a whole new level during the performance.
Before the first show on March 31, they hung out with rock journalist Keith Altham at the Finsbury Park Astoria. Altham came up with the idea initially.
And so during the performance of Fire, Hendrix put down his axe by the amplifiers and Chandler doused it in lighter fluid. Both Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell continued to play on. Hendrix then grabbed the guitar, laid it on the floor, knelt beside it and tried lighting it. After a few attempts, it lit up. And because there was so much fuel thanks to Chandler, flames rose to over a meter in height and therefore burned Hendrix’s hands. The emcee who rushed to the stage also had minor burns.
Hendrix probably felt high from the adrenaline because he was still able to get another guitar and play on it. Later that day, he was brought to the hospital for treatment.
A few months later, he once again pulled off the same stunt at the Monterey International Pop Music Festival. And Hendrix’s guitar-burning showmanship became as iconic as the man himself. 🎸🔥
