( Be sure to check out our companion feature detailing the entire Monkees/Experience Tour in 1967, available now in this issue of Experience Hendrix.)

He was an icon from within a rock 'n' roll era -- not as a musician, but as a personality. Dick Clark has excited generations of music lovers with his classic television broadcasts of "American Bandstand." For more than 1,700 broadcasts, Dick Clark fascinated audiences around the world with his approach to presenting the sounds of an era. We recently caught up with Dick Clark and talked about his association with Jimi Hendrix during The Monkees first American tour.

EXPERIENCE HENDRIX: You had an earlier relationship with Chas Chandler during his time as a bassist with The Animals. What was that period like?

DICK CLARK: That was like another lifetime ago. My world is sort of confused in that way. I've lived in so many eras that I jump back to The Animals days and then you move forward a period of time. A guy who was the bass players I suppose and then in another life he becomes a manager. It's one of those strange turns and twists in the production business.

EXPERIENCE HENDRIX: Can you describe the media's perspective and following of Hendrix after his American debut at Monterey?

DICK CLARK: Without a doubt there was an attraction to Hendrix. He was hot! People who were musically knowledgeable and musically sophisticated were into it. But, that was definitely not The Monkees audience.

EXPERIENCE HENDRIX: What were the initial reactions to the pairing of Hendrix with The Monkees?

DICK CLARK: I'm positive that there must have been some concerns and skepticism raised, because anybody could have seen that it was not a compatible coupling. They [The Monkees] were in the driver seat - that's what they wanted - and the deal was made.

EXPERIENCE HENDRIX: When it quickly became apparent that the tour just couldn't continue in this current fashion, how did everyone handle the situation?

DICK CLARK: The whole thing was a disaster. Chas met me in the hotel and said, "what are we going to do? This is not a compatible combining of talents." As I recall, it was the request of The Monkees that Jimi be included in the show and be the opener. They fancied themselves as being an attractive coupling. It wasn't and the audience was totally lost. So, Chas met me and said, "what are we going to do?" And I'm like, "I think your client's going to get very sick - and we'll have to announce that he can't make it." And that, was the arrangement that we made.

EXPERIENCE HENDRIX: What happened with the tour after Hendrix departed?

DICK CLARK: This was really just another assignment [from the management perspective]. The tour was already laid out, there was an itinerary that they just fulfilled. I don't even think they replaced Jimi to tell you the truth. But I don't know that for fact.

EXPERIENCE HENDRIX: Did you meet up with Hendrix again?

DICK CLARK: No unfortunately, it was one of the few things that I regret in my life that our paths didn't cross. We didn't work on television or on personable shows. It just never came to be. It wasn't an unpleasant relationship -- we had no problems. Chas and I of course, had known each other for ever, so that wasn't a problem - it just never worked out.

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