Editing Jimi Hendrix (section)

==== UK success ====
In mid-October 1966, Chandler arranged an engagement for the Experience as [[Johnny Hallyday]]'s supporting act during a brief tour of France.{{sfn|McDermott|2009|p=22}} Thus, the Jimi Hendrix Experience performed their first show on October 13, 1966, at the Novelty in [[Evreux]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hendrix.free.fr/concerts/1966.htm |title=Concerts 1966 |date=2014 |website=hendrix.free.fr |access-date=December 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220050450/http://hendrix.free.fr/concerts/1966.htm |archive-date=December 20, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> Their enthusiastically received 15-minute performance at the [[Olympia (Paris)|Olympia]] theatre in Paris on October 18 marks the earliest known recording of the band.{{sfn|McDermott|2009|p=22}} In late October, [[Kit Lambert]] and [[Chris Stamp]], managers of [[the Who]], signed the Experience to their newly formed label, [[Track Records]], and the group recorded their first song, "Hey Joe", on October 23.<ref>{{harvnb|Shadwick|2003|pp=89–90}}; {{harvnb|Shapiro|Glebbeek|1995|p=524}}.</ref> "[[Stone Free]]", which was Hendrix's first songwriting effort after arriving in England, was recorded on November 2.{{sfn|McDermott|2009|pp=22–24}}

From November 8 to 11, 1966, the Jimi Hendrix Experience had a short residency at the [[Big Apple (club)|Big Apple]] club in [[Munich]], their first gigs in Germany. At this occasion Hendrix had a show experience that would define him from then on: when trying to escape in panic from a frenetic audience that had pulled him off the stage, he smashed his guitar for the first time in a sound explosion on stage, which was perceived by the audience as part of the show.<ref name="redding">{{cite book |title=Are You Experienced? The Inside Story of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. |last1=Redding |first1=Noel |last2=Appleby |first2=Carol |publisher=[[Picador (imprint)|Picador]] |location=London |year=1990 |isbn=0-330-31923-X}}</ref> Observing the audience's reaction, Chandler decided that this show of violence had to become a permanent feature of the Experience's show.<ref name="adams">{{cite book |title=The Grail Guitar: The Search for Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze Telecaster |last=Adams |first=Chris |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-1442246799}}</ref>

In mid-November, they performed at [[the Bag O'Nails]] nightclub in London, with Clapton, [[John Lennon]], [[Paul McCartney]], [[Jeff Beck]], [[Pete Townshend]], [[Brian Jones]], [[Mick Jagger]], and [[Kevin Ayers]] in attendance.{{sfn|Shadwick|2003|p=91}} Ayers described the crowd's reaction as stunned disbelief: "All the stars were there, and I heard serious comments, you know 'shit', 'Jesus', 'damn' and other words worse than that."{{sfn|Shadwick|2003|p=91}} The performance earned Hendrix his first interview, published in ''[[Record Mirror]]'' with the headline: "Mr. Phenomenon".{{sfn|Shadwick|2003|p=91}} "Now hear this&nbsp;... we predict that [Hendrix] is going to whirl around the business like a tornado", wrote [[Bill Harry]], who asked the rhetorical question: "Is that full, big, swinging sound really being created by only three people?"{{sfn|Shadwick|2003|pp=91–92}} Hendrix said: "We don't want to be classed in any category&nbsp;... If it must have a tag, I'd like it to be called, 'Free Feeling'. It's a mixture of rock, freak-out, rave and blues".{{sfn|Shadwick|2003|p=92}} Through a distribution deal with [[Polydor Records]], the Experience's first single, "Hey Joe", backed with "Stone Free", was released on December 16, 1966.{{sfn|McDermott|2009|p=28}} After appearances on the UK television shows ''[[Ready Steady Go!]]'' and ''[[Top of the Pops]]'', "Hey Joe" entered the UK charts on December 29 and peaked at number six.<ref>{{harvnb|Shadwick|2003|p=93}}; {{harvnb|Heatley|2009|p=59}}.</ref> Further success came in March 1967 with the UK number three hit "[[Purple Haze]]", and in May with "[[The Wind Cries Mary]]", which remained on the UK charts for eleven weeks, peaking at number six.{{sfn|Roberts|2005|p=232}} On March 12, 1967, he performed at the Troutbeck Hotel, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, where, after about 900 people turned up (the hotel was licensed for 250) the local police stopped the gig due to safety concerns.<ref>{{Cite web| url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/content/articles/2006/09/18/hendrix_ilkley_feature.shtml| title = Hendrix plays Ilkley!| website = [[BBC]] Bradford and West Yorkshire| access-date = April 21, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180509170014/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/content/articles/2006/09/18/hendrix_ilkley_feature.shtml| archive-date = May 9, 2018| url-status = live}}</ref>

On March 31, 1967, while the Experience waited to perform at the [[London Astoria]], Hendrix and Chandler discussed ways in which they could increase the band's media exposure. When Chandler asked journalist Keith Altham for advice, Altham suggested that they needed to do something more dramatic than the stage show of the Who, which involved the smashing of instruments. Hendrix joked: "Maybe I can smash up an elephant", to which Altham replied: "Well, it's a pity you can't set fire to your guitar".{{sfn|McDermott|2009|p=41}} Chandler then asked road manager Gerry Stickells to procure some [[Naphtha|lighter fluid]]. During the show, Hendrix gave an especially dynamic performance before setting his guitar on fire at the end of a 45-minute set. In the wake of the stunt, members of London's press labeled Hendrix the "Black Elvis" and the "Wild Man of Borneo".{{sfn|McDermott|2009|pp=41–42}}{{refn|group=nb|This guitar has now been identified as the guitar acquired and later restored by [[Frank Zappa]]. He used it to record his album ''[[Zoot Allures]]'' (1971). When Zappa's son, [[Dweezil Zappa]], found the guitar some 20 years later, Zappa gave it to him.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2219161.stm|title=Hendrix's burnt guitar for sale|work=BBC News|date=August 27, 2002|access-date=January 10, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203102300/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2219161.stm|archive-date=December 3, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

An enduring urban legend in the UK maintains that a possible explanation for the [[Feral parakeets in Great Britain|feral parakeets that have appeared in Great Britain]] since the mid-20th century may derive from a single pair of the birds that were released by Hendrix on [[Carnaby Street]] in the 1960s.<ref name="bbc-wild">{{cite news |title=Wild parrots settle in suburbs |date=July 6, 2004 |website=[[BBC News]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3869815.stm |access-date=October 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171030111340/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/3869815.stm |archive-date=October 30, 2017}}</ref><ref name="telegraph-noisy">{{cite news |last=Copping |first=Jasper |date=April 20, 2014 |title=Noisy parakeets 'drive away' native birds |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/10776252/Noisy-parakeets-drive-away-native-birds.html |url-status=live |access-date=October 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171030101636/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/10776252/Noisy-parakeets-drive-away-native-birds.html |archive-date=October 30, 2017}}</ref><ref name="guardian-exotic">{{cite news |last=Oliver |first=Brian |date=July 1, 2017 |title=Exotic and colourful – But should parakeets be culled? ask scientists |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/01/parakeet-cull-british-farms-birds-vineyards-research-uk |access-date=October 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170714175715/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/01/parakeet-cull-british-farms-birds-vineyards-research-uk |archive-date=July 14, 2017}}</ref><ref name = MCooper>{{Cite web|last=Cooper|first=Matthew|date=February 16, 2019|title=Why are there so many parakeets in south Manchester? These are the wild theories that might just be true|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/many-parakeets-south-manchester-wild-15642144|access-date=August 1, 2023|website=[[Manchester Evening News]]|language=en}}</ref> According to a study, however, which mapped historical news reports of sightings of the birds, the myth is not true.<ref name = EDLH>{{Cite web|last1=Davies|first1=Ella|last2=Hendry|first2=Lisa| date=November 30, 2021|title=Wild parakeets in the UK: exotic delights or a potential problem?|url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/ring-necked-parakeets-in-london-and-uk.html|access-date=August 1, 2023|website=[[Natural History Museum, London|nhm.ac.uk]]|language=en}}</ref>