The Jimi Hendrix Experience French Tour 1966


The French Tour 1966 was a short concert tour by American-British psychedelic rock band The Jimi Hendrix Experience. The tour began on October 13, 1966, concluded on October 18, 1966 and featured four shows. On all four dates, The Experience were supporting Long Chris, The Blackbirds and Johnny Hallyday; The Brian Auger Trinity also performed, before headliner Hallyday, on the final date.

Band members

The 1966 tour of France marked the first show performed by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, on October 13. This was only one week after the formation of the band, after drummer Mitch Mitchell joined on October 6.
The set lists for the first three dates of the tour remain unclear, though are known to have included "Hey Joe", planned as the band's first single; Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor"; "Land of a Thousand Dances", popularised by Wilson Picket; Otis Redding's "Respect"; and Don Covay's "Mercy, Mercy", which Hendrix usually referred to as "Have Mercy". "Killing Floor" and "Hey Joe" were retained for the final date at the Olympia, to which rock standard "Wild Thing" was added as a finale; this was the first Experience performance recorded.

Tour dates