TODAY IN ROCK AND ROLL HISTORY - 12/16/1966

Polydor Records releases Jimi Hendrix's first single, "Hey Joe". The record made it to number 6 in the UK, but failed to chart at all in America. He followed with "Purple Haze", "The Wind Cries Mary", "All Along the Watchtower" and "Voodoo Chile", all of which made the British Top 10, but in America, only "All Along the Watchtower" reached the Top 40, peaking at number 20.