Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (November 27, 1942 - September 18, 1970) was a
Blues/rock guitarist, Top 40 act and an undisputed guitar innovator whose
recordings during the psychedelic era helped to redefine the sound of the
electric guitar which also proved an inspiration for heavy metal music.
Born in Seattle, Washington, he followed a medical discharge from the 101st
Airborne Division (from a broken ankle after a parachute jump). Hendrix, who
had been playing guitar (lefthanded) since childhood, initially made his
living supporting touring soul and blues musicians, including Curtis Knight,
B. B. King and Little Richard during 1965. His first notice came from
appearances with The Isley Brothers, notably on the two-parter "Testify" in
1964. On October 15, 1965, Hendrix signs a three year recording contract
with Ed Chaplin, receiving $1 and 1% royalty on records with Curtis Knight.
The agreement will later cause continuous litigation problems with Hendrix
and other record labels.
By 1966 he had his own band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, and a
residency at the Cafe Wha? in New York City. While with the Blue Flames, he
was discovered by Chas Chandler, of British rock group The Animals, who
brought him to England, where Chandler as the record producer helped Hendrix
form a new band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience with bassist Noel Redding and
drummer Mitch Mitchell.
After a few concerts, the band started to gain a reputation amongst their
contemporaries, impressing Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, as well as members of
The Beatles and The Who, who signed him to their record label. This promise
was borne out in their first single, a cover of "Hey Joe", a stylized blues
song that was virtually a standard for rock bands at the time.
Further success came with the follow-up, the incendiary original "Purple
Haze", whose heavily distorted guitar sound would be highly influential for
the next 20 years, and the ballad "The Wind Cries Mary". These three songs
were all Top 10 hits. 1967 also saw the release of the group's first album,
Are You Experienced, whose mix of melodic ballads ("Remember"), pop-rock
("Fire"), psychedelia ("Third Stone From The Sun") and traditional blues
("Red House") would prove the template for much of their later work. Hendrix
is taken to hospital suffering burns to his hands after setting his guitar
on fire for the first time at the Astoria Theatre in London on March 31,
1967. He is later warned by Rank Theatre management to "tone down" his stage
act after causing damage to amplifiers and stage equipment at his shows.
At the instigation of Paul McCartney the band was booked for the Monterey
Pop Festival, and the concert, featuring Hendrix's iconic burning and
smahing guitar, was immortalised by filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker in his film
Monterey Pop. The Montery festival was seen as a triumphant homecoming. This
was followed by a short tour opening for the pop group The Monkees, who
asked for him simply because they wanted to see him play. Unfortunately, the
Monkees' audience didn't warm to Hendrix and he quit the tour just as
"Purple Haze" began to chart. Chas Chandler later admitted that being thrown
off The Monkees tour was designed to give maximum media impact and outrage
for Hendrix given the complaints from the conservative Daughters of the
American Revolution.
Meanwhile back in England, Hendrix's wild-man image and musical gimmickry
(such as appearing to play guitar with his teeth) continued to garner him
publicity. 1967 also saw the release of his second album. Axis: Bold as Love
was in the vein of the album Are You Experienced, with tracks such as
"Little Wing" and "If 6 Was 9" showing his continuing mastery of his
instrument. However, increasing personality differences with Noel Redding
combined with the influence of drugs and alcohol led to a disasterous tour
of Scandinavia. On January 4, 1968, Hendrix is jailed by Stockholm police,
after trashing a hotel room during a drunken fist fight with Redding.
The band's third recording, the double album Electric Ladyland 1968 , was
more eclectic and experimental, featuring a lengthy blues jam ("Voodoo
Chile"), the jazz inflected "Still Raining, Still Dreaming" and what is
probably the definitive version of Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower".
(Hendrix credited British band The Alan Bown for inspiration on the
arrangement.) The recording of the album was extremely problematic, with
Hendrix's work habits becoming erratic and a studio filled with his
hangers-on caused longtime producer Chandler to quit on December 1, 1968.
Chandler complained that Hendrix's insistence on doing multiple takes on
every song ("Gypsy Eyes" apparently took 43 takes and he still wasn't
satisfied with the result) combined with Hendrix's incoherence caused by
drug addiction, led to him to sell his share of the management to Mike Jeffrey.
Despite this, many of the album tracks show Hendrix's expansion beyond the
scope of the original trio (it is said that the sound of this record would
help inspire Miles Davis' sound on Bitches Brew). Due to this expansion of
horizons, and a deterioration in his relationship with his bandmates (and
particularly Redding), the Experience broke up. His relations with the
public also came to a head when on January 4, 1969 he was accused by
television producers of being arrogant after playing an impromptu version of
"Sunshine of your Love" past his alotted timeslot on the BBC1 show Happening
for Lulu. Later on May 3 he is arrested at Toronto International Airport
after heroin is found in his luggage. He is later bailed for $10,000 US. On
June 29, Noel Redding formally announces to the media that he has quit the
Jimi Hendrix Experience, although he effectively ceased to be with Hendrix
during most of the recording of Electric Ladyland.
By August of 1969, however, Hendrix had formed a new band in order to play
the Woodstock festival. The set, while notably under-rehearsed, ragged, and
played out to a slowly emptying field of revellers, featured an improvised
instrumental version of "The Star Spangled Banner", distorted almost beyond
recognition, clearly symbolic of the unrest in US society over both civil
rights issues and the Vietnam War. "The Star Spangled Banner" was an instant
classic. The inspiration was politically motivated and it was the cry of the
new generation.
The Woodstock band was short lived, and Hendrix formed a new trio, Band Of
Gypsys, comprising Billy Cox, an old army buddy, on bass and Buddy Miles on
drums, for two concerts around New Year 1969/70. His association with Miles
however was not to last and ended abruptly during a concert at Madison
Square Gardens on January 28, 1970, when Hendrix walked out after playing
just two songs, telling the audience "I'm sorry we just can't get it
together". Miles later stated during a television interview that Hendrix
felt he was losing the spotlight to other musicians. The rest of that year
was spent recording sporadically, often with Mitchell, and attempting to
carry out the Rainbow Bridge project, an ambitious combination of
film/album/concert set in Hawaii. On July 26, Hendrix plays at his hometown
of Seattle at Sicks Stadium, where under the influence of drugs starts
verbally abusing members of the audience.
In August he played at the Isle of Wight festival with Mitchell and Cox,
expressing disappointment onstage at his fans' clamour to hear his old hits
rather than his new ideas. On September 6, during his final European tour,
Hendrix is greeted by booing and jeering by German fans at his late
appearance on stage and incoherent stage performance. Bassist Billy Cox
quits the tour and heads back to the United States as a result. Hendrix
remained in England, and on September 18th, he died in a barbiturate-induced
coma. His body was returned home and he was interred in the Greenwood
Memorial Park, Renton, Washington, USA.
He left behind more than 300 unreleased recordings, and became legendary as
one of the 1960's rock-n-roll musicians, like Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison,
to 'go on to the next world' at so young an age.
Hendrix's musicianship along with his lyrical style definitely created a
unique 'experience'. Still today, not all Jimi Hendrix' musical
configurations are known.
Jimi Hendrix, a 20th century music artist, is still being listened to in the
next century, around the world, by new generations of music lovers. His
material can be found in many new media forms - VHS, CD, DVD - doing live
performances and personal interviews. Jimi Hendrix stepped into his own mind
and experiences, shared it with the world, and so changed millions of
peoples formulated ideas about music. As with other loved musicians, Jimi
Hendrix' music is known to 'speak' to one's soul.
