Friday, September 11, 2015

Did Jimi Hendrix Play the Point?

Did Jimi Hendrex play at Tony Marts? 

Possibly. 

In the course of my research into the summer of 1965 I found this notation in David Henerston's bio of Hendrix that says Jimi went on tour for a few months in 1965 with Joey Dee and the Starliters, a band that played Tony Marts on more than one occasion. 

David Henderson, in his biography of Jimi Hendrix, "Escuse Me While I Kiss the Sky – The Life of Jimi Hendrix (Doubleday, NY, 1978 ), he mentions (on p. 71) that: 

“Jimmy Hendrix toured with Joe Dee and the Starliters near the end of 1965….This was the first time he had toured with a predominately white band. He had played with a few white bands in Seattle, but with Joey Dee he got to savor the ‘Twist’ craze right up close. The hysteria that the augmented rockabilly bat drove the myriad crowds to was amazing. It was like Joey Dee was a high priest, a messenger, bringing a sacred message to all. Right there he witnessed the power of word and music, specially as promoted by big-town machinery, but more so, as ordained by the people’s need for release. The Twist included all ages and all kinds of people, and it was not necessarily youth-oriented. The Beatle’s in ’65 were still kings of the English sound, but they were essentially a listening experience, a pleasant experience compared to the uncouth Twist parties.” 


 I’ve seen undated Tony Marts advertisements that mention Joey Dee and the Starliters and Carmen Marotta has listed Joey Dee and the Starliters and the Pepperment Twist on their list of the music that made Tony Marts famous under 1964-65. 

And there are two photos of Jimi Hendrix with Joey Dee and the Starliters and a video of Hendrix in the band behind Joey Dee in a recorded live performance. So if Hendrix played with Joey De e and the Starliters for four months in the late summer and fall of 1965 he was with them if they played Tony Marts at that time. 

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