{"id":661,"date":"2012-06-27T14:15:23","date_gmt":"2012-06-27T13:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thebluesguitarplayer.com\/?p=661"},"modified":"2023-02-26T16:18:13","modified_gmt":"2023-02-26T16:18:13","slug":"jimi-hendrix-possibly-the-greatest-rock-guitarist-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thebluesguitarplayer.com\/?p=661","title":{"rendered":"Jimi Hendrix \u2013 Possibly the Greatest Rock Guitarist Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s hard to define a truly iconic moment in the career of James Marshall Hendrix, known otherwise to friends, family and fans as Jimi Hendrix. <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Did it happen at the end of the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Was it that legendary version of the Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Or maybe one of his many classic hits \u2013 \u201cPurple Haze\u201d, \u201cFoxy Lady\u201d and \u201cAll Along the Watchtower\u201d to name a few.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Chances are you would say all of the above \u2013 after all, this is a man many consider to be the greatest rock\u00a0and blues\u00a0guitarist of all time.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Born in Seattle, Washington on November 27, 1942 to Al and Lucille Hendrix, Jimi was originally known as Johnny Allen and renamed James Marshall, or \u201cJimmy\u201d in 1945.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The Hendrix family lived in abject poverty, and three of his four siblings were eventually sent off to foster homes.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>After years of fighting and boozing, Al and Lucille divorced in 1951 when Jimmy was nine, and seven years after that, Lucille Jeter Hendrix died of cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 32.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Hendrix would drop out of high school in 1959 \u2013 at this point, he was beginning to hone his guitar chops in a number of local bands.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Some of Hendrix\u2019s earliest influences included bluesmen B.B. and Albert King and rock \u2018n\u2019 rollers Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After a brief spell in the US Army, Hendrix became a regular in the \u201cchitlin\u2019 circuit\u201d and would soon become a sideman of choice for some of America\u2019s biggest names in R&B, including Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and Little Richard.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>After being spotted by Linda Keith (Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richard\u2019s then-girlfriend) at New York\u2019s Cheetah Club, Hendrix was endorsed to former Animals bassist Chas Chandler, who was then beginning his career in band management.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>In September 1966, Hendrix arrived in London, all set to be signed by Chandler and his partner, former Animals manager Michael Jeffery.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to the management team of Chandler and Jeffery, the slightly-renamed Jimi Hendrix became an overnight success in the UK.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Also featuring bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded three consecutive US and UK Top 5 albums together \u2013 <\/span><\/span>Are You Experienced?<\/span><\/em> and <\/span><\/span>Axis: Bold as Love<\/span><\/em> in 1967, and <\/span><\/span>Electric Ladyland<\/span><\/em> in 1968.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Shortly after the release of <\/span><\/span>Are You Experienced<\/span><\/em>?, Hendrix finally attained stardom in his homeland, with an unforgettable guitar smashing and burning finale at the Monterey Pop Festival.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Dissatisfaction within the Experience led to the power trio\u2019s unofficial breakup in June 1969, following a performance at the Denver Pop Festival.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Hendrix would then reformat his backing band, retaining Mitchell and hiring several African-American musicians, including former Army buddy Billy Cox on bass.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>This new group would appear at the Woodstock Music Festival in August 1969, an event where Hendrix\u2019s psychedelic instrumental version of the <\/span><\/span>Star-Spangled Banner<\/span><\/em> is still <\/span><\/span>the<\/span><\/em> highlight for many of those who attended.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, rock stardom began to take its toll on Hendrix, who was increasingly dependent on hallucinogenic drugs as the \u201860s ended.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>A live album Band of Gypsys was released early in 1970, and several festival performances that year were huge successes for Hendrix and his ever-changing band of backup musicians.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>However, nobody could have guessed how prophetic Hendrix\u2019s comment \u201cI\u2019ve been dead a long time\u201d would be less than two weeks later.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>This comment was made at Germany\u2019s Isle of Fehmarn Festival, where a visibly wasted Hendrix ended his set after just two songs.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jimi Hendrix died in his London flat on September 18, 1970, following what many believe was an accidental overdose of sleeping pills.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The circumstances of his death are still shrouded in mystery, but Hendrix\u2019s indelible impact on rock music as we know it is one that needs no explanation whatsoever.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s hard to define a truly iconic moment in the career of James Marshall Hendrix, known otherwise to friends, family and fans as Jimi Hendrix. \u00a0\u00a0Did it happen at the end of the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967?\u00a0 Was it that legendary version of the Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock?\u00a0 Or maybe one of his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thebluesguitarplayer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thebluesguitarplayer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thebluesguitarplayer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thebluesguitarplayer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thebluesguitarplayer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=661"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.thebluesguitarplayer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1615,"href":"http:\/\/www.thebluesguitarplayer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661\/revisions\/1615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thebluesguitarplayer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thebluesguitarplayer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thebluesguitarplayer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thebluesguitarplayer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}