Radio Station EXP: A Jimi Hendrix Podcast

It's October 1966.

The US military sends more troops to Vietnam, while privately advising LBJ that the war doesn't seem winnable.

The "Black Power" movement begins.

Congress approves the NFL-AFL merger as part of a backroom deal, paving the way for the first "Super Bowl."

Rumors swirl that The Beatles are breaking up.

And Jimi Hendrix stuns Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, and Paul McCartney, forms The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and starts recording.

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As September 1966 unfolds against the backdrop of an escalating Vietnam War and the civil rights movement, Chas Chandler, the former bassist for The Animals, scrambles to secure a passport, dodge problematic contracts, and whisk an unknown guitarist named “Jimmy James” across the Atlantic to London. Within days of arriving, the guitarist—now called “Jimi Hendrix”—stuns British rock royalty in late-night club sessions, signs to a brand-new record label, and auditions a young guitarist named Noel Redding to form what would become the Jimi Hendrix Experience. This episode traces the pivotal month when an unknown, struggling musician from Greenwich Village became the man who would dethrone Eric Clapton.

In the series premiere of Radio Station EXP, travel back exactly 60 years to August 1966—the crucial turning point in Jimi Hendrix’s rise to stardom. Set against the tumultuous backdrop of the Vietnam War escalation, MLK’s Chicago Freedom Movement, and the Beatles’ "More popular than Jesus" tour controversy, this episode explores Jimi’s days as "Jimmy James" in New York’s Greenwich Village. Featuring exclusive firsthand recollections from an eyewitness who saw Jimi perform, we recount the last month of Jimi's "struggling artist" period and the catalyst for the chain reaction that would soon catapult him to London and global fame.