3.31.2017

Friday, March 31, 1967: Jimi Hendrix sets guitar on fire


During a show at London's Finsbury Park Astoria, Jimi Hendrix puts a match to his lighter-fluid-soaked guitar, a stunt that would be more famously repeated (and photographed) at the Monterey International Pop Music Festival in June.
     -- Image, news account from Associated Press

* Summary from www.jimihendrix.com: @
* Excerpt from "Jimi Hendrix Gear: The Guitars, Amps & Effects That Revolutionized Rock 'n' Roll" (Michael Heatley, 2009): @
* Excerpt from "The Words and Music of Jimi Hendrix" (David Moscowitz, 2010): @
* "Jimi Hendrix's PR Reveals Truth About First Guitar Burning" (Uncut, 2008): @
* "The Day Jimi Hendrix Set His Guitar on Fire for the First Time" (Ultimate Classic Rock, 2015): @
* Tour program (recordmecca.com): @ 

3.30.2017

Thursday, March 30, 1967: Photo shoot for 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'


The image on the album cover is composed of a collage of celebrities. There are 88 figures, including the band members themselves. Pop artist Peter Blake and his wife Jann Haworth conceived and constructed the set, including all the life-size cutouts of historical figures. The set was photographed, with the Beatles standing in the centre, by Michael Cooper. Copyright was a problem as Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager, had to locate each person in order to get permission to use their image in this context.
-- From Victoria and Albert Museum, London: @

* "Making The Cover for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (www.thebeatles.com): @
* "Cover shoot for Sgt. Pepper" (The Beatles Bible): @
* "Sgt. Pepper Cover" (The Beatles Website): @
* "Behind the Cover of Sgt. Pepper" (Entertainment Weekly): @
* "The Sgt. Pepper's Album Cover: Faces in the Crowd" (Performing Songwriter): @
* Summary from albumlinernotes.com: @
* More about Peter Blake ("The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four," Kenneth Womack, 2014: @