Rocktorado

Jimi Hendrix in an embroidered jacket in a London recording studio in October 1967, with bassist Noel Redding in the background. Photo by Bruce Fleming. That October the Jimi Hendrix Experience was finishing Axis: Bold as Love, their second album in 1967. Are You Experienced had come out in May, and Jimi had become a star in Britain, then in America after Monterey Pop in June. The Axis sessions nearly ended in disaster. Jimi left the final mix of side one in the back of a taxi, and with the deadline looming he and engineer Eddie Kramer had to remix it overnight. The album came out in the UK on December 1, 1967, with "Little Wing," "Spanish Castle Magic," "If 6 Was 9" and "Castles Made of Sand." Jimi died in 1970 at 27, and Noel in 2003. 🎸 Axis came out that December. Which track from it is your favorite? 🎸

A young Janis Joplin in Austin, Texas, in the early 1960s, during her time at the University of Texas. Captured by Marjorie Alette. Janis grew up in Port Arthur, Texas, and at UT she found her people among the folkies and the staff of the campus humor magazine, The Texas Ranger. She sang with a trio called the Waller Creek Boys and carried her autoharp everywhere. In July 1962 the student paper, The Daily Texan, profiled her under the headline "She Dares to Be Different." It began: "She goes barefooted when she feels like it, wears Levis to class because they're more comfortable." She soon left Texas for San Francisco, and in 1966 she joined Big Brother and the Holding Company. Janis died in 1970 at just 27. 🎸 Within a few years she was fronting Big Brother and the Holding Company. Which Janis song is your favorite? 🎸

The Doors sitting on top of their own billboard on the Sunset Strip in early 1967, while workers finish putting it up below. Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman paid for the giant ad to promote the band's debut album, The Doors, released that January. Billboards for rock records were almost unheard of at the time, and this one went up on the Strip just down the road from the clubs where the band had cut its teeth, like the Whisky a Go Go. "I think us climbing up there was a stunt for the LA Times," John Densmore told MOJO. "Thank God nobody fell down! The LA Times guy said, 'Why are you doing this? You can't hear a billboard.'" Within months, "Light My Fire" was the No. 1 single in America. Jim Morrison died in 1971 at 27, and Ray Manzarek in 2013. 🎸 "Light My Fire" hit No. 1 that July. What's your favorite track from the debut? 🎸

Joan Jett in an early 1980s portrait, the leather and shag years when she went from former Runaway to solo star. After the Runaways split in 1979, Joan teamed up with producer and songwriter Kenny Laguna. Her first solo album was turned down by 23 record labels, so the two of them pressed it themselves and started Blackheart Records to put it out. It became Bad Reputation, and the title track is still one of the great punk-tinged anthems. With the Blackhearts behind her, Joan cut "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," a song first recorded by the Arrows. In 1982 it spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and her cover of "Crimson and Clover" made the Top 10 right after it. 🎸 Joan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. What's your favorite Joan Jett song? 🎸

The Sex Pistols in 1977: Steve Jones, Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten and Paul Cook, photographed outside manager Malcolm McLaren's Glitterbest office off Oxford Street, London. Photo: Adrian Boot. It was the band's wildest year. Sid joined in early 1977 after Glen Matlock left, and the band got through two record deals before landing at Virgin. "God Save the Queen" came out in time for the Queen's Silver Jubilee, was banned by the BBC and still reached No. 2. In October, Never Mind the Bollocks went to No. 1. Adrian Boot later said John Lydon was intelligent and "didn't suffer fools," and that he only photographed the Pistols two or three times. Within months the band split after their US tour, and Sid died in February 1979 at 21. 🎸 Sid replaced Glen Matlock on bass in early 1977. Which Sex Pistols song is your favorite? 🎸