| James Marshall ‘Jimi’ Hendrix is one of the greatest and most influential electric guitarists in the world of rock music. His most famous stage performance was the one at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, where he did a rendition of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’. Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington. He was one of the few artists who played their guitars left-handed and that too on a right-handed Fender Stratocaster. He pushed the boundaries of the electric guitar, incorporating different sounds using distortion, feedback and the Cry Baby Pedal.Hendrix’s influences revolved around the blues, Rn’B, and soul. He built his style around artists like B.B. King, Buddy Guy, T-bone Walker, Curtis Mayfield, Little Richard and Muddy Waters. Hendrix’s first band was called ‘The Velvetones’, but this was in his younger years. He was discovered only in 1966 when Linda Keith told Chas Chandler, bassist of the band ‘The Animals’ about Jimi. Chandler after listening to Jimi flew him to London, where, with manager Michael Jeffrey signed a contract and formed the band ‘The Jimi Hendrix Experience’. Jimi set his guitar on fire after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival, which he called a sacrifice. 1967 was Jimi’s biggest year; he had 4 singles on the UK charts and 2 albums on the UK and US charts. He recorded 3 studio albums; ‘Are You Experienced?’, ‘Axis: Bold as Love’ and ‘Electric Ladyland’. He also had many of his live performances recorded on tape and his most noted is the album ‘Band of Gypsys’. Jimi Hendrix passed away on September 18, 1970 after choking on his own vomit. His posthumous release, ‘Voodoo Child’ went to #1 on the music charts. In 1992, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Jimi Hendrix once quoted,”We call it ‘Electric Church Music’ because to us music is a religion.” |
