JIMI HENDRIX
James Marshall Hendrix (real name: Johnny Allen Hendrix) was born
in Seattle, Washington in 1942. He began his short career by
touring with a number of R&B shows from 1961 to 1966.
In 1966 Hendrix moved to England and founded The Jimi Hendrix
Experience, a trio that included Mitch
Mitchell and Noel Redding.
The group made its debut appearance in Paris, France, in 1966
and toured clubs on the European continent and in England over the
next two years.
The Experience was an immediate hit, and its singles Hey,
Joe, Purple Haze, and The Wind Cries Mary
rose to the top of the pop charts in England.
Hendrix's erotic style, with suggestive gyrations, a pulsating
beat, a strongly amplified sound, and the smashing of his guitar,
made his appearances controversial but extremely popular. Even
elite guitarists such as Eric Clapton
and Pete Townshend admired Hendrix's style
and abilities.
Returning to the United States, The Experience appeared at the Monterey
Pop Festival in 1967. Hendrix's dramatic performance of the
song Wild Thing is documented in the film Monterey
Pop (1969), and after that concert he became a superstar.
The movie Woodstock (1970) recorded his set at the
1969 Woodstock Festival. His version
of The Star Spangled Banner - in which he plucked
the guitar with his teeth - became legendary.
 Remarkably
Jimi Hendrix only ever recorded four albums, and the third, Electric
Ladyland (1968), is considered by everyone to have been way
ahead of its time.
Recording took months. Hendrix would rock up to the studio at
any old time, usually stoned out of his mind and with groupies in
tow - Sometimes he'd be incoherent and all but incapable of
playing; sometimes he'd play like an angel.
When Hendrix arrived to play Berkeley, California in 1970, the
town was convulsed with student protest at the Vietnam War, which
in turn was met with a vicious crackdown by Governor Ronald
Reagan who called in the National Guard (they responded with
tear gas and batons).
Hendrix played two shows, unaware that
ticketless fans had caused riots outside the theatre. A film - Jimi
Plays Berkeley - was pieced together from Hendrix's
performances and footage of anti-Vietnam protests.
Hendrix's (unintended) final concert took place on the Isle of
Fehmarn in Germany on September 6, 1970. With an exhausting
itinerary that had seen six shows in six days in four countries,
the new Jimi Hendrix Experience were not in good shape when they
arrived to play a 'Love and Peace Festival'.
Even worse, bassist Billy Cox had begun descending into
paranoia and an ongoing nervous breakdown after trying acid for
the first time during the European tour.
 Roadie Gerry Stickells
had to promise to stand behind Cox onstage to persuade him to play
the gig. Unfortunately, Stickells was hit on the head by a plank
of wood studded with six-inch nails, thrown by a group of Hells
Angels.
Warring biker factions battled throughout the night,
culminating in the Angels burning the stage down. In the melee,
Rocky (another of Hendrix's roadies) was shot in the leg while
attempting to get the band's gear off the stage.
Cox continued to
freak out for two days when the band arrived back in London,
forcing Hendrix to send him home to his parents in Pennsylvania.
He would never see Hendrix again . . .
On 18 September 1970, James Hendrix died at the Samarkand Hotel
in West London after drinking wine, taking barbiturates and
choking on his own vomit. He was only 27.
His record company
immediately released a single, Voodoo Chile. The single
became Hendrix's only UK Number One.
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