Jimi Hendrix said at the height of his fame, "I want to be respected in the music field."  In a mere four years of solo music making he achieved that and more, as he managed to not only revolutionize guitar playing, but the role of guitarist as showman. In the years since his death in 1970, he has become one of the most musically respected artists ever and his legend has grown steadily. Unfortunately, Jimi's stage antics sometimes overshadowed his musical abilities, something he fought and had much difficulty with later on in his career. The myth surrounding Jimi as a wildman, many say, was greatly exaggerated and helped along by his management team to give him a broader appeal to the hippy crowd. While his playing and stage show in the early days were as violent as the times, the young man beneath it all was overwhelmed, frustrated and confused by the immense adulation given him.

As a youngster, Hendrix displayed a keen  interest in music, especially the blues, and went about collecting records by such artists as Muddy Waters, BB King, Chuck Berry and Eddie Cochran. Hendrix's father recalled in his book how a young Jimi would spend hours on the porch playing along with these records on an old guitar. It was here that Jimi learned the first guitar riffs and licks he would later take and turn inside out and upside down, and quite literally set the music world on fire.

In the late 1950's, Jimi's musical ambitions took a back seat for a brief period as he enlisted as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army. Jimi's dad recalls how his son was proud of being "clean cut" while in the army. After injuring his back during a jump he was given a medical discharge, and it was only after this twist of fate that Jimi decided to concentrate on a career in music as he was by this time an accomplished guitarist. He began playing in local R&B groups around Seattle and rapidly made a name for himself, becoming a much in demand guitar player. Between 1961 and 1966, Hendrix toured throughout the United States in blues shows under the name of Jimmy James. It was during this time that Jimi spent six months in New York as a member of James Brown's Furious Flames.

While in New York in the late summer of 1966, Hendrix played the many Greenwich Village clubs as Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. It was a performance at Cafe Wha! that was seen by Chas Chandler of The Animals that would change Jimi's life forever. Chandler was so floored by Jimi's performance that night that he immediately approached Hendrix about representing him. In September of 1966, Chandler was successful in convincing Jimi to move to England where he believed his talents would be more appreciated.

In London, Chandler wasted no time in holding auditions for a rhythm section that was to be built around Jimi, a tough job considering the uniqueness of Jimi's playing and the speed, complex rhythm, chord and style changes Hendrix weaved together in his guitar playing. Noel Redding, who at twenty years of age was already a seasoned blues rocker, had gone to London to audition for Eric Burdon who was looking for a new guitarist for The Animals. After his tryout with Burdon was done, Chandler asked him if he could play bass and if he would sit in with this "other guy". Redding recalled in his book, "a bloke who was pacing uneasily in a distant corner . . . dressed in a horrible tan raincoat and grotty black winker-picker boots with zips". The first song the two played together was "Hey Joe," and after a beer and a good chat about common musical interests, the gig was his. After jamming with various drummers, along came Mitch Mitchell who had enjoyed some success with Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames. A powerhouse drummer with excellent precision and skill, Mitchell proved to be the perfect match. After toying with the idea of a four piece with Redding on rhythm guitar, Jimi admitted he wanted freedom and decided that they would remain a trio. They were dubbed The Jimi Hendrix Experience (JHE) by management, and the rest as they say, is history.

In late 1966 and into 1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience toured Europe extensively, achieving an immediate reputation and  following as an exciting barrage of guitar virtuosity accompanied by a searing rhythm section. From their first gig at the Olympia Club in Paris, the JHE left audiences with their mouths open while at the same time breaking attendance records. Around this time, the JHE signed a recording contract and soon released three successive top ten U.K. hits (Hey Joe, Purple Haze and The Wind Cries Mary). The incredulous tour with The Monkees then followed,but as the first half of 1967 drew to a close, Hendrix found himself famous throughout Europe (especially in the U.K.), but virtually unknown in his native country. That was soon to change with an exhilarating performance that would capture Jimi at the brink of superstardom and one of the most memorable acts of showmanship ever in rock and roll; The Monterey Pop Festival and Jimi sacrificing his guitar.

At the request of Paul McCartney, the JHE was added to the list of acts to perform at the three day outdoor festival. Although Janis Joplin is fondly remembered for stopping the show, Hendrix quite simply stole the show. Janice and Big Brother and the Holding Company had already developed a large following on the west coast and her performance, while heart stopping and catapulting her into stardom, was not a total surprise. Jimi on the other hand, was a complete surprise to most at the festival. After a blistering performance, Jimi ended his set with the now famous ceremony of lighting his guitar on fire and dousing it with lighter fluid. That proved to be the catalyst that got the ball rolling for Jimi in the United States and his first taste of superstardom and all its trappings.

Hendrix  now began thrilling audiences across the United States much as he had done previously in Europe. Audiences were amazed as they watched  Jimi play his right handed Strat upside down, masterfully employing both feedback and distortion as no one had done before or has been able to since. Hendrix coaxed unique and never before heard sounds from his guitar while spectacularly playing it with his teeth and behind his back. His stage actions gained him world wide notoriety as they were full of sexual innuendoes. He bumped, grinded and swiveled his hips against his guitar, making love to the instrument before destroying the guitar in a blaze of fire or smashing it against a stack of amplifiers. Hendrix was the first of the true hard rock guitarists, he was black and a sex symbol to boot. Still dealing with segregation and race riots, it goes without saying that the late 1960's American establishment feared Hendrix and quite frankly, didn't like him at all.

After a whirlwind of touring, recording and fast living accompanied by both commercial and critical acclaim, The Jimi Hendrix Experience succumbed to the strain and pressure and broke up in 1969. Hendrix said at the time that it wasn't permanent but, "just a chance for us to experiment and grow individually." Some have said that Hendrix was feeling cornered by the style of music, while others say he was feeling pressure from Black Power groups who felt that Jimi had "betrayed his black roots" in order to cash in and by playing with white musicians. Whether this had anything to do with the break up is difficult to say, but Jimi found the criticism stinging nonetheless. This certainly added to the confusion and problems he was experiencing in 1969, not to mention his growing drug use which culminated in the infamous Toronto airport arrest for heroin possession.

In the summer of 1969, Hendrix performed at Woodstock with an ensemble of musicians collectively named The Electric Sky Church, with Mitch Mitchell on drums. Although only 30,000 of the original 500,000 people stuck around for his performance on the last day of the festival, his mesmerizing rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" is regarded as the epitome of distortion and feedback and was a major highlight of the festival and its accompanying movie and soundtrack. At this point, Hendrix was feeling increasingly trapped by the antics and style expected of him and retreated to upstate New York where he formed the all black and short lived Band Of Gypsies. With Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums, the trio released only one album, 1970's gold selling "Band of Gypsies", which was recorded live at the Fillmore East. Hendrix continued to tour the United States in the summer of 1970 before returning to England in August to prepare for his final appearance at The Isle Of Wight Festival. Although exhausted (more than apparent in the Isle Of Wight video), in deep financial trouble (he was beginning to realise that he was missing millions of dollars), and experiencing legal woes (he was looking to sever his management contract), Jimi was still trying to grow and experiment musically but continued having difficulty gaining that elusive respect as a musician as audiences and media alike still expected ever more outrageous stage actions.

On the evening of September 17, 1970, Jimi attended a party at a London flat and was picked up by his girlfriend Monika Dannemann. She claims that Jimi showed her a handful of pills given to him by friends at the party but threw them out as they drove back to their flat, Jimi telling her he had not taken anything at the party. The pair arrived home at 3:00am and talked until 7:00am when Dannemann fell asleep. At approximately 11:00am, she awoke and noticed Jimi had been sick in his sleep and tried to wake him without success. She saw that Jimi was still breathing and noticed empty sleeping pill packages on the floor. An ambulance was called and arrived at the flat at 11:27am. The attendants told Dannemann that Jimi was just in a deep sleep and that he would be alright before taking him to the hospital. What happened while at the hospital remains unclear, but Dannemann gives some details of the experience in her book. Whatever the case, Jimi entered the St. Mary Abbot Hospital alive and breathing, then shockingly at 12:45pm, he was pronounced dead.

The autopsy showed Jimi's system contained nine sleeping tablets of Vesparax, small traces of another barbiturate Seconal, and twenty milligrams of amphetamine. Contrary to some popular stories that have evolved since Jimi's death, no needle marks or other signs of hard drugs were found. In fact, a leading forensic scientist said at the time that the dose of sleeping pills was too low to be fatal in itself. The official cause of death rendered was "inhalation of vomit due to barbiturate intoxication".

Again, conspiracy theories abound. Both Noel Redding and Monika Dannemann believe in the "slight possibility" that Hendrix was murdered and both state some interesting arguments and facts to back up these theories in their respective books. Suicide did not seem to be an option for Jimi due to his spirituality. In fact, Hendrix and Dannemann discussed suicide the morning of his death and Jimi relayed his beliefs that suicide causes the soul to never rest (Jimi did have access to over 40 sleeping tablets at the flat, so if he wanted to commit suicide . . .). As Redding says in his book, "Jimi died from choking on his vomit and that in itself should have been a preventable cause of death". Interestingly enough, in 1991 both Eric Burdon (who Dannemann called before calling the ambulance the morning of September 18, 1970), and Mitch Mitchell called on Scotland Yard to reopen the investigation into Jimi's death. In 1993, England's Attorney-General agreed and investigated before announcing that it "found no evidence to pursue the case further".

No other artist has had so much material released posthumously as Jimi Hendrix. Because of the legal problemes he was having at the time of his death (he also died without a will), and the fact that his grief stricken father signed away many rights to Jimi's music (only recently, after years of legal wrangling has the family regained these rights), there have been approximately one hundred albums released since his death. Some have been great while other recordings were never meant to see the light of day.

Once again in a scene all too familiar with the young and explosive talent of the late 1960's, the unfulfilled promise of what could or may have been continues to burn. With just three albums released while alive, Jimi Hendrix forever changed rock and roll and the roles of the guitar, guitarist and the rock and roll performance. His work has influenced and will continue to influence generations of guitar players around the world.

Another member of Rock and Roll Heaven.

P.S. Anyone know about the Plaster Casters story?

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