James Marshall Hendrix was born in Seattle on 27 November 1942. Within thirty years, he would grow into a legendary rock star. As a boy, his interest in music was already remarkable. His idols were greats like Muddy Waters, Buddy Holly and Bob Dylan. And when Hendrix's father gave his twelve-year-old son an electric guitar, there was no turning back for Jimi.
Experience
From 1966, Hendrix embarked on the European adventure with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell as The Jimi Hendrix Experience. The live performances were spectacular. Hendrix pulled off unparalleled feats with his guitar. At the Monterey Pop Festival (California, USA, 1967), he set his guitar on fire. (To this day, opinions differ on how many times he actually did this.) In England, Hendrix gained star status with top ten singles like 'Hey Joe', 'Purple Haze' and 'The Wind Cries Mary'. The band sold millions of albums and every show was sold out. In 1968, the double album Electric Ladyland was released. It features the hit 'All Along The Watchtower' and 'Voodoo Chile', which also became a hit after Jimi’s death. The double album contains four sides of technically stunning guitar work and mystical lyrics.
27 years
The Jimi Hendrix Experience disbanded in 1969. Jimi briefly joined Buddy Miles and Billy Cox. The three gentlemen released one album: Band Of Gypsies (1970). In 1970, Hendrix opened his own Electric Ladyland Studios. The last tour Jimi Hendrix made with his new band was cut short because Billy Cox suffered a 'nervous breakdown'. Things ended even worse for Hendrix. Shortly before his death, he spoke on the phone with manager Chandler about a cover design for a new album. On Friday 18 September 1970, after taking a large dose of sleeping pills, an ambulance took the unconscious Hendrix to hospital. He died en route. Jimi Hendrix was then 27 years old.
Guitar on fire
One of the legendary habits Jimi was known for was setting his guitars on fire on stage. In 1967, Jimi toured Great Britain with his bandmates. Together with his manager, Jimi came up with a new way to capture the full attention of the audience and the press. He did this by literally playing with fire after the song 'Fire'. Using a lot of flammable oil and matches, he created a huge flame on stage. There was also a thought behind it: "The time I burned my guitar was a kind of sacrifice. You sacrifice the things you’re crazy about. I love my guitar." The recurring spectacle was popular with the audience. During his performance at the Monterey International Pop Music Festival, he showed how his guitar went up in flames.
Self-taught
Although you might think a music legend like Jimi could read music, nothing could be further from the truth. When an interviewer from Crawdaddy! magazine asked him this in 1969, he answered emphatically: "No, not at all." He taught himself to play guitar by listening carefully to the music.
Different ways of playing guitar
Jimi was a star at playing the guitar and often did so in extraordinary ways. Often he played the guitar upside down because he was left-handed. His most distinctive guitar was a right-handed one specially tuned for left-handed playing. Besides that, he had many other ways of playing the guitar, such as with his teeth or with the guitar behind his back.
The album cover of Electric Ladyland
The cover was the idea of photographer David Montgomery, a famous photographer of the rich and famous. He wanted to show women as they are. Ordinary bodies, no pin-ups and no models like in Playboy. So he went into a pub and shouted: ‘Raise your hand if you want to be photographed naked with Jimi Hendrix. You’ll get seven pounds.’ Montgomery succeeded in his aim to show ordinary women. The women – nineteen in total when you unfold the cover – have bodies that are not perfect, which of course applies to almost everyone on earth. But the strength of the image is that all the women are clearly themselves. You see individuals, not objects.
Read the story about the original cover of Electric Ladyland here: Electric Ladyland, the story behind the cover.
Top 2000
Jimi Hendrix has six songs in the Top 2000, three of which are with the band The Jimi Hendrix Experience. His highest ranking is 'All Along The Watchtower' at number 137.
Sunday Morning Classic: Electric Ladyland
On 11 October 2020, Jimi was our guest as Sunday Morning Classic with the album Electric Ladyland.
"Electric Ladyland" was a double album released in 1968. And although it doesn’t have the power or hits like "Foxy Lady" and "Purple Haze" that the debut "Are You Experienced" contained, I think this album is more consistent and generally very strong. It’s interesting to hear the guest musicians who helped here, from Stevie Winwood, James Mason, Al Kooper to Buddy Miles and a few others.
"And The Gods Made Love" is a short psychedelic and experimental piece.
"Have You Ever Been" is the opposite. Very light and commercial sounding.
"Crosstown Traffic" is in the style of the previous song.
"Voodoo Chile" is just a rough number. Steve Winwood also sounds great here on organ. It really adds a lot to this song.
"Little Miss Strange" is a composition by Noel Redding and sounds very sixties. Noel also sings on it.
"Long Hot Summer Night" features piano playing by Al Kooper.
"Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)" is a guitar/vocal number. This is a cover of a song by Earl King.
"Gypsy Eyes" has that prominent guitar beat, while the vocals come and go.
"Burning Of The Midnight Lamp" is a song with a great intro.
"Rainy Day, Dream Away" opens with coughing and sniffing as a beat with sax and guitar comes in. Spoken words and then an organ follows.
"1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)" is psychedelic with vocals.
"Moon, Turn The Tides...Gently Gently Away" is a short, spacious piece. "Still Raining, Still Dreaming" opens with the guitar talking and then the vocals join in. A wonderfully sounding song.
"House Burning Down" is another one where Jimi makes his guitar light up.
"All Along The Watchtower" is a song I have claimed for years is the best cover I have ever heard.
"Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" is the perfect way to end the album.
Electric Ladyland was another triumph for The Jimi Hendrix Experience and sadly their last official studio album before his untimely death. Legendary music from a legend.
source: Jan Liebregts and NPO radio 2 photo: public domain (Sweden and US), photographer unknown
