Wednesday marks the 40th anniversary of a memorable night in Rock & Roll history....the first time Jimi Hendrix appeared in Madison, Wisconsin. He played the Factory on Gorham Street (now the Canterbury Inn) for Ken Adamany on February 27, 1968 and people who were there say they never saw anything like it. There was more equipment on stage than anyone had ever seen before....it was the first time anyone in Madison had seen a wah-wah pedal.....Hendrix played guitar with his teeth.
Nat Balkan of Ella's Deli on State Street claimed it to be the biggest day ever for the restaurant. It was the coldest day of the winter, and lines started to form around noon. Hendrix played two sold out shows.....1500 paid admissions per show. Adamany says it seems like 5 or 10 thousand people claim to have been there that night.
The shows started late because the English road crew got lost and ended up with their trucks double parked outside Adamany's apartment on Gilman Street. A neighbor ran over to the club on Gorham Street to let Adamany know some guys were pounding on his apartment door.
This was about six months after Hendrix' famous appearance at the Monterrey Pop Festival and just two months after another Monterrey headliner, Otis Redding, died in a plane crash on his way to play The Factory. Hendrix himself would go on to play the Woodstock festival in 1969 and died September 18, 1970.
Several people that were there that night plan to talk about it with Rick Murphy on 1310 WIBA-AM this Saturday at Noon. Murphy himself was there...in fact he had dinner with Hendrix. Ken Adamany has promised to appear, as will West Side Andy Linderman who was also in the house and who got Hendrix to play a request that night.
Listen online at http://www.wiba.com
Nat Balkan of Ella's Deli on State Street claimed it to be the biggest day ever for the restaurant. It was the coldest day of the winter, and lines started to form around noon. Hendrix played two sold out shows.....1500 paid admissions per show. Adamany says it seems like 5 or 10 thousand people claim to have been there that night.
The shows started late because the English road crew got lost and ended up with their trucks double parked outside Adamany's apartment on Gilman Street. A neighbor ran over to the club on Gorham Street to let Adamany know some guys were pounding on his apartment door.
This was about six months after Hendrix' famous appearance at the Monterrey Pop Festival and just two months after another Monterrey headliner, Otis Redding, died in a plane crash on his way to play The Factory. Hendrix himself would go on to play the Woodstock festival in 1969 and died September 18, 1970.
Several people that were there that night plan to talk about it with Rick Murphy on 1310 WIBA-AM this Saturday at Noon. Murphy himself was there...in fact he had dinner with Hendrix. Ken Adamany has promised to appear, as will West Side Andy Linderman who was also in the house and who got Hendrix to play a request that night.
Listen online at http://www.wiba.com