Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix was a singer songwriter and inspired guitarist born in 1942.  He is one of the most influencial electric guitarist across a wide range of music genres.  One of Jimi Hendrixes favourite singers was Elvis Presley.

His father was in the army in world war II but after his honarable discharge he could not find full time work and so Jimi Hendrix's youth was impoverished.  His mother died from alchol when Jimi Hendrix was 15 and around this time Jimy Hendrix bought his first acoustic guitar which he taught himself to play.  The following year his father bought him his first electric guitar, a white Supro Osark and he learnt most of  stage moves from local bands.  Jimi Hendrix started playing in local bands such as The Velvetones and Rocking Kings and when his guitarr got stolen after a show it was replaceed with a white Silvertone Danelectro.  He painted this red and wrote "Betty Jean" on it after a girlfriend.

Jimi Hendrix enrolled in the army in 1961 because he got in trouble for riding in stolen cars.  He did not like the army and did not show much apptitude for it and was discharged after serving 1 year of a 2 year stint.  He did meet Billy Cox, a bassist there and they formed a lasting friendship and performed many times together.

After the army Jimi Hendrix and Billy Cox moved to Clarksville, Tennessee and started to make a living from music.  It has here that Hendrix learnt to play with his teeth because it was a very common trick in Tennessee.  The band then moved to Nashville, the home of rhythm and blues and called themselves "King Casuals".  For the next couple of year Jimi Hendrix toured the south playing to mainly black audiences and the audiences were very demanding which meant Hendrix refined his style.  He also performed in various soul and R&B groups on backing vocals.

In 1964 Jimi Hendrix decided it was time to tackle New York and he moved to Harlem and started going out with Lithofayne Pridgeon (Faye) who had many connections in the music industry. Eventually Jimi Hendrix was offered a guitarist position with the Isley Brothers backup band.  His first studio recording was with the Isley Brothers on "Testify" which did not reach the charts.  He toured for a while with the Isley Brothers but soon grew bored and left.  He was now calling himselft Maurice James and he began recording with Little Richard and he was later to say "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice."  He flitted around from band to band including Buddy and Stacy, Ike and Tina Turner, Curtis Knight, Joey Dee and the Starliters.  In 1965 he signed a 3 year deal with Ed Chalpin receiving 1% of royalties and this caused alot of problems later on in his career with royalties.

Jimi Hendrix played and toured with various R&B, jazz and rockabilly acts until in 1966 he was introduced to Chas Chandler who liked the song "Hey Joe"  and thought Jimi Hendrix's version could be a hit.  The Jimi Hendrix Experiance was formed and his popularity started to spread throughout London.  His showmanship made him popular with Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend and Jeff Beck.  His first hit was with "Hey Joe"  which  is an American traditional or folk song made into a rock anthem by various groups.  He made the song quite slow and added a female backing group.  Jimi Hendrix songs were often build around the 7#9 chord and this sound contributes to the dirty and raw sound of many of Jimi Hendrix's songs.  The earliest recording of this sound is in the Isley Brothers song "testify".  By 1967 he had had top 10 hits with Purple Haze and "The Wind Cries Mary" and Jimi Hendrix was catapulted into the limelight.

What caught peoples attention most was his flash guitar playing which had an arsenal of devices including wah-wah pedals, buzzing feedback solos, distorted riffs and lightening scales.  Jimi Hendrix wrote his own songs and sang them with passion.

Jimi Hendrix's only albums were "Are you Experienced", "Axis: Bold as Love", "Electric Ladybird"

Jimi Hendrix pioneered the studio as a recording instrument by manipulating electronics and devising overdub techniques.  His influence on rock, popular and funk music is immense as he took a sonically heavy but technically perfect guitar sound to a whole new level.

He is ranked at number 3 in the VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock behind Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.

Jimi Hendrix died on the 18th September 1970 from an overdose of sleeping tablets.  He is one of the 27 Club whose members are iconic rock stars from the 1960's who died at 27 from drug related deaths.  Other members are Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain.