I’ll never forget the first time I saw Jimi. He was in London in 1967 with his manager Chas Chandler. Chas had booked Jimi into a couple of the hottest clubs in town as showcase gigs for him. I really hadn’t heard that much about him except that his stage show was supposed to be pretty wild. Eric Clapton called me up the day of Jimi’s first show and said we ought to go check him out. It was like keeping an eye on the competition. Well, as it turned out, I was delayed a few minutes because of a recording date, so Eric and I arrived at the show a little late. Just as we’re walking in, who should we see walking out but Jeff Beck. I pulled Jeff aside and asked him, "What’s the matter mate, is he that bad?" Beck could only roll his eyes upward and say, "No, Pete, he’s that good." . . .

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