The Who and Jim Hendrix

And coming next week…”Jim” Hendrix! This poster advertised The Who playing at the Fillmore the same weekend as the Monterey Pop Festival and in fact that is where artist Bonnie MacLean and her new husband Bill graham were spending that weekend on their Honeymoon. In the bottom right hand corner of the poster you will see next week’s bill, the Jefferson Airplane, Hungarian Jazz guitarist Gabor Szabo, and the obviously unknown “Jim Hendrix.”

The Who had been making an impact in America and these shows were Friday and Saturday nights so they were able to play at Monterey Pop on Sunday.

By this time the Mod movement in England was out of favor, and the Who found themselves in competition on the London circuit with groups including Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The band’s mangers realized that commercial success in the US was paramount to the group's future, and arranged a deal with promoter Frank Barsalona for a short package tour in New York. The group's performances, which still involved smashing guitars and kicking over drums, were well received, and led to their first major US appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival.

The group, especially drummer Keith Moon, were not fond of the hippie movement, and thought their violent stage act would be quite a sharp contrast to the peaceful atmosphere of the festival. Hendrix was also on the bill, and was also going to smash his guitar on stage. Townshend verbally abused Hendrix and accused him of stealing his act, and the pair argued about who should go on stage first, with the Who winning the argument. The Who's appearance at Monterey gave them recognition in the US, and "Happy Jack" reached the top 30.