A musician who was recognized as an electric guitar genius during his lifetime. The most daring inventor of musical innovations, it was he who increased the scale of the possibilities of rock music.
early years
Jimi was born in Seattle, Washington on November 27, 1942. His mother, Lucille Jeter, was of Indian ancestry, and his father, Al Hendrix, was originally from Vancouver at the time of their marriage, Lucille was only 16 years old. His childhood passed quietly and peacefully until his parents decided to dissolve the marriage and live separately. This event shocked young Jimi and led to depression. From self-destruction, the boy was saved by his grandmother, who was a member of the variety show in Vancouver. In her house, he first felt the love of music and wanted to create something so beautiful himself.
In 1958, his mother passed away, trying to distract himself from his grief by buying an acoustic guitar. While learning to play the guitar, he listens to records of famous blues artists. Things got more complicated since he was left-handed and had to re-tune his guitar for his left hand. To test his skills in action, he tried several times to perform with local groups. But his stage activity was interrupted due to the arrest, he was detained and charged with car theft. Fortunately, the lawyer was able to negotiate with the judge and instead of two years in prison, he was sent to two years of military service. The absolute lack of interest in military affairs was clearly visible in his actions. He spent days lounging or sleeping, and ended up injuring his leg while skydiving. He was demobilized and sent for treatment to a military hospital.
Talent Discovery
Having completely healed his injury, the guitarist returned to writing music. Together with his friend, he went to Clarksville to play in local clubs. After some time spent trying to create a band and add harmony to it, they went to Nashville. Here they performed day and night in clubs, where they sometimes stayed overnight. The group often performed in institutions where the society of blacks prevailed, since racial differences played a role at that time. In 1964, Jimi moved to New York, changing his stage name to Jimi Hendrix, and began work as a freelance musician. He joins the community with such famous performers as Tina Turner, Sam Cooke and The Isley Brothers. After one of the concerts, Linda Keith noticed him. It was difficult for her to accept the fact that such a talented guitarist is still so little known. Kit decided to help Jimi and introduced him to producer Chas Chandler.
In 1965, a decision was made to collaborate with Ed Chalpin, but the terms of the contract were not favorable for the guitarist, which in the future served as a source of lengthy lawsuits. Beginning in the summer of 1966, he received a steady income at the Cafe Wha? Constant experimentation during performances show his early examples of rock, hard rock and musical psychedelic parts. During his free period of work, he collaborates with many guitarists who have achieved success in the field of show business and they all unanimously noted the talent of the young man. At one of the concerts, the guitarist met Frank Zappa.
The experimenter introduced Jimi to his new invention, the wah-wah pedal. Hendrix liked the novelty so much that in a fairly short time he learned to use it to perfection. In the future, this instrument became an integral part of all his shows, and it was this pedal that gave the performer his unusual sound. Sometimes the performer was so fond of the game that he began to dance with her and toss an instrument like that in those days, no one dared to repeat it, and this warmed up the atmosphere created by the music even more.
British period
In 1967, the musician went to London and there created his own group, The Jimi Hendrix Experience. In connection with the creation of the team, a small concert was arranged in Greenwich Village. Taking into account the fact that the concert was not mentioned anywhere during its holding, a lot of people gathered who were interested in "good" music. After a short period of time, the group had thousands of fans. The debut signal was the song "Hey Joe" the composition became so popular that it reached the top of the charts. The only competitors were only The Beatles, who at that time had a peak in popularity. The sound, reminiscent of a blues-rock symbiosis, won the hearts of people more and more. Wasting no time in the same year, another record was released. Although it aroused much less public interest, the sound was more confident and of high quality.
After one of the concerts, Jimi met his future muse Katie Itching. The couple moved in and began to live together in an apartment located in the center of London. Due to the success and pressure he put on the musician, he used drugs and alcohol, which had a bad effect on his behavior. Due to one of these mood swings, Hendrix was hospitalized in the middle of one of the concerts with severe burns to his hands. The performer thought it was a good idea to set fire to his guitar during the performance. The next album "Axis: Bold as Love" could not be released at the appointed time. The guitarist, being drugged, lost the final recording three days before the release. He had to create everything from scratch and redo the records over again. The end result was successful, but the musician himself was never satisfied with it.
Success
Success and fame turned out to be an unbearable burden for Jimi. He increasingly drank and used drugs, practically did not sleep. This state of affairs had a bad effect on his health and behavior. Because of this, while visiting Scandinavia, he, being in a strong intoxication, trashed a hotel room. The hotel management did not appreciate Hendrix's wild antics, and he was sent to the police station. After the release of the third album "Electric Ladyland", the musician decides to return to his homeland. After working for a short period of time on the creation of a new album, he decides to create his own recording studio. Having bought a building in New York, he created a project of a special design, the construction of which was completed in the late 70s.
Drinking problems returned and hit the guitarist's mind with renewed vigor. Previously neat and careful, Jimi has become a chaotic and uncertain person. Working with him brought a lot of problems and stress to those around him. Some refused to cooperate with him, knowing that this could lead to a huge amount of wasted time. Patience ran out even with his producer Chas Chandler, he simply handed over his powers to Mike Jeffery and cut off all ties with Jimi. The meticulousness of the musician became simply unbearable, sometimes he re-recorded one song more than fifty times because the sound seemed to him not ideal. His self-confidence as a singer faded. Relatives of Hendrix believe that his producer was to blame for this, who had a bad influence on the performer.
Many suspected Jeffery of cheating on the star's royalties, which had a detrimental effect on relationships with relatives who warned the guitarist about this. Friendly ties in the team deteriorated more and more and in the end it was decided to dissolve the team. The final performance of The Experience was on June 29 at the pop festival.
Last years
In the spring of 1969, Hendrix was arrested at the Toronto airport, he was found with a bag of heroin, which was hidden in one of the backpacks. Jimi denied that the drugs belonged to him and was convinced that a fan had planted them on him. The investigation was suspended because no drugs were found in the suspect's blood. After paying a $10,000 bail, he continued his trip. Unfortunately, rumors that Jimi was using drugs spread very quickly, which caused a wave of condemnation from the fans. Soon Hendrix decides to create a new group and continue his musical activities. The guitarist's goal was the Woodstock Music Festival, which would help him rehabilitate himself from a drug situation. At the festival, his group performed many well-known compositions, but the highlight of the performance was the national anthem in rock arrangement.
The group did not last long, because of the pressure of his relatives, he had to create a new group, which included only black musicians. At many of his performances, he showed dissatisfaction with the fact that fans do not want to listen to his new songs and always ask to play old compositions. For this reason, at his last concert, the fans did not welcome him very well. But the situation quickly improved when the band started playing. Having decided to stay in London, the performer settled in the Samarkand Hotel. The hotel administration received complaints every day about the inappropriate behavior of the guest. On September 18, 1970, the performer died in a hotel room. A talented man died of asphyxia while sleeping. According to a preliminary report, he was in a state of drug and alcohol intoxication. But according to the pathologist who opened him for the final conclusion, there was not a single gram of toxins in his body. His death is covered with a dense veil of secrecy and it is still difficult to say what the true cause of his sudden death is.
- Jimi was left-handed from birth, but his father Al tried to force him to play with his right hand, as he believed that left-handedness was associated with the devil. As a result, Jimi played with his right hand with his father, otherwise there was a risk of losing the guitar once and for all. However, when his father left, he turned the guitar over, and as a result he was able to master the “upside-down” technique, that is, to play like a left-hander, but on a guitar tuned for a right-hander. Later, when Jimi began to live alone, he tuned the guitar to his left hand.
- For the same reason, Hendrix wrote with his right hand.
- Jimi could also play with his teeth by bringing the guitar to his mouth.
- Jimi Hendrix's posthumous discography has over 350 recordings.
Awards:
- UK Music Hall of Fame
- Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Grammy Lifetime
- Achievement Award
Born Johnny Allen Hendrix, who was born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington, he later received another name from his father - James Marshall Hendrix. The man who elevated guitar skills to the rank of high art picked up the instrument early and learned to play like a man possessed. He was self-taught and was excellent with the guitar both right and left handed.
Jimi got acquainted with the blues heritage of the American south, learning the recordings of numerous performers - from (Robert Johnson) to (B.B. King). As a schoolboy, he began playing in local R&B bands, which quickly changed one after another. Higher education was replaced by the army, where Jimi mastered the wisdom of the parachute service. It was here that he met Billy Cox, a bass player in civilian life, with whom he was to meet more than once at different stages of his career. In the meantime, they are creating the King Kasuals group, which they will try to revive for a short time when they return to civilian life. Hendrix was discharged in July 1962 after injuring his right ankle.
Music becomes the source of existence and the meaning of his life. He travels extensively as a live guitarist, accompanying the Impressions, Sam Cooke, Valentinos and other bands. The chance to learn something from masters like the Isley Brothers, Little Richard and King Curtis, he used only half: it was not in his nature to withstand disciplinary limits for a long time. In any case, the musician gained a huge professional experience, invaluable for his future solo career.
By 1965, Jimi Hendrix was already firmly settled in New York. In October, he began playing along with soul singer Curtis Knight and signed a very tough contract with his manager, Ed Chalpin. This ill-considered treaty will come up in the future. And in June 66, Hendrix, already calling himself Jimmy James, formed the Rainflowers, which he soon renamed Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. The quartet played occasionally at the Wha Cafe in Greenwich Village, where they were spotted by Chas Chandler, bassist for the disbanding Animals. He convinced Hendrix to move to London and start a solo career.
In September 1966, ANIMALS bassist Chas Chandler brought a phenomenal guitarist he had found in the United States to London and started looking for musicians for his future band. And from that moment began the countdown of the history of THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE - a group that was destined to change the face of pop music. The drummer of the new project was Mitch Mitchell, a little-known, but already quite experienced musician, selected from a good dozen applicants. The bass player, whose name was Noel Redding, was found quite by accident. As Mitchell recalled: "He was taken only because he had a decent haircut, and, in general, he did not look like a rogue." When the group started rehearsals, it turned out that Noel was holding a bass guitar for almost the first time. However, they decided to leave him.
After rehearsing for several weeks, the freshly minted group went to France to warm up the audience before the performances of Johnny Holiday. Immediately after returning from this tour, the group recorded their first single, "Hey Joe", which by the beginning of 1967 reached number 6 on the charts. The next single " " surpassed the success of the first, reaching third place. In the winter of the same year, the debut album "Are You Experienced?" was recorded, which made the impression of an exploding bomb. Suffice it to say that according to a critics' poll conducted in the UK in the same year, the album took second place, losing only one point to THE BEATLES' legendary "Sgt. Pepper" s. By this time, THE EXPERIENCE were already quite famous among connoisseurs, but managers they were not yet sure that the group would "pull" solo performances and constantly "fastened" it to all sorts of dubious, from the point of view of THE EXPERIENCE fans, performers such as Engelbert Humperdinck and THE MONKEES.
It was during this period that Jimi especially clearly showed himself as a great showman. He performed in bright extravagant outfits, which was not yet quite familiar to the English public (remember the stage costumes of the Beatles or early Pink Floyd). Hendrix demonstrated virtuoso playing, using spectacular tricks from the arsenal and: he played the guitar with his teeth, elbows, threw it behind his back, achieving from his "fender stratocaster" sound unheard of at that time. And on March 31, 1967, at a concert in London's Finsbury Park Astoria, he set fire to a guitar for the first time. All these tricks, coupled with solid material, brought THE EXPERIENCE fame as one of the best live bands.
In 1967, the performance at the Monterey Pop Festival became a triumph, and the final song, during which Hendrix burned his guitar, stunned everyone present. The next day, Jimi was already a superstar. (The guitarist's performance at the Monterey Festival was featured in the Monterey Pop documentary.)
By this time, THE EXPERIENCE had already begun recording their second album, "Axis: Bold As Love". The musicians worked on it much longer than on the first one. It was then that friction first began between the band and Chas Chandler regarding the production of the record. Ches insisted on keeping him in full control of the recording and mixing process. This did not suit the musicians, who, having already accumulated a certain experience in studio work, wanted to determine their own sound themselves. Then Jimi and Noel first began to conflict with each other. Noel did not like to hang around in the studio for a long time and sometimes it happened that he left there in the midst of work. Jimi, on the other hand, was distinguished by phenomenal performance and demands on himself. Sound engineer Eddie Kramer spoke about this:
"Jimi used to stick his head out of the booth and say, 'Is everything okay? Are you sure?" I'm like, "Yeah, Jimi, it worked out great this time," and he's like, "Okay, I'll try again then." And we kept doing takes, each one better than the last, but they never seemed perfect enough to him anyway."
Shortly after finishing work on "Axis", THE EXPERIENCE went on tour to Sweden, where Jimi had his first drug troubles. In Gothenburg, after a pogrom organized by Hendrix in a hotel, he was detained by the police, as a result of which the tour schedule was disrupted.
In April 1968, Record Plant in New York began work on Electric Ladyland, the group's third album. The recording process dragged on until September, breaking all records of duration. The main reason for this was that, simultaneously with the work in the studio, THE EXPERIENCE carried out an American tour. "It took us a lot of effort," Jimi said, "because we were constantly having to go back and redo what we had to finish a few days before, and recording like that is always very tiring. Very hard interrupting work, rushing somewhere, playing gigs, and then getting on a plane and rushing back to the studio. With all this, we wanted our performance to be up to par. " By the middle of 1968, Hendrix's performances became less extravagant, the guitarist focused exclusively on music, experimented a lot in his New York studio "Electric Lady Land", played jam sessions with, with the musicians of Traffic. It was the long sessions that caused the group to break up with Chandler, who "slammed the door" after one of them, which was especially long. Relations between Jimi and Noel also escalated to the limit. Noel reacted very painfully to the fact that a large number of "guests" participated in the recording, and he constantly remained out of work.
But still, despite all the troubles, by the autumn the album was finished and in September 1968 was released. The result exceeded all expectations. In the US, the album was certified gold within a week of its release. Critics chuckled with delight, and public polls regularly placed Hendrix and THE EXPERIENCE at the top of the list of most popular artists. Now, after many years, it has become clear that this album has become the pinnacle not only of THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE, but of the entire world of rock music in general. It was after the release of "Electric Ladyland" that Hendrix became a cult figure.
On October 25, the English edition of the album appeared on sale, the cover of which was decorated with a crowd of naked women (photos of the band members were placed on the envelope of the American edition). According to THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE's fan club newsletter, Jimi's design "didn't make it to England at the start of printing. So the guys had to come up with something of their own. They found the idea very funny." Jimi said about this: "People in Britain do not like this cover, and I completely understand them. I myself would never put this picture there, but it did not depend on me. In general, the English cover of this album really called the band into trouble: the album was even banned from sale in California.No wonder Jimi hated it so much.But later this version of the design, thanks to the scandal inflated by the press, became a kind of symbol of "conceptualism".
According to photographer Dave King, he conceived her as the exact opposite of the image of a woman cultivated by Playboy magazine:
"The original photo had all those natural pink tones, but the cheap printing made the image look dark, cavernous," and the girls, in the words of one of them, "looked like old prostitutes."
The unprecedented success of "Electric Ladyland" turned THE EXPERIENCE into superstars, and for the first time they had the opportunity to choose when and where to tour. The group was simply snapped up by promoters: just for one 45-minute performance at the Newport Pop Festival, the musicians received an unheard-of fee of one hundred thousand dollars. They were even invited to perform at the New York Philharmonic, an honor never accorded to any rock band.
It seemed that golden times had come for the band, but, as often happens, the high point of the band's career was the beginning of its end. Not the last reason for this was the hysteria that arose around THE EXPERIENCE. Mitch Mitchell said of THE EXPERIENCE's latest tour: "We played big venues all the time with a terrible sound. If we had our way, we would have preferred small clubs where the audience would have had a chance to hear at least something, although they seem to be without They were pretty good at it. These guys, for the most part, wanted as much equipment to be crushed and as many guitars to be set on fire. We were all starting to get sick of it, especially Hendrix."
In addition, the relationship between Jimi and Noel was already completely damaged. Noel believed that Hendrix undeservedly got all the laurels and did not want to put up with the role of an extra. He formed his own band FAT MATTRESS and even got it to open for THE EXPERIENCE in Europe. THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE last played in late June 1969 at Mile High Stadium in Denver. After the concert, one of the journalists asked Noel: "What are you doing here? I thought you already left the band." Noel reacted very violently to this, flew to England and announced his departure from the group.
Mitch played with Jimi at the Woodstock Festival (the band that accompanied Hendrix was called Electric Sky Church) and at a charity concert, after which they parted ways. Later, in the fall, Jimi formed the "Gypsy Orchestra" (Band Of Gypsys), which included his army friend, Billy Cox - bass guitar, and drummer Buddy Miles. The debut of the group took place on the eve of 1970 in the famous New York Hall "Filmore East" (this concert was recorded on a disc). A few months later, Hendrix, frustrated with his new band BAND OF GYPSYS, made an attempt to revive THE EXPERIENCE. The musicians gave a press conference, promised a big tour, but then Jimi and Mitch decided to still refuse from Noel's servants. Billy Cox became the bassist of the group, which was called CRY OF LOVE. This line-up recorded Jimi Hendrix's last lifetime album, First Ray of the New Rising Sun. All this time the guitarist was in great demand. Fellow musicians had their sights on him, the record company, the management team - everyone had their own ideas about what he should do first. Two years have passed since the release of the third studio album "Electric Ladyland" and although the musician constantly returned to studio work, the release of the LP was postponed many times. But not only external circumstances were to blame for the fact that the forthcoming album stalled for a long time. Hendrix himself was attached to this. The musician seems to have fallen into a vicious circle, unable to find permanent musicians, to decide in which direction to move, to bring the record to its logical conclusion, instead of endlessly jamming. The trio - Hendrix, Mitchell and Cox - toured country after country with concerts shortly before the musician's death. The last performances of the guitarist and the singer often became a disappointment for his fans: the expectations of the audience and his own goals diverged too much. And yet Jimi Hendrix's final appearance on stage in the UK - at the Isle Of Wight festival - according to eyewitnesses, was a breathtaking sight.
The creative fate of Jimi Hendrix is inextricably linked with numerous rumors and speculation that have haunted his entire "star" life. If you believe the testimonies of people who knew closely (or claim to know) the musician, then an exceptionally contradictory portrait is formed from individual stories. First of all, this concerns his state of mind and creative ideas in the last year of his life. According to some critics, Jimi intended to play jazz, according to others, he was attracted by the blues, others believed that he was going to continue what he started long ago, and the fourth assured that he did not understand what he was doing at all. Everyone who tries to understand the circumstances of his death faces the same discrepancies. Ultimately, the culprit was - as in many cases both before and after him - drugs. Hendrix remained in England and was found dead on the morning of September 18, 1970 in a room at the Samarkand Hotel in London. He spent the night with his then girlfriend, the German Monika Danemann, and died in bed choking on his vomit after taking 9 sleeping pills. Daneman noticed that something was wrong with Jimmy, but she was afraid to call an ambulance because of the drugs that were everywhere in the apartment. A few years later, Daneman claimed that Hendrix was still alive when he was transferred to the ambulance, but her comments on the case were very controversial and changed from interview to interview. In the film biography of Hendrix, the doctor on duty at the time on the ambulance said that by the time Jimmy was taken to the hospital, it was already impossible to save him.
Jimi Hendrix was buried at Greenwood Memorial Park in Renton, Washington, USA, against his wishes to be buried in England.
Jimi Hendrix Memorial (Greenwood Memorial Park in Renton, Washington, USA). Photo by Glenn Watkins, date: 8 April 2007, 11:02
During his 27-year life (he did not live two months before the age of 28), Hendrix left an incredible amount of studio recordings. Much of his legacy, including concert material, has been published over time. Some of the live albums were exceptional in quality, but as for the studio material, there was no unanimity from the very beginning. The first posthumous releases were chaotic (debuting with "The Cry of Love"), and from the mid-70s producer Alan Douglas took control of these projects. He handled Hendrix's legacy quite freely, re-recording his compositions and supplementing them with new instrumentals with session musicians. In the eyes of Jimi's devoted fans, this looked like sacrilege, an attack on the very spirit of his work. Until 1995, Douglas did not give up his attempts, inviting drummer Bruce Gary (Bruce Gary; ex-Knack) to record new parts for the last of his low-profile Voodoo Soup compilations. After many years of litigation and endless hearings, the right to dispose of the entire creative heritage of the musician returned to his father Al Hendrix (Al Hendrix). It happened only in July 1995.
Jimi Hendrix Memorial (Fehmarn/Schleswig-Holstein, Germany). Photo by Joachim Mullerchen.
With constant encouragement from Janie Hendrix, Jimi's half-sister, the late musician's father set up Experience Hendrix and set about organizing his son's archives and entire catalog. On his behalf, producer John McDermott and Jimi's sound engineer Eddie Kramer oversaw the remastering process. They managed to find all the original master copies, including those that have never been processed for CD release. Finally, in April 1997, on the 30th anniversary of the release of the debut album "Are You Experienced?", Jimi Hendrix's first three albums were released in a new, noticeably improved version. Then came the compilation "First Rays of the New Rising Sun" (as the musician was going to call his last album), which was prepared on the basis of a tracklist compiled by the guitarist himself. All new editions followed: collections of the best songs, selections of unreleased tracks, recordings of radio sessions and concerts, including a performance on the Woodstock stage. An almost completely reissued catalog of an outstanding musician, prepared by Experience/MCA Records in 1997, summed up some results in acquaintance with the complete works of Hendrix.
In the four years that Jimi Hendrix has lived as a world star in the blink of an eye, he has enriched the vocabulary of guitar technique with more innovations and improvements than his predecessors ever dreamed of. However, the followers too. Hendrix was unparalleled in his ability to extract from his instrument an incredible palette of sounds, often unheard and completely unexpected. His hurricane sound attacks, designed with all virtuoso brilliance - he could play holding the guitar behind his back, clamping it between his legs, setting it on fire and even plucking the strings with his teeth - sometimes obscured his composing talent and vocal skill, making it difficult to see in him a performer who subtly felt the wide genres: blues, rock, R&B. When Jimi became an international superstar in the blink of an eye in 1967, he looked like a Martian who had fallen from the sky. But the reality was more prosaic: he had to go through many years of study, playing in dozens of R&B bands. In the first half of the 60s, he worked with such giants of rhythm and blues and soul as Little Richard (Little Richard), Isley Brothers, King Curtis (King Curtis), touring and acting as a session musician.
Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock 40 years ago, on monday morning, August 18th, 1969. Photo: © Henry Diltz / Courtesy Rhino Entertainment, pressphoto by Warner Bros. for the publishing of Woodstock 40"
Audio and video (for informational purposes only)
Studio albums
Are You Experienced (May 1967)
Axis: Bold as Love (December 1967)
Electric Ladyland (October 1968)
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; b. November 27, 1942, d. September 18, 1970) is the universally recognized king of the electric guitar and one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century. His stellar career lasted only four years, but it turned out to be quite enough to write the name of the artist in golden letters in the history of rock and set an example for future generations to follow. And although Hendrix could neither read nor write music, his innovative style, which combined fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion, gave birth to previously unheard of musical forms. As a child, James imitated playing the guitar with a broom, and when his father noticed his interest, he slightly improved the “instrument”, giving his son an old one-string ukulele. At the age of fifteen, the guy received a used acoustic guitar from his parent, after which he immediately joined the band The Velvetones. The next summer, his father became generous with a full-fledged power tool "Supro Ozark 1560S", and "The Rocking Kings" became Hendrix's new team.
In 1961, James was drafted into the army, but even during the service he did not give up his passion, and when his division was stationed in Kentucky, he, along with bassist Billy Cox, organized the ensemble "The King Casuals". Injured while skydiving, Hendrix was discharged, after which, under the name Jimmy James, he began working as a session guitarist. By the end of 1965, he had already played with a number of musicians, including such famous personalities as Ike and Tina Turner, the Isley brothers, Sam Cooke and Little Richard. After leaving the last of them, James put together his own band "Jimmy James And The Blue Flames" and thereby turned from a simple accompanist into a lead guitarist and leader of the group.
In 1966, when the musician and his team were hanging around the small clubs of Greenwich Village, he was spotted by Chas Chandler. Struck by the talent of a black guitarist, the Animals bassist turned into Hendrix's manager, persuaded him to change his name to Jimi and move to London. There, especially for the newly-minted genius, the Jimi Hendrix Experience group was assembled, which included drummer Mitch Mitchell and bass guitarist Noel Redding. The debut "experimental" single "Hey Joe" blabbed out in the British charts for 10 weeks, and in early 1967 reached the sixth position. An even greater success awaited the full-length "Are You Experienced?", which appeared on store shelves in May of the same year. The record spent eight months on the lists and stopped at the second step only because the Beatles' "Sergeant Pepper" sat on the first. Anyway, "Are You Experienced?" became one of the fundamental rock albums of all time, and such things as "Purple Haze", "Foxey Lady", "Fire", "The Wind Cries Mary" entered the golden fund of psychedelics.
And while England immediately recognized Hendrix's genius, America held back from getting too emotional until the Jimi Hendrix Experience showed up at the Monterey International Pop Festival. At this festival, Jimi demonstrated not only outstanding musical abilities, but also outstanding inclinations of a showman. Whatever he did with the guitar: he played behind his back and plucked the strings with his teeth, and then set fire to his Stratocaster. Literally overnight, "JHE" turned into real superstars, and as a result, the label demanded an early release of the second record. However, yielding to the wishes of the publisher, Hendrix undertook to personally control the studio process, and any pressing of a button or switching a toggle switch was subjected to his close attention. In principle, "Axis: Bold As Love" retained the psychedelic direction of its predecessor, but such songs as "Little Wing", "Castles Made Of Sand", "One Rainy Wish" reflected the lyrical side of "Experience" as well.
As the popularity of the "experimenters" grew, so did Hendrix's drug habits. Quarrels with colleagues (and especially with Redding) became commonplace, and when the hitherto perfectionist sessions turned into chaos, Chandler resigned his managerial powers. However, in October 1968 the band returned with a powerful double album, Electric Ladyland, which topped the Billboard list for a couple of weeks. The program featured various style compositions: psychedelic "Burning Of The Midnight Lamp", bluesy jam "Voodoo Chile", New Orleans R&B "Come On", studio epic "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)", Britpop "Little Miss Strange" and best known for the avant-garde reworking of Dylan's classic "All Along The Wathtower" and the superb guitar work of "Voodoo Child ("Slight Return"). Anyway, "Electric Ladyland" was the last album for "JHE", and in 1969 the group broke up.
That same summer, Hendrix performed at the legendary Woodstock, where he was accompanied by The Gypsy Sun & Rainbows. However, this formation did not last long, and soon the Band Of Gypses ensemble appeared in its place, in which bassist Billy Cox and Electric Flag drummer Buddy Miles became Jimi's partners. With the "gypsies" Hendrix had a number of performances and released a live album, but after that he returned Mitchell to the group and decided to revive the "Jimi Hendrix Experience". Having closed in the studio, the trio began to prepare the album "First Rays Of The New Rising Sun", but the guitarist did not manage to see the end of the project - on September 18, 1970, Hendrix was found dead in the London hotel "Samarkand". However, Jimi left a lot of unreleased material and all sorts of rarities, and over the next few decades, posthumous albums were released based on them.
Last update 06.06.11Publication date: June 02, 1998
The undisputed musical authority of the 20th century - Jimi Hendrix - was one of the first to contribute to the explosive growth in popularity of the electric guitar. His unique, inimitable style and innovative approach gave a powerful impetus to the development of new musical forms and trends. The black guitarist did not know the notes and embodied many of his ideas spontaneously, on a whim. His songs, created over a short career (only 4 years), have become the anthem of a whole generation. And not only. Among those who call Jimi Hendrix their guru are many contemporary musicians such as George Clinton, Steve Vai, Jonny Lang and others.
Jimi Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix) was born on November 27, 1942 at the Seattle District Hospital (USA). A little later, the father of the child, James Al Hendrix, will give him a different name - James Marshall.
At a young age, Jimi became interested in music. Among his idols are almost all famous artists of that period: B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Buddy Holly and Robert Johnson. Self-taught Jimi did not know musical notation. This probably made him concentrate much more on music. Even more than he could hear.
Once dad Al noticed that his child was showing a keen interest in the guitar. “Often I made Jimi clean the room,” he recalls. “And I constantly found broom rods under the bed. I asked:“ Jimi, did you sweep the floors? that little Jimi would just sit on the edge of the bed and strum the broom as if he were playing the guitar."
In order to stop bullying household equipment, Al gave the young talent a ukulele, on which one string was stretched. However, seeing progress, in the summer of 1958, he became generous and used acoustics, bought from a friend for five dollars. Thus, already "horse peasant" Jimi joins a group of enthusiasts - "The Velvetones" - and parted with them after 3 months. Al's next gift is the first real electric guitar Supro Ozark 1560S, with which young Hendrix was accepted into a group with the loud name "The Rocking Kings".
In 1961, Jimi decides to leave his father's house and volunteers for the US military. Already in November of the following year, he receives the right to wear the patches of the Screaming Eagles division. During the Orlov's quarters in Kentucky, an acquaintance with bass guitarist Billy Cox occurs. Their joint project was called "The King Casuals". The military epic of Hendrix does not last long: during a parachute jump, he gets injured and goes to the "demobilization". On the "citizen", taking a creative pseudonym Jimi James, works as a session musician. With whom only did not replay! And Ike & Tina Turner, and Sam Cooke, and "Isley Brothers", and Little Richard ... They say that the reason for the break with the latter was the shirt with ruffles, frills, which Jimi dressed up before going on stage, which terribly infuriated Little Richard . However, this is nothing more than rumors and idle speculation. And the facts are as follows - at parting there were no tears, and Jimi, full of creative strength, gathers his own group "Jimmy James & The Blue Flames", where he sings and solos on the guitar.
During the last half of 1965 and the first half of 1966, Hendrix and Co. performed in Grinchich Village (New York area, at that time one of the cultural centers of the country). At one of these performances (in the cafe "Wha?"), there was a meeting that became the beginning of the musician's stellar journey. He meets The Animals bassist Chas Chandler. Chandler was so taken aback by Jimi's performance that he offered him a contract to move to London to put together a new line-up.
First things first, it was proposed to abandon the creative pseudonym in favor of the real name. According to Chandler, biting as a shot, the name "Jimi" was to become synonymous with the generation of the sixties. Drummer Mitch Mitchell took the job, bassist Noel Redding, and the trio was named simply and tastefully "The Jimi Hendrix Experience". Rumors of a new band spread across London at the speed of the Orient Express.
The very first single "Experience" - "Hey Joe" - immediately hit the British charts and by the beginning of 1967 reached the 6th place. Following the "forty-five" came out a full-fledged LP "Are You Experinced?". This album is still considered one of the best albums of all time. Think "Purple Haze", "The Wind Cries Mary", "Fire", "Foxey Lady" or "Are You Experienced?". Only a step remains to world recognition.
Trio "Experience" is invited to America to perform at the Monterey Pop Festival. The next morning after him, Jimi woke up as a "star": TV stations broadcast the video of the famous song "Wild Thing" (during its performance, he burned his Fender Stratocaster on stage) all over the world.
The line of the first record was continued in "Axis: Bold As Love", which appeared on the shelves of music stores in 1968. Here the musician concentrates his attention on directing compositions. Jimi spends a significant amount of time in the studio at the console, calibrating every turn of knobs and switches.
Upon his return to America in New York, he built the studio "Electric Ladyland". This project served as the idea and gave the name to the next immortal, another double LP. The year 1969 passed in traveling and painstaking studio work, which could not affect the moral climate in the team. "Experince" is canceled as a creative unit.
Summer of '69. "Summer of Love". The time of Jimi's emotional and musical growth. To perform at the Woodstock Music and Fine Arts Festival, our hero collaborates with the eclectic ensemble "Gypsy Sun & Rainbow", which, in addition to himself, includes Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Jirma Sultan and Jerry Velez. The highlight of the program was a free version of the American anthem "Star Spangled Banner", which plunged thousands of people into a state of trance.
1969 also saw collaborations with old army buddy Billy Cox and former Electric Flag drummer Buddy Miles. The line-up, called "Band of Gypsys", gave four brilliant performances on New Year's - December 31, 1969 and January 1, 1970, which are captured on vinyl. The album "Band of Gypsys" was released in the middle of the 70th.
Mitch Mitchell comes to Jimi again, and with Billy Cox on bass, the trio returns to the original name "The Jimi Hendrix Experience". They are recording a few songs for a new album, tentatively titled "First Rays Of The Rising Sun"...
Unfortunately, the plans of the brilliant musician were not destined to come true. A tragic case, resulting from an overdose of sleeping pills, ended his life on September 18, 1970. The recordings themselves, intended for release, were presented to the public only in 1997.
Jimi Hendrix's legacy is priceless. And after his death, he continues to "release" records. The number of reissued recordings and their circulation cannot be counted. Jimi's music, which has absorbed blues, ballads, rock and jazz, has made him one of the most popular figures in the history of rock music.
And now let's remember those who helped him: bassist Noel Redding (Noel Redding), drummers Mitch Mitchell (Mitch Mitchell) and Buddy Miles (Buddy Miles).
Noel Redding
(abstract from the album "Are You Experienced?")
Since leaving school five years ago, Noel Redding has played guitar with many bands. And in October 1965, he decides to collect his own - "The Loving Kind". Unfortunately (or maybe not), the group was not successful. The ambitious Noel went the other way. This path lay straight to Jimi Hendrix, who in October 1966 arranged auditions for musicians.
They took Noel, but on the condition that he would play the bass guitar. The result is an excellent basis for the extravagant sound of Jimi's guitar.
Mitch Mitchell
(abstract from the album "Are You Experienced?")
Mitch Mitchell is a graduate of the Royal School of Performing Arts. The first ensemble in his career was "The Coronets" under the direction of Chris Sanford. "Not Too Little, Not Too Much" - this song performed by "The Coronets" becomes a hit, but due to some mysterious circumstances, the group breaks up.
Year Mitchell plays in the "Georgie`s Fame`s Blue Flames". Cooperation with him ends in October 1966. A chance encounter with Chas Chandler. And as a result - Mitch takes the drummer position in "The Jimi Hendrix Experience".
A young but certainly experienced musician with fresh ideas, Mitch plays a key role in the sound of this trio.
Buddy Miles
For more than 30 years of his career, Buddy Miles has released about fifty records, recorded screensavers and commercials for TV. With his tour, he traveled the globe 6 times. At various times, many celebrities invited him to cooperate.
At age 12, Buddy took over on the drums in his father's jazz band, The Bebops. In later years, his attention shifted to rhythm and blues bands. Played with Ruby & The Romantics, The Delophonics, The Ink Spots and Wilson Pickett. After the Wilson Pickett performance in New York, Buddy receives an offer from guitarist Mike Bloomfield to take part in the new blues-rock project Electric Flag. "It was the best team I've ever played in," says the musician.
15 months later, under the strict guidance of Miles, "The Buddy Miles Express" is assembled, recording a number of successful records such as "Expressway To Your Skull" and "Electric Church". They were produced by Jimi Hendrix.
Tours of "Express" last much longer than the battery "Durassel". Buddy and K not only open the concerts of the giants "Cream" and "The Jimi Hendrix Experience", but also act as "headliners" at many concerts. Miles is also in demand on recordings of such classic albums as "Electric Ladyland" by Hendrix and "Farthers And Sons" by Muddy Waters.
In 1969, Buddy and Jimi Hendrix formed the legendary trio "Band of Gypsys" with Billy Cox on bass. Unfortunately, before the untimely death of Jimi Hendrix, only one album was recorded - "Band of Gypsys".
Then "The Buddy Miles Express" is reformed and the very successful album "Them Changes" is recorded, which lasted 74 weeks on the Billboard charts. Such "action films" as "Them Changes" and "Down By The River" (Neil Young) are considered to be the absolute decoration of this disc.
The next resounding success came after the recording of "live" album by Carlos Santana. In five years, Buddy will take a permanent place at the microphone stand in this guitarist's band.
In 1986, Buddy Miles recorded an accompaniment to a TV commercial - the song "I Heard It Through The Grapevine". She becomes the most successful in the history of TV, and the label "California Raisins" will offer Buddy a position as a producer.
For many years, he has collaborated with many famous artists, including Stevie Wonder, David Bowie and John McLaughlin. 1992 was marked by work with former Parliament-Funcadelic member Bootsy Collins. And the following year, the Buddy Miles-Slash-Billy Cox-Paul Rogers line-up recorded the track "I Don`t Live Today" for the Jimi Hendrix dedication album.
In 1994, another reincarnation of "The Express" takes place. The revived lineup records "Hell And Back For Rycodisc". 1997 - the release of the collection "The Best Of Buddy Miles". And tireless old Buddy continues to tour, record records and produce other artists.
The musician is rightfully recognized and respected throughout the world as an innovator, whose approach to a different extent contributed to the embodiment of the ideas of his contemporaries Jimi Hendrix or Sly Stone.
