Jimi Hendrix

Blues/rock guitarist whose recordings during the psychedelic? era helped to redefine the sound of the electric guitar.

Following a medical discharge from the 101st Airborne (from a back injury from a parachute jump), Hendrix, who had been playing guitar since a child, initially made his living supporting touring soul and blues musicians, including [Curtis Knight]?, [B. B. King]? and [Little Richard]?. By 1966 he had his own band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames and a residency at the Cafe Wha? in New York City. Whilst with the Blue Flames, he was discovered by Chas Chandler, of British rock group [The Animals]?, who brought him to England, where Chandler helped Hendrix form a new band, "The Jimi Hendrix Experience" with bassist [Noel Redding]? and drummer [Mitch Mitchell]?.

After a few concerts, the band started to gain a reputation amongst their contemporaries, impressing Eric Clapton and members of The Beatles and [The Who]?. This promise was born out in their first single, a cover of "Hey Joe", a blues song of unknown origin. Further success came to the follow-up, the incendiary "Purple Haze", whose heavily distorted guitar sound would be highly influential for the next 20 years. 1967 also saw the release of the groups first album, "Are You Experienced", whose mix of melodic ballads ("Remember"), pop-rock ("Fire"), psychedelia ("Third Stone From The Sun") and traditional blues ("Red House") would prove the template for much of their later work.

At the instigation of Paul McCartney the band were booked for the Monterey Pop festival, and the concert, immortalised by filmmaker [D. A. Pennebaker]? was seen as a triumphant homecoming, while back in England Hendrix's wild-man image and musical gimmickry (e.g. appearing to play guitar with his teeth) continued to garner him publicity. 1968 saw the release of two further Experience albums. The first, "Axis: Bold as Love", was in the vein of the "Are You Experienced", with tracks such as "Little Wing" and "If 6 Was 9" showing his continuing master of all facets of his instrument. The second, the double album "Electric Ladyland", was more eclectic and experimental, featuring a lengthy blues jam ("Voodoo Chile"), the jazz inflected "Still Raining, Still Dreaming" and what is probably the definitive version of Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower". Many of the tracks show Hendrix's expansion beyond the scope of the original trio and, following a deterioration in his relationship with his bandmates (and particularly Redding), the Experience split.