Why The Monkees “embarrassed” Jimi Hendrix
There are many reasons why Jimi Hendrix‘s premature death in 1970 is one of the greatest tragedies in music. The primary factor is the quality of his craft. Given just how much he changed culture during his short stint in the sun, the questions of what he could have achieved over the course of the 1970s and beyond are both exciting and heartbreaking.
It is certain that, as he matured as an artist and his creative vision expanded, technological advancements and his increasing technical nouse would have compounded each other to create a refreshing sound, with the future promising only more greatness for the Seattle native. With his later cut ‘Spanish Castle Magic’ teasing the future of heavy music, courtesy of a rumbling eight-string bass or his comments on The Dick Cavett Show about creating an “Electric Church”, Hendrix looked to only change the world more in his own image before that fateful night in September 1970.
Undoubtedly one of the most significant musicians to ever rise, without Hendrix, the world would be a completely different place, something that is rarely said of artists. He elevated everyone, whether it be his most eminent peers such as Pete Townshend of The Who or those who were yet to realise their greatness, such as AC/DC’s Angus Young and Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, meaning directly and by proxy his spirit lives on today.
Very much an iconoclast, the notion of going against the grain coursed through Hendrix’s veins, and over his short career, he delivered many takes on the state of the world. Ranging from race relations to contemporary music, these themes helped to cement his place as one of culture’s ultimate trailblazers.
One of his most memorable takes centred around another cultural phenomenon of the day, The Monkees. Although he was friendly with the group, Hendrix found himself at ideological odds with what they represented, culminating in a disastrous tour in 1967 that Hendrix left early, as fans of The Monkees hated him, and he hated them.
That year, during an interview with Steve Baker, Hendrix clarified his thoughts on The Monkees when comparing them to the brilliance of the most essential act of the day, The Beatles. He had such great disdain for The Monkees that he claimed that he was “embarrassed” by them as an American.
Of The Beatles, he said:“Oh, yes, I think it’s good. They’re one group that you can’t really put down because they’re just too much, and it’s so embarrassing, man, when America is sending over the Monkees – oh, God, that kills me!”
He continued: “I’m so embarrassed that America could be so stupid as to make somebody like that. They could have at least done it with a group that has something to offer. They got groups in the States starving to death trying to get breaks, and then these fairies come up.”
The Monkees certainly weren’t on the same level musically as Hendrix or The Beatles, but they did bring a certain sense of joy to a generation of kids finding their way in the arts. Revisions suggest the artists of the day were too harsh on the band, but one thing is undeniable, ‘Daydream Believer’ is always a stone-cold classic.
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