Jimi Hendrix. Biography of Jimi Hendrix G Hendrix

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Jimi Hendrix is ​​one of the pioneers of virtuoso guitar playing. This man single-handedly managed to expand the idea of ​​rock music to limitless limits. These days, the performer is considered a true legend of a bygone era. What kind of person was he? What can you say about the career and personal life of the iconic guitarist? What musical works of Jimi Hendrix are worth listening to? Read about all this in our article.

Musician's childhood

Jimi Hendrix was born in Seattle, Washington on November 27, 1942. Our hero's father Al was an ordinary average African American. Lucille's mother was of Indian descent. Along the distant line, there were Indian and Irish branches in the family of the future star. Such an amazing symbiosis of individual bloodlines and cultural traditions largely affected the formation of the performer’s unique guitar style.

Little Jimi Hendrix's parents divorced shortly after the birth of their son. Then the sudden death of the mother occurred. Due to his father’s constant employment, the boy was forced to be in the care of his grandparents almost all the time. The upbringing of the latter had a positive impact on the development of the child’s innate talent, who began to become familiar with high art and creativity. However, young Jimi Hendrix developed a love for playing the guitar absolutely spontaneously.

As a teenager, the guy purchased a used acoustic instrument for a ridiculous five dollars. The study of the simplest chords followed. Understanding the basics of playing the guitar took up almost all of the boy’s free time. After a while, Jimi could no longer imagine himself without music.

Criminal record and military service

Closer to adulthood, our hero was forced to leave his favorite pastime. The reason was the participation of young Hendrix in the theft of a car. The guy was convicted and received a prison sentence of two years. However, useful connections and the experience of a lawyer allowed the young man to avoid imprisonment. A substitute for severe punishment was military service.

Reluctantly accepting the verdict, Jimi Hendrix became a member of the US Airborne Division. However, literally a year later he went to the hospital, seriously injuring his leg after an unsuccessful landing during a parachute jump. Due to injury, he was demobilized. Once at home, our hero again returned to developing his guitar skills.

Career start

Having left his military service behind, the talented musician took the pseudonym Jimi James and began performing at concert venues in Nashville, where he moved with his longtime friend Billy Cox. Young performers began to collaborate with the popular artist Little Richard. However, a creative conflict soon arose, which forced Hendrix to found his own band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames.

After playing in nightlife for some time, Jimi began working with musician Chas Chandler, who was in the famous rock band Animals. Together they went to London. It was here that the guitarist decided to organize the Jimi Hendrix Experience project. Having recruited skilled drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding into the team, the musician had the opportunity to fully realize his own hidden potential. Chas Chandler did everything to ensure that the new team took its place on the capital's pop scene as soon as possible. A year later, Jimi Hendrix's songs became the main topic of discussion in London's creative circles.

The artist's finest hour

In 1967, the Jimi Hendrix band presented their debut album Are You Experienced to a wide audience of listeners. It was during this period that the musician began to attract the attention of the public with his extraordinary antics on stage, setting his guitar on fire while performing solo parts. Getting burns on his hands did not stop our hero from starting recording his second album, which was called Axis: Bold as Love. The release of the record was almost disrupted because Jimi lost the recordings of some of the compositions. The musical developments were urgently restored, and at the end of the same year the long-suffering compositions saw the light of day.

Soon, rock music lovers and authoritative critics recognized the Are You Experienced album as the most talented and successful work of the late 60s. The virtuoso guitarist suddenly became a show business star of the first magnitude. In the British charts, the musician's songs were second only to the most famous recordings of The Beatles. The composition Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix, which was included in the release of the record for the American market, was subsequently recognized by the authoritative publication Rolling Stone as worthy of the list of the hundred greatest guitar creations in the history of music. Nowadays, the song has the status of one of the anthems of the hippie movement.

Last performance and sudden death

Being in the status of a world star, Hendrix began to abuse drugs. The last time the legendary musician took to the stage was at the Isle of Wight festival in London. Jimi went backstage early, being booed by the audience who did not want to listen to the guitarist's new compositions.

The interrupted concert turned out to be the final one in the life of the cult performer. On the morning of September 18, 1970, Hendrix was found lifeless in his hotel room at the Samarkand Hotel in London. According to the guitarist's friend Monica Daneman, who also spent the night in the room, the musician took a huge amount of sleeping pills the day before, trying to sleep after a hard day. However, Jimi failed to wake up.

Films about Jimi Hendrix

In memory of the musician who suddenly passed away, several films were made. In 2010, the documentary film Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child, directed by Bob Smeaton, was released. The film shows concert recordings, family photographs, drawings and archives of correspondence of the legendary guitarist.

In September 2013, the feature film “Jimi: Everyone is on My Side” was shown to visitors to the Toronto Film Festival. The film tells about the life and work of a musician at the beginning of his career. The film focuses on the story of the release of the cult record Are You Experienced.


      Date of publication: 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 the popularity of the electric guitar. His unique, inimitable style and innovative approach gave a powerful impetus to the development of new musical forms and directions. The black guitarist did not know the notes and implemented many of his ideas spontaneously, on a whim. His songs, created over a short career (only 4 years), have become the anthems of an entire generation. And not only. Among those who call Jimi Hendrix their guru are many modern 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 child's father, 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 the 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 his music. Even more than he could hear.

One day, dad Al noticed that his child was showing a keen interest in the guitar. “I often made Jimi clean the room,” he recalls. “And I kept finding broom rods under the bed. I asked: “Jimi, did you sweep the floors?” And he answered with an innocent look: “Oh, yes!” But it soon turned out that little Jimi would just sit on the edge of the bed and strum his broom as if he were playing a guitar."

In order to stop the abuse of household equipment, Al gave the young talent a ukulele with one string stretched. However, having seen the progress, in the summer of 1958 he was generous with used acoustics, bought from a friend for five dollars. Thus, already a “horse peasant” Jimi joins a group of enthusiasts - “The Velvetones” - and breaks up 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 the group with the loud name “The Rocking Kings"

In '61, Jimi decides to leave his father's home and volunteers to join the US armed forces. Already in November of next year, he receives the right to wear the Screaming Eagles division stripes. During the Eagles' quarters in Kentucky, they met bass guitarist Billy Cox. Their joint project was called "The King Casuals". Hendrix's war epic does not last long: during a parachute jump, he is injured and sent to demobilization. In civilian life, taking the pseudonym Jimi James, he works as a session musician. Who didn’t he outplay with? And Ike & Tina Turner, and Sam Cooke, and the Isley Brothers, and Little Richard... They say that the reason for the breakup with the latter was the shirt with frilly frills that Jimi dressed up in before going on stage, which terribly enraged Little Richard . However, this is nothing more than rumors and idle speculation. But the facts are as follows: there were no tears during the parting, and Jimi, full of creative strength, assembled his own group, “Jimmy James & The Blue Flames,” where he sang and soloed on guitar.

During the last half of 1965 and the first half of 1966, Hendrix and Co. concertized in Grinchich Village (an area of ​​New York, at that time one of the cultural centers of the country). At one of these performances (in the cafe "Wha?") a meeting took place that became the beginning of the musician's star journey. He meets The Animals bassist Chas Chandler. Chandler was so shocked by Jimi's performance that he offered a contract under which he would have to move to London to assemble a new line-up.

First of all, it was proposed to abandon the creative pseudonym in favor of a real name. According to Chandler, the name “Jimi”, as sharp as a shot, was to become synonymous with the generation of the sixties. The position of drummer was filled by Mitch Mitchell, bass guitarist by Noel Redding, and the trio itself was simply and tastefully called “The Jimi Hendrix Experience”. Rumors about the new team spread across London at the speed of the Orient Express.

The first single "Experience" - "Hey Joe" - immediately entered the British charts and by the beginning of 1967 reached 6th place. Following the “forty-five”, a full-length LP “Are You Experienced?” was released. This album is still considered one of the best albums of all time. Let's remember "Purple Haze", "The Wind Cries Mary", "Fire", "Foxey Lady" or "Are You Experienced?". There is only one step left until global recognition.

The "Experience" trio is invited to America to perform at the Monterey Pop Festival. The morning after it, Jimi woke up as a “star”: a video of the famous song “Wild Thing” (during its performance he burned his Fender Stratocaster on stage) was broadcast by television stations all over the world.

The line of the first record was continued in "Axis: Bold As Love", which appeared on the shelves of record stores in 1968. Here the musician concentrates his attention on directing the compositions. Jimi spends a significant amount of time in the studio at the console, checking every turn of knobs and switches.

Upon returning to America, he built the Electric Ladyland studio in New York. This project served as the idea and gave the name to the next imperishable album, another double LP. The year 1969 was spent traveling and painstaking studio work, which could not have any effect on the moral climate in the team. "Experince" is canceled as a creative unit.

Summer of '69. "Summer of Love". A time of emotional and musical growth for Jimi. 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, included 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 the audience of thousands into a state of trance.

1969 also marked collaborations with old army buddy Billy Cox and former Electric Flag drummer Buddy Miles. The line-up, called the "Band of Gypsys", gave four brilliant performances on New Year's Day - December 31, 1969 and January 1, 1970, which were captured on vinyl. The album "Band of Gypsys" was released in the mid-70s.

Mitch Mitchell rejoins Jimi, and with Billy Cox on bass, the trio return to their original name, "The Jimi Hendrix Experience". They are recording several 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 incident 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.

The creative legacy of Jimi Hendrix 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 absorbed blues, ballads, rock and jazz, made him one of the most popular figures in the history of rock music.

Now let's remember those who helped him: bass guitarist Noel Redding, drummers Mitch Mitchell and Buddy Miles.

Noel Redding
(annotation 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 decided to put together his own - “The Loving Kind”. Unfortunately (or maybe not), the group was not successful. Ambitious Noel took a different path. This path led straight to Jimi Hendrix, who in October 1966 held auditions for musicians.

Noel was hired, but on the condition that he would play bass guitar. The result was an excellent basis for the extravagant sound of Jimi's guitar.

Mitch Mitchell
(annotation 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.

Mitchell has been playing for a year with George'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 vacancy as a drummer 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

Over a more than 30-year career, Buddy Miles has released about fifty records, recorded screensavers and commercials for TV. With his tours, he traveled the globe 6 times. At different times, many celebrities invited him to collaborate.

At the age of 12, Buddy took a seat at the drums in his father's jazz band, The Bebops. In subsequent years, his attention switched to rhythm and blues groups. Replayed with "Ruby & The Romantics", "The Delophonics", "The Ink Spots" and "Wilson Pickett". After a Wilson Pickett performance in New York, Buddy receives an offer from guitarist Mike Bloomfield to participate in the newly minted blues-rock project Electric Flag. “It was the best team I’ve ever played in,” says the musician.

15 months later, under the strict leadership of Miles, “The Buddy Miles Express” assembled, recording a number of successful records such as “Expressway To Your Skull” and “Electric Church”. They were produced by Jimi Hendrix.

Express tours last much longer than the Durassel battery lasts. Buddy and K not only open the concerts of the giants “Cream” and “The Jimi Hendrix Experience”, but also perform as “headliners” at many concerts. Miles was also featured on such classic albums as Hendrix's Electric Ladyland and Muddy Waters' Farthers And Sons.

In 1969, Buddy and Jimi Hendrix founded the legendary trio "Band of Gypsys" with Billy Cox on bass. Unfortunately, before the untimely death of Jimi Hendrix, they managed to record only one album - "Band of Gypsys".

Then The Buddy Miles Express reformed and recorded a very successful album, Them Changes, which spent 74 weeks on the Billboard charts. The absolute highlight of this record are such “action films” as “Them Changes” and “Down By The River” (by Neil Young).

The next great success came after the recording of Carlos Santana's live album. In five years, Buddy will take a permanent place at the microphone stand in this guitarist's band.

In 1986, Buddy Miles recorded the accompaniment to a TV commercial - the song "I Heard It Through The Grapevine". It becomes the most successful in the history of TV, and the California Raisins label will offer Buddy a position as a producer.

Over the years, he has continued to collaborate with many famous artists, including Stevie Wonder, David Bowie and John McLaughlin. The year 1992 was marked by work with former Parliament-Funcadelic member Bootsy Collins. And the following year, the line-up "Buddy Miles-Slash-Billy Cox-Paul Rogers" recorded the track "I Don`t Live Today" for the Jimi Hendrix dedication album.

In 1994, another reincarnation of “The Express” took place. The revived lineup records "Hell And Back For Rycodisc". 1997 - release of the collection "The Best Of Buddy Miles". And tireless old Buddy continues to tour, record records and produce other performers.

The musician is rightfully recognized and respected throughout the world as an innovator, whose approach, to varying degrees, contributed to the embodiment of the ideas of his contemporaries Jimi Hendrix or Sly Stone.

American rock musician, singer, composer Jimi Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle (Washington, USA) in the family of American army soldier Al Hendrix and received the name Johnny Allen. Later, however, his father changed his son's name to James Marshall.

The group performed in coffee shops in New York's bohemian Greenwich Village. During this period, Hendrix met former Animals member Chas Chandler at the New York City Club, who invited him to move to London and create a group there. Chandler came up with the nickname "Jimi Hendrix" for the guitarist.

In the fall of 1966, in London, Jimi created the group Jimi Hendrix Experience (in addition to Hendrix, the trio included drummer Mitch Mitchell and bass guitarist Noel Redding).

Chandler helped the band break into the London pop scene, and within a short time Hendrix became the talk of the capital's musical circles.

Hendrix's first single Hey Joe, a reworking of a song written by Los Angeles band Leaves, topped the UK charts early in 1967, and was soon followed by Purple Haze, The Wind Cries Mary, Fire and the trio's first album, Are You Experienced?

At concerts, Hendrix performed in bright, extravagant outfits, played the guitar with his teeth and elbows, and threw it behind his back. On March 31, 1967, at a concert in London's Finsbury Park Astoria, he set fire to a guitar for the first time, after which he was hospitalized with burns to his hands.

This stage trick was subsequently used by him several times during the performance of the song Fire.

Hendrix's finest hour was the rock festival in Monterey (California, USA) in June 1967, where his trio stole the show. At the end of 1967, the band's second album, Axis Bold as Love, was released.

At the beginning of 1968, the group went on an American tour with a new album. This trip marked the beginning of Hendrix's return to the United States. In 1968, a new album by the group Electric Ladyland appeared, recorded in the USA.

By mid-1968, the group began touring less, and the musicians concentrated on studio work. Hendrix purchased a studio in New York and experimented a lot in it. Disagreements began within the group, caused by friction between Hendrix and Redding, as well as Jimi's idea of ​​teaming up with his old friends.

On February 24, 1969, the Jimi Hendrix Band performed at London's Albert Hall. The concert was recorded and is considered the group's last official performance. After that, the group toured for another six months. After a concert in Denver (USA), held at the end of June 1969, Noel Redding left the group.

In 1969, Hendrix began to have problems with the law. On May 3, 1969, he was arrested at Toronto airport after heroin was found in his luggage and was released on $10,000 bail.

In August 1969, Jimi performed at the legendary Woodstock festival (the band accompanying him was called Gypsy Suns & Rainbows), and later assembled a new trio, Band Of Gypsys, which included Hendrix's army friend, bassist Billy Cox, as well as the famous American drummer Buddy Miles.

The group's debut took place at the Fillmore East in New York.

After some time, an unsuccessful attempt was made to revive The Experience, which resulted in the formation of a group, sometimes called Cry Of Love, which included musicians from two groups The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band Of Gypsys: Hendrix, Cox and Mitchell. The contract provided for three tours - in the USA, Europe and Japan.

Jimi Hendrix's posthumous discography includes more than 500 albums.

Even during his lifetime, Hendrix was called a phenomenon and a genius of the guitar, who discovered an endless source of possibilities for new sounds in the instrument. Critics and admirers of the musician believe that Hendrix.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

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 this was quite enough to write the artist’s name in golden letters in the history of rock and provide an example for subsequent generations to follow. Although Hendrix could neither read nor write music, his innovative style, combining 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” by 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 following summer, my father was generous with a full-fledged power tool, the Supro Ozark 1560S, and Hendrix’s new team was The Rocking Kings.

In 1961, James was drafted into the army, but even during his service he did not give up his hobby, and when his division was stationed in Kentucky, he and bassist Billy Cox organized the ensemble “The King Casuals”. After being injured in a parachute jump, Hendrix was discharged and began working as a session guitarist under the name Jimmy James. By the end of 1965, he had already played with many musicians, among whom were 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 the lead guitarist and leader of the group.

In 1966, while the musician and his crew were hanging around small clubs in Greenwich Village, Chas Chandler noticed him. Struck by the talent of the black guitarist, the bassist of "Animals" turned into Hendrix's manager, persuaded him to change his name to Jimi and move to London. There, the Jimi Hendrix Experience group was assembled especially for the newly-minted genius, which included drummer Mitch Mitchell and bass guitarist Noel Redding. The debut "experimental" single "Hey Joe" spent 10 weeks on the UK charts, reaching number six in early 1967. 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 Beatle’s “Sergeant Pepper” was sitting at the first. Anyway, "Are You Experienced?" became one of the fundamental rock albums of all times, and such things as “Purple Haze”, “Foxey Lady”, “Fire”, “The Wind Cries Mary” were included in the golden fund of psychedelics.

And although England immediately recognized the genius of Hendrix, America refrained from excessive emotions until the Jimi Hendrix Experience showed up at the Monterey International Pop Festival. At this festival, Jimi demonstrated not only his outstanding musical abilities, but also his extraordinary talents as a showman. He did all kinds of things with the guitar: he played behind his back and plucked the strings with his teeth, and then he completely set fire to his Stratocaster. Literally overnight, JHE turned into real superstars, and as a result, the label demanded the speedy release of a second record. However, yielding to the wishes of the publishing company, Hendrix undertook to personally control the studio process, and any pressing of a button or switch of a toggle switch was subject to his close attention. In principle, "Axis: Bold As Love" retained the psychedelic direction of its predecessor, but songs like "Little Wing", "Castles Made Of Sand", "One Rainy Wish" also reflected the lyrical side of "Experience".

As the popularity of the “experimenters” grew, Hendrix’s drug addictions also increased. Quarrels with colleagues (and especially with Redding) became commonplace, and when previously perfectionistic sessions turned into chaos, Chandler resigned as manager. However, the group returned in October 1968 with the powerful double album Electric Ladyland, which topped the Billboard list for a couple of weeks. The program featured various style compositions: the psychedelic "Burning Of The Midnight Lamp", the blues jam "Voodoo Chile", the New Orleans R&B "Come On", the studio epic "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)", Britpop "Little Miss Strange", and the most famous were the avant-garde reworking of the Dylan classic "All Along The Wathtower" and a magnificent example of guitar work "Voodoo Child ("Slight Return"). One way or another, Electric Ladyland became the last album for JHE, and the group disbanded in 1969.

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 ensemble “Band Of Gypses” appeared in its place, in which bassist Billy Cox and drummer “Electric Flag” Buddy Miles became Jimi’s partners. Hendrix held a number of performances with the “gypsies” and released a live album, but then he returned Mitchell to the group and decided to revive the “Jimi Hendrix Experience”. Locked in the studio, the trio began preparing the album "First Rays Of The New Rising Sun", but the guitarist never saw the end of the project - on September 18, 1970, Hendrix was found dead in the London Samarkand Hotel. However, Jimi left plenty of unreleased material and all sorts of rarities, and over the next few decades posthumous albums were released based on them.

Last update 06.06.11 Jimi Hendrix (real name James Marshall Hendrix) is a legendary musician who was called a rock classic during his lifetime. His phenomenal guitar playing, as well as his constant search for new sound formats, made him one of the brightest stars of his time. Today, the legendary African American is no longer with us, but his musical legacy still continues to exist. Having become a pioneer in many industries, Jimi Hendrix expanded the concept of rock music and became a true legend of this genre. That is why today we decided to talk about it. What kind of person was he? How did his career develop? Read about all this in our biographical review.

Early years, childhood and family of Jimi Hendrix, first songs

Our today's hero was born in cold and foggy Seattle into the family of Al and Lucille Hendricks. The father of the future musician was African-American, and his mother was Indian. In addition, Irish and Native American branches can also be traced on Jimi Hendrix's paternal genealogy. Such a strange symbiosis of blood, cultures and everything connected with them largely determined the guitarist’s unique musical style, and also influenced his usual expressive manner of performance.

In addition, the divorce of his parents, as well as the early death of his mother, had a significant impact on the creative and life path of our today’s hero. Due to his father's constant employment, Jimi Hendrix spent most of his childhood with his grandparents. It was they who instilled in the young guy a love of art and creativity. However, our today’s hero chose his musical path independently. As noted in many sources, the future musician chose guitar creativity almost by accident. As a teenager, he bought himself an acoustic guitar for five dollars and began to learn chords on his own. This activity captivated the young guy so much that he subsequently couldn’t imagine his life without guitar music. Having learned to play the guitar well, Jimi Hendrix began performing with several Seattle bands, but very soon was forced to leave this activity.

The reason for everything was the theft of a car, as well as the subsequent court verdict. Initially, the outrageous musician was sentenced to two years in prison, but thanks to the skill of the lawyer, the prison sentence was replaced by two years of military service.

Deprived of any other choice, Jimmy went to serve in the airborne division, but a year later he was demobilized and sent to a military hospital with a serious leg injury.

Jimi Hendrix - "Foxey Lady"

After recovering from his injury, Jimi Hendrix began making music again. Soon he, along with his then friend Billy Cox, moved to Nashville, where he began performing in clubs there. During this period, he opened for such performers as B.B. King, Curtis Knight, and Little Richard.

Star Trek Jimi Hendrix, music career

In the mid-sixties, Jimi Hendrix played with several bands and often performed on stage. Thus, he met many famous musicians, among whom was Chas Chandler (known for his performances with the group “The Animals”). It was he who became the first producer of Jimi Hendrix. Together they went to London, where they subsequently formed the group “The Jimi Hendrix Experience”. After this, the first performances of the group took place, which brought the group great fame.

In 1967, the ensemble’s first album, entitled “Are You Experienced?”, was released. During this period, during one of his performances, Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar for the first time, after which he was admitted to the hospital with burns to his hands. Despite this, a few months later, our today’s hero began recording his second studio album, “Axis: Bold as Love,” the release of which was almost disrupted due to the fact that the musician lost the recording of almost half of the songs. Ultimately, the musical material was restored, and already in December 1967, the band’s second album was released.


After the release of these albums, the Jimi Hendrix group went on tour. At first their destination was Scandinavia, but subsequently the group gave a number of concerts in Britain and the USA. Having settled in America, Jimi Hendrix began recording his third album in 1968. During this period, in interviews with many of his acquaintances, admiring responses began to slip through about the musician’s unprecedented perfectionism. A musician could record the same guitar part twenty times, so that in the end he could choose one single option that seemed suitable to him.

In October 1968, Jimi Hendrix's third studio album, Electric Ladyland, was released. From that moment on, the group resumed touring again, checking out London, Denver, and the Woodstock festival. This tour could have been even longer, but in May 1969, the musician was detained at a Canadian airport with a large shipment of drugs. This fact became the reason for a long trial, which prevented the holding of a number of concerts.

Last performances and death of the musician, cause of death of Jimi Hendrix

It is worth noting that problems with drugs continued to haunt the legendary guitarist. At his last performance at the London Isle of Wight Festival, he left the stage early because the audience wanted to listen to his old songs, ignoring his new compositions. After this episode, Jimi Hendrix went on stage one more time, however, booed by the audience, he left it again.

That interrupted performance ultimately became the artist's last appearance on stage. On September 18, 1970, he was found dead in a room at the Samarkand Hotel in London. According to his then-girlfriend Monica Charlotte Daneman, who was with the musician at the time of his death, Jimmy died by choking on vomit caused by taking nine sleeping pills. Seeing how her friend was dying, the girl still did not dare to call an ambulance, since various drugs were scattered throughout the room at that moment.


After the death of the musician, his friends and acquaintances released about fifteen more concert recordings of the guitarist. Jimi Hendrix's posthumous discography includes more than 350 different compositions.



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