Jimi Hendrix – The Greatest Guitarist Of All

Once in a lifetime an artist is born, who has the explosive talent capable of transforming the very core of the art that he chooses to practice. For the world of rock, that artist was Jimi Hendrix.

Hailed as the most influential and creative musician of the twentieth century by fans, critics and contemporaries alike, no other rock artist has been conferred with so many awe-inspiring superlatives. And rightly so, for Jimi Hendrix single handedly turned the sound of rock & roll on its head and infused it with mind boggling, electrifying psychedelia. Jimi Hendrix was the most iconic artist ever to grace the rock music scene.

Hendrix Introduced A New Sound To Rock & Roll

Hendrix took rock & roll into uncharted territory, where no man had ever gone before. Short of inventing it, he did the utmost in exploring the explosive possibilities of the electric guitar. With uncanny mastery, he coaxed the instrument into producing the most amazing sounds, from roaring ocean waves to subtle flutters to sounds which were almost astral and otherworldly in quality.

Playing at ear shattering volumes, he toyed with distortion, fuzz and feedback to create music that was as much rooted in tradition as it was avant-garde. He used the “wah wah” pedal and the newly introduced Marshall amplifiers to create a wholly new sound, never heard before.

The sound of Jimi Hendrix’s music has resonated through the ensuing decades to influence every musician worth his salt, from Eddie Van Halen to Sly Stone, from Miles Davis to Steve Vai. Confirming what every true guitar lover already knew, Rolling Stone magazine crowned Jimi Hendrix the undisputed #1 guitarist in its list of the 100 great guitarists of all time.

A Rock Star In The Making

Born on November 27th, 1942 at Seattle’s King County Hospital, Jimi’s mother Lucille Jeter named him Johnny Allen Hendrix. When he was 3yrs old, his father James ‘Al’ Hendrix formally renamed him as James Marshall Hendrix. After the divorce of his parents, his father took up the responsibility of his upbringing.

Jimi Hendrix had a difficult, poverty stricken childhood. The only spot of sunshine in his life was music, to which he was drawn from an early age. He loved listening to records of B.B King and Muddy Waters that his father owned. He was deeply impressed by Elvis Presley whose performance he saw in Seattle in 1957. In simulation, he would strum a straw broom and later, a one-string ukulele. Finally, Al Hendrix bought his son a second hand acoustic guitar for the princely sum of five dollars and then in the summer of 1959, his first electric guitar – a Supro Ozark 1560.

From then on, there was no looking back. Hendrix practiced guitar day and night and even slept with his guitar by his side. He did not know how to read music, but had the inherent gift of being able to play it by ear alone. Entirely self taught, he slowly developed his own playing style which was uniquely original and flamboyant. In addition, he developed the art of playing a right handed guitar with his left hand by restringing it and turning it upside down. The stage was set for the emergence of a rock star, who in the coming years would take the world by storm.

In 1961, while serving in the U.S. army, Jimi Hendrix formed his first band – The King Kasuals along with a fellow soldier Billy Cox, who was a bassist. After being honorably discharged from the army due to a parachute jump injury in 1962, Jimi worked the Chitlin circuit as a session guitarist, playing for several revue acts including Little Richard, The Isley Brothers, Sam Cooke, Ike & Tina Turner. Not content with being a backline guitarist, Jimi moved to New York to try his luck there. In New York, he formed the band Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, and spent much of his time playing gigs at small venues around Greenwich Village. Even then, Jimi stood out owing to his extraordinary guitar playing.

Around this time, while playing one evening at Café Wha?, Jimi caught the attention of Chas Chandler, bassist for the British pop group The Animals. Chas watched the wild-haired, dark skinned Jimi playing his explosive, over the top music and realized that this was no ordinary player. Chas convinced Jimi to fly to England with him. Once in England, with a new name (Jimi from Jimmy), a new manager Chas Chandler, and a new band “The Jimi Hendrix Experience“, consisting of Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums, Jimi Hendrix embarked on a scintillating musical journey that led him to the pinnacle of success.

Rock Star To Rock Legend

The Jimi Hendrix Experience took London by storm. The guitar playing of the reigning superstars of the era – Eric Clapton, The Beatles and The Who seemed tame in comparison to the ferocity of Jimi’s playing. He made the guitar look dangerous.

Having heard nothing like it before, the audience in European night clubs lapped it up. Almost overnight, the band skyrocketed to dizzying heights of success. Even the Beatles, Pete Townshend and Eric Clapton joined Jimi’s legion of fans and admirers.

Pete Townshend sums up Jimi Hendrix charisma and stage presence like this:

“I feel sad for people who have to judge Jimi Hendrix on the basis of recordings and film alone, because in the flesh he was so extraordinary. He had a kind of alchemist’s ability; when he was on the stage, he changed. He physically changed. He became incredibly graceful and beautiful.”

Three albums released in succession – Are You Experienced in 1967, Axis – Bold as Love in Jan 1968, and Electric Lady land in Dec 1968, were all super successes and established the Experience as the world’s top performers.

America remained immune to Jimi Hendrix’s charm. But that was to change with the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, where Jimi was given a chance to play, at the insistence of Paul McCartney. Jimi played an impassioned ‘Wild Thing’ which was wildly appreciated by the audience and at the end of the show, he did the impossibly outrageous and poured lighter fluid on his Fender Stratocaster and torched it. He then proceeded to smash the burning guitar and threw the pieces into the frenzied crowd. Like the crowd that night, America was swept away by the Jimi phenomenon and it was a triumphant homecoming for Jimi.

Relentless touring, the pressures of sudden fame, and various other problems led to the disbanding of the Experience in February 1969 after the release of their third album. Hendrix formed a new band Gypsy Sun and Rainbows comprising Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell, his army buddy Billy Cox, Juma Sultan and Jerry Velez. It was with this ensemble that he played at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969. The highlight of the festival was Jimi’s renegade version of The Star Spangled Banner in which he amazingly encouraged his guitar to sound like a machine gun shooting in the background.

Jimi Hendrix – The Star Spangled Banner 1969

In 1970, Jimi began work on a new album First Ray of The New Rising Sun with Billy Cox on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums. The year also saw the grand opening of Jimi’s very own recording studio Electric Lady in August 1970. He couldn’t wait to start recording in the studio but destiny decreed otherwise.

On September 18, 1970, Jimi Hendrix died in London of asphyxiation having inhaled vomit after overdosing on sleeping pills.

Jimi Hendrix death caused a huge amount of unreleased work to flood the market as posthumous releases – everything from old jams to Jimi’s BBC radio sessions to live recordings from his 1967-1970 prime to over thousand hours of unreleased material that he had recorded alone in his studio, hit the market.

Through his music, Hendrix demanded that the world take notice of him, which it did. For his fans Jimi Hendrix was God, a God that’s been resurrected by his music which lives in the heart of every guitar and rock music lover. The incandescence of Jimi’s music continues to burn bright long after his death and as long as there are music lovers, there will be an audience for The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Hendrix Facts

• Hendrix was one-quarter Cherokee, through his grandmother.

• When Jimi Hendrix was small, Al Hendrix forbade his son from playing left-handed, because he thought that playing left-handed was the sign of the Devil. So in his father’s presence, Jimi would play with the right hand but as soon as he left the room, Jimi would switch over to the left hand.

• Was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a member of The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

• Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

• Was 60% deaf by the time of his death due to constant exposure to the high volumes needed in the mixing sessions of his recordings. He would often be the only one present during these sessions as no one else could withstand the volume.

• On stage, he would play the guitar behind his back, between his legs and even with his teeth.

• Has a son by Eva Sunqvist whom he met on a Swedish tour. Eva was a virgin when Jimi toured Sweden and was initially a besotted fan that would send him roses before each gig.

Profound Jimi Hendrix Quotes

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace”

“The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye. The story of love is hello and goodbye, until we meet again”

“I will be dead in five years’ time, but while I am here I will travel many highways and I will, of necessity, die at a time when my message of love, peace and freedom can be shared with people all over the world”

R.I.P

Read more on Jimi Hendrix at the Top 10 Rock Guitarists of all time.

Scotty Smith
Guitarist Rock ©2008-2009