We did about 10 days there on a bill that had around 20 acts on, five times a day. It was the first time The Hollies had been to America, and we played at the Paramount Theatre in Times Square. Graham Nash: I first met Jimi in 1965, when he was playing guitar in Little Richard’s band.
I told him that if he quit Curtis Knight he could come and play at Ondine’s and I’d feed him and pay him something. I told Jimi he should get himself into another group. Curtis was basically imitating James Brown, but he wasn’t really that good. He told me about this group, Curtis Knight & The Squires, but mainly about their guitarist, Jimi Hendrix. The Doors came first and then Buffalo Springfield. In New York we had the Lovin’ Spoonful and the Young Rascals but that was about it. They used to have house bands, but I used to bring in groups from elsewhere because London, San Francisco and Los Angeles were where it was happening. Chas Chandler, who was a member of The Animals, turned out to be Jimi’s first manager.īradley Pierce (promoter): The first real disco on the East Side of Manhattan was Ondine’s in the beginning of 1964. Who’s the guitar player they’ve got? Not the right-handed guy, the guy that’s left-handed?”. They’ve got a very dynamic live thing that they’re doing. Ernie Isley: When Eric Burdon and The Animals first came to the United States in 1964 and happened to do some shows with my older brothers, they were saying, “You know the Isley Brothers with that one-two punch of Shout and Twist And Shout.