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Jimi Hendrix and a Band of Gipsys

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Born: JOHNNY ALLEN HENDRIX. 27 Nov' 42, Seattle, Washington, USA

Jimi Hendrix was raised by a part Cherokee Indian mother and black father, who, at age 3, changed his forenames to JAMES MARSHALL and bought him his first guitar. Being left-handed, he turned it upside down and reversed the strings, teaching himself by listening to blues and rock'n'roll artists such as ROBERT JOHNSON, MUDDY WATERS, B.B. KING and CHUCK BERRY.

In the early 60's, he enlisted in the paratroopers, thus avoiding the draft into the US army. He was subsequently discharged for medical reasons in 1962, after injuring himself during a jump. Two years later, the young HENDRIX moved to New York and backed acts LITTLE RICHARD, The ISLEY BROTHERS and IKE & TINA TURNER.

Early the following year, JIMI HENDRIX's first real band, JIMMY JAMES & THE BLUE FLAMES, were born. With JIMI's reputation now spreading, he was seen by ex-ANIMALS bass man CHAS CHANDLER, who invited him to London. After auditions, they found a rhythm section of NOEL REDDING and MITCH MITCHELL, smashing their way into the UK Top 10 in early '67 with the 'Polydor' one-off 45, 'HEY JOE'. CHANDLER then set up a deal with Kit Lambert's new 'Track' label, and The JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE exploded onto the scene.

Their first Hendrix-penned 45, the thundering acid-fever of 'PURPLE HAZE', made the UK Top 3, as did the scintillating debut album, 'ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?'. This was released hot on the heels of their third Top 10 single, 'THE WIND CRIES MARY'. Jimi Hendrix was a revelation, a black super-freak whose mastery of the guitar was above and beyond anything previously heard. In fact, he virtually re-invented the instrument, duly illustrating various methods of on-stage abuse (Le. biting it, playing it with his teeth, shagging it and even setting fire to it!). He was duly booked on the Monterey International Pop Festival bill, where he proceeded to play an orgasmic version of 'WILD THING'.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, the following month saw a wholly inappropriate US support tour with The MONKEES, leaving both him and teeny bop audiences baffled, but no doubt entertained for seven nights. After another classic UK hit, 'THE BURNING OF TIIE MIDNIGHT LAMP', he released his second LP, 'AXIS: BOLD AS LOVE', which made the Top 5 early in '68, and was the first to chart and hit the Top 3 in his native America.

In the autumn of '68, JIMI HENDRIX revived and transformed BOB DYLAN's 'ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER', a song that broke into the US Top 20 and UK Top 5. It was trailed by a superb British Top 10 (US No.l) double-LP, 'ELECTRIC LADYLAND', the record featuring the now infamous naked women sleeve (much to JIMI's displeasure), which some shops sold in a brown cover!

The beginning of the end came in 1969, when he was busted for drugs, leading to his band disintegrating; the trio played together for the last time on the 29th June at the Denver Pop Festival. REDDING had already formed FAT MATTRESS, MITCHELL returning with other musicians BILLY COX and LARRY LEE to make the group a quartet. The new "Experience" played the Woodstock Festival on the 17-18 August '69, performing an excellent version of 'STAR SPANGLED BANNER' that went down in the folklore of rock music.

Songwriters: HENDRIX except other covers; HEY JOE (William Roberts) 1 JOHNNY B.GOODE (Chuck Berry) 1 GLORIA (Them) 1 SGT. PEPPER (Beatles) 1 RANG ON SLOOPY (McCoys) 1 TUITI FRU1TI + LUCILLE (Little Richard) 1 BO DIDDLEY (Bo Diddley) 1 PETER GUNN (Henry Mancini) 1 HOOCHIE COOCHIE MAN (Muddy Waters) 1 BLUE SUEDE SHOES (Carl Perkins) / etc.

Trivia: In Jan'69, he and band play live tribute of CREAM's 'Sunshine Of Your Love' on The LULU Show, much to annoyance of TV controllers.

Album rating (selective): ARE YOD EXPERIENCED? (*10) / AXIS: BOLD AS LOVE (*9) / SMASH HITS compilation (*8) / ELECIRIC LADYLAND (* 10) / BAND OF GYPSYS (*8) / posthumous:- THE CRY OF LOVE (*7) / EXPERIENCE (*3) / AT TIIE ISLE OF WIGHT (*4) / RAINBOW BRIDGE (*4) / HENDRIX IN TIIE WEST (*5) / WAR HEROES (*4) / SOUNDTRACK RECORDINGS FROM THE FILM 'JIMI HENDRIX' (*5) / CRASH LANDING (*4) / MIDNIGHT LIGHTNING (*4) / THE JIMI HENDRIX CONCERTS (*5) /TIIE SINGLES ALBUM (*7) / LIVE AT WINTERLAND (*7) / RADIO ONE (*7) / CORNERSTONES 1967-1970 (*8) / TIIE ULTIMATE EXPERIENCE (* 10) / BLUES (*6) JIMI HENDRIX: WOODSTOCK (*6) / VOODOO SOUF (*5) / FIRST RAYS OF TIIE NEW RISING SUN (*6)

JIMI HENDRIX - vocals, lead guitar (ex-CURTIS KNIGHT) with NOEL REDDING (b.DAVID REDDING, 25 Dec'45, Folkstone, Kent, England) - bass / MITCH MITCHELL (b.JOHN MITCHELL, 9 Jun'47, Ealing, London, England) - drums

This Discography of Jimi Hendrix is courtesy of The Great Rock Discography by Martin Strong- if you don’t have a copy - why not!

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To end the year, JIMI HENDRIX was found not guilty of an earlier charge of heroin and marijuana possession and at the same time, he formed all-black outfit, BAND OF GYPSYS, along with COX and drummer BUDDY MILES. They released the self-titled live set in May '70 (recorded at FILLMORE EAST, New Year's Eve/Day 1969/70). This hit the Top 5 in the States, and, following a court order, he paid ex-manager Ed Chalpin $lm in compensation and a percentage of royalties.

Tragically, after a few more open-air festival concerts and some bad drugs -trips, he died in London on the 18th of September '70. He was said to have left a phoned message to Chandler saying "1 need help bad, man". The official cause of death was an inhalation of vomit, due to barbiturate intoxication, leading to a coroner's decision of an open verdict.

To many rock music buffs, JIMI HENDRIX remains the greatest axegrinder of all-time and who knows what he might have become had he survived the heady sixties.

Woodstock

Joe Cocker

Jimi Hendrix