James Marshall Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. Despite a limited mainstream exposure of four years, he is widely considered to have been the greatest electric guitarist in the history of popular music, and one of the most important musicians of the 20th century.Influenced musically by American rock and roll and electric blues, following initial success in Europe with his band the Jimi Hendrix Experience, he achieved fame in the US after his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Later, he headlined the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, before dying from drug-related asphyxia at the age of 27.
Instrumental in developing the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback, Hendrix favored overdriven amplifiers with high volume, gain and treble. He helped to popularize the use of the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock, which he often used to deliver tonal exaggerations in his solos. He also pioneered experimentation with stereophonic phasing effects in rock music recordings.
The recipient of several prestigious rock music awards during his lifetime and posthumously, the Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. English Heritage erected a blue plaque to identify his former residence on Brook Street, London, in September 1997. Rolling Stone ranked his three non-posthumous studio albums, Are You Experienced (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (1967) and Electric Ladyland (1968) among the 100 greatest of all time; they ranked him the number one greatest guitarist and the sixth greatest artist.
Genealogy and childhood
Jimi Hendrix was of a mixed genealogy that included African American, Irish, and Cherokee ancestors. His paternal great-grandmother Zenora was a full-blooded Cherokee from Georgia who married an Irishman named Moore. In 1883, they had a daughter whom they named Zenora "Nora" Rose Moore, Hendrix's paternal grandmother. The illegitimate son of a black slave woman named Fanny and her white overseer, Jimi's paternal grandfather, Bertran Philander Ross Hendrix (born 1866), was named after his biological father, a grain merchant from Urbana, Ohio, and one of the wealthiest white men in the area at the time. On June 10, 1919, Hendrix and Moore had a son they named James Allen Ross Hendrix (died 2002); people called him Al.
In 1941, Al met Lucille Jeter (1925–1958) at a dance in Seattle; they married on March 31, 1942.Drafted into the United States Army to serve in World War II, Al went to war three days after their wedding. Born Johnny Allen Hendrix on November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington, the first of five children born to Lucille, in 1946, having been unable to consult Johnny's father Al Hendrix, serving in the US army at the time, about his son's name, they changed Johnny's name to James Marshall Hendrix, in honor of Al, and Al's late brother Leon Marshall. As a young child, friends and family called James "Buster"; his brother Leon claims that Jimi chose the nickname after his hero Buster Crabbe, of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers fame.
Stationed in Alabama at the time of Johnny's birth, and having been denied the standard military furlough afforded servicemen for childbirth, the commanding officer placed Al in the stockade as a preventative measure against his going AWOL to see his new son in Seattle. He spent two months locked-up without trial, and while in the stockade, he received a telegram announcing his son's birth. During Al's three-year absence, Lucille struggled to raise her infant son, often neglecting him in favor of nightlife.
Family members and friends mostly cared for Hendrix during this period, especially Lucille's sister, Delores Hall, and her friend Dorothy Harding. Al received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army on September 1, 1945. Two months later, unable to find Lucille, he went to the Berkeley home of a family friend named Mrs. Champ, who had taken care of and attempted to adopt Jimi, where Al met his son for the first time.
Jimi's relationship with his brother Leon (born 1948) was close but precarious; with Leon in and out of foster care, they lived with an almost constant threat of fraternal separation. In addition to Leon, Jimi had three other younger siblings: Joseph, born in 1949, Kathy in 1950, and Pamela, 1951, all of whom Al and Lucille surrendered into foster care and adoption.
After his 1946 return from service, Al reunited with Lucille, but his difficulty finding steady work left the family impoverished. Both he and Lucille struggled with alcohol abuse, and they often fought while intoxicated. One day a pimp named John Page, who had a history with Lucille, tried to commandeer her out of a movie theater while she was with Al. Al objected and a fight ensued, spilling out into the street. Al had been an amateur boxer and stunned the pimp with a first punch, eventually winning the brawl, and they never saw the pimp again. His parents' violence sometimes made Hendrix withdraw and hide in a closet in their home.
The family moved frequently, staying in cheap hotels and apartments around Seattle. On occasion, family would take Hendrix to Vancouver to stay at his grandmother's and sometimes his uncle Frank's family. A shy and sensitive boy, Hendrix was deeply affected by these experiences. In later years, he confided to a girlfriend that, in addition to the nearly constant instability of Hendrix's home life as a child, he had been the victim of sexual abuse by a man. In one instance while he was living in Harlem, Hendrix broke down crying as his girlfriend related the sexual abuse she had suffered as a child, telling her that the same thing had happened to him.
On December 17, 1951, when Hendrix was nine years old, his parents divorced; the court granted Al custody of Jimi and Leon. At thirty-three, his mother had developed cirrhosis of the liver and died on February 2, 1958 when her spleen ruptured. Instead of letting his boys attend their mother's funeral, Al Hendrix instructed them on how "men dealt with their grief", by giving them shots of whiskey. In 1967, Hendrix revealed his feelings of loss 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."
First recordings
In March 1964, Hendrix recorded the two-part single "Testify" with the Isley Brothers. Released in June 1964, it failed to chart. After touring with the band through the summer of 1964, Hendrix left after a gig in Nashville.
In September 1964, Hendrix joined Little Richard's touring band, the Upsetters. Hendrix performed with them through mid-1965. During a stop in Los Angeles in early 1965, Hendrix played a session for Rosa Lee Brooks on her single "My Diary". This was his first recorded involvement with Arthur Lee of the band Love. While in L.A., Hendrix 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 by Vee-Jay Records in November 1965.
In July 1965, on Nashville's Channel 5 Night Train, he made his first television appearance. Performing in Little Richard's ensemble band, Hendrix backed up vocalists "Buddy and Stacy" on "Shotgun". The video recording of the show marks the earliest known footage of Hendrix performing live.
Hendrix clashed with Richard over tardiness, wardrobe, and, above all, Hendrix's stage antics. On tour they shared billing a couple of times with Ike & Tina Turner. It has been suggested that Hendrix left Little Richard's band and played with the Turners briefly before returning to the, but there is no firm evidence to support this. Hendrix mentioned playing with the Turners, and Ike Turner, shortly before his death, claimed that he had, but that is emphatically denied by Tina. Months later, Hendrix either was fired or left after missing the tour bus in Washington, D.C. He then rejoined the Isley Brothers in the summer of 1965 and recorded a second single with them, "Move Over and Let Me Dance" backed with "Have You Ever Been Disappointed" (1965 Atlantic 45-2303).
Later in 1965, Hendrix joined a New York–based R&B band, Curtis Knight and the Squires, after meeting Knight in the lobby of the Hotel America, where both men were staying at the time. Hendrix performed on and off with them for eight months. In October 1965, Hendrix recorded a single with Curtis Knight, "How Would You Feel" backed with "Welcome Home" (1966 RSVP 1120) and on October 15 he signed a three-year recording contract with entrepreneur Ed Chalpin, receiving 1% royalty. While the relationship with Chalpin was short-lived, his contract remained in force, which caused considerable problems for Hendrix later on in his career. Several songs and demos from the 1965–1966 Curtis Knight recording sessions, deemed not worth releasing at the time, were marketed as "Jimi Hendrix" recordings after he became famous. Aside from Curtis Knight and the Squires, Hendrix then toured for two months with Joey Dee and the Starliters.
In between performing with Curtis Knight in 1966, Hendrix toured and recorded with King Curtis. Hendrix recorded the two-part single "Help Me (Get the Feeling)" with Ray Sharpe and the King Curtis Orchestra (1966 Atco 45-6402) (the backing track was subsequently overdubbed by other vocalists with different lyrics and released as new songs). Later in 1966, Hendrix also recorded with Lonnie Youngblood, a saxophone player who occasionally performed with Curtis Knight. The sessions produced two singles for Youngblood: "Go Go Shoes"/"Go Go Place" (Fairmount F-1002) and "Soul Food (That's What I Like)"/"Goodbye Bessie Mae" (Fairmount F-1022). Additionally, singles for other artists came out of the sessions: The Icemen's "(My Girl) She's a Fox"/ "(I Wonder) What It Takes" (1966 SAMAR S-111) and Jimmy Norman's "You're Only Hurting Yourself"/"That Little Old Groove Maker" (1966 SAMAR S-112). 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. Many Youngblood tracks without any Hendrix involvement would later be marketed as "Jimi Hendrix" recordings. Also around this time in 1966, Hendrix earned his first composer credits for two instrumentals "Hornets Nest" and "Knock Yourself Out", released as a Curtis Knight and the Squires single in 1966.
Hendrix, now going by the name Jimmy James, formed his own band, the Blue Flame, composed of Randy Palmer (bass), Danny Casey (drums), and a 15-year-old guitarist who played slide and rhythm named Randy Wolfe in June 1966. The band came to be mistakenly labeled as Jimmy James and the Blue Flames after Hendrix's rise to fame. The misnomer was repeated enough times to be considered a factoid. The only surviving advert for the band, however, billed them as the Blue Flame. Hendrix himself referred to the band as such in his 1969 interview with Nancy Carter, as did John Hammond. Randy California would later co-found the band Spirit with his stepfather, drummer Ed Cassidy.
Hendrix and his new band played at several places in New York, but their primary venue was a residency at the Cafe Wha? on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. The street runs along "Washington (Square) Park" which appeared in at least two of Hendrix's songs. Their last concerts were at the Cafe au Go Go, as John Hammond Jr.'s backing group, billed as "the Blue Flame". Singer-guitarist Ellen McIlwaine and guitarist Jeff Baxter also claim to have briefly worked with Hendrix in this period.
Drug use and violenceWidely associated with the use of psychedelic drugs, particularly lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), Hendrix had never taken psychedelic drugs until the night he met Linda Keith, but had smoked cannabis. Hendrix also used amphetamines, especially during tours. Friends and bandmates reported that Hendrix would sometimes become angry and violent when he drank too much alcohol. Though illicit drugs alone did not seem to produce a significant negative effect on him, when he mixed them with alcohol, he would often become incendiary. Hendrix friend, Herbie Worthington, explains: "You wouldn't expect somebody with that kind of love to be that violent ... He just couldn't drink ... he simply turned into a bastard."
A girlfriend of Hendrix's, Carmen Borrero, required stitches after he hit her above her eye with a vodka bottle during a drunken, jealous rage. Drugs and alcohol played a role in Hendrix's 1968 rampage that badly damaged a Stockholm hotel room, which led to him injuring his right hand and to his arrest and eventual fine. After the burglary of his Benedict Canyon, California house, Hendrix, while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, punched friend Paul Caruso and accused him of the theft. Hendrix then chased Caruso away from the residence while throwing stones at him.
On May 3, 1969, while checking through Canadian customs at Toronto Pearson International Airport, authorities arrested Hendrix for drug possession after finding a small amount of heroin and hashish in his luggage. After being released on a CAN$10,000 cash bail the same day, only four hours before his show was to begin, the Experience performed at Maple Leaf Gardens that night. The courts required Hendrix to appear before a judge at a later date. Acquitted of the charges, in his trial defense Hendrix claimed that a fan slipped the drugs into his bag without his knowledge.
Death
Though the specific details of his final hours and death are unclear and widely disputed, Hendrix had spent much of September 17 in London with Monika Dannemann, the only eyewitness to his final hours. Dannemann claimed to have prepared a meal for them at her apartment in the Samarkand Hotel, 22 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill, sometime around 11 p.m., when they shared a bottle of wine. She drove Hendrix 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.
According to Dannemann, around 4 a.m., Hendrix, struggling with insomnia after having consumed amphetamines earlier that evening, asked her for sleeping pills. She claimed to have refused his request hoping he would fall asleep naturally.Dannemann said she surreptitiously took a sleeping pill sometime around 6 a.m., with Hendrix still awake, and awoke around 10 a.m. According to Dannemann, at this time, Hendrix appeared to be sleeping normally. She claimed to have then left to purchase cigarettes, and when she returned around 11 a.m., found Hendrix breathing, though unconscious and unresponsive. She called for an ambulance at 11:18 a.m.; they arrived on the scene at 11:27 a.m.. Paramedics then transported Hendrix to St Mary Abbot's Hospital where Dr. John Bannister pronounced him dead at 12:45 p.m., on September 18, 1970.
Coroner Gavin Thurston conducted an autopsy on Hendrix's body on September 21, with the official inquest taking place on the 28th. He concluded that Hendrix had asphyxiated on his own vomit due to barbiturate intoxication. Citing "insufficient evidence of the circumstances", he declared the verdict open. Dannemann later claimed that Hendrix, unaware of the brand's high potency, had taken nine of her prescribed Vesparax sleeping pills. Intended to be taken in one-half tablet increments, nine tablets of the powerful German sedative amounted to 18 times the recommended dosage. On September 21, Professor Robert Donald Teare, a forensic pathologist and medical practitioner performed a post-mortem examination of Hendrix's body. He found no evidence of violence or suicide and concluded that Hendrix had accidentally overdosed.
While Dannemann stated that Hendrix was alive when placed in the back of the ambulance at approximately 11:30 a.m. and that she rode with him on the way to the hospital, the ambulance crew later denied that she was there. Statements from the paramedics who responded to the call show that they found Hendrix alone in the flat when they arrived at 11:27 a.m., fully clothed and apparently already dead.
Musical influences
As an adolescent during the 1950s, rock and roll artists such as Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Chuck Berry earned Hendrix's interest. In 1966, Hendrix stated, "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice." In 1968, he told Guitar Player magazine that electric blues artists including Muddy Waters, Elmore James and B.B. King influenced him during the beginning of his career, he also cited Eddie Cochran as an early influence. Of Muddy Waters, the first guitarist Hendrix became aware of, he said: "I heard one of his records when I was a little boy and it scared me to death because I heard all of these sounds."
Band of Gypsys bassist, Billy Cox, stated that during their time serving in the US military, he and Hendrix listened to mostly southern blues artists such as Jimmy Reed, B.B. King and Albert King. According to Cox, "Albert King was a very, very powerful influence" on Hendrix. Howlin' Wolf also influenced Hendrix, who performed Wolf's "Killing Floor" as the opening number to the set of his US debut at the Monterey Pop Festival. Soul guitarist Curtis Mayfield also significantly influenced Hendrix.
In early 1967, when asked what he thought about the music of the Beatles, Hendrix replied: "Oh, yes. I think its good. They're one group you can't really put down because they're just too much." During the same interview, when asked if he had seen Pink Floyd Hendrix replied: "I've heard they have beautiful lights but they don't sound like nothing."
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