James Marshall "Jimi"Hendrix (bornJohnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an Americanguitarist,singer, andsongwriter. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a part of his band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the institution describes him as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history ofrock music".[1]
Hendrix began playing guitar at age 15. In 1961, he enlisted in the US Army, but was discharged the following year. Soon afterward, he moved toClarksville, thenNashville, Tennessee, and began playing gigs on theChitlin' Circuit, earning a place inthe Isley Brothers' backing band and later withLittle Richard, with whom he continued to work through mid-1965. He then played withCurtis Knight and the Squires.
Hendrix was inspired by Americanrock and roll andelectric blues. He favoredoverdriven amplifiers with high volume andgain, and was instrumental in popularizing the previously undesirable sounds caused by guitar amplifierfeedback. He was also one of the first guitarists to make extensive use of tone-alteringeffects units in mainstream rock, such as fuzz distortion,Octavia,wah-wah, andUni-Vibe. He was the first musician to use stereophonicphasing effects in recordings. Holly George-Warren ofRolling Stone commented: "Hendrix pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. Players before him had experimented with feedback and distortion, but Hendrix turned those effects and others into a controlled, fluid vocabulary every bit as personal as the blues with which he began."[3]
Ancestry and childhood
Hendrix's paternal grandparents, Ross and Nora Hendrix, pre-1912
Hendrix was ofAfrican-American and allegedCherokee descent.[nb 1] His paternal grandfather, Bertran Philander Ross Hendrix, was born in 1866 from an extramarital affair between a woman named Fanny and a wealthygrain merchant.[10][nb 2] Hendrix's paternal grandmother, Zenora "Nora" Rose Moore, was a former dancer and vaudeville performer who co-foundedFountain Chapel inHogan's Alley.[12] Hendrix and Moore relocated toVancouver, Canada, where they had a son they named James Allen Hendrix on June 10, 1919; the family called him "Al".[13]
In 1941, after moving toSeattle, Washington, Al met Lucille Jeter at a dance; they married on March 31, 1942.[14] Lucille's father (Jimi's maternal grandfather) was Preston Jeter, whose mother was born in similar circumstances as Bertran Hendrix.[15] Lucille's mother, Clarice (née Lawson), had African-American ancestors who had been enslaved people.[16] Al, who had been drafted by the US Army to serve inWorld War II, left to begin his basic training three days after the wedding.[17] Johnny Allen Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942, in Seattle; he was the first of Lucille's five children. In 1946, Johnny's parents changed his name to James Marshall Hendrix, in honor of Al and his late brother Leon Marshall.[18][nb 3]
Stationed in Alabama at the time of Hendrix's birth, Al was denied the standard military furlough afforded servicemen for childbirth; his commanding officer placed him in the stockade to prevent him from goingAWOL to see his infant son. He spent two months locked up without trial, during which he received a telegram announcing his son's birth.[12][nb 4] During Al's three-year absence, Lucille struggled to raise their son.[22] Hendrix was mostly cared for by family members and friends, especially Lucille's sister Delores Hall and her friend Dorothy Harding.[23] Al received anhonorable discharge from the US Army on September 1, 1945. Two months later, unable to find Lucille, Al went to theBerkeley, California, home of a family friend named Mrs. Champ, who had taken care of and attempted to adopt Hendrix; this is where Al saw his son for the first time.[24]
After returning from service, Al reunited with Lucille, but his inability to find steady work left the family impoverished. They both struggled with alcohol, and often fought when intoxicated. The violence sometimes drove Hendrix to withdraw and hide in a closet in their home.[25] His relationship with his brotherLeon (born 1948) was close but precarious; with Leon in and out of foster care, they lived with an almost constant threat of fraternal separation.[26] In addition to Leon, Hendrix had three younger siblings: Joseph, born in 1949, Kathy in 1950, and Pamela in 1951, all of whom Al and Lucille gave up to foster care and adoption.[27] The family frequently moved, staying in cheap hotels and apartments around Seattle. On occasion, family members would take Hendrix to Vancouver to stay at his grandmother's. A shy and sensitive boy, he was deeply affected by his life experiences.[28] In later years, he confided to a girlfriend that he had been the victim of sexual abuse by a man in uniform.[29] On December 17, 1951, when Hendrix was nine years old, his parents divorced; the court granted Al custody of him and Leon.[30]
First instruments
At Horace Mann Elementary School in Seattle during the mid-1950s, Hendrix's habit of carrying a broom with him to emulate a guitar gained the attention of the school's social worker. After more than a year of his clinging to a broom like asecurity blanket, she wrote a letter requesting school funding intended for underprivileged children, insisting that leaving him without a guitar might result in psychological damage.[31] Her efforts failed, and Al refused to buy him a guitar.[31][nb 5]
In 1957, while helping his father with a side-job, Hendrix found aukulele among the garbage they were removing from an older woman's home. She told him that he could keep the instrument, which had only one string.[33] Learning by ear, he played single notes, following along toElvis Presley songs, particularly "Hound Dog".[34][nb 6] By the age of 33, Hendrix's mother Lucille had developedcirrhosis of the liver, and on February 2, 1958, she died when herspleen ruptured.[36] Al refused to take James and Leon to attend their mother's funeral; he instead gave them shots ofwhiskey and told them that was how men should deal with loss.[36][nb 7] In 1958, Hendrix completed his studies atWashington Junior High School and began attending, but did not graduate from,Garfield High School.[37][nb 8]
In mid-1958, at age 15, Hendrix acquired his first acoustic guitar, for $5[40] (equivalent to $54 in 2024). He played for hours daily, watching others and learning from more experienced guitarists, and listening toblues artists such asMuddy Waters,B.B. King,Howlin' Wolf, andRobert Johnson.[41] The first tune Hendrix learned to play was the television theme "Peter Gunn".[42] Around that time, Hendrix jammed with boyhood friendSammy Drain and his keyboard-playing brother.[43] In 1959, attending a concert byHank Ballard &The Midnighters in Seattle, Hendrix met the group's guitaristBilly Davis.[44] Davis showed him some guitar licks and got him a short gig with the Midnighters.[45] The two remained friends until Hendrix's death in 1970.[46]
Soon after he acquired the acoustic guitar, Hendrix formed his first band, the Velvetones. Without an electric guitar, he could barely be heard over the sound of the group. After about three months, he realized that he needed an electric guitar.[47] In mid-1959, his father relented and bought him a whiteSupro Ozark.[47] Hendrix's first gig was with an unnamed band in the Jaffe Room of Seattle'sTemple De Hirsch, but they fired him between sets for showing off.[48] He joined the Rocking Kings, which played professionally at venues such as the Birdland club. When his guitar was stolen after he left it backstage overnight, Al bought him a redSilvertoneDanelectro.[49]
Military service
Hendrix in the US Army, 1961
Before Hendrix was 19 years old, law authorities had twice caught himriding in stolen cars. Given a choice between prison or joining theArmy, he chose the latter and enlisted on May 31, 1961.[50] After completing eight weeks ofbasic training atFort Ord, California, he was assigned to the101st Airborne Division and stationed atFort Campbell, Kentucky.[51] He arrived on November 8, and soon afterward he wrote to his father: "There's nothing but physical training and harassment here for two weeks, then when you go to jump school ... you get hell. They work you to death, fussing and fighting."[52] In his next letter home, Hendrix, who had left his guitar in Seattle at the home of his girlfriend Betty Jean Morgan, asked his father to send it to him as soon as possible, stating: "I really need it now."[52] His father obliged and sent the red Silvertone Danelectro on which Hendrix had hand-painted the words "Betty Jean" to Fort Campbell.[53] His apparent obsession with the instrument contributed to his neglect of his duties, which led to taunting and physical abuse from his peers, who at least once hid the guitar from him until he had begged for its return.[54] In November 1961, fellow servicemanBilly Cox walked past an army club and heard Hendrix playing.[55] Impressed by Hendrix's technique, which Cox described as a combination of "John Lee Hooker andBeethoven", Cox borrowed a bass guitar and the twojammed.[56] Within weeks, they began performing at base clubs on the weekends with other musicians in a loosely organized band, the Casuals.[57]
Hendrix completed hisparatrooper training and, on January 11, 1962, Major GeneralCharles W. G. Rich awarded him the prestigiousScreaming Eagles patch.[52] By February, his personal conduct had begun to draw criticism from his superiors. They labeled him an unqualified marksman and often caught him napping while on duty and failing to report for bed checks.[58] On May 24, Hendrix's platoon sergeant, James C. Spears, filed a report in which he stated: "He has no interest whatsoever in the Army ... It is my opinion that Private Hendrix will never come up to the standards required of a soldier. I feel that the military service will benefit if he is discharged as soon as possible."[59] On June 29, 1962, Hendrix was granted ageneral discharge under honorable conditions.[60] Hendrix later spoke of his dislike of the army and that he had received a medical discharge after breaking his ankle during his 26th parachute jump,[61][nb 9] but no Army records have been produced that indicate that he received or was discharged for any injuries.[63]
Career
Early years
In September 1962, after Cox was discharged from the Army, he and Hendrix moved about 20 miles (32 km) across the state line from Fort Campbell toClarksville, Tennessee, and formed a band, the King Kasuals.[64] In Seattle, Hendrix saw Butch Snipes play with his teeth and now the Kasuals' second guitarist, Alphonso "Baby Boo" Young, was performing this guitar gimmick.[65] Not to be upstaged, Hendrix also learned to play in this way. He later explained: "The idea of doing that came to me... in Tennessee. Down there you have to play with your teeth or else you get shot. There's a trail of broken teeth all over the stage."[66]
Although they began playing low-paying gigs at obscure venues, the band eventually moved toNashville's Jefferson Street, which was the traditional heart of the city's black community and home to a thrivingrhythm and blues music scene.[67] They earned a brief residency playing at a popular venue in town, the clubDel Morocco, and for the next two years Hendrix made a living performing at a circuit of venues throughout the South that were affiliated with theTheater Owners Booking Association (TOBA), widely known as theChitlin' Circuit.[68] In addition to playing in his own band, Hendrix performed as abacking musician for various soul, R&B, and blues musicians, includingWilson Pickett,Slim Harpo,Sam Cooke,Ike & Tina Turner[69] andJackie Wilson.[70]
In January 1964, feeling he had outgrown the circuit artistically, and frustrated by having to follow the rules of bandleaders, Hendrix decided to venture out on his own. He moved into theHotel Theresa inHarlem, where he befriended Lithofayne Pridgon, known as "Faye", who became his girlfriend.[71] A Harlem native with connections throughout the area's music scene, Pridgon provided him with shelter, support, and encouragement.[72] Hendrix also met the Allen twins, Arthur and Albert.[73][nb 10] In February 1964, Hendrix won first prize in theApollo Theater amateur contest.[75] Hoping to secure a career opportunity, he played the Harlem club circuit and sat in with various bands. At the recommendation of a former associate ofJoe Tex,Ronnie Isley granted Hendrix an audition that led to an offer to become the guitarist withthe Isley Brothers' backing band, the I.B. Specials, which he readily accepted.[76]
First recordings
In March 1964, Hendrix recorded the two-part single "Testify" with the Isley Brothers. Released in June, it failed to chart.[77] In May, he provided guitar instrumentation for theDon Covay song, "Mercy Mercy". Issued in August by Rosemart Records and distributed byAtlantic, the track reached number 35 on theBillboard chart.[78]
Hendrix toured with the Isleys during much of 1964, but near the end of October, after growing tired of playing the same set every night, he left the band.[79][nb 11] Soon afterward, Hendrix joinedLittle Richard's touring band,the Upsetters.[81] During a stop inLos Angeles in February 1965, he recorded his first and only single with Richard, "I Don't Know What You Got (But It's Got Me)", written by Don Covay and released byVee-Jay Records.[82] Richard's popularity was waning at the time, and the single peaked at number 92, where it remained for one week before dropping off the chart.[83][nb 12] Hendrix met singer Rosa Lee Brooks while staying at the Wilcox Hotel in Hollywood, and she invited him to participate in a recording session for her single, which included theArthur Lee penned "My Diary" as theA-side, and "Utee" as the B-side.[85] Hendrix played guitar on both tracks, which also included background vocals by Lee. The single failed to chart, but Hendrix and Lee began a friendship that lasted several years; Hendrix later became an ardent supporter of Lee's band,Love.[85]
In July 1965, Hendrix made his first television appearance onNight Train, a program produced and aired on Nashville TV station WLAC-TV (nowWTVF). Performing in Little Richard's ensemble band, he backed up vocalists Buddy and Stacy on "Shotgun". The video recording of the show marks the earliest known footage of Hendrix performing.[81] Richard and Hendrix often clashed over tardiness, wardrobe, and Hendrix's stage antics, and in late July, Richard's brother Robert fired him.[86]
On July 27, Hendrix signed his first recording contract withJuggy Murray atSue Records and Copa Management.[87][88] He then briefly rejoined the Isley Brothers, and recorded a second single with them, "Move Over and Let Me Dance" backed with "Have You Ever Been Disappointed".[89] Later that year, he joined a New York-based R&B band,Curtis Knight and the Squires, after meeting Knight in the lobby of a hotel where both men were staying.[90] Hendrix performed with them for eight months.[91]
In October 1965, he and Knight recorded the single, "How Would You Feel" backed with "Welcome Home". Despite his two-year contract with Sue,[92] Hendrix signed a three-year recording contract with entrepreneurEd Chalpin on October 15.[93] While the relationship with Chalpin was short-lived, his contract remained in force, which later caused legal and career problems for Hendrix.[94][nb 13] During his time with Knight, Hendrix briefly toured withJoey Dee and the Starliters, and worked withKing Curtis on several recordings includingRay Sharpe's two-part single, "Help Me".[96] Hendrix earned his first composer credits for two instrumentals, "Hornets Nest" and "Knock Yourself Out", released as aCurtis Knight and the Squires single in 1966.[97][nb 14]
Feeling restricted by his experiences as an R&B sideman, Hendrix moved in 1966 to New York City'sGreenwich Village, which had a vibrant and diverse music scene.[102] There, he was offered a residency at theCafe Wha? on MacDougal Street and formed his own band that June,Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, which included futureSpirit guitaristRandy California.[103][nb 15] The Blue Flames played at several clubs in New York and Hendrix began developing his guitar style and material that he would soon use with the Experience.[105][106] In September, they gave some of their last concerts at theCafe Au Go Go inManhattan, as the backing group for a singer and guitarist then billed asJohn Hammond.[107][nb 16]
By May 1966, Hendrix was struggling to earn a living wage playing the R&B circuit, so he briefly rejoined Curtis Knight and the Squires for an engagement at one of New York City's most popular nightspots, theCheetah Club.[108] During a performance, Linda Keith, the girlfriend ofRolling Stones guitaristKeith Richards, noticed Hendrix and was "mesmerised" by his playing.[108] She invited him to join her for a drink, and the two became friends.[108]
While Hendrix was playing as Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, Keith recommended him to Stones managerAndrew Loog Oldham and producerSeymour Stein. They failed to see Hendrix's musical potential and rejected him.[109] Keith referred him toChas Chandler, who was leavingthe Animals and was interested in managing and producing artists.[110] Chandler saw Hendrix play inCafe Wha?, a Greenwich Village, New York City nightclub.[110] Chandler liked theBilly Roberts song "Hey Joe", and was persuaded he could create a hit single with the right artist.[111] Impressed with Hendrix's version of the song, he brought him to London on September 24, 1966,[112] and signed him to a management and production contract with himself and ex-Animals managerMichael Jeffery.[113] That night, Hendrix gave an impromptu solo performance atThe Scotch of St James and began a relationship withKathy Etchingham that lasted for two and a half years.[114][nb 17]
Following Hendrix's arrival in London, Chandler began recruiting members for a band designed to highlight his talents, the Jimi Hendrix Experience.[116] Hendrix met guitaristNoel Redding at an audition for the New Animals, where Redding's knowledge of blues progressions impressed Hendrix.[117] Another important criterion for Hendrix was fashion—according to author Keith Shadwick, "what he really liked was Redding's hairstyle."[117] Chandler asked Redding if he wanted to play bass guitar in Hendrix's band; Redding agreed.[117] Chandler began looking for a drummer and soon after contactedMitch Mitchell through a mutual friend. Mitchell, who had recently been fired fromGeorgie Fame and the Blue Flames, participated in a rehearsal with Redding and Hendrix where they found common ground in their shared interest in rhythm and blues. When Chandler phoned Mitchell later that day to offer him the position, he readily accepted.[118] Chandler also persuaded Hendrix to change the spelling of his first name fromJimmy to the more exoticJimi.[119]
On October 1, 1966, Chandler brought Hendrix to theLondon Polytechnic at Regent Street, whereCream was scheduled to perform, and where Hendrix and guitaristEric Clapton met.[120] Clapton later said: "He asked if he could play a couple of numbers. I said, 'Of course', but I had a funny feeling about him."[116] Halfway through Cream's set, Hendrix took the stage and performed a frantic version of the Howlin' Wolf song "Killing Floor".[116] In 1989, Clapton described the performance: "He played just about every style you could think of, and not in a flashy way. I mean he did a few of his tricks, like playing with his teeth and behind his back, but it wasn't in an upstaging sense at all, and that was it ... He walked off, and my life was never the same again".[116]
UK success
In mid-October 1966, Chandler arranged an engagement for the Experience asJohnny Hallyday's supporting act during a brief tour of France.[119] Thus, the Jimi Hendrix Experience performed their first show on October 13, 1966, at the Novelty inEvreux.[121] Their enthusiastically received 15-minute performance at theOlympia theatre in Paris on October 18 marks the earliest known recording of the band.[119] In late October,Kit Lambert andChris Stamp, managers ofthe Who, signed the Experience to their newly formed label,Track Records, and the group recorded their first song, "Hey Joe", on October 23.[122] "Stone Free", which was Hendrix's first songwriting effort after arriving in England, was recorded on November 2.[123]
From November 8 to 11, 1966, the Jimi Hendrix Experience had a short residency at theBig Apple club inMunich, their first gigs in Germany. At this occasion Hendrix had a show experience that would define him from then on: when trying to escape in panic from a frenetic audience that had pulled him off the stage, he smashed his guitar for the first time in a sound explosion on stage, which was perceived by the audience as part of the show.[124] Observing the audience's reaction, Chandler decided that this show of violence had to become a permanent feature of the Experience's show.[125]
In mid-November, they performed atthe Bag O'Nails nightclub in London, with Clapton,John Lennon,Paul McCartney,Jeff Beck,Pete Townshend,Brian Jones,Mick Jagger, andKevin Ayers in attendance.[126] Ayers described the crowd's reaction as stunned disbelief: "All the stars were there, and I heard serious comments, you know 'shit', 'Jesus', 'damn' and other words worse than that."[126] The performance earned Hendrix his first interview, published inRecord Mirror with the headline: "Mr. Phenomenon".[126] "Now hear this ... we predict that [Hendrix] is going to whirl around the business like a tornado", wroteBill Harry, who asked the rhetorical question: "Is that full, big, swinging sound really being created by only three people?"[127] Hendrix said: "We don't want to be classed in any category ... If it must have a tag, I'd like it to be called, 'Free Feeling'. It's a mixture of rock, freak-out, rave and blues".[128] Through a distribution deal withPolydor Records, the Experience's first single, "Hey Joe", backed with "Stone Free", was released on December 16, 1966.[129] After appearances on the UK television showsReady Steady Go! andTop of the Pops, "Hey Joe" entered the UK charts on December 29 and peaked at number six.[130] Further success came in March 1967 with the UK number three hit "Purple Haze", and in May with "The Wind Cries Mary", which remained on the UK charts for eleven weeks, peaking at number six.[131] On March 12, 1967, he performed at the Troutbeck Hotel, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, where, after about 900 people turned up (the hotel was licensed for 250) the local police stopped the gig due to safety concerns.[132]
On March 31, 1967, while the Experience waited to perform at theLondon Astoria, Hendrix and Chandler discussed ways in which they could increase the band's media exposure. When Chandler asked journalist Keith Altham for advice, Altham suggested that they needed to do something more dramatic than the stage show of the Who, which involved the smashing of instruments. Hendrix joked: "Maybe I can smash up an elephant", to which Altham replied: "Well, it's a pity you can't set fire to your guitar".[133] Chandler then asked road manager Gerry Stickells to procure somelighter fluid. During the show, Hendrix gave an especially dynamic performance before setting his guitar on fire at the end of a 45-minute set. In the wake of the stunt, members of London's press labeled Hendrix the "Black Elvis" and the "Wild Man of Borneo".[134][nb 18]
An enduring urban legend in the UK maintains that a possible explanation for theferal parakeets that have appeared in Great Britain since the mid-20th century may derive from a single pair of the birds that were released by Hendrix onCarnaby Street in the 1960s.[136][137][138][139] According to a study, however, which mapped historical news reports of sightings of the birds, the myth is not true.[140]
After the UK chart success of their first two singles, "Hey Joe" and "Purple Haze", the Experience began assembling material for a full-length LP.[141] In London, recording began atDe Lane Lea Studios, and later moved to the prestigiousOlympic Studios.[141] The album,Are You Experienced, features a diversity of musical styles, including blues tracks such as "Red House" and the R&B song "Remember".[142] It also included the experimental science fiction piece, "Third Stone from the Sun" and the post-modern soundscapes ofthe title track, with prominentbackwards guitar and drums.[143] "I Don't Live Today" served as a medium for Hendrix'sguitar feedback improvisation and "Fire" was driven by Mitchell's drumming.[141]
Released in the UK on May 12, 1967,Are You Experienced spent 33 weeks on the charts, peaking at number two.[144][nb 19] It was prevented from reaching the top spot by the Beatles'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.[146][nb 20] On May 29 he performed at theBarbeque 67 concert inSpalding, Lincolnshire, considered by some to have been the firstrock festival; tickets cost £1.[147] On June 4, 1967, Hendrix opened a show at theSaville Theatre in London with his rendition ofSgt. Pepper'stitle track, which was released just three days previous. Beatles managerBrian Epstein owned the Saville at the time, and bothGeorge Harrison and Paul McCartney attended the performance. McCartney described the moment: "The curtains flew back and he came walking forward playing 'Sgt. Pepper'. It's a pretty major compliment in anyone's book. I put that down as one of the great honors of my career."[148] Released in the US on August 23 byReprise Records,Are You Experienced reached number five on theBillboard 200.[149][nb 21]
In 1989, Noe Goldwasser, the founding editor ofGuitar World, describedAre You Experienced as "the album that shook the world ... leaving it forever changed".[151][nb 22] In 2005,Rolling Stone called the double-platinum LP Hendrix's "epochal debut", and they ranked it the 15th greatest album of all time, noting his "exploitation of amp howl", and characterizing his guitar playing as "incendiary ... historic in itself".[153]
Author Michael Heatley wrote: "The iconic image by Ed Caraeff of Hendrix summoning the flames higher with his fingers will forever conjure up memories of Monterey for those who were there and the majority of us who weren't."[154]
Although popular in Europe at the time, the Experience's first US single, "Hey Joe", failed to reach theBillboard Hot 100 chart upon its release on May 1, 1967.[155] Their fortunes improved when McCartney recommended them to the organizers of theMonterey Pop Festival. He insisted that the event would be incomplete without Hendrix, whom he called "an absolute ace on the guitar". McCartney agreed to join the board of organizers on the condition that the Experience perform at the festival in mid-June.[156]
On June 18, 1967,[157] introduced by Brian Jones as "the most exciting performer [he had] ever heard", Hendrix opened with a fast arrangement of Howlin' Wolf's song "Killing Floor", wearing what Shadwick described as "clothes as exotic as any on display elsewhere".[158] Shadwick wrote: "[Hendrix] was not only something utterly new musically, but an entirely original vision of what a black American entertainer should and could look like."[159] The Experience went on to perform renditions of "Hey Joe", B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby",Chip Taylor's "Wild Thing", andBob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", and four original compositions: "Foxy Lady", "Can You See Me", "The Wind Cries Mary", and "Purple Haze".[148] The set ended with Hendrixdestroying his guitar and tossing pieces of it out to the audience.[160]Rolling Stone's Alex Vadukul wrote:
When Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival he created one of rock's most perfect moments. Standing in the front row of that concert was a 17-year-old boy namedEd Caraeff. Caraeff had never seen Hendrix before nor heard his music, but he had a camera with him and there was one shot left in his roll of film. As Hendrix lit his guitar, Caraeff took a final photo. It would become one of the most famous images in rock and roll.[161][nb 23]
Caraeff stood on a chair next to the edge of the stage and took fourmonochrome pictures of Hendrix burning his guitar.[164][nb 24] Caraeff was close enough to the fire that he had to use his camera to protect his face from the heat.Rolling Stone later colorized the image, matching it with other pictures taken at the festival before using the shot for a 1987 magazine cover.[164] According to author Gail Buckland, the final frame of "Hendrix kneeling in front of his burning guitar, hands raised, is one of the most famous images in rock".[164] Author and historian Matthew C. Whitaker wrote that "Hendrix's burning of his guitar became an iconic image in rock history and brought him national attention".[165] TheLos Angeles Times asserted that, upon leaving the stage, Hendrix "graduated from rumor to legend".[166] Author John McDermott wrote that "Hendrix left the Monterey audience stunned and in disbelief at what they'd just heard and seen".[167] According to Hendrix: "I decided to destroy my guitar at the end of a song as a sacrifice. You sacrifice things you love. I love my guitar."[168] The performance was filmed byD. A. Pennebaker and included in the concert documentaryMonterey Pop, which helped Hendrix gain popularity with the US public.[169]
After the festival, the Experience was booked for five concerts atBill Graham'sFillmore, withBig Brother and the Holding Company andJefferson Airplane. The Experience outperformed Jefferson Airplane during the first two nights and replaced them at the top of the bill on the fifth.[170] Following their successful West Coast introduction, which included a free open-air concert atGolden Gate Park and a concert at theWhisky a Go Go, the Experience was booked as the opening act for the first American tour ofthe Monkees.[171] The Monkees requested Hendrix as a supporting act because they were fans, but their young audience disliked the Experience, who left the tour after six shows.[172] Chandler later said he engineered the tour to gain publicity for Hendrix.[173]
The second Experience album,Axis: Bold as Love, opens with the track "EXP", which uses microphonic and harmonicfeedback in a new, creative fashion.[174] It also showcased an experimental stereo panning effect in which sounds emanating from Hendrix's guitar move through the stereo image, revolving around the listener.[175] The piece reflected his growing interest in science fiction andouter space.[176] He composed the album'stitle track and finale around two verses and two choruses, during which he pairs emotions withpersonas, comparing them to colors.[177] The song'scoda features the first recording of stereophasing.[178][nb 25] Shadwick described the composition as "possibly the most ambitious piece onAxis, the extravagant metaphors of the lyrics suggesting a growing confidence" in Hendrix's songwriting.[180] His guitar playing throughout the song is marked by chordalarpeggios andcontrapuntal motion, withtremolo-picked partial chords providing the musical foundation for the chorus, which culminates in whatmusicologist Andy Aledort described as "simply one of the greatest electric guitar solos ever played".[181] The track fades out on tremolo-picked32nd notedouble stops.[182]
The scheduled release date forAxis was almost delayed when Hendrix lost the master tape of side one of the LP, leaving it in the back seat of a London taxi.[183] With the deadline looming, Hendrix, Chandler, and engineerEddie Kramer remixed most of side one in a single overnight session, but they could not match the quality of the lost mix of "If 6 Was 9". Redding had a tape recording of this mix, which had to be smoothed out with an iron as it had gotten wrinkled.[184] During the verses, Hendrix doubled his singing with a guitar line which he played one octave lower than his vocals.[185] Hendrix voiced his disappointment about having re-mixed the album so quickly, and he felt that it could have been better had they been given more time.[183]
Axis featured psychedelic cover art that depicts Hendrix and the Experience as variousavatars ofVishnu, incorporating a painting of them byRoger Law, from a photo-portrait byKarl Ferris.[186] The painting was then superimposed on a copy of a mass-produced religious poster.[187] Hendrix stated that the cover, which Track spent $5,000 producing, would have been more appropriate had it highlighted his American Indian heritage.[188] He said: "You got it wrong ... I'm not that kind of Indian."[188] Track released the album in the UK on December 1, 1967, where it peaked at number five, spending 16 weeks on the charts.[189] In February 1968,Axis: Bold as Love reached number three in the US.[190]
While author and journalistRichie Unterberger describedAxis as the least impressive Experience album, according to author Peter Doggett, the release "heralded a new subtlety in Hendrix's work".[191] Mitchell said: "Axis was the first time that it became apparent that Jimi was pretty good working behind the mixing board, as well as playing, and had some positive ideas of how he wanted things recorded. It could have been the start of any potential conflict between him and Chas in the studio."[192]
Recording for the Experience's third and final studio album,Electric Ladyland, began as early as December 20, 1967, at Olympic Studios.[193] Several songs were attempted; however, in April 1968, the Experience, with Chandler as producer and engineers Eddie Kramer andGary Kellgren, moved the sessions to the newly openedRecord Plant Studios in New York.[194] As the sessions progressed, Chandler became increasingly frustrated with Hendrix's perfectionism and his demands for repeated takes.[195] Hendrix also allowed numerous friends and guests to join them in the studio, which contributed to a chaotic and crowded environment in the control room and led Chandler to sever his professional relationship with Hendrix.[195] Redding later recalled: "There were tons of people in the studio; you couldn't move. It was a party, not a session."[196] Redding, who had formed his own band in mid-1968,Fat Mattress, found it increasingly difficult to fulfill his commitments with the Experience, so Hendrix played many of the bass parts onElectric Ladyland.[195] The album's cover stated that it was "produced and directed by Jimi Hendrix".[195][nb 26]During theElectric Ladyland recording sessions, Hendrix began experimenting with other combinations of musicians, including Jefferson Airplane'sJack Casady andTraffic'sSteve Winwood, who played bass and organ, respectively, on the 15-minute slow-blues jam, "Voodoo Chile".[195] During the album's production, Hendrix appeared at an impromptu jam with B.B. King,Al Kooper, andElvin Bishop.[198][nb 27]Electric Ladyland was released on October 25, and by mid-November it had reached number one in the US, spending two weeks at the top spot.[200] Thedouble LP was Hendrix's most commercially successful release and his only number one album.[201] It peaked at number six in the UK, spending 12 weeks on the chart.[131]Electric Ladyland included Hendrix's cover of a Bob Dylan song, "All Along the Watchtower", which became Hendrix's highest-selling single and his only US top 40 hit, peaking at number 20; the single reached number five in the UK.[202] "Burning of the Midnight Lamp", his first recorded song to feature awah-wah pedal, was added to the album.[203] It was originally released as his fourth single in the UK in August 1967[204] and reached number 18 on the charts.[205]
In 1989, Noe Goldwasser, the founding editor ofGuitar World, describedElectric Ladyland as "Hendrix's masterpiece".[206] According to author Michael Heatley, "most critics agree" that the album is "the fullest realization of Jimi's far-reaching ambitions."[195] In 2004, author Peter Doggett wrote: "For pure experimental genius, melodic flair, conceptual vision and instrumental brilliance,Electric Ladyland remains a prime contender for the status of rock's greatest album."[207] Doggett described the LP as "a display of musical virtuosity never surpassed by any rock musician."[207]
Break-up of the Experience
The white building (left) is 23Brook Street where Hendrix lived. The upper floors of 23 and 25 are currently open as a museum.
In January 1969, after an absence of more than six months, Hendrix briefly moved back into his girlfriend Kathy Etchingham's apartment inBrook Street, London, next door to the home of the composerHandel.[208][nb 28] After a performance of "Voodoo Child", on BBC'sHappening for Lulu show in January 1969, the band stopped midway through an attempt at their first hit "Hey Joe" and then launched into an instrumental version of "Sunshine of Your Love", as a tribute to the recently disbanded bandCream,[210] until director and producerStanley Dorfman was forced to bring the song to a premature end.[211] The Experience bass player Noel Redding describes in his autobiography, "as the minutes ticked by on his live show, short of running onto the set to stop us or pulling the plug, there was nothing he could do. We played past the point where Lulu might have joined us, played through the time for talking at the end, played through Stanley tearing his hair, pointing to his watch and silently screaming at us. We played out the show... Afterwards, Dorfman refused to speak to us, but the result is one of the most widely used bits of film we ever did. Certainly, it’s the most relaxed."[211] Dorfman recalls at the BBC club after the show, he found Hendrix to be "a very sweet man, very quiet, he didn’t know he’d done anything wrong at all."[212] However, according to rock and roll legend, Hendrix was banned from working at the BBC again.[213][214] During this time, the Experience toured Scandinavia, West Germany, and gave their final two performances in France.[215] On February 18 and 24, they played sold-out concerts at London'sRoyal Albert Hall, which were the last European appearances of this lineup.[216][nb 29]
By February 1969, Redding had grown weary of Hendrix's unpredictable work ethic and his creative control over the Experience's music.[217] During the previous month's European tour, interpersonal relations within the group had deteriorated, particularly between Hendrix and Redding.[218] In his diary, Redding documented the building frustration during early 1969 recording sessions: "On the first day, as I nearly expected, there was nothing doing ... On the second it was no show at all. I went to the pub for three hours, came back, and it was still ages before Jimi ambled in. Then we argued ... On the last day, I just watched it happen for a while, and then went back to my flat."[218] The last Experience sessions that included Redding—a re-recording of "Stone Free" for use as a possible single release—took place on April 14 at Olmstead and the Record Plant in New York.[219] Hendrix then flew bassist Billy Cox to New York; they started recording and rehearsing together on April 21.[220]
Hendrix performing in Memphis in April 1969
The last performance of the original Experience lineup took place on June 29, 1969, at Barry Fey'sDenver Pop Festival, a three-day event held atDenver'sMile High Stadium that was marked by police using tear gas to control the audience.[221] The band narrowly escaped from the venue in the back of a rental truck, which was partly crushed by fans who had climbed on top of the vehicle.[222] Before the show, a journalist angered Redding by asking why he was there; the reporter then informed him that two weeks earlier Hendrix announced that he had been replaced with Billy Cox.[223] The next day, Redding quit the Experience and returned to London.[221] He announced that he had left the band and intended to pursue a solo career, blaming Hendrix's plans to expand the group without allowing for his input as a primary reason for leaving.[224] Redding later said: "Mitch and I hung out a lot together, but we're English. If we'd go out, Jimi would stay in his room. But any bad feelings came from us being three guys who were traveling too hard, getting too tired, and taking too many drugs ... I liked Hendrix. I don't like Mitchell."[225]
Soon after Redding's departure, Hendrix began lodging at the eight-bedroom Ashokan House, in the hamlet of Boiceville nearWoodstock in upstate New York, where he had spent some time vacationing in mid-1969.[226] Manager Michael Jeffery arranged the accommodations in the hope that the respite might encourage Hendrix to write material for a new album. During this time, Mitchell was unavailable for commitments made by Jeffery, which included Hendrix's first appearance on US TV—onThe Dick Cavett Show—where he was backed by the studio orchestra, and an appearance onThe Tonight Show where he appeared with Cox and session drummerEd Shaughnessy.[223]
Hendrix flashed apeace sign at the start of his performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock, August 18, 1969.[227]
By 1969, Hendrix was the world's highest-paid rock musician.[2] In August, he headlined the Woodstock Music and Art Fair that included many of the most popular bands of the time.[228] For the concert, he added rhythm guitaristLarry Lee andconga playersJuma Sultan andJerry Velez. The band rehearsed for less than two weeks before the performance, and according to Mitchell, they never connected musically.[229] Before arriving at the engagement, Hendrix heard reports that the size of the audience had grown enormously, which concerned him as he did not enjoy performing for large crowds.[230] He was an important draw for the event, and although he accepted substantially less money for the appearance than his usual fee, he was the festival's highest-paid performer.[231][nb 30]
Hendrix decided to move his midnight Sunday slot to Monday morning, closing the show. The band took the stage around 8:00 a.m,[233] by which time Hendrix had been awake for more than three days.[234] The audience, which peaked at an estimated 400,000 people, was reduced to 30,000.[230] The festival MC,Chip Monck, introduced the group as "the Jimi Hendrix Experience", but Hendrix clarified: "We decided to change the whole thing around and call it 'Gypsy Sun and Rainbows'. For short, it's nothin' but a 'Band of Gypsys'."[235]
Hendrix's performance included a rendition of the US national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner", with copious feedback, distortion, and sustain to imitate the sounds made by rockets and bombs.[236] Contemporary political pundits described his interpretation as a statement against theVietnam War. Three weeks later Hendrix said: "We're all Americans ... it was like 'Go America!'... We play it the way the air is in America today. The air is slightly static, see."[237] Immortalized in the 1970 documentary film,Woodstock, Hendrix's version became part of the sixtieszeitgeist.[238] Pop criticAl Aronowitz of theNew York Post wrote: "It was the most electrifying moment of Woodstock, and it was probably the single greatest moment of the sixties."[237] Images of the performance showing Hendrix wearing a blue-beaded white leather jacket with fringe, a red head-scarf, and blue jeans are regarded as iconic pictures that capture a defining moment of the era.[239][nb 31] He played "Hey Joe" during the encore, concluding the 31⁄2-day festival. Upon leaving the stage, he collapsed from exhaustion.[238][nb 32] In 2011, the editors ofGuitar World named his performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" the greatest performance of all time.[242]
A legal dispute arose in 1966 regarding a record contract that Hendrix had entered into the previous year with producer Ed Chalpin.[243] After two years of litigation, the parties agreed to a resolution that granted Chalpin the distribution rights to an album of original Hendrix material. Hendrix decided that they would record the LP,Band of Gypsys, during two live appearances.[244] In preparation for the shows he formed an all-blackpower trio with Cox and drummerBuddy Miles, formerly with Wilson Pickett,the Electric Flag, and theBuddy Miles Express.[245] CriticJohn Rockwell described Hendrix and Miles asjazz-rock fusionists, and their collaboration as pioneering.[246] Others identified afunk andsoul influence in their music.[247]Concert promoter Bill Graham called the shows "the most brilliant, emotional display of virtuoso electric guitar" that he had ever heard.[248] Biographers have speculated that Hendrix formed the band in an effort to appease members of theBlack Power movement and others in the black communities who called for him to use his fame to speak up for civil rights.[249]
Hendrix had been recording with Cox since April and jamming with Miles since September, and the trio wrote and rehearsed material which they performed at a series of four shows over two nights on December 31 and January 1, at theFillmore East. They used recordings of these concerts to assemble the LP, which was produced by Hendrix.[250] The album includes the track "Machine Gun", which musicologist Andy Aledort described as the pinnacle of Hendrix's career, and "the premiere example of [his] unparalleled genius as a rock guitarist ... In this performance, Jimi transcended the medium of rock music, and set an entirely new standard for the potential of electric guitar."[251] During the song's extended instrumental breaks, Hendrix created sounds with his guitar that sonically represented warfare, including rockets, bombs, and diving planes.[252]
TheBand of Gypsys album was the only official live Hendrix LP made commercially available during his lifetime; several tracks from the Woodstock and Monterey shows were released later that year.[253] The album was released in April 1970 byCapitol Records; it reached the top ten in both the US and the UK.[248] That same month a single was issued with "Stepping Stone" as the A-side and "Izabella" as the B-side, but Hendrix was dissatisfied with the quality of the mastering and he demanded that it be withdrawn and re-mixed, preventing the songs from charting and resulting in Hendrix's least successful single; it was also his last.[254]
On January 28, 1970, a third and final Band of Gypsys appearance took place; they performed during a music festival atMadison Square Garden benefiting the anti-Vietnam WarMoratorium Committee titled the "Winter Festival for Peace".[255] American blues guitaristJohnny Winter was backstage before the concert; he recalled: "[Hendrix] came in with his head down, sat on the couch alone, and put his head in his hands ... He didn't move until it was time for the show."[256] Minutes after taking the stage he snapped a vulgar response at a woman who had shouted a request for "Foxy Lady". He then began playing "Earth Blues" before telling the audience: "That's what happens when earth fucks with space".[256] Moments later, he briefly sat down on the drum riser before leaving the stage.[257] Both Miles and Redding later stated that Jeffery had given Hendrix LSD before the performance.[258] Miles believed that Jeffery gave Hendrix the drugs in an effort to sabotage the current band and bring about the return of the original Experience lineup.[257] Jeffery fired Miles after the show and Cox quit, ending the Band of Gypsys.[259]
Soon after the abruptly ended Band of Gypsys performance and their subsequent dissolution, Jeffery made arrangements to reunite the original Experience lineup.[260] Although Hendrix, Mitchell, and Redding were interviewed byRolling Stone in February 1970 as a united group, Hendrix never intended to work with Redding.[261] When Redding returned to New York in anticipation of rehearsals with a re-formed Experience, he was told that he had been replaced with Cox.[262] During an interview withRolling Stone's Keith Altham, Hendrix defended the decision: "It's nothing personal against Noel, but we finished what we were doing with the Experience and Billy's style of playing suits the new group better."[260] Although an official name was never adopted for the lineup of Hendrix, Mitchell, and Cox, promoters often billed them as the Jimi Hendrix Experience or just Jimi Hendrix.[263]
During the first half of 1970, Hendrix sporadically worked on material for what would have been his next LP.[254] Many of the tracks were posthumously released in 1971 asThe Cry of Love.[264] He had started writing songs for the album in 1968, but in April 1970 he told Keith Altham that the project had been abandoned.[254] Soon afterward, he and his band took a break from recording and began the Cry of Love tour at theL.A. Forum, performing for 20,000 people.[265] Set-lists during the tour included numerous Experience tracks as well as a selection of newer material.[265] Several shows were recorded, and they produced some of Hendrix's most memorable live performances. At one of them, the secondAtlanta International Pop Festival, on July 4, he played to the largest American audience of his career.[266] According to authors Scott Schinder and Andy Schwartz, as many as 500,000 people attended the concert.[266] On July 17, they appeared at the New York Pop Festival; Hendrix had again consumed too many drugs before the show, and the set was considered a disaster.[267] The American leg of the tour, which included 32 performances, ended inHonolulu, Hawaii, on August 1, 1970.[268] This would be Hendrix's final concert appearance in the US.[269]
In 1968, Hendrix and Jeffery jointly invested in the purchase of the Generation Club inGreenwich Village.[209] They had initially planned to reopen the establishment, but when an audit of Hendrix's expenses revealed that he had incurred exorbitant fees by block-booking recording studios for lengthy sessions at peak rates they decided to convert the building[270] into a studio of his own. Hendrix could then work as much as he wanted while also reducing his recording expenditures, which had reached a reported $300,000 annually.[271] Architect andacousticianJohn Storyk designedElectric Lady Studios for Hendrix, who requested that they avoid right angles where possible. With round windows, an ambient lighting machine, and a psychedelic mural, Storyk wanted the studio to have a relaxing environment that would encourage Hendrix's creativity.[271] The project took twice as long as planned and cost twice as much as Hendrix and Jeffery had budgeted, with their total investment estimated at $1 million.[272][nb 33]
Hendrix first used Electric Lady on June 15, 1970, when he jammed with Steve Winwood andChris Wood of Traffic; the next day, he recorded his first track there, "Night Bird Flying".[273] The studio officially opened for business on August 25, and a grand opening party was held the following day.[273] Immediately afterwards, Hendrix left for England; he never returned to the States.[274] He boarded an Air India flight for London with Cox, joining Mitchell for a performance as the headlining act of theIsle of Wight Festival on August 31, 1970.[275]
European tour
When the European leg of the Cry of Love tour began, Hendrix was longing for his new studio and creative outlet, and was not eager to fulfill the commitment. On September 2, 1970, he abandoned a performance inAarhus after three songs, stating: "I've been dead a long time".[276] Four days later, he gave his final concert appearance, at the Isle ofFehmarn Festival in West Germany.[277] He was met with booing and jeering from fans in response to his cancellation of a show slated for the end of the previous night's bill due to torrential rain and risk of electrocution.[278][nb 34] Immediately following the festival, Hendrix, Mitchell, and Cox traveled to London.[280]
Three days after the performance, Cox, who was suffering from severeparanoia after either taking LSD or being given it unknowingly, quit the tour and went to stay with his parents in Pennsylvania.[281] Within days of Hendrix's arrival in England, he had spoken with Chas Chandler,Alan Douglas, and others about leaving his manager, Michael Jeffery.[282] On September 16, Hendrix performed in public for the last time during an informal jam atRonnie Scott's Jazz Club inSoho withEric Burdon and his latest band,War.[283] They began by playing a few of their recent hits, and after a brief intermission Hendrix joined them during "Mother Earth" and "Tobacco Road".[284] He died less than 48 hours later.[285]
Substance abuse and behavioral problems
Alcohol
In July 1962, Hendrix entered a small club in Clarksville, Tennessee, drawn in by live music. He stopped for a drink and ended up spending most of the $400 (equivalent to $4,158 in 2024) that he had saved during his time in the Army. "I went in this jazz joint and had a drink," he explained. "I liked it and I stayed. People tell me I get foolish, good-natured sometimes. Anyway, I guess I felt real benevolent that day. I must have been handing out bills to anyone that asked me. I came out of that place with sixteen dollars left."[286] Alcohol eventually became "the scourge of his existence, driving him to fits of pique, even rare bursts of atypical, physical violence".[287]
LSD and other substances
Like most acid-heads, Jimi had visions and he wanted to create music to express what he saw. He would try to explain this to people, but it didn't make sense because it was not linked to reality in any way.
Roby and Schreiber assert that Hendrix first usedLSD when he met Linda Keith in late 1966. Shapiro and Glebbeek, however, contends that Hendrix used it in June 1967 at the earliest while attending the Monterey Pop Festival.[289] According to Hendrix biographer Charles Cross, the subject of drugs came up one evening in 1966 at Keith's New York apartment. One of Keith's friends offered Hendrix "acid", a street name for LSD, but Hendrix asked for LSD instead, showing what Cross describes as "his naivete and his complete inexperience with psychedelics".[290] Before that, Hendrix had only sporadically used drugs, includingcannabis,hashish,amphetamines, and occasionallycocaine.[290] After 1967, he regularly used cannabis, hashish, LSD, and amphetamines, particularly while touring.[291] According to Cross, "few stars were as closely associated with the drug culture as Jimi".[292]
Violent behavior
When Hendrix drank to excess or mixed drugs with alcohol, often he became angry and violent.[293] His friend Herbie Worthington said Hendrix "simply turned into a bastard" when he drank.[294] According to friend Sharon Lawrence, liquor "set off a bottled-up anger, a destructive fury he almost never displayed otherwise".[295]
In January 1968, the Experience travelled to Sweden to start a one-week tour of Europe. During the early morning hours of the first day, Hendrix got into a drunken brawl in the Hotel Opalen inGothenburg, smashing a plate-glass window and injuring his right hand, for which he received medical treatment.[294] The incident culminated in his arrest and release, pending a court appearance that resulted in a large fine.[296]
In 1969, Hendrix rented a house inBenedict Canyon, California, that was burglarized. Later, while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, he accused his friend Paul Caruso of the theft, threw punches and stones at him, and chased him away from his house.[297] A few days later Hendrix hit his girlfriend, Carmen Borrero, above her eye with a vodka bottle during a drunken, jealous rage, and gave her a cut that required stitches.[294]
Hendrix was passing through customs atToronto International Airport on May 3, 1969, when authorities found a small amount ofheroin and hashish in his luggage, and charged him with drug possession.[298] He was released on $10,000 bail (equivalent to $85,744 in 2024), and was required to return on May 5 for an arraignment hearing.[299] The incident proved stressful for Hendrix, and it weighed heavily on his mind during the seven months leading up to his December 1969 trial.[298] Forthe Crown to prove possession, they had to show that Hendrix knew that the drugs were there.[300] During the jury trial, he testified that a fan had given him a vial of what he thought was legal medication which he put in his bag.[301] He was acquitted of the charges.[302] Mitchell and Redding later revealed that everyone had been warned about a planned drug bust the day before flying to Toronto; both men also stated that they believed that the drugs had been planted in Hendrix's bag without his knowledge.[303]
Details concerning Hendrix's last day and death are disputed.[304] He spent much of September 17, 1970, in London withMonika Dannemann, the only witness to his final hours.[305] Dannemann said that she prepared a meal for them at her apartment in the Samarkand Hotel inLansdowne Crescent, London, around 11 p.m., when they shared a bottle of wine.[306] She drove him to the residence of an acquaintance at approximately 1:45 a.m., where he remained for about an hour before she picked him up and drove them back to her flat at 3 a.m.[307] She said that they talked until around 7 a.m., when they went to sleep. Dannemann awoke around 11 a.m. and found Hendrix breathing but unconscious and unresponsive. She called for an ambulance at 11:18 a.m., and it arrived nine minutes later.[308] Paramedics transported Hendrix toSt Mary Abbots Hospital where doctor John Bannister pronounced him dead at 12:45 p.m. on September 18.[309][310][311]
Coroner Gavin Thurston ordered apost-mortem examination which was performed on September 21 byRobert Donald Teare, a forensic pathologist.[312] Thurston completed the inquest on September 28 and concluded that Hendrixaspirated his own vomit and died ofasphyxia while intoxicated withbarbiturates.[313] Citing "insufficient evidence of the circumstances", he declared anopen verdict.[314] Dannemann later revealed that Hendrix had taken nine of her prescribedVesparax sleeping tablets, 18 times the recommended dosage.[315]
Desmond Henley embalmed Hendrix's body,[316] which was flown to Seattle on September 29.[317] Hendrix's family and friends held a service at Dunlap Baptist Church in Seattle'sRainier Valley on Thursday, October 1; his body was interred atGreenwood Cemetery in nearbyRenton,[318] the location of his mother's grave.[319] Family and friends traveled in 24 limousines, and more than 200 people attended the funeral, including Mitch Mitchell, Noel Redding,Miles Davis,John Hammond, andJohnny Winter.[320][321]
Hendrix is often cited as one example of an allegedly disproportionate number of musicians dying at age 27, includingBrian Jones,Alan Wilson,Jim Morrison, andJanis Joplin in the same era, a phenomenon referred to as the27 Club.[322]
Unauthorized and posthumous releases
By 1967, as Hendrix was gaining in popularity, many of his pre-Experience recordings were marketed to an unsuspecting public as Jimi Hendrix albums, sometimes with misleading later images of Hendrix.[323] The recordings, which came under the control of producer Ed Chalpin ofPPX, with whom Hendrix had signed a recording contract in 1965, were often re-mixed between their repeated reissues, and licensed to record companies such asDecca and Capitol.[324][325] Hendrix publicly denounced the releases, describing them as "malicious" and "greatly inferior", stating: "At PPX, we spent on average about one hour recording a song. Today I spend at least twelve hours on each song."[326] These unauthorized releases have long constituted a substantial part of his recording catalogue, amounting to hundreds of albums.[327]
Some of Hendrix'sunfinished fourth studio album was released as the 1971 titleThe Cry of Love.[264] Although the album reached number three in the US and number two in the UK, producers Mitchell and Kramer later complained that they were unable to make use of all the available songs because some tracks were used for 1971'sRainbow Bridge; still others were issued on 1972'sWar Heroes.[328] Material fromThe Cry of Love was re-released in 1997 asFirst Rays of the New Rising Sun, along with the other tracks that Mitchell and Kramer had wanted to include.[329][nb 35] Four years after Hendrix's death, producerAlan Douglas acquired the rights to produce unreleased music by Hendrix; he attracted criticism for using studio musicians to replace or add tracks.[331]
In 1993,MCA Records delayed a multimillion-dollar sale of Hendrix's publishing copyrights because Al Hendrix was unhappy about the arrangement.[332] He acknowledged that he had sold distribution rights to a foreign corporation in 1974, but stated that it did not include copyrights and argued that he had retained veto power of the sale of the catalogue.[332] Under a settlement reached in July 1995, Al Hendrix regained control of his son's song and image rights.[333] He subsequently licensed the recordings to MCA through the family-run company Experience Hendrix LLC, formed in 1995.[334] In August 2009, Experience Hendrix announced that it had entered a new licensing agreement withSony Music Entertainment'sLegacy Recordings division, to take effect in 2010.[335] Legacy and Experience Hendrix launched the 2010 Jimi Hendrix Catalog Project starting with the release ofValleys of Neptune in March of that year.[336] In the months before his death, Hendrix recorded demos for a concept album tentatively titledBlack Gold, now in the possession of Experience Hendrix LLC, but it has not been released.[337][nb 36]
Hendrix played a variety of guitars but was most prominently associated with theFender Stratocaster.[339] He acquired his first in 1966, when a girlfriend loaned him enough money to purchase a used Stratocaster built around 1964.[340] He used it often during performances and recordings.[341] In 1967, he described the Stratocaster as "the best all-around guitar for the stuff we're doing"; he praised its "bright treble and deep bass".[342]
Hendrix mainly played right-handed guitars that were turned upside down and restrung for left-hand playing.[343] Because of the slant of the Stratocaster's bridge pickup, his lowest string had a brighter sound, while his highest string had a darker sound, the opposite of the intended design.[344] Hendrix also used FenderJazzmasters,Duosonics, two differentGibson Flying Vs, aGibson Les Paul, threeGibson SGs, a Gretsch Corvette, and aFender Jaguar.[345] He used a white Gibson SG Custom for his performances onThe Dick Cavett Show in September 1969, and a black Gibson Flying V during the Isle of Wight festival in 1970.[346][nb 37]
Amplifiers
During 1965 and 1966, while Hendrix was playing back-up for soul and R&B acts in the US, he used an 85-wattFender Twin Reverb amplifier.[348] When Chandler brought Hendrix to England in October 1966, he supplied him with 30-wattBurns amps, which Hendrix thought were too small for his needs.[349][nb 38] After an early London gig when he was unable to use his Fender Twin, he asked about theMarshall amps he had noticed other groups using.[349] Years earlier, Mitch Mitchell had taken drum lessons from Marshall founderJim Marshall, and he introduced Hendrix to Marshall.[350] At their initial meeting, Hendrix bought four speaker cabinets and three 100-wattSuper Lead amplifiers; he grew accustomed to using all three in unison.[349] The equipment arrived on October 11, 1966, and the Experience used it during their first tour.[349]
Marshall amps were important to the development of Hendrix's overdriven sound and his use of feedback, creating what authorPaul Trynka described as a "definitive vocabulary for rock guitar".[351] Hendrix usually turned all the control knobs to the maximum level, which became known as the Hendrix setting.[352] During the four years prior to his death, he purchased between 50 and 100 Marshall amplifiers.[353] Jim Marshall said Hendrix was "the greatest ambassador" his company ever had.[354]
Effects
A 1968 King Vox-Wah wah-wah pedal similar to the one owned by Hendrix[355]
One of Hendrix's signatureeffects was thewah-wah pedal, which he first heard used with an electric guitar in Cream's "Tales of Brave Ulysses", released in May 1967.[356] That July, while performing atthe Scene club in New York City, Hendrix metFrank Zappa, whose bandthe Mothers of Invention were performing at the adjacentGarrick Theater. Hendrix was fascinated by Zappa's application of the pedal, and he experimented with one later that evening.[357][nb 39] He used a wah pedal during the opening to "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", creating one of the best-known wah-wah riffs of the classic rock era.[359] He also uses the effect on "Up from the Skies", "Little Miss Lover", and "Still Raining, Still Dreaming".[358]
Hendrix used aDallas ArbiterFuzz Face and aVox wah pedal during recording sessions and performances, but also experimented with other guitar effects.[360] He enjoyed a fruitful long-term collaboration with electronics enthusiastRoger Mayer, whom he once called "the secret" of his sound.[361] Mayer introduced him to theOctavia, anoctave-doubling effect pedal, in December 1966, and he first recorded with it during the guitar solo to "Purple Haze".[362]
Hendrix also used theUni-Vibe, designed to simulate the modulation effects of a rotatingLeslie speaker. He uses the effect during his performance at Woodstock and on the Band of Gypsys track "Machine Gun", which prominently features the Uni-vibe along with an Octavia and a Fuzz Face.[363] For performances, he plugged his guitar into the wah-wah, which was connected to the Fuzz Face, then the Uni-Vibe, and finally a Marshall amplifier.[364]
Influences
As an adolescent in the 1950s, Hendrix became interested inrock and roll artists such asElvis Presley,Little Richard, andChuck Berry.[365] In 1968, he toldGuitar Player magazine thatelectric blues artists Muddy Waters,Elmore James, and B. B. King inspired him during the beginning of his career; he also citedEddie Cochran as an early influence.[366] Of Muddy Waters, the first electric guitarist of which Hendrix became aware, he said: "I heard one of his records when I was a little boy andit scared me to death because I heard all of thesesounds."[367] In 1970, he toldRolling Stone that he was a fan ofwestern swing artistBob Wills and while he lived in Nashville, the television show theGrand Ole Opry.[368]
I don't happen to know much about jazz. I know that most of those cats are playing nothing but blues, though—I know that much.
Cox stated that during their time serving in the US military, he and Hendrix primarily listened to southern blues artists such asJimmy Reed andAlbert King. According to Cox, "King was a very, very powerful influence".[366] Howlin' Wolf also inspired Hendrix, who performed Wolf's "Killing Floor" as the opening song of his US debut at the Monterey Pop Festival.[370] The influence of soul artistCurtis Mayfield can be heard in Hendrix's guitar playing, and the influence of Bob Dylan can be heard in Hendrix's songwriting; he was known to play Dylan's records repeatedly, particularlyHighway 61 Revisited andBlonde on Blonde.[371]
Legacy
He changed everything. Whatdon't we owe Jimi Hendrix? For his monumental rebooting of guitar culture "standards of tone", technique, gear, signal processing, rhythm playing, soloing, stage presence, chord voicings, charisma, fashion, and composition? ... He is guitar hero number one.
TheRock and Roll Hall of Fame biography for the Experience states: "Jimi Hendrix was arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music. Hendrix expanded the range and vocabulary of the electric guitar into areas no musician had ever ventured before. His boundless drive, technical ability and creative application of such effects as wah-wah and distortion forever transformed the sound of rock and roll."[1] Musicologist Andy Aledort described Hendrix as "one of the most creative" and "influential musicians that has ever lived".[373] Music journalistChuck Philips wrote: "In a field almost exclusively populated by white musicians, Hendrix has served as a role model for a cadre of young black rockers. His achievement was to reclaim title to a musical form pioneered by black innovators like Little Richard and Chuck Berry in the 1950s."[374]
Hendrix favoredoverdriven amplifiers with high volume andgain.[128] He was instrumental in developing the previously undesirable technique of guitaramplifier feedback and helped to popularize use of the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock.[375] He rejected the standardbarre chord fretting technique used by most guitarists in favor of fretting the low 6th string root notes with his thumb.[376] He applied this technique during the beginning bars of "Little Wing", which allowed him to sustain the root note of chords while also playing melody. This method has been described as piano style, with the thumb playing what a pianist's left hand would play and the other fingers playing melody as a right hand.[377] Having spent several years fronting a trio, he developed an ability to play rhythm chords and lead lines together, giving the audio impression that more than one guitarist was performing.[378][nb 40] He was the first artist to incorporatestereophonic phasing effects in rock music recordings.[381] Holly George-Warren ofRolling Stone wrote: "Hendrix pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. Players before him had experimented with feedback and distortion, but Hendrix turned those effects and others into a controlled, fluid vocabulary every bit as personal as the blues with which he began."[3][nb 41]
While creating his unique musical voice and guitar style, Hendrix synthesized diverse genres, including blues, R&B, soul,British rock,American folk music, 1950s rock and roll, and jazz.[383] Musicologist David Moskowitz emphasized the importance of blues music in Hendrix's playing style, and according to authors Steven Roby and Brad Schreiber, "[He] explored the outer reaches ofpsychedelic rock".[384] His influence is evident in a variety of popular music formats, and he has contributed significantly to the development ofhard rock,heavy metal, funk,post-punk,grunge,[385] andhip hop music.[386] His lasting influence on modern guitar players is difficult to overstate; his techniques and delivery have been abundantly imitated by others.[387] Despite his hectic touring schedule and notorious perfectionism, he was a prolific recording artist who left behind numerous unreleased recordings.[388] More than 40 years after his death, Hendrix remains as popular as ever, with annual album sales exceeding that of any year during his lifetime.[389]
Rock and roll fans still debate whether Hendrix actually said thatChicago co-founderTerry Kath was a better guitar player than he was,[400] but Kath named Hendrix as a major influence: "But then there was Hendrix, man. Jimi was really the last cat to freak me. Jimi was playing all the stuff I had in my head. I couldn't believe it, when I first heard him. Man, no one can ever do what he did with a guitar. No one can ever take his place."[401]
The 90-minute 2015 documentaryJimi Hendrix - Electric Church, broadcast byBBC Four in September 2025, features the 1970Atlanta International Pop Festival, with Hendrix as the headline act, performing to the largest US audience of his career, of nearly 500,000 people,Byron, Georgia. The original concert film footage had lain undeveloped in the barn of film director Steve Rash for 30 years.[414][415]
Recognition and awards
Hendrix was the recipient of several music awards during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1967, readers ofMelody Maker voted him the Pop Musician of the Year and in 1968,Billboard named him the Artist of the Year andRolling Stone declared him the Performer of the Year.Disc and Music Echo honored him with the World Top Musician of 1969 and in 1970,Guitar Player named him the Rock Guitarist of the Year. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and theUK Music Hall of Fame in 2005.Rolling Stone has ranked the band's three studio albums,Are You Experienced (1967),Axis: Bold as Love (1967), andElectric Ladyland (1968), in its various lists of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and it ranked Hendrix as the greatest guitarist and the sixth-greatest artist of all time.[416]
Hendrix received several prestigious rock music awards during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1967, readers ofMelody Maker voted him the Pop Musician of the Year.[417] In 1968,Rolling Stone declared him the Performer of the Year.[417] Also in 1968, the City of Seattle gave him the keys to the city.[418]Disc & Music Echo newspaper honored him with the World Top Musician of 1969 and in 1970Guitar Player magazine named him the Rock Guitarist of the Year.[419]
Rolling Stone ranked his three non-posthumous studio albums,Are You Experienced (1967),Axis: Bold as Love (1967), andElectric Ladyland (1968) among the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[420] They ranked Hendrix number one on theirlist of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, and number six on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.[421]Guitar World's readers voted six of Hendrix's solos among the top 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time: "Purple Haze" (70), "The Star-Spangled Banner" (52; fromLive at Woodstock), "Machine Gun" (32; fromBand of Gypsys), "Little Wing" (18), "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" (11), and "All Along the Watchtower" (5).[422]Rolling Stone placed seven of his recordings in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time: "Purple Haze" (17), "All Along the Watchtower" (47) "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" (102), "Foxy Lady" (153), "Hey Joe" (201), "Little Wing" (366), and "The Wind Cries Mary" (379).[423] They also included three of Hendrix's songs in their list of the100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time: "Purple Haze" (2), "Voodoo Child" (12), and "Machine Gun" (49).[424]
A star on theHollywood Walk of Fame was dedicated to Hendrix on November 14, 1991, at 6627 Hollywood Boulevard.[425] The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and theUK Music Hall of Fame in 2005.[1][426] In 1998, Hendrix was inducted into theNative American Music Hall of Fame during its first year.[427][nb 43] In 1999, readers ofRolling Stone andGuitar World ranked Hendrix among the most important musicians of the 20th century.[429] In 2005, his debut album,Are You Experienced, was one of 50 recordings added that year to the USNational Recording Registry in theLibrary of Congress, "[to] be preserved for all time ... [as] part of the nation's audio legacy".[430] In Seattle, November 27, 1992, which would have been Hendrix's 50th birthday, was made Jimi Hendrix Day, largely due to the efforts of his boyhood friend, guitaristSammy Drain.[431][432]
Theblue plaque identifying Hendrix's former residence at 23Brook Street, London, was the first issued byEnglish Heritage to commemorate a pop star. Next door is the former residence ofGeorge Frideric Handel, 25 Brook Street,[433] which opened to the public as the Handel House Museum in 2001. From 2016 the museum made use of the upper floors of 23 for displays about Hendrix and was rebranded asHandel & Hendrix in London.
The Electric Lady Studio Guitar, a sculpture depicting Hendrix playing a Stratocaster, stands near the corner of Broadway and Pine Streets in Seattle. In May 2006, the city renamed a park near its Central DistrictJimi Hendrix Park, in his honor.[434] In 2012, an official historic marker was erected on the site of the July 1970Second Atlanta International Pop Festival near Byron, Georgia. The marker text reads, in part: "Over thirty musical acts performed, including rock icon Jimi Hendrix playing to the largest American audience of his career."[435]
Hendrix's music has received a number of Hall of Fame Grammy awards, starting with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992, followed by two Grammys in 1999 for his albumsAre You Experienced andElectric Ladyland;Axis: Bold as Love received a Grammy in 2006.[436][437] In 2000, he received a Hall of Fame Grammy award for his original composition, "Purple Haze", and in 2001, for his recording of Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower". Hendrix's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" was honored with a Grammy in 2009.[436]
On June 23, 2019, the Band of Gypsys were inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame, at theCharles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, Michigan.Billy Cox, the last surviving member of the group, was on hand to accept, along with representatives of the Buddy Miles and Hendrix estates.[441]
^Several non-Native Hendrix biographers have noted Hendrix's belief that he had Cherokee heritage.[4] Shapiro and Glebbeek write that Nora's grandmother was a "full-blood Cherokee princess" [sic] in their 1990 biography,[5] although there is no known record of Hendrix or his family members referring to a "Cherokee princess" (the Cherokee did not have "princesses", but this nomenclature is very common among non-Natives who claim Cherokee identities for ancestors who were actually white or Black).[6][7] Hendrix was not "enrolled in any Cherokee tribe"[8] and "no documentation of Hendrix's Cherokee blood has been found, and its absence is potentially problematic, especially given the history of appropriation of Indian cultures and identities by non-Indians".[9]
^Author Charles R. Cross inRoom Full of Mirrors writes "He [Hendrix's paternal grandfather, Bertran Philander Ross Hendrix] was born out of wedlock, and from the biracial coupling of his mother, a former enslaved person, and a white merchant who had once enslaved her."[11]
^Authors Harry Shapiro and Caesar Glebbeek speculate that the change from Johnny to James may have been a response to Al's knowledge of an affair Lucille had with a man who called himself John Williams.[19] As a young child, friends and family called Hendrix "Buster". His brother Leon claims that Jimi chose the nickname after his heroBuster Crabbe, ofFlash Gordon andBuck Rogers fame.[20]
^According to Hendrix's cousin, Diane Hendrix, in August 1956, when Jimi stayed with her family, he put on shows for her, using a broom to mimic a guitar while listening toElvis Presley records.[32]
^Hendrix saw Presley perform in Seattle on September 1, 1957.[35]
^In 1967, Hendrix revealed his feelings in regard to his mother's death during a survey he took for the UK publication,New Musical Express. Hendrix stated: "Personal ambition: Have my own style of music. See my mother again."[31]
^In the late 1960s, after he had become famous, Hendrix told reporters that racist faculty expelled him from Garfield for holding hands with a white girlfriend during study hall. Principal Frank Hanawalt says that it was due to poor grades and attendance problems.[38] The school had a relatively even ethnic mix of African, European, and Asian-Americans.[39]
^According to authors Steven Roby and Brad Schreiber: "It has been erroneously reported that Captain John Halbert, a medical officer, recommended that Jimi be discharged primarily for admitting to having homosexual desires for an unnamed soldier."[62] However, in the National Personnel Records Center, which contains 98 pages documenting Hendrix's army service, including his numerous infractions, the word "homosexual" is not mentioned.[62]
^The Allen twins performed as backup singers under the name Ghetto Fighters on Hendrix's song "Freedom".[74]
^According to authors Steve Roby and Brad Schreiber, Hendrix was fired from the Isleys in August 1964.[80]
^Three other songs were recorded during the sessions—"Dancin' All Over the World", "You Better Stop", and "Every Time I Think About You"—but Vee Jay did not release them at the time due to their poor quality.[84]
^Several songs and demos from the Knight recording sessions were later marketed as "Jimi Hendrix" recordings after he had become famous.[95]
^In mid-1966, Hendrix recorded withLonnie Youngblood, a saxophone player who occasionally performed with Curtis Knight.[98] The sessions produced two singles for Youngblood: "Go Go Shoes"/"Go Go Place" and "Soul Food (That's What I Like)"/"Goodbye Bessie Mae".[99] Singles for other artists also came out of the sessions, including theIcemen's "(My Girl) She's a Fox"/ "(I Wonder) What It Takes" andJimmy Norman's "That Little Old Groove Maker"/"You're Only Hurting Yourself".[100] As with the King Curtis recordings, backing tracks and alternate takes for the Youngblood sessions would be overdubbed and otherwise manipulated to create many "new" tracks.[101] Many Youngblood tracks without any Hendrix involvement would later be marketed as "Jimi Hendrix" recordings.[99]
^So as to differentiate the two Randys in the band, Hendrix dubbed Randy Wolfe "Randy California" and Randy Palmer "Randy Texas".[103]Randy California later co-founded the bandSpirit with his stepfather, drummerEd Cassidy.[104]
^Most of Hammond's albums list him as "John Hammond", although he was often referred to as "John Hammond Jr." in biographies to distinguish him from his father, the record producerJohn Hammond. Later, he has been referred to as "John P. Hammond" (father and son do not share the same middle name). Singer-guitaristEllen McIlwaine and guitaristJeff Baxter also briefly worked with Hendrix during this period.[107]
^Etchingham later wrote an autobiographical book about their relationship and the London music scene during the 1960s.[115]
^This guitar has now been identified as the guitar acquired and later restored byFrank Zappa. He used it to record his albumZoot Allures (1971). When Zappa's son,Dweezil Zappa, found the guitar some 20 years later, Zappa gave it to him.[135]
^The original version of the LP contained none of the previously released singles or theirB-sides.[145]
^As withSgt. Pepper,Are You Experienced was recorded usingfour-track technology.[141]
^The US and Canadian versions ofAre You Experienced had a new cover byKarl Ferris and a new song list, with Reprise removing "Red House", "Remember" and "Can You See Me" to make room for the first three single A-sides omitted from the UK release: "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze", and "The Wind Cries Mary".[150] "Red House" is the only originaltwelve-bar blues written by Hendrix.[150]
^When Track records sent the master tapes for "Purple Haze" to Reprise for remastering, they wrote the following words on the tape box: "Deliberate distortion. Do not correct."[152]
^According to author Bob Gula, "When Jimi torched his guitar onstage at the Monterey Pop Festival, it became one of, if not the single greatest iconic moment in the first half-century of rock; his image as the psychedelic voodoo child conjuring uncontrollable forces is a rock archetype."[162] Musicologist David Moskowitz wrote: "The image of Jimi kneeling over his burning guitar at Monterey became one of the most iconic pictures of the era."[163]
^Earlier in the festival, a German photographer advised Caraeff, who was taking pictures of performers, to save film for Hendrix.[164]
^As with their previous LP, the band had to schedule recording sessions in between performances.[179]
^Thedouble LP was the only Experience album to be mixed entirely in stereo.[197]
^Hendrix and Etchingham ended their relationship in early 1969.[209]
^Gold and Goldstein filmed the Royal Albert Hall shows, but as of 2013[update] they have not been officially released.[216]
^Hendrix agreed to receive $18,000 in compensation for his set, but was eventually paid $32,000 for the performance and $12,000 for the rights to film him.[232]
^In 2010, when a federal court of appeals decided on whether online sharing of a music recording constituted a performance, they cited Hendrix in their decision stating: "Hendrix memorably (or not, depending on one's sensibility) offered a 'rendition' of the Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock when he performed it aloud in 1969".[240]
^The Woodstock lineup appeared together on two subsequent occasions, and on September 16 they jammed for one last time; soon afterward, Lee and Velez left the band.[241]
^In an effort to finance the studio, Hendrix and Jeffery secured a $300,000 loan from Warner Bros. As part of the agreement, Hendrix was required to provide Warner Bros. with another album, resulting in a soundtrack for the filmRainbow Bridge.[272]
^Two of Hendrix's final recordings included the lead guitar parts on "Old Times Good Times" fromStephen Stills'eponymous album (1970) and on "The Everlasting First" fromArthur Lee's new incarnation ofLove. Both tracks were recorded during a brief visit to London in March 1970, following Kathy Etchingham's marriage.[330]
^Many of Hendrix's personal items, tapes, and many pages of lyrics and poems are now in the hands of private collectors and have attracted considerable sums at occasional auctions. These materials surfaced after two employees, under the instructions of Mike Jeffery, removed items from Hendrix's Greenwich Village apartment following his death.[338]
^While Hendrix had previously owned a 1967 Flying V that he hand-painted in a psychedelic design, the Flying V used at the Isle of Wight was a unique custom left-handed guitar with gold plated hardware, a bound fingerboard and "split-diamond" fret markers that were not found on other 1960s-era Flying Vs.[347]
^During their second rehearsal, the Experience attempted to destroy the Burns amps that Chandler had given them by throwing the equipment down a flight of stairs.[349]
^The wah pedals that Hendrix owned were designed by theThomas Organ Company and manufactured in Italy by JEN Elettronica Pescara forVox.[358]
^His heavy use of thetremolo bar often detuned his guitar strings, necessitating frequent tunings.[379] During the last three years of his life, he abandoned the standardconcert pitch and instead tuned his guitar down oneminor second, or a halfstep toE♭. This not only made string bending easier, but it also dropped the guitar's pitch, making it easier to accompany himself vocally.[380]
^Davis would later request that guitarists in his bands emulate Hendrix.[397]
^"The Nammys rest their definition of Indian music upon broadly drawn ethnic lines, circumventing issues of tribal enrollment and reservation-urban divisions. This is most evident in the selection of individuals to the NAMA Hall of Fame [and have] inducted mainstream stars like... Jimi Hendrix".[428]
^abCross 2005, p. 255: "Though Jimi was now the highest-paid rock musician in the world–he'd made fourteen thousand dollars a minute for his [May 18, 1969] Madison Square Garden concert";Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, p. 220: "Once in New York, at a time [during spring 1970 recording sessions] when he was the highest-paid rock artist in the world".
^Cross 2005, p. 20: Al went to basic training three days after the wedding. (secondary source);Hendrix 1999, p. 37: Al went to war three days after the wedding. (primary source).
^Black 1999, pp. 16–18: Hendrix playing along with "Hound Dog" (secondary source);Hendrix 1999, p. 100: Hendrix playing along with Presley's version of "Hound Dog" (primary source);Hendrix & Mitchell 2012, p. 59: Hendrix playing along with Presley songs (primary source).
^Lawrence 2005, pp. 17–19: Hendrix did not graduate from James A. Garfield High School;Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, p. 694: Hendrix completed his studies at Washington Middle School.
^Roby & Schreiber 2010, pp. 13–14: Hendrix completed eight weeks of basic training at Fort Ord, California;Shadwick 2003, pp. 37–38: the Army stationed Hendrix at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
^"Headquarters, 101st Airborne Division and Fort Campbell - Special Orders Number 167 – Extract - 29 June 1962",Official Military Personnel File for James M. Hendrix(PDF), U.S. National Archives Catalog, p. 56,archived(PDF) from the original on June 30, 2019, retrievedJuly 3, 2019,Hendrix... 'Type disch: Under Honorable Conditions' and 'Rsn (disch): Unsuitability'.
^Cross 2005, p. 94: Hendrix claimed he had received a medical discharge;Roby 2002, p. 15: Hendrix's dislike of the Army.
^George-Warren 2005, p. 217: for the peak chart position of "Mercy Mercy";McDermott 2009, p. 10: Hendrix played on "Mercy Mercy";Roby 2002, pp. 32–35: Hendrix played on "Mercy Mercy";Shadwick 2003, p. 53: "Mercy Mercy" was recorded on May 18, 1964.
^Heatley 2009, pp. 64–65: post-modern soundscapes of "Are You Experienced?";Larkin 1998, p. 45: a diversity of styles;Unterberger 2009, p. 45: "Third Stone from the Sun".
^Cross 2005, p. 184; "an absolute ace on the guitar";Shadwick 2003, pp. 110–115: McCartney insisted that the festival would be incomplete without Hendrix.
^Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, p. 190: "the most exciting performer [he had] ever heard";Shadwick 2003, p. 115: "clothes as exotic as any on display elsewhere".
^Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, p. 190: "the most exciting performer [he had] ever heard";Shadwick 2003, p. 115: "He was not only something utterly new musically".
^Heatley 2009, p. 102: "All Along the Watchtower" was Hendrix's only US top 40 hit single;Murray 1989, p. 51: "All Along the Watchtower" was Hendrix's highest-selling single;Roberts 2005, p. 232: peak UK chart position for Hendrix's cover of "All Along the Watchtower";Whitburn 2010, p. 294: peak US chart position for Hendrix's cover of "All Along the Watchtower".
^Shadwick 2003, p. 118: "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" was Hendrix's first recorded song to feature the use of a wah-wah pedal.
^Black 1999, pp. 181–182: Etchingham stated that she ended the relationship on March 19;Shadwick 2003, pp. 169–170: Etchingham's Brook Street apartment, which was next door to theHandel House Museum.
^Shadwick 2003, pp. 182–183: the last Experience session to include Redding;McDermott 2009, pp. 147–151: Recording sessions at Olmstead and the Record Plant.
^Shadwick 2003, p. 249: feedback, distortion, and sustain;Unterberger 2009, pp. 101–103: Hendrix replicated the sounds made by rockets and bombs;Whitehill 1989a, p. 86 Hendrix's performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" featured his "sonic portrayal of war".
^Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, pp. 384–385: "One of the abiding images of the place and time of Woodstock is Jimi, in white-beaded leather jacket, blue jeans, gold chains and a red head-scarf standing center-stage sending out 'The Star-Spangled Banner'";Inglis 2006, p. 57: "Woodstock has come to represent a unique moment of community, and Hendrix's appearance in particular symbolizes the freewheeling spirit of the era as well as the troubled heart of the anti-war movement."
^Hendrix & McDermott 2007, pp. 58–60: Hendrix spending most of September 17 with Dannemann and Dannemann as the only witness to Hendrix's final hours;Unterberger 2009, pp. 119–126: the disputed details of Hendrix's final hours and death;Moskowitz 2010, p. 82: uncertainty in the specific details of his final hours and death.
^Heatley 2009, pp. 104–105: Hendrix helped to popularize use of the wah-wah pedal;Moskowitz 2010, p. 127: Hendrix helped to popularize use of the wah-wah pedal;Shadwick 2003, p. 92: Hendrix was instrumental in developing the previously undesirable technique of guitar feedback;Unterberger 2009, p. 212: Hendrix helped to popularize guitar feedback.
^Shapiro & Glebbeek 1995, pp. 526: "Are You Experienced?", 527: "Burning of the Midnight Lamp", 528: "Spanish Castle Magic" and "Bold as Love", 530: "Crosstown Traffic".
^Moskowitz 2010, p. xiii: Hendrix synthesized R&B and American folk music;Unterberger 2009, p. 227: Hendrix synthesized blues, soul, British rock, 1950s rock and roll, and jazz.
^Howland, John (2021). "From Progressive Jazz Luxe to Sweet Sophistisoul".Hearing Luxe Pop: Glorification, Glamour, and the Middlebrow in American Popular Music.University of California Press. p. 260.ISBN978-0520300118.
^Green 2008, p. 19: Hendrix influenced John Frusciante;Handyside 2005, p. 34: Hendrix influenced Eddie Hazel;Owen & Reynolds 1991, p. 29: Hendrix influenced Prince, George Clinton, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers;Unterberger 2009, p. 21: Hendrix influenced Ernie Isley.
^Batey, Rick (April 1991). "Compilation John McGeoch [interview]".Guitarist.He grew up trying to play along to the best of what was around, like Clapton, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. "Robert Smith interview".Fast Forward onViva – a German TV channel. YouTube. November 2001. RetrievedDecember 26, 2021.Jimi Hendrix is my first hero and he represented a colourful alternative world that I aspired to when I was still at school.
^Frere-Jones, Sasha (February 23, 2014)."Sahara Blues: Tinariwen's desert sound".The New Yorker. RetrievedJanuary 30, 2023.In 2004, [group bassist] Ag Leche heard Jimi Hendrix for the first time. When he told me this, he broke into a huge smile and began to rock back and forth, as if praying.
^"Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler talks lyrical inspiration".IGN. June 29, 2010. RetrievedOctober 27, 2020 – via Blabbermounth.net.Everybody in [SABBATH] liked CREAM and HENDRIX and ZEPPELIN, and I suppose it was a natural progression for us to get even heavier than they were.
^GP staff 2012, p. 54: Hendrix influenced Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani, "[Hendrix] created modern electric playing";Gula 2008, p. 101: Hendrix influenced Kirk Hammett;Roby & Schreiber 2010, p. 72: Hendrix influenced Stevie Ray Vaughan.
^Unterberger 2009, p. 225: Handel's former residence at 25 Brook Street; For the first blue plaque ever granted to a pop star see:Wilkerson & Townshend 2006, p. 76; For its entry in the English Heritage Blue Plaque database see:"Jimi Hendrix Brook Street Blue Plaque".English Heritage Blue Plaque database. English Heritage Blue Plaque Scheme.Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. RetrievedMarch 28, 2016.
^Kulkosky, Victor. (September 19, 2012). "Byron Pop Festival Gets Historic Marker".The Leader Tribune, Peach County, GA.
^ab"Hall of Fame".Database. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived fromthe original on January 22, 2011. RetrievedJuly 13, 2012.
^"Lifetime Achievement Award (Grammy)".Grammy.com's database and listing of award-winners. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.Archived from the original on July 3, 2017. RetrievedJuly 13, 2012.
Aledort, Andy (1995). Tolinski, Brad (ed.). "Jimi Hendrix Lesson: Message to Love".Guitar School.7 (3).
Aledort, Andy (1991). Pollock, Bruce; Stix, John (eds.). "Performance notes: Jimi Hendrix, 'All Along the Watchtower'".Guitar Classics IV by Guitar: For the Practicing Musician.
Martin, Joel W. (1996). "'My Grandmother Was a Cherokee Princess': Representations of Indians in Southern History". In Bird, S. Elizabeth (ed.).Dressing in Feathers: The Construction of the Indian in Popular Culture.Routledge.ISBN0-8133-2666-4.
Mayer, John (2011)."Jimi Hendrix". In Brackett, Nathan (ed.).Rolling Stone: The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Rolling Stone. Archived fromthe original on September 4, 2017. RetrievedSeptember 1, 2017.
Wheelock, Richard M. (2012). "Native People in American Mythology and Popular Culture". In Hoffman, Elizabeth DeLaney (ed.).American Indians and Popular Culture, Volume 1: Media, Sports, and Politics.Praeger.ISBN978-0-313-37990-1.
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