By Wayne Pernu. Jimi Hendrix's performance of "Star Spangled Banner" at Woodstock was a turning point in the history of the counter-culture movement. As a summing up of one of the most volatile eras in the nation's history, his adaptation of our national anthem has entered our cultural lexicon as perhaps the most powerful musical touchstone of the era, a zeitgeist of expressiveness.

By Dave Thompson. It was raining. Of course, it was raining – what else does it ever do in Seattle? But even local standards were shattered as Sunday, July 26, 1970, swam into overcast view and the heavens literally opened up and wept, turning the sky to steel and the streets to rivers. The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s early evening performance on this date would mark Jimi’s last home-town concert. Here is that story …

By John McDermott. The Dick Cavett Show represented Jimi’s US network television debut and this special collection features complete live performances of “Izabella,” “Machine Gun,” and “Hear My Train A Comin’.” Jimi’s insightful interviews with Cavett touched upon a variety of personal and professional issues ranging from his stint as a US Army paratrooper to this celebrated rendition of “Star Spangled Banner” at Woodstock. During production for this 2003 documentary, we sat down with Dick Cavett for an extended discussion on his own history on television plus Jimi’s two historic appearances on the show in 1969.

By Frank Moriarty. It is one of the most powerful images in the history of rock music, one that has come to symbolize the wild pedigree of a form of music where anything can happen. This image is one that has burned its way into the consciousness of popular culture: Jimi Hendrix is on his knees as his Fender Stratocaster lays before him, shrieking in flames on the stage of the Monterey International Pop Festival. Jimi's fingers flutter over the guitar's body, urging the tendrils of fire higher as the instrument is consumed. But the act of burning a guitar was far from the only combustion ignited by Jimi Hendrix in the minutes that led to the climax of this performance. Jimi Hendrix had arrived in America. On that historic Sunday evening, Hendrix served notice to the world that "pop music" had been reinvented, its course altered to a bold new path - one that Jimi Hendrix saw clearly.

By Rob Collins. As the Vietnam War was raging and the nation's campuses were exploding in protest, Jimi Hendrix exposed ears to his staggering musical synthesis inside an athletic gym in the heart of America. The Norman Transcript’s Editor Rob Collins looks back at Jimi Hendrix’s May 8, 1970 performance at the University of Oklahoma and introduces us to fans who attended the show, new photos and the source of an exciting audience recording.

By Dave Thompson. If any city in America could claim to possess the heart and soul of student protest, it was Berkeley, California. By the time The Jimi Hendrix Experience arrived in the city on May 30, 1970 to perform at the local Community Theatre, the city was engulfed in a series of protests... against the war ... against the Kent State massacre ... and against high ticket prices for the new Woodstock movie. Here’s a day in the life of Jimi Hendrix; one city under siege; one small venue, two historic Memorial Day concert performances and the recordings that spawned the film – Jimi Plays Berkeley – and a companion album release.

By John McDermott. In our Summer 2000 issue of Experience Hendrix magazine, we detailed Jimi’s two May 8, 1970 concerts at the University of Oklahoma. That feature unearthed numerous fascinating historical details, previously unpublished photographs, plus details of the photographer, Rick Vittenson’s earlier encounter with Jimi Hendrix in Dallas, Texas on April 20, 1969. We have since expanded upon our previously published featured with an audience recording from the Dallas concert, plus an additional filmed interview with Hendrix at the airport upon his arrival in the city.