Jimi Hendrix

gigatos | March 18, 2022

Summary

Jimi Hendrix, owner James Marshall Hendrix (born November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington, died September 18, 1970 in London) is an American virtuoso guitarist, singer, composer, songwriter and music producer. One of the most important musicians of the 20th century.

He is widely recognized as the greatest and most influential guitarist of all time. He has been honored with this designation in numerous polls, including Rolling Stone music magazine”s 1992, 2003, 2011 and 2015 polls. According to an academic analysis by Daniel Lee of the University of Tasmania, Hendrix wins 9

After his success in Europe, he also gained popularity in the United States, helped by his performance at the Monterey Festival in 1967. He later headlined the Woodstock Festival (1969) and the Isle of Wight Festival (1970). He died suddenly two months before his 28th birthday. The death was caused by choking on vomit and barbiturate poisoning. The circumstances of his death were never fully explained.

He released three landmark studio albums Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love, Electric Ladyland and one live album Band of Gypsys. The album Are You Experienced is one of the most important debut albums in history. Electric Ladyland, on the other hand, is considered one of the best in rock history. Hendrix developed a number of unique, previously unknown electric guitar playing techniques, and created his own unique style combining fuzz, feedback and distortion control. He revolutionized nearly every aspect of electric guitar playing and elevated electric guitar playing to a virtuoso art. His legacy remains an inspiration for generations of musicians.

Richie Unterberger(English), music critic: “In his short four-year career as a superstar, Jimi Hendrix developed the language of the electric guitar more than anyone before or after him. Hendrix was a master at extracting all kinds of unprecedented sounds from the instrument, often with innovative experiments with the sound system that created cosmic-quality feedback and roaring distortion. His frequent hurricane-like blasts of sound and dazzling displays (he played behind his back, with his teeth, and set his guitar on fire) sometimes obscured his considerable skills as a songwriter, singer, and master of blues, R&B, and rock.”

Charles Shaar Murray(English), music critic: ” changed the course of popular music history and became one of the most successful and influential figures of his era. An instrumentalist who radically redefined the expressive potential and sonic palette of the electric guitar, he was the creator of a classic repertoire of songs ranging from wild rock tunes to delicate, complex ballads. He was also the most charismatic concert performer of his generation. More than that, he was a visionary who subverted the boundaries of genres such as rock, soul, blues and jazz.”

“Jimi Hendrix was without a doubt, the most innovative guitarist of his, or any other era. While many have tried to emulate his feats, no one has been able to top or even match his incredible accomplishments” (McDermott and Kramer). “The great interest in Hendrix”s music continues unabated to this day, with new generations eager to discover the extraordinary talents of “Jimi”. Unlike his late 1960s deceased peers Jim Morrison, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, etc., Hendrix”s accomplishments, and perhaps most importantly, his influence, have not diminished or diminished in importance” (McDermott and Kramer).

He was one of the most innovative musicians of all time, one of the first to experiment with stereo effects, including the phasing effect. In addition to recording formal studio sessions, he also recorded demos made in hotels or informal jamming in nightclubs. Hundreds of albums were released after his death, making him the likely record holder for the number of posthumously released albums. He enjoyed immense popularity.

Jimi Hendrix was born at 10:15 p.m., November 27, 1942, at King County Hospital(English) in Seattle, Washington; at the time of his birth, his father was stationed at a military base in Fort Rucker(English), Alabama. The boy”s mother, 17-year-old Lucille Jeter Hendrix (1925-1958) gave him two names: Johnny and Allen. Hendrix was of African American and Indian descent from the Cherokee tribe (his grandmother Nora Moore was the daughter of an Indian woman and an Irishman). His mother would leave him in the care of friends and acquaintances in Seattle and also in Berkeley, California, but she would visit her son and sometimes take him away for a few days.

Jimi”s parents were married 3 days before his father left for the draft. After his discharge from the military, James Allen Ross “Al” Hendrix (1919-2002) took custody of his son, whom he renamed James Marshall on September 11, 1946 – in honor of his late brother Leon Marshall Hendrix. The family experienced financial hardship due to the economic crisis following World War II and the deaths of Lucille”s father, Preston Jeter, Joseph and Pamela. Joseph was born ill and was placed in state care when he was three years old. His two sisters were put up for adoption. Kathy was born blind and Pamela had health problems. Being now elderly, “Al” would disavow paternity of all his children except Jimi. Hendrix”s parents were alcoholics, they divorced when he was nine years old, his mother died in 1958. Because of the difficult family situation Jimi was raised not only by his parents, but also by his grandmothers and his mother”s sister Delores Hall (née Jeter), as well as by Dorothy Harding (a friend of Lucille”s sister Delores).

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First performances

The musician”s first instrument was a mouth harmonica, which he got in 1947. At the age of 14 he bought his first (acoustic) guitar for $5. Although it had only one string, he could play several melodies on it.

He was self-taught, practicing constantly even though he could not read notes. Although he was a lefty, his father forced him to use his right hand – as a result, he played equally well with both hands. In the summer of 1959, his father gave him his first electric guitar, a Supro Ozark 1560S (in white), but no amplifier. That same year his only poor grade in school was an “F” in music (a one). According to members of other Seattle bands, Hendrix learned most of the acrobatic stage shows (essential in the blues and R&B traditions), including playing a guitar held behind his back and Chuck Berry”s duck walk, from a young musician named Raleigh “Butch” Snipes, who was a guitarist in a local band called The Sharps.

He played in many local bands that gave concerts even far from Seattle. He was particularly interested in Elvis Presley, whom he saw in concert in 1957. His early interest in the blues came from listening to records by Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Howlin Wolfe, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed and Ray Charles that were part of his father”s small collection. The guitarist”s first performance was with an unnamed band in the basement of a synagogue; he was thrown out soon after because of his overly wild playing and showmanship. He was breaking rules and conventions, which is why he was kicked out of various groups for the next 12 years. Formally, his first band was The Velvetones, with whom he performed regularly at Yessler Terrace Neigborhood House (an estate hall). He later joined The Rocking Kings and The Tomcats. They played songs by such artists as Chuck Berry, Duane Eddy, Fats Domino, and The Coasters. The group”s first performance for which they were paid (35 cents) was a concert at the National Armory in Kent, Washington. After losing his guitar (left backstage overnight, it was stolen). The band bought him a new one, a white Silvertone Danelectro, which he painted red and signed with the name of his girlfriend, Betty Jean.

The family moved regularly, Hendrix changing schools ten times. He graduated junior high school, then attended Garfield High School(English) (expelled in 1959), although later, when he became famous, he was awarded an honorary degree from the latter, and in the 1990s his bust was placed in the school library.

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Military service

Hendrix was in trouble with the law, having been fined twice for driving a stolen car. He faced up to 10 years in prison. He received 2 years of probation because he enlisted in the army. He was drafted on May 31, 1961. After a stint at boot camp (Fort Ord(English), California), he was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. There he met a friend, bassist Billy Cox with whom he formed the R&B band The King Kasuals. They performed at Fort Campbell and also in Clarksville, Tennessee. Hendrix was discharged after suffering a spinal injury on his 26th parachute jump. He left the military on July 2, 1962. The discharge meant, in practice, that he was unfit for duty when, 3 years later, the Vietnam War escalated.

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Chitlin” Circuit and Harlem

We do not have an exact chronology of events for the next four years until they left for England. After being discharged from the Army, Hendrix and a friend he met in the Army, Billy Cox, moved near Clarksville, Tennessee, where they performed as The King Kasuals. They gave mostly low-profit concerts. They then moved to Nashville to Jefferson Street(English), the traditional center of the local black community and R&B musicians. They performed together with Larry Lee (he replaced guitarist Alphonso Young) at the club “Del Morocco”. They lived above the “Joyce” beauty salon. When he had no money, he even slept on the street. During this period he met Johnny Jones, a guitarist from whom he learned some guitar tricks. For the next two years he performed in the southern United States in venues designed for black audiences (Chitlin” Circuit), playing in the background with various musicians and bands such as: B.B. King, Slim Harpo, Solomon Burke, Jerry Butler(English), Otis Redding. Womack: “He played all night, all day, every day, that”s all he ever did. But all the while he was the guitarist for The King Kasuals to which he returned after each tour.

The Chitlin” Circuit was an important career milestone for him, defining his blues-based style. Frustrated with his experiences in the South, he decided to move to New York. He was tired of performing other artists” songs and playing them “note for note.” Hendrix: “I was tired, I couldn”t take it anymore,” he says. “I was trying to play my own stuff I was being held back, but all the time I knew what I wanted to do.” At the end of 1963 he definitely left The King Kasuals, and in January 1964 he arrived at the Theresa Hotel in Harlem, where he soon befriended supergroup Lithofayne Pridgeon (his later girlfriend, known as Faye. And also with Arthur and Albert Allen, twins (known today as Taharqa and Tunde-Ra Aleem). In February 1964, he won first prize ($25) in an amateur competition for guitarists at the Apollo Theatre. He was then hired as guitarist for The Isley Brothers and participated in a national tour that included performances in the South on the Chitlin” Circuit. He recorded a two-part single with the group, “Testify(English).” Jimi had a natural talent, but he didn”t take his gift for granted – he worked constantly to perfect it. Jimi practiced phrases over and over, turned them over, paused them in the middle, in quarters, played them slowly, played them fast,” Ernie Isley(English) recalled. In Nashville, he left the band to work with the Georgeous George Odell. His first session in the studio resulted in the song “My Diary,” later released on a single by Rosy Lee Brooks, its songwriter was Arthur Lee later to lead Love. He also played on the single “Mercy, Mercy(English)” Don Covay(English). In the spring of 1964 in Atlanta, Hendrix (performing as Maurice James) was hired by Little Richard, and was to record and perform with the band The Upsetters.

He participated in the recording of the single “I Don”t Know What You”ve Got, But It”s Got Me”, released by Vee Jay Records(English), and made his first TV appearance on Channel Five. He briefly left Little Richard to join Ike Turner and Tina Turner, but soon rejoined The Upsetters. A few months later, he was fired or quit himself (he didn”t show up on the bus the musicians were taking out on tour). He also performed with Jack Wilson and Sam Cook. Later in 1965, he joined the New York band Curtis Knight and The Squires(English) (he met Knight in the lobby of the “America” hotel near Times Square, where they both lived). Hendrix was on tour with Joey Dee and The Starliters before returning to The Squires in New York. David Brigati, a member of The Starliters, remembers Hendrix as a very poor, shy man who didn”t even own a guitar strap and fit all his belongings in a small travel bag. Hendrix”s friend from this period, Jimmi Mayes, on the other hand, talks about the artist”s expression on stage: “He played the guitar behind his back and with his teeth. He played it between his legs and knelt down and leaned back until his head touched the floor. Jimi never wrote any of his original songs with the Starliters, but by the end of his time with us he was stroking the guitar like he was having sex with it. None of us, had ever seen anything like that before.” At the time he also played with King Curtis(English) In his early career he also played with Lonnie Youngblood(English), The Impressions, Mighty Hannibal(English). As a sideman he played several hundred concerts altogether. His music was not warmly received by the black population of Harlem, interested mainly in R&B and jazz, so he moved to Greenwich Village. Musician Jimmi Mayes claims that Harlem had its own specific style, to which “too wild” Hendrix simply did not fit.

In 1966 he formed his own band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. It was then that he first started singing (influenced by Dylan). Many musicians passed through the band, including Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (bass) and a 15 year old guitarist Randy Wolfe, nicknamed by Hendrix Randy California(English), later to become the guitarist of the group Spirit(English). They played at several venues in New York City, including the “Cafe Wha?(English)” on the corner of MacDougal Street(English) and Minetta Street in Greenwich Village. He earned about $3 a night (“we were starving”. Bob Kulick: “By the end of his show, when he played solos with his teeth that nobody could play with their hands, we knew this guy was a sensation. His last performances were at “Cafe Au Go Go(English)” where he played with John Hammond Jr(English) among others.

“Hendrix performed repeatedly as a sideman to stars while they barely fed him, supplemented his resume (which in retrospect seems more impressive today), and provided him with an inexhaustible supply of material for his repertoire. Hendrix”s synthesis of rock, soul and blues was perfected night after night ).

In early 1966 at the “Cheetah Club,” Linda Keith(English), Keith Richards” girlfriend who was friends with Hendrix, recommended him to The Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham and later to producer Seymour Stein(English). Neither of them took any interest in the guitarist. Later Keith introduced him to Chas Chandler, former bassist for The Animals, who was looking for talented musicians. Impressed by the young artist”s skills, he offered to be his manager and producer along with his partner Michael Jeffery. Jeffery had previously been the manager of the Animals and had numerous investments: nightclubs, real estate. The band members were convinced he was stealing from them. Chandler (in 1994) recounted that they toured for 3 years and hardly saw any money from it. They earned 2 percent from royalties in the UK, and barely 1 percent outside. Hendrix accepted the offer and went to London with his new managers. He was about to turn 24 in two months.

Hendrix arrived in London on September 23, 1966. Auditions were held for musicians who could join him and form a new band. Guitarist Noel Redding was then chosen to play bass guitar. It was a coincidence, Noel had originally applied to audition for Eric Burdon and the new The Animals. Since the guitarist”s spot was taken by Vic Briggs(English), he was offered the bassist position in Experience.

It was managers who suggested Hendrix change his nickname from Jimmy to Jimi, as well as the name for his new group, The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Chas Chandler introduced him to Pete Townshend and Eric Clapton, with whom he became fast friends. In his early days in England, not yet having a drummer, he often jammed with Redding and with other musicians in London clubs, such as Alexis Korner, Hug Flint(English), Alex Harvey(English), Cliff Barton(English) and Brian Auger(English). After one such informal session, at the “Blaises Club”, Johnny Hallyday offered him a gig as support on his mini tour in France. The band didn”t even have a drummer at the time.

On October 1, Hendrix played with the group Cream, performing the song “Killing Floor(English)”, preceding its actual performance at Central London Polytechnic. Jack Bruce (bassist, Cream): “Eric must have had a hard time dealing with it, because he was God(English), and here all of a sudden this stranger comes along and lays him low.” Clapton: “My life was never the same again, really.” Eric Burdon (vocalist, The Animals): “It”s striking how good he was.”

Hendrix (about the guitar): “Sometimes I jump on it, sometimes I press the strings hard and scrub them on the frets. The harder I do it, the louder the guitar wails. Sometimes I rub it against the amplifier, sit on it, play with my teeth, and sometimes it occurs to me on stage that it would be good to rub the strings with my elbow”.

The guitarist lived initially with Chas Chandler in Hyde Park Towers, and then in an apartment that had previously belonged to The Beatles – at 34 Montagu Square(English).

Through further selection, Mitch Mitchell joined the band. Aynsley Dunbar(English) was also a candidate for the spot, Hendrix and Chandler couldn”t make up their minds, and with the upcoming shows in France, they finally flipped a coin, and it “pointed” to Mitchell. His playing in the band would make him famous, and he would earn the label of one of the best drummers of his generation.

In early October 1966, The Jimi Hendrix Experience was formed consisting of: Jimi Hendrix (guitar), Noel Redding (bass), Mitch Mitchell (drums). It was soon to pioneer the concept of the so-called power trio. The first rehearsal took place on 6th October. On 11 October the three musicians signed contracts with the duo Jeffery – Chandler, the contract with Sue Records(English) was bought from Juggy Murray(English), while Chalpin(English) preferred to wait until the musician”s value increased. The band debuted with a short tour in France, giving concerts in Évreux (13), Nancy (14), Villerupt (15) and at the Olympia in Paris (18 October), before the Johnny Hallyday concerts. In Paris, he was watched by 14,500 spectators.

The group then went to Munich, to the “Big Apple” club, from where they returned to London, where they performed at such venues as: “Marquee Club “, “The Scotch of St. James”, “Blaises”, “The Bag O”Nails”, “Cromwellian”, “The Upper Cut”, “The Speakeasy Club”, “The 71

First single “Hey Joe”

“Purple Haze was something never heard before, the solo part is one of the most recognizable in rock history” (Prown and Newquist). Angus Young (guitarist, AC

The band toured England for the first time in support of The New Animals. By the end of March, it had already played over 80 shows (in the UK, France and Holland). On 31 March Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar for the first time, this took place at the Finsbury Park Astoria Theatre. The English tabloids started calling him “Wild Man of Borneo” (“Wild Man of Borneo”), “Mau Mau”, “Pop-Wild Man”.

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Are You Experienced

In 1967 the band gave concerts in England supporting The Walker Brothers, Engelbert Humperdinck and Cat Stevens. At the same time they recorded their debut album Are You Experienced, which they worked on in several studios such as De Lane Lea Studios(England), CBS, Pye, Regent Studios and later, Olympic Studios. It was from the sessions at Olympic studios that a long collaboration (until the artist”s death) with sound engineer Eddie Kramer(English) began. The entire 4-track album was recorded in only 72 hours – over five months. The total production cost was £1500. Are You Experienced was released in two versions, a British version (distributed in Europe) released on May 12, 1967 and distributed by Track Records and an American version released on September 1, 1967 by Reprise Records.

The UK version begins with “Foxy Lady” and the US version begins with “Purple Haze”. The American release does not include the compositions “Red House(English)”, “Can You See Me”, “Remember”, instead it offers the aforementioned “Purple Haze”, as well as “Hey Joe” and “The Wind Cries Mary” (a track recorded in just 20 minutes), which were released as singles in the UK. In the US, a “?” was added to the album title, and the song “Foxy Lady” was renamed “Foxey Lady”. Even the covers were different, the American one was designed by Karl Ferris(English) (the picture was taken at Kew Gardens). The album was a success, in Great Britain it took the second place on the list of the most popular albums just behind Sgt. Pepper”s Lonely Hearts Club Band of The Beatles. It outdistanced Cream”s Disraeli Gears, among others. The album proved to be a breakthrough in music and contained many songs that soon became classics. Rick Springfield (guitarist): “When I heard the first Jimi Hendrix Experience album, I couldn”t believe how heavy it was. It was still a time when there was mostly pretty pop on the charts” . K.K. Downing (guitarist, Judas Priest): “If you want to know where rock came from – heavy rock and hard rock and heavy metal – then .

On June 4, at London”s Saville(English) Theatre, the Experience gave its last performance in England before its American debut. The concert was a venture organized by Brian Epstein, manager of The Beatles. The audience included Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Spencer Davis and Lulu. They began their performance with The Beatles song “Sgt. Pepper”s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” from the album of the same name, released June 1. The band began learning this new song 30 minutes before going on stage. McCartney stated after the concert that it was the best Hendrix performance he had seen, and one of the greatest honors of his life. Eddie Kramer: “The Beatles couldn”t believe it. Hendrix played a song from their album that had just come out, took the song, arranged it completely differently and… killed everybody.” Andy Summers (guitarist, The Police): “It was amazing. It just blew everybody away. I remember seeing him later at the Hollywood Bowl, where he showed up and started with Sunshine of Your Love(English). Which embarrassed everyone who assumed there was such a great rivalry between Hendrix and Cream. Remember, he played it better than Cream.”

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Monterey Festival

Although the band was popular in Europe, it was completely unknown in the United States. D.A. Pennebaker (director): “In America, some niche radio stations played Hey Joe. But many refused to play it because it had to do with suicide or murder. In those days, people were very careful about what rock music they played on the radio.” It wasn”t until Paul McCartney, Andrew Loog Oldham and Derek Taylor(English) recommended the group to Monterey Festival organizers that the band became known to a wider audience in America. Mitch Mitchell: “Monterey changed everything for us. We didn”t have anything after Monterey, we didn”t plan a single concert. But after Monterey we got a lot of offers: The Fillmore(English), Hollywood Bowl with the Mamas & The Papas, who were just great to us. It was really the beginning of everything.” The Festival performance was filmed by D.A. Pennebaker and was subsequently screened in movie theaters nationwide.

Before going on stage, Hendrix was announced by his friend Brian Jones. Jones: “I”d like to introduce to you a very good friend, your country man. An outstanding performer, the greatest guitarist I have ever heard – The Jimi Hendrix Experience.” He opened the show with a remake of Howlin” Wolf”s “Killing Floor(English).” He also performed “Foxy Lady”, “Like a Rolling Stone”, “Rock Me Baby(English)”, “Hey Joe” (he played the first solo with his teeth, the second behind his back), “Can You See Me”, “The Wind Cries Mary”, “Purple Haze”. At the end of the song “Wild Thing”, and the entire performance, he began rubbing his guitar against the amps, then set it on fire and smashed it on stage. The image of Hendrix kneeling over a burning guitar and stoking the flames has become one of the most recognizable in rock and pop culture history. Interestingly, he used the burning guitar trick only three times in his entire career. He made the group famous all over America by playing at the Monterey festival. For many, his performance at Monterey Pop is his best.

After the festival, the band gave a series of concerts at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, along with the group Jefferson Airplane. Hendrix met Stephen Stills during this time, and also befriended Buddy Miles, whom he had met before, while performing with The Isley Brothers. Miles met him with Devon Wilson, a black supergroupie and former prostitute who later became his friend and lover (he would dedicate the 1970 song “Dolly Dagger(English)” to her). The band also gave concerts on the roof of a truck in Golden Gate Park and at the Whisky a Go Go club.

Soon after, he took part in the summer tour of the popular band The Monkees as their support act. On August 19, the single “Burning of the Midnight Lamp(English)” was released on the English market.

In November 1967, PPX Industries (Chalpin(English)) and Capitol Records reached an agreement to release, beginning in December 1967, Get That Feeling, Flashing, and many others containing demo recordings from Hendrix”s collaboration with Curtis Knight(English). Get That Feeling sold well, reaching number 75. The album cover, a photo of Hendrix in Monterey, exaggerated the guitarist”s involvement, with “and Curtis Knight” added in small letters. Many fans thought it was the artist”s second album after Are You Experienced?, especially since “Axis” was released in the US, only in January.

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Axis: Bold as Love

Released in the UK on 1 December 1967 and in the US on 15 January 1968, Axis: Bold as Love was recorded at Olympic studios (May, June, October 1967). This is Hendrix”s first album to be created with the guitar tuned half a tone lower and the use of a wah-wah pedal. As with the previous time, much of the “material” was created before entering the studio. For the track “Bold as Love”, sound engineers Eddie Kramer and George Chkiantz(English) used a phasing effect to recreate the sound the guitarist heard in his sleep.

It took only a year from the beginning of work on the debut album to the end of work on “Axis”. Having already completed recording, Hendrix left the tapes containing the “A” side of the new album in the back seat of a cab. Despite this, Eddie Kramer took one day to recreate the missing side from recordings made during the final studio sessions. The producer was under pressure to release the album in time for the holiday season, a goal that was eventually met. While Experience bassist Noel Redding considered the album his favorite, Hendrix was not entirely satisfied with the final result. The sessions for “Axis” are considered some of the happiest in the band”s history. It is “more mature” and melodic than Are You Experienced. It includes, among others, the beautiful ballad “Little Wing”.

Of the songs on Axis: Bold as Love, only “Spanish Castle Magic” was regularly performed at concerts, and occasionally “Little Wing”. The album cover depicting the band members as different incarnations of the god Vishnu was designed by Roger Law(English) and David King(English). Eddie Kramer: When you look at the development of the albums and what Jimi was saying textually, musically, all of that. You really get a sense that Are You Experienced is very raw, very straightforward, very primitive. Then Axis… which is the next stage of development where everything is more experimental. Extended stereo image, better sounds. And the songwriting is also much more experimental.

By the end of 1967 the band was performing in England and also took part in a tour of Sweden. While in Scandinavia, Hendrix met Bo Ingvar Hansson and Jan Hugon Carlsson, known as the duo Hansson & Karlsson(English). This resulted in the inclusion of their composition, the song “Tax Free”, in Hendrix”s stage repertoire. He later also recorded his own version, which appeared on the posthumous War Heroes and South Saturn Delta compilations.

On January 4, while on tour in Sweden, the alcohol-intoxicated guitarist trashed his hotel room between two shows in Gothenburg. “We hated performing in Sweden, there was always the same problem – no drugs. We were forced to drink Schnapps and that was killing Jimi.” – Redding claims. The incident ended with police intervention, a £475 fine and payment for the damage caused.

By the end of January, more than one million copies of Are You Experienced? had been sold in the United States. On January 29, Hendrix performed at the Olympia in Paris. The practice of using airline connections meant that distances no longer counted and were no longer a criterion to consider when setting dates for individual concerts. Instead of giving, for example, a series of concerts in one state and moving to another, the group was sent by management (Michael Jeffery and Chas Chandler) to venues scattered throughout the United States, as well as to Canada. For example, a concert in Ontario, then Miami and on the third day California. During the first part of the tour, the group gave 60 shows in 60 days. None of the top bands of the time like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Cream or The Who experienced such a grueling schedule. Jeffery was aware that (in the 1960s) concert revenues far exceeded royalties. Redding complained that their daily routine was as follows: “airport, car, hotel room, concert, car, concert, car, hotel room, car, airport. We were in a lot of cities that I would only recognize by a hotel or a dressing room.” Hendrix: “We were working nonstop, with breaks for sleep and nothing else.

On March 7, Hendrix jammed at Steve Paul”s club “The Scene(English)” with a completely drunk Jim Morrison and Buddy Miles among others, many bootlegs of this performance were released. On April 12, Track Records released Smash Hits in the UK, featuring his greatest hits, the album went to number 4. May 18 he plays the Miami Pop Festival(English). In 1968, he toured the United States for 10 months, as well as Europe (including Italy and Switzerland). On July 6 he performed at the Woburn Abbey(English) Festival, this was his only concert in England in 1968, apart from a June appearance on the TV show “It Must Be Dusty!” One of the first British festivals to attract an audience of 14,000. The artist”s ironclad repertoire from that year included “Are You Experienced?(English),” “Catfish Blues,” “Tax Free,” “Sgt. Pepper”s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Manic Depression” and Like a Rolling Stone. In 1968, the New York Times called him “the Black Elvis.” This should come as no surprise; Hendrix was the first black rock star. Despite this status, in racist America, it was common for the artist”s skin color to be a “problem” and prevented him from staying in certain hotels.

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Electric Ladyland

On October 16 in the U.S. and October 25 in the U.K., Electric Ladyland”s double album, recorded at Olympic studios in London and Record Plant(English) studios in New York, the band”s third and last. Newly opened and state-of-the-art, Record Plant was equipped with 12-track equipment – until the completion of their own studio, the guitarist worked mostly here. Many guest musicians assisted Hendrix in recording the album, including Buddy Miles, Steve Winwood, Jack Casady, Dave Mason, Al Kooper(English) and Chris Wood. Electric Ladyland is by far the artist”s most ambitious album.

As they worked, Chandler and Redding became frustrated with Hendrix”s perfectionism, which dragged out the sessions indefinitely (the song “Gypsy Eyes(English)” was recorded 43 times), as well as the people present in the studio who prevented work, distracted Hendrix, and provided him with drugs. Chandler wanted to repeat the success of the first two albums, recorded relatively efficiently (and cheaply), and which were a great success. Hendrix, on the other hand, felt that the previous albums were recorded too quickly. The first recording sessions for Electric Ladyland were 8 months apart from the last.

Mitch Mitchell later said that Chas was fond of citing the example of “The House of the Rising Sun,” a song that was recorded on the first try, at a cost of $10, and sold millions of copies. Hendrix, on the other hand, persistently chiseled every sound and experimented with the sound achieved in the studio. His first two albums consisted mainly of short, maximally four-minute compositions having the structure of a pop song; on Electric Ladyland, against Chandler”s will, there was a break with this scheme, for example in the tracks “1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)(English)” and “Voodoo Chile(English)”, lasting 14 and 15 minutes respectively. Hendrix himself claimed that he could not express himself in a 2-minute song. In mid-1968, Chandler sold his interest in The Experience to Michael Jeffery for $300,000.

During the course of their work, the relationship between the guitarist and bassist of The Experience deteriorated considerably. It even came to the point where Redding left the studio while working on the song “All Along the Watchtower”, thus forcing Hendrix to record the bass parts. The Experience bassist played bass on a total of only five tracks. The album was a huge success, reaching #1 in the US and #5 in the UK. The photo of the guitarist that was used for the cover of the US version was taken during a performance at Hunter College(English) in New York City on March 2, 1968. There was much controversy over another photo, depicting 21 naked women, used as the album cover in the UK. Hendrix was very unhappy with it, preferring the photograph taken in Central Park by Linda Eastman. Many stores refused to sell the album or distributed it in paper bags. The total cost of production was about $60-70,000 (over $500,000 in 2018).

Electric Ladyland considered one of the best albums in rock history. It is also indicated by many fans as the band”s best album. In turn “All Along the Watchtower” – completely different from the original, cover of Bob Dylan”s song – is one of the most valued guitar arrangements in the history of modern music. This version delighted Dylan himself, who started performing it in concerts – at the expense of the original. The album takes its name from the term “Electric Ladies”, which Hendrix used to describe groupies.

The band celebrated its 2nd anniversary at the Winterland Ballroom(English) in San Francisco, performing there on October 10, 11 and 12, giving two shows a day. These are considered among the best and were professionally recorded. In 2011, Winterland, a 4-CD album containing almost all the recordings, was released. 6 weeks after completing Electric Ladyland, the band began recording their next album, at TTG Studios(English) in Los Angeles. The pace of work was even slower and the sessions less productive. Many musicians and completely random people (mostly young women) passed through the studio. Hendrix insisted on recording everything – including free improvisations; Redding became increasingly frustrated with it all. In their spare time, the musicians appeared at shows by groups such as Buddy Miles Express, Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Velvet Underground, and Chicago, among others. They lived during this time in a rented luxury villa at 2850 Benedict Canyon, where many undesirables, such as members of the Manson “Family”, appeared.

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The disintegration of The Experience

After a year in the States, Hendrix returned to England and with his girlfriend Kathy Etchingham(English) rented an apartment at 23 Brook Street(English) in West London. Georg Friedrich Händel once lived in this tenement house. It now houses a museum dedicated to Handel and Hendrix.

On January 4, 1969, he participated in the “Happening for Lulu(English)” program of the British BBC TV. He played “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” and “Hey Joe”, which he abruptly stopped, and then he performed his own version of “Sunshine of Your Love” dedicated to the band Cream. Despite the strenuous efforts of producer Stanley Dorfman(English) – to whom Hendrix showed his middle finger – he continued playing. In total, he extended the time allowed for the performance by 1 minute and 46 seconds, which caused panic among the station”s staff (the show was broadcast live). Redding called the video of the performance “one of the best, and certainly one of the most laid back”. The band was assured that they would never again appear on the BBC.

In January Hendrix gave concerts in Scandinavia and Germany. On January 9, he played twice at the Konserthuset in Stockholm, the first performance dedicated to Swede Eve Sundqvist. On January 11 he played twice in Hamburg. Where the group was watched by 14-year-old Uli Jon Roth, later guitarist of Scorpions, among others. Roth would forever remain a Hendrix fan. On 18 and 24 February The Experience performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London; both shows were filmed, but the audiovisual record has not been released to this day (02.2022). The event preceding the second show was the debut of the band Fat Mattress(English), whose guitarist was Noel Redding, also the bassist in the Experience.

On April 18, after a concert in Memphis, Hendrix met with Billy Cox and discussed the possibility of playing together in the near future. Cox: “When he called me, I realized he was on top of things and could pick the best bass player in the world to work with. That”s why I chose you,” he replied. Beginning April 21, they began playing in the studio with other musicians, such as Buddy Miles, independently of the group Experience.

On May 3, Hendrix was arrested at the Toronto airport on drug charges; heroin and hashish were found in his luggage, which were in a package he accepted from a fan unaware of its contents. After posting $10,000 bail, he was released and acquitted by the court on December 15.

On May 20, he recorded the song “Live and Let Live” with Stephen Stills, Buddy Miles and John Sebastian(English), which was included on Timothy Leary”s You Can Be Anyone This Time Around(English) album released in 1970. Hendrix plays bass on it, after refusing to play guitar when Stills came along. “The studio lacked a left-handed bass guitar, so he reversed the traditional one and played one of the most fantastic bass parts I”ve ever heard,” recalled sound engineer Stefan Bright.

He did another tour of the States, consisting of 29 concerts played to an audience of 350,000 and generating $1.3 million in revenue ($9.4 million at 2021 prices). Performances included the Los Angeles Forum on April 26, 1969, Madison Square Garden on May 18, San Diego Sports Arena on May 24, and the Newport Pop Festival(English) at Devonshire Downs(English) in the suburbs of Los Angeles, where he played twice, first with The Experience on June 20 and jamming with Buddy Miles, Eric Burdon, Tracy Nelson(English) and Mother Earth(English) on June 22. The first performance was a record-breaking $100,000 for the group ($725,000 in 2021). The festival audience was estimated at 200,000. Hendrix was the highest paid musician in the world at the time. “The Experience” earned over $100,000 at Madison Square Garden alone. After expenses, Michael Jeffery and the Experience were left with nearly $75,000, a staggering amount in those days” (McDermott and Kramer).

On June 29, 1969, at Mile High Stadium in Denver, The Experience gave its last performance with the original lineup: Hendrix, Redding, Mitchell. During the performance of the song “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)(English)” the audience estimated at 30 thousand people, tried to force their way onto the stage, the police used tear gas despite the wind blowing towards the musicians, the band was forced to stop the concert. The musicians were evacuated in a van parked at the back of the stage. A group of desperate fans clung to its roof, which was bending, and “accompanied” them even on the way to the hotel. After the show, bassist Noel Redding, due to a disagreement with Hendrix and his interview in which he stated that he wanted to expand Experience with new musicians (he did not consult with Redding), decided to leave and take care of his own band Fat Mattress. One of the reasons for the bassist”s departure was also his desire to return to playing guitar. The man himself also blamed lawsuits and the press – “looking for headlines”.

After the group broke up, Hendrix performed alone on “The Dick Cavett Show(English)” On July 7, 1969, he played “Hear My Train A Comin”(English)” along with the orchestra featured on the show. On July 10, he appeared on “The Tonight Show” and performed the song “Lover Man” along with Billy Cox and Ed Shaughnessy.

On July 30, the Smash Hits album was released in the U.S. market, featuring previously unknown songs “Red House” (different version), “Can You See Me”, “Remember”. It ranked 6th on the most popular list. There were initially plans to release a live album, featuring recordings from performances at the Royal Albert Hall, Los Angeles Forum, and San Diego Sports Arena, but Reprise Records rejected the idea. A year earlier, Smash Hits was released in the United Kingdom (the album contained other songs, however).

At the beginning of July the guitarist moved to Shokan, a quiet village near New York City, where he could relax and perfect his musical repertoire, he also went for 9 days to Morocco from where he returned on 6 August. It was his only vacation in his career. 10 days before the show Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox (bass guitar), Larry Lee (rhythm guitar), Juma Sultan (percussion), Gerardo Velez (percussion) formed a new band called “Gypsy Sun and Rainbows” which was to perform at the Woodstock Festival on 17 August 1969 in front of an audience of about 300,000 people. Hendrix”s popularity made him the so-called “headliner”. (the nail on the head, the main attraction) and that is why his performance was scheduled for the very end. Hendrix was the highest paid artist of the festival, he received 18 thousand dollars plus 12 thousand for the film rights to his performance. The festival sound engineer was Eddie Kramer(English). Logistical problems and heavy rain caused the postponement of the performance scheduled for midnight, Sunday night into Monday. A large portion of the audience left the festival grounds, unwilling to wait for the rain to stop, spending the entire night on the festival grounds. Only about 40,000 people remained.

The more than two-hour performance began as early as Aug. 18, around 9 a.m. The group was announced by Chip Monk as: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, which was corrected moments later by Jimi Hendrix himself, introducing all the musicians and saying they were performing as “Gypsy Sun and Rainbows”. It was one of his outstanding performances and overall one of the most recognizable in rock history. Hendrix performed, among other things, a 30-minute medley in which he improvised the songs Voodoo Child (Slight Return)(English), Purple Haze, Villanova Junction and his version of The Star Spangled Banner. Of which music critic Al Aronowitz(English) wrote: “It was the most electrifying moment of Woodstock and probably one of the most important moments of the sixties.”

Charles R. Cross, Hendrix biographer: “The Star Spangled Banner had long been in Jimi”s repertoire, as he demonstratively demonstrated the couplings he had mastered, producing sounds from his guitar similar to explosions and sirens.” The guitarist performed the anthem regularly in concerts from the fall of 1968 through the summer of 1970. In total, he played it nearly 50 times, 28 of them before the Woodstock festival.

Shortly after the show, the band gave two more performances, on September 5 in Harlem and on September 10 at the opening of New York”s Salvation club, then disbanded, both financial issues and Hendrix”s lack of proper control over the group and cooperation contributing. The last studio session was held on September 6. Hendrix, Mitchell, Cox and Sultan appeared on the “Dick Cavett Show(English)” on September 9, where they performed the songs “Isabella” and “Machine Gun” (the first performance in front of an audience). Mitch Mitchell then returned to England to work alongside Jack Bruce.

There was an apparent kidnapping of the artist in September; he was released after two days. There is no media or police information on the case. Hendrix believed that his manager Michael Jeffery was behind the kidnapping.

Shortly thereafter, he began a collaboration with producer Alan Douglas(English) that lasted until December. Tommy Ramone: “I worked from 1969 to 1970 as an assistant engineer at the Record Plant in New York . That period was a very interesting time for Hendrix. He changed musicians – Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding left, and his friend Billy Cox played bass and Buddy Miles played drums . He brought in Alan Douglas and his assistant Stefan Bright . Some of the sessions I worked on were songs like Izabella, Freedom, Dolly Dagger, Stepping Stone, Ezy Ryder and Machine Gun.” On several of the songs, the backing vocals were provided by the Ghetto Fighters, a group formed by twin brothers Arthur and Albert Alenn.

During this period he also recorded, with Buddy Miles and Lightnin” Rod (later also known as Jalal Mansur Nuriddin(English)) of The Last Poets, the song “Doriella Du Fontaine”. Released only in 1984, it exemplifies Hendrix”s marriage with rap and hip hop.

In October 1969, Hendrix sent a telegram to Paul McCartney. He wanted to form a supergroup with him. The message never reached the addressee, McCartney was on vacation at the time. Then, also in October, Jimi Hendrix, Billy Cox and Buddy Miles formed the Band of Gypsys. Which, after playing two concerts on December 31, 1969 and two on January 1, 1970 at the Fillmore East(English) in New York (one of which featured Miles Davis), released a live album simply titled Band of Gypsys. It contained “Who Knows”, “Machine Gun”, “Changes”, “Power to Love” (mostly known as “Power of Soul”), “Message to Love” and “We Gotta Live Together”. These songs are exclusively from two concerts recorded on January 1. This second “set” is known as one of the best. The compositions “Changes” and “We Gotta Live Together” were written by Buddy Miles.

The 12-minute “Machine Gun” is an example of one of his finest concert performances. Until his death, this song was the highlight of his concerts. The release of the album was an idea to fulfill his contractual obligations to producer Ed Chalpin(English), who received the rights to the album. In exchange for a waiver from asserting his claims acquired under the contract signed on October 15, 1965. Hendrix, Cox and Miles never received royalties for its release.

The band broke up after an unsuccessful performance on January 28 at the “Winter Festival for Peace” at Madison Square Garden, when Hendrix sat down on stage after performing the songs “Who Knows” and “Earth Blues”, refusing to continue playing, and left the stage after a while. Buddy Miles later said that he saw Michael Jeffrey give the guitarist a dose of LSD before going on stage, and suggested that the manager wanted to break up the band in this way and lead to the reactivation of the original Experience lineup: Hendrix, Redding, Mitchell. The latter two met with Jeffery just before the concert and discussed issues related to a planned American tour they wanted to participate in. Miles was fired by Jeffrey, and Redding ultimately did not return to the group due to Hendrix”s objections; he was replaced by Billy Cox.

Band of Gypsys was released on March 25 in the U.S. (#5) and June 12 in the U.K. (#6), was the second best-selling album after Are You Experienced, and remained on Billboard”s U.S. Top 200(English) chart for 61 weeks. It is the only official live album released during the artist”s lifetime. Jim Ryan, Forbes: “Band of Gypsys marked a change in direction for Hendrix, pouring elements of R&B, delta blues, jazz, funk and the spirit of improvisation into his amazing rock guitar. The album serves more or less as the genesis of the funk rock genre and was born out of each member”s musical experience.”

On April 8, 1970, the single “Izabella” was released in the States by Reprise

In 1999, the album Live at the Fillmore East was released, featuring some of the songs from the December 31, 1969 performance

While playing in Band of Gypsys, Hendrix used the Uni-Vibe (used at Woodstock) and the Octavia (used at the Experience) in addition to the wah-wah and fuzz-face pedals already used at the Experience. It was from this point that he incorporated new compositions permanently into his repertoire: “Machine Gun”, “Ezy Ryder” and “Message to Love”. On 15 March he takes part in a recording session with Stephen Stills, the result of which is the song “Old Times, Good Times” on the Stephen Stills album. On 17 March he records together with Love the song “The Everlasting First”, which will later appear on the band”s album entitled False Start.

On April 25, 1970, with a concert in Los Angeles, The Forum reactivated The Jimi Hendrix Experience, consisting of: Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, began an American tour, often referred to as “The Cry of Love Tour(English)”. Hendrix agreed to take part in it on the condition that his schedule was changed. It differed considerably from the previous ones, mainly in that the performances were scheduled for weekends, thanks to which Hendrix could work in the studio on other days. The entire tour consisted of over 30 concerts mainly in major American metropolitan areas such as: Philadelphia (16 May), Dallas (5 June), Houston (6 June), Boston (27 June), Miami (5 July), New York (17 July), San Diego (25 July) or Seattle (26 July).

Performances at venues such as the Los Angeles Forum provided a substantial income that covered the costs associated with building the studio. Plans were made to tour Western Europe and the United Kingdom, as well as Japan. Tours of Mexico, Czechoslovakia, and even a concert at Stonehenge were also considered. The band also began performing their latest songs such as Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) and Freedom(English). Two performances in Berkeley on May 30 (seen by Carlos Santana) and also two on the island of Maui in Hawaii on July 30 were recorded and later films were made based on this: Jimi Plays Berkeley and Rainbow Bridge (both released after the artist”s death), which unfortunately contain only brief excerpts from the concerts.

On the 4th of July the group performed at the Atlanta International Pop Festival, where 150-200 thousand people watched them. On August 1, 1970 with a performance in Honolulu, Hawaii, the tour was finished. It was also the last concert in the artist”s life in his home country.

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Electric Lady Studios

In his days off between concerts, Hendrix worked in the studio on his new album, First Rays of the New Rising Sun, in early 1970 mainly at Record Plant. On June 15, his own Electric Lady studio unofficially opened. The idea of building it had been conceived and put into action as early as 1968, when he bought the former Generation club. Prior to that, Hendrix had mainly recorded at Olympic Studios in London and Record Plant(English) in New York. He spent a lot of time there, so he paid “astronomical” bills of up to $150,000 a year (nearly 1.1 million at 2021 prices). His own studio was going to be cheaper than a rented one in the long run. A place where he could feel comfortable, his second home, which is why the project, whose realization was undertaken by an architect and acoustician John Storyk(English), was based on the musician”s personal guidelines.

From June 15, 1970, he recorded only with Electric Lady, and his last multi-track studio recording, the song “Slow Blues”, is dated August 20, 1970. Two days later he recorded his definitive last song “Belly Button Window”. The official opening took place on August 26, 1970, with guests including Yoko Ono and Johnny Winter. At that time, at Sterling Sound Studios(English), he performed a test pressing of the new single “Dolly Dagger(English)” with Kramer.

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European tour

Once again the band came to Europe. In the middle of the night from 30 to 31 August, he performed on the Isle of Wight, at the end of the Isle of Wight Festival, which gathered an audience of 600,000. It was one of Hendrix”s most famous concerts, having legendary status. Often mistakenly described as his last, it was in fact his first and last concert in England for 18 months – since performing twice at the Royal Albert Hall. Just before taking the stage, Hendrix asked Gerry Stickells, the band”s tour manager, to hum the British anthem – a moment captured on film documenting the performance. A moment later he began the concert with his own version of “God Save the Queen”.

He also played All Along the Watchtower, among others, about which guitarist Brett Garsed(English) will say: “The live version sounded hard to me and it was unbelievable to think that only three musicians were creating this wall of sound”. The over two-hour-long performance, as well as the whole festival, ended with one of his newest compositions, the song “In from the Storm.

A few hours later – on August 31 – he performed in Stockholm. Noel Redding: “You have to see the video from Stockholm to believe it. I have never seen Jimi so drunk on stage before”. On September 2 in Aarhus, he played only three songs and then ended the show. It was before this concert that he gave an interview in which he said that he did not know if he would live to be 28 years old. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: “He was touring all the time, the fact that he was working so hard is often overlooked, being under extreme pressure from a combination of factors including constant work, creative demands, drug use, Hendrix was beginning to show signs of exhaustion in 1970”. On September 4, he performed in Berlin; guitarist Robin Trower called the concert “the greatest experience of his life.”

“Isle of Fehmarn Love & Peace Festival(German)” turned out to be the last concert. Originally scheduled for September 5, it was postponed to the next day due to a violent downpour. Hendrix was the highest-paid artist, receiving 75,000 German marks for his performance.” Among the audience estimated at 30,000 people were members of rival German motorcycle gangs, who later set fire to the box office and the promoters” main office, and also tried to set fire to the stage, but the fire was contained in time (they burned it after the concert). The sound of gunfire was heard, and Gerry Stickells and another technical employee of the band were harmlessly wounded. After the concert, the musicians hurriedly left the festival grounds.

Hendrix then returned to London to rest, he was soon to head to New York. Billy Cox left, due to health reasons, returned to the US and the rest of the tour was cancelled. On September 16, Hendrix performed with Erick Burdon and the group War at Ronnie Scott”s club(he played a few songs in the background, it was his last performance in front of an audience. Before his death, there were reports in the British press of plans to join Emerson, Lake and Palmer and form a new group called HELP (Hendrix, Emerson, Lake and Palmer). However, the musicians had no serious discussions about this.

Hendrix talked to Chas Chandler and asked him to become his manager again, he wanted to fire Michael Jeffery. The musician discovered financial irregularities, disappearing huge sums of money, and took legal action to recover them. Hendrix”s managerial contract with Jeffery was due to expire on December 1, 1970. September marked exactly four years since his arrival in England.

Although the last 10 days of his life he was registered at the Cumberland Hotel in London, he was there relatively rarely. From 15 September he spent his nights at the Samarkand Hotel (English), together with his then girlfriend Monika Dannemann. It was a small hotel like many in West London. She rented a small room there – it was in the basement and had access to a garden at the back of the building. On 17 September Dannemann took many photographs of Hendrix in the garden. The latter in turn spoke to Mitch Mitchell by telephone.

In his book, “Are You Experienced?” Noel Redding wrote that on the night of September 17, Monica Dannemann drove the musician to some people”s apartment near Marble Arch (he did not say who he was going to meet, perhaps Devon Wilson, who was in London at the time). She picked him up an hour later, and together they returned to the Samarkand Hotel.

Hendrix wrote a poem there called “The Story of Life”, then drank red wine, took 9 Vesperax(English) sleeping pills (he usually took two) and went to bed. Taking only half was enough for 8 hours of sleep. There were 40 pills in the package, hence the presumption that he did not want to commit suicide.

Danneman claimed that when she woke up several hours later, Hendrix was unconscious, vomiting and choking – she tried to revive him, but was unable to do so. She eventually called an ambulance (Dannemann version). Redding: “Contrary to some reports, Jimi was still alive when he arrived at the hospital. To date, it has not been explained what happened over the next 20-40 minutes.”

According to another version, relied on by Charles R. Cross author of the book “Room Full of Mirrors,” Hendrix died hours before arriving at the hospital. According to police and ambulance attendants, the dead artist was found alone in a hotel room with the door wide open. Monica Dannemann insisted for years that Hendrix was alive when the ambulance arrived. In interviews, she repeatedly changed her version of events. The testimony of the doctor and the ambulance attendant differed from the others. One of the medics, Dr. Bannister said that “he died hours rather than minutes before he got to the hospital.” The ambulance was called at 11:18 a.m. and arrived at the scene 9 minutes later.

The death, which was officially pronounced at 12:45 a.m., was caused by choking on vomit and barbiturate poisoning. An autopsy showed that he had never been addicted to heroin, but traces of Durophet, amphetamine, Seconal and Allobarbital, which are the main ingredients of the so-called Black Bomber, were found in his system, as well as the Vesperax ingredients Brallobarbitone(English), Secobarbital and an unidentified substance that may have been a metabolite of hydroxyethyl hydroxyzine – an antihistamine. Nicotine was the most detected, urine alcohol level was 46mg

“We don”t know where, how, or why he died, but he died of an overdose,” was the statement issued by a spokesperson for St. Mary Abbot”s(English) Hospital. This claim is untrue – the death occurred as a result of complications after taking sleeping pills. However, for many years the media promoted the theory that he died of a heroin overdose, even though he had mostly used marijuana, hashish, cocaine and LSD. We also know that he suffered from chronic insomnia, and that he had an increased tolerance for barbiturates.

Redding: “The coroner delivered an opinion that was received very calmly. Both Warner Brothers and Jeffery and Chandler Inc. had insurance on Jimi for $1 million. Generally insurance companies don”t pay out if a suicide is committed. So no one bothered to look for clues or contact the police to start an investigation. They preferred it to end like other musicians who couldn”t deal with their addiction. The funeral was held Oct. 1 at Dunlap Baptist Church on Rainier Avenue South in Seattle, with friends and family of the artist in attendance.

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Unclear issues

On the fifth anniversary of Hendrix”s death, Monica Dannemann said in an interview that he was murdered by the Mafia. In February 1971, Devon Wilson fell out the window of New York”s Chelsea Hotel under unexplained circumstances. On March 5, 1973, Michael Jeffery was killed in a plane crash – many people including Noel Redding believe that Jeffery, took the opportunity to simulate his own death and escape with the group”s money. The manager was a beneficiary of the situation, until his death he collected money from subsequent posthumous releases. In 1965, he founded an offshore company in the Bahamas called Yameta.

Noel Redding: “All the money…was going to this company in the Bahamas that was owned by another company called Caicos Trust, which was a subsidiary of Bank of the New Providence, a subsidiary of Bank of Nova Scotia(English) and a subsidiary of whoever…It”s impossible to find anything about these little offshore companies. They”re just places where people send money and then it disappears.” Redding: “I had my doubts about Jeffery”s death. Contracts had been negotiated, money had been distributed, depositions were coming up … and Jeffery regularly missed his plane and had to fly the next one. The same thing could happen this time. He was smart, and he wouldn”t be himself if he didn”t take advantage of an opportunity like this. He had just arranged for Barclay to wire money into his account in Curacao; he had his forty percent of Polydor”s new worldwide contract; and he had numerous investments, mostly in Hawaii and Spain. No one knew how much money he had in his safe. It was the best time to get away…Member Slade of Chas”s new team , told me that Chas laughed when he heard of Jeffery”s death…People who worked for Jeffery sought him out in New York and London. Given all that, I don”t believe he”s dead.”

Band technician James “Tappy” Wright, in his book “Rock Roadie” published in 2009, claims that manager Michael Jeffery was in debt to the Mafia and killed Hendrix to receive a $2 million (£1.2 million) life insurance payout on the artist. Rumors had already circulated that Jeffery was linked to organized crime as well as Britain”s MI5. During his military service he was stationed in Egypt. He took part in the Suez operation. He was fluent in Russian – he was suspected of working with the Russians. Dannemann later claimed that he did not feel safe in New York – a city he treated as home – as if he was under constant surveillance. She also stated that he was trying desperately to break free of his contract with his manager, and that he was beginning to stop trusting people.

Chas Chandler: ” he was a crook, there is no doubt about it … he was the most immoral, amoral person you ever met”. Dr. John Bannister, one of Hendrix”s rescuing doctors, in reaction to the release of Wright”s book, said that murder was possible. He pointed out the enormous amount of red wine that was literally everywhere is very vivid because you rarely see people drowned in red wine,” – he claims. He also remembers that the artist”s neck was wrapped in a towel or sweater, saturated with the liquor. “Even though he was sleeping ”normally” why was he completely dressed ?” – asks David Henderson in his book Scuse” Me While A Kiss The Sky.

Leon Hendrix is convinced that his brother was murdered. The killers would have used waterboarding. Kathy Etchingham(English) does not believe in theories about the alleged murder. Buddy Miles, on the other hand, blamed Jeffery for indirectly contributing to the death. In 1994 Scotland Yard reopened the investigation into Jimi Hendrix”s death, but it was dropped. According to Tony Brown, Hendrix biographer and author of Hendrix: The Final Days, the investigation was “unremarkable” and “none of the others involved were called to testify, nor was there any attempt to establish the exact time of death.” Continuing, Brown claims that the investigation was treated merely as a formality.

Monika Dannemann was found dead on April 5, 1996. According to the police, she had taken her own life – she was found next to her house in a car filled with exhaust fumes. For years she had been receiving threats – death threats. Dannemann”s partner, Uli guitarist Jon Roth, said that she was not the kind of person to do anything to herself, and that she “didn”t believe in the concept of suicide.”

In 1969, the FBI opened a file on the guitarist. In 1979, it was accessed by students at Santa Barbara University. Hendrix was on a list of “subversives” to be placed in an internment camp in the event of a national emergency.

The first posthumous studio compilation, The Cry of Love, which features mostly completed songs by the artist, was released in early 1971. It ranked #3 in the US, and #2 in the UK. The same year saw the release of Rainbow Bridge, and in 1972 War Heroes, these albums containing mostly compositions that would be included on the double album First Rays of the New Rising Sun. Loose Ends was released in 1974, followed by Crash Landing and Midnight Lightning in 1975, the release of the latter two albums caused much controversy due to the numerous alterations and edits to the material at the discretion of producer Alan Douglas(English), such as the re-recording of parts of the songs by mediocre studio musicians who had never had any contact with Hendrix. The producer even went so far as to credit himself as the author of some of the tracks. Both albums have been unavailable in Hendrix”s record catalog for many years. Noel Redding called Douglas a “parasite”, who in turn defended the album, claiming that if it was bad no one would buy it, and the album itself “covered” in platinum.

During his short career, Hendrix played about 550 concerts of which 120 were recorded. Notable concert albums include: Experience (1971), Isle of Wight (1971), and Hendrix: In the West (1972). Individual pieces by Hendrix were also included on albums documenting great festivals such as Historic Performances Recorded at Monterey International Pop Festival, Woodstock 2, The First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies: Isle of Wight

In the 1970s Mitchell and Redding sold their rights to Hendrix”s music for $300,000 and $100,000 respectively. This was before the release of CDs which spurred album sales and depreciated the amounts mentioned. Both musicians tried to invalidate the transaction. Ian Grant, Redding”s manager, claimed that the deal was invalid because his client could not have foreseen all the other uses of his work. “The fact is that in those days there were no CDs, let alone DVDs. Then you were told: “If you don”t sign here, you won”t get any money.” Chandler refused to sell Douglas the 64 boxes of tapes. Only his widow sold them in the late 1990s for $2 million. The buyer was already Experience Hendrix L.L.C.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, PolyGram and Warner-Reprise reissued many of Hendrix”s albums on CD. Two albums released on Rykodisc(English) were particularly successful: Live at Winterland and Radio One. 1997 saw the final release of First Rays of the New Rising Sun. The album Hendrix was working on just before his death. Eddie Kramer and John McDermott reconstructed the setlist based on notes left by the musician. In total, over 80 albums and about 500 bootlegs were released after his death. Kirk Hammett (guitarist, Metallica): “It”s amazing how much music he made in that short four-year window he was in.

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Experience Hendrix L.L.C.

In 1971, lawyer Leo Branton Jr.(English) as president of Are You Experienced? Ltd. began representing Al Hendrix in managing the estate inherited from his son. “Al” in return got a house and a lifetime annuity estimated at $10,000 a month. Branton began his tenure by selling his interest in Electric Lady Studios. Starting in 1974, he also released albums with Alan Douglas as producer. Since the introduction of CDs, sales grew and with them the value of the company”s assets under management. Branton had to fend off accusations that he had cheated Hendrix”s father by acquiring his son”s music, which was worth millions, for nothing.

In 1995, as a result of lawsuits, the artist”s father Al Hendrix regained his music management rights. This would not have been possible had it not been for a nearly $6 million loan the Hendrix family received from billionaire Paul Allen. After his father”s death in 2002, guitarist Janie Hendrix”s half-sister took over the music rights. She was adopted by “Al” in 1966 and is the fifth and youngest daughter of his second wife Ayako “June” Jinka. Experience Hendrix L.L.C. the company now headed by Janie Hendrix has been criticized for using Jimi Hendrix”s image to sell, for example, golf balls, air fresheners, underwear and many other products not related to music in any way. Hendrix”s songs have been used in Reebok commercials, among other things. The musician”s brother, disinherited by his father, Leon Hendrix, who lost a long legal battle over shares in Experience Hendrix L.L.C., claimed that they had no vision and were only interested in making money. Sam, however, illegally used his late brother”s image to sell cannabis, food, wine, alcohol, medicine, electronics and T-shirts with his likeness on them. The court enjoined him from such practices, and from using in any way: the name “Jimi Hendrix,” the name “Jimi,” the name “Hendrix,” in any configuration, and any photograph, likeness, or signature of Jimi Hendrix.The only legal heirs to the artist are Experience Hendrix and Authentic Hendrix.

Since 1995, reissues of all of Hendrix”s original albums have been released, as well as brand new studio and live albums, supplemented by DVD releases, and his own music publishing company, Dagger Records, has been founded. Since 1997, the rest of the albums have been distributed by MCA Records (Universal Music Group). Since January 1, 2010, distribution has been handled by Legacy Recordings(Sony BMG Music Entertainment). Experience Hendrix L.L.C.”s estate is estimated at $175 million (2019).

Noel Redding died in 2003 at the age of 57 due to cirrhosis of the liver. Mitch Mitchell died in 2008 of natural causes, having battled alcohol addiction for many years. Both musicians died in “relative poverty.” In 2022, the heirs of both, are still trying to recover the back royalties owed to them (according to them) estimated in the millions. Experience Hendrix and Sony, counter the allegations by claiming that the artists sold their rights to them, in the 1970s.

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Burial place

He said many times that he would have liked to be buried in England, but after his death “Al” Hendrix brought his son”s body to the States despite the protests of the musician”s friends, it was laid to rest at Greenwood Memorial Park(English) in Renton, Washington, 17 miles south of Seattle. A modest gravestone was located 100 yards from the current burial site. Right next to it were four spaces designated for Leon and Janie Hendrix and for “Al” himself and his second wife Ayako “June” Fujita, who died in 1999. In 1984, when Nora Hendrix (Al”s mother) died, the decision was made to bury her right here, in a place that is both a Hendrix family burial ground and a tourist attraction visited by an estimated 14,000 to 16,000 people a year. In 1999, four years after regaining the rights to the artist”s music, “Al” Hendrix decided to create a memorial to his son.

The monument consists of a granite dome supported by three pillars, each bearing the artist”s autograph at its base, a sundial with a brass gnomon on its side, and the whole surrounded by 54 plots belonging to the family. The tombstone bears an inscription dedicated to Hendrix: “Forever in our hearts – James M. “Jimi” Hendrix – 1942-1970,” and below it a picture showing a Stratocaster guitar (for right-handers), the kind used by this left-handed guitarist. The work is not yet complete, and there is no bronze statue of Jimi Hendrix, which, it has been announced, is being built in Italy. The artist”s remains were deposited here on November 26, 2002, when they were exhumed. Fans of the musician used to leave notes, beer cans, marijuana cigarettes and other paraphernalia here.

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Music Honors

Hendrix won many awards and honors during his lifetime, but was much more often awarded posthumously. The following list is only a selective listing of these due to the difficulty in properly documenting them.

Grammy Awards:

Honors awarded by Rolling Stone magazine:

Honors awarded by Q magazine:

Honors awarded by Guitar World magazine:

Honors awarded by Total Guitar(English) magazine:

Honors awarded by Mojo magazine:

Honors awarded by Loudwire(English) magazine:

Honors awarded by “VH1”:

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Jimi Hendrix Museum

Billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen was an avid fan of the artist. Like him, he was originally from Seattle. In the 1990s, when Hendrix was commemorated only by a memorial plaque and a bronze statue on Capitol Hill(English) (depicting him playing in a kneeling position), he decided to dedicate a museum to him. Allen: “I thought he deserved better.” The facility was to be 10,000 square feet. Paul Allen: “After a well-attended public hearing in 1992, we realized it wasn”t enough to simply lay out clothes and guitars saying this represented creativity. We had to have specific programs that combined memorabilia with the ideas we were trying to introduce. In short, our museum had to tell a story. We had to put Jimi in the context of his musical heritage of Seattle and the Northwest. By the way, I hoped we could explore one of the big questions: Where and where does creativity come from?”

“Experience Music Project” – the name chosen not coincidentally, was a reference to Hendrix”s band, The Experience. Allen himself admits that he “scoured” the country in search of rare artifacts, such as a burned-out guitar from Monterey. He has built up a huge collection of Jimi Hendrix memorabilia. The grand opening took place in June 2000. Guests on the “red carpet” included Grace Slick, Sheryl Crow, Annie Lennox, Gina Gershon, Bill and Melinda Gates, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Steven Spielberg. The facility was built at a cost of $250 million exclusively by Paul Allen. Planning and construction took a total of 8 years. The museum, which resembles the shape of a destroyed guitar, has 140,000 square feet of space and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was originally dedicated solely to Hendrix – it was only with time that other exhibitions – devoted to music and pop culture – were added. Over the course of a dozen years, it has changed its name several times; as of 2016, it”s the Museum of Pop Culture.

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Experience Hendrix Tribute Tour

The Experience Hendrix Tribute Tour is an initiative to commemorate the music and persona of Jimi Hendrix. It was first organized as a mini-tour in 2004, although Hendrix”s family had already organized a concert in his memory in 1995. The single performances grew into the Red House Tour, organized between 1999 and 2001. The Experience Hendrix Tribute Tour took place in 2004 (3 performances on the west coast of the USA), 2007 (7 performances on the east coast of the USA), in 2008 it already counted 19 concerts (among others in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Denver).

Artists performing Hendrix”s songs included: Mitch Mitchell, Carlos Santana, Hubert Sumlin, Paul Rodgers, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Living Colour, Tommy Shannon(English), as well as Eric Johnson, Cesar Rosas(English), Brad Whitford and Dweezil Zappa, Chris Layton(English). From March 4 to 28, 2010 another edition of 20 concerts took place. The following years are: 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019. Single “Tribute Concerts” were also held: in San Diego (in Boston and St. Paul in 2006; in London in 2007 (Gary Moore performed among others).

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Thanks Jimi Festival

Thanks Jimi Festival is a Polish event commemorating the guitarist, is organized by Leszek Cichoński in Wrocław, where every year an attempt is made to beat the Guinness record in playing guitars together. The participants play live, among others, the song “Hey Joe”.

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Hendrix in pop culture

He is one of the icons of pop culture. He belongs to the so-called 27 Club, a group of famous artists who died at the age of 27. His character was used in the computer game Guitar Hero World Tour, and his music was used in the game Gran Turismo. His film credits include (in alphabetical order): Cars, Hit and Run, Black Hawk Down, A Serious Man, Free Rider, Watchmen: Watchmen. On the show American Idol. His songs have been covered by artists ranging from Rod Stewart and Eric Clapton to The Pretenders and Red Hot Chili Peppers. As well as by the Kronos Quartet and Gil Evans, among others. American wrestler Hulk Hogan occasionally used the song Voodoo Child (Slight Return) as his ring entrance song. Robert Calvert(English) musician Hawkwind, and writer dedicated his stage play to it.

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Inspirations

Hendrix: “The first guitarist I met was Muddy Waters. When I was a little boy, I heard one of his old records and it scared me to death because I could hear all these sounds.”

The following artists have had the greatest influence on his music (alphabetically): Chet Atkins, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Albert Collins, Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly, Lightnin” Hopkins, Robert Johnson, Curtis Mayfield, Muddy Waters, Ritchie Valens.

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Impact

Hendrix is modeled on

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Technique, playing style, instrumentation

He had huge hands and unusually long fingers. As he claimed, he inherited them from his mother. An interesting fact is that his father “Al” had 6 fingers on each hand. Hendrix was able to press down on all six strings with his thumb alone, thus “freeing” his other fingers to play melodies. This allowed him to play lead and rhythm guitar at the same time. He was left-handed, but used guitars designed for right-handed people, which he turned over and tuned. The “heavier” strings were placed at the top of the neck as standard. This configuration allowed for comfortable use of the tremolo arm and control of tone and volume. The volume pot was located at the top instead of the standard bottom. He was masterful in his use of the tremolo and feedback, and in the song “Machine Gun” he used them to imitate the sounds of helicopters, bombs, and automatic weapons. He used his knuckles and fingers to create gnashing noises, and he also hit the instrument to make strange feedback and sounds. Jimmi Mayes, Hendrix”s friend from his days as a sideman, sometimes thought Hendrix”s guitar was out of tune. Only later did he notice that he was tuning it to his voice.

Jacek Cieślak, Rzeczpospolita: “He created his own style based on orchestral sound. Hence the impression that the solo part is performed simultaneously with the accompaniment. He was famous for his tonal improvisations, which he supplemented with effects produced by slowing down the tension of particular strings, as well as their tuning while playing. He was a master of complicated technique, which is finger vibrato, but he did not hesitate to create the effect of waving sound by shaking the guitar neck. He shocked by using the coupling of the instrument with the speakers and its overdrive, which was previously considered a lack of professionalism. He played fast and could sing at the same time. He illustrated crazy solos with body dancing and erotic figures.” “Certainly his technique became more refined, but he still retained a rhythmic foundation that others – who mastered his playing, like Clapton and Beck – never really mastered” (Gulla).

Billy Gibbons (guitarist, ZZ Top): “He was a real technical wizard. He invented things that you could do with a Stratocaster guitar. I”m sure the designers had no idea what would develop in later years. Jimi had the talent to make it work for him. His technique was very specific because he played a right-handed guitar in a left-handed, upside-down style.”

Brett Garsed(English) (guitarist): “The obvious things are the authentic R&B influences and experimentation with effects for which he set the standard. The level of musicianship he achieved with the simplest of tools is still a high bar that most musicians strive for. But what surprised me was the way he intertwined his voice with his guitar playing, almost creating a third instrument. He had complete independence between what he was playing and what he was singing, and he wove it together, sometimes in harmony, unison, or complete counterpoint. It”s an incredibly difficult skill to develop, and once again Jimi mastered it.”

Paul Gilbert (guitarist): “He used just enough volume and distortion to make the guitar sound the way the human voice can. And he brought the elements of expression that the voice has; sliding, bending, contrasts of volume, texture and length, and the best vibrato anyone had heard in 1966. The traditional guitar was not built for that. The guitar is designed more like a lute, where the chords are strained and the strings are plucked. It”s a kind of portable harpsichord, and the great ”fingerpickers” from Segovia to Chet Atkins played it masterfully.”

Eric Clapton: “He had tremendous talent and fantastic technique like someone who spent all day playing and practicing but didn”t seem aware of it.

Hendrix”s most important guitar was the Fender Stratocaster, he also used other models such as the Gibson Flying V and the Gibson SG. He occasionally played other guitars. Hendrix probably contributed more than any other guitarist to making the Fender Stratocaster the best-selling electric guitar in history. Before Hendrix “came along” Fender was seriously considering suspending production of this model. Prior to his arrival in England, most of the top guitarists used Gibson and Rickenbacker guitars, and it was only under Hendrix”s influence that almost everyone, including Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, started using the Stratocaster. In total, he probably used hundreds of guitars during his short career.

He used the following models:

Recording acoustic versions of songs while working on the Electric Ladyland album, he used an Epiphone FT-79. Other “acoustics” included the 12-string Zemaitis (1967), Thornward Parlor (1968.

In 1965 and 1966, when he played as a sideman he used an 85-watt Fender Twin Reverb amplifier. When he arrived in England, Chandler supplied him with 30-watt Burns amps. Hendrix, however, considered them weak for his needs. The high volume of his performances required adequate power. For the first few months at the Experience, he used Vox and Fender amps then replaced them with Marshalls. Many years earlier, Mitch Mitchell had learned to play drums from Jim Marshall. He introduced him to Hendrix. At their first meeting, the guitarist bought 4 speaker cabinets and 3 100-watt Super Lead amplifiers, he used them all at once. In total, he bought between 50 and 100 Marshall amplifiers over the course of 4 years. He also used Sunn and Sound City brands from time to time.

The amplifiers and speakers he used were:

The guitarist has tried almost every guitar effect available in his career. He used Vox Wah-Wah pedals, Octavia(English), Arbitar Fuzz Face(English) and Univox Uni-Vibe(English). He collaborated with Roger Mayer(English), who introduced him to the Octavia (boosting octaves) in December 1966 – first used in “Purple Haze”. In turn, he used the wah-wah pedal in “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)(English)”, “Burning of the Midnight Lamp(English)”, “Up from the Skies(English)”, “Little Miss Lover” and “Still Raining, Still Dreaming”, among others. Rotimi Ogunjobi: “Hendrix”s sound is a unique combination of high volume, high power, precise feedback control and an array of innovative guitar effects. Especially the combination of Uni-Vibe and Octavia, which we can fully hear in the song ”Machine Gun” from the Band of Gypsys album.”

He used the following guitar effects:

He used standard “Fender Rock ”N” Roll 150 Strings” (.010,.013,.015,.026,.032,.038). the guitar picks he used were: Fender Celluloid Guitar Pick, Manny”s Music Medium Guitar Pick.

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Addictions

Hendrix, like the other members of The Experience, was addicted to drugs, alcohol and sex. When the group learned that one of their shows was to be given while sober, they refused to play. Orgies and alcoholic libations were a springboard for the musicians being constantly on tour. Noel Redding: “There wasn”t a single group whose members didn”t regularly take acida. “Hendrix was the only person I knew who could play acid,” recalled David Crosby. He never took drugs intravenously. “He had an aversion to syringes,” claimed Deering Howe a friend of the artist.

He had hundreds if not thousands of women. Some of his “conquests” included Brigitte Bardot, Janis Joplin, Linda Eastman (McCartney) and Nico. Most of his women were tall blondes. Many years later (in 2008) a pornographic film was released in which Hendrix was said to have sex with two brunettes, but it is not certain if the man appearing in it is actually the guitarist. Kathy Etchingham, a friend of the artist, claims that it is not him, however, Neville Chester, a former technician of The Experience, is of a different opinion. A plaster cast of Hendrix”s penis made by Cynthia “Plaster Caster” Albritton (known as “Penis de Milo”) has survived.

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Interests

He was not only a musician, he could paint. He was also a music producer – in this role he participated in recording his own albums Electric Ladyland and Band of Gypsys and Sunrise by Eire Apparent(English) (where he also plays guitar on several tracks) and The Street Giveth… And the Street Taketh Away by Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys(English), he also produced two albums by The Buddy Miles Express (Expressway to Your Skull and Electric Church).

His non-musical interests focused mainly on fantasy. He was interested in science fiction, art, history, politics, and chess. He was a fan of comic books – for example those dedicated to Spiderman and cartoons such as Mighty Mouse(English) and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends(English) (his favorite), he also liked games such as Monopoly, Risk and Scrabble. “Most of all we played Risk! Jimi would take a couple of acid pills and that was it – nobody could beat him at Risk” – Graham Nash. One of his favorite shows was “The Goon Show” and his favorite cars were Corvettes. He loved actors such as Marlon Brando, James Dean and Sidney Poitier. He loved animals, especially deer and horses. Of food, he preferred fish, chips and strawberry pie. Of spirits, he preferred Mateus rosé(English) wine.

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Outfit

Many photographs show Hendrix wearing bell-bottomed pants, scarves, rings, medallions and brooches, at the beginning of his career also badges, e.g. with the inscription “I am a virgin” or “Bob Dylan” which was an expression of his fascination with this musician. Shortly after arriving in England he wore a dark suit and silk shirts, military jackets, later his clothes became more and more extravagant. In Monterey he wore red and brown pants, a yellow shirt with creases and a black braided vest, a heavy gold necklace, and a colorful band around his head. He also previously wore a hand-painted silk jacket with painted eyes that belonged to Chris Jagger (Mick”s brother) and a bright pink feather boa.

In late 1967 he began wearing a hat by The Westerner brand, stolen in 1968 it was replaced by another, worn together with a purple scarf and silver rings around the brim – sometimes with a feather stuck behind it. From late 1968 he began tying a shawl around his leg and arm; in 1969 he tied scarves and used them like a headband, dispensing with the hat. During this period there were already stage costumes created especially for him. Some of his most famous costumes, such as the one in which he performed at Woodstock (white jacket with fringes and beads), were created by Colette Mimram and Stella Benabou (ex-wife of producer Alan Douglas(English)). In 1970, Berkeley wore a blue winged “dragonfly” outfit designed by Emily Touraine.

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Children

Jimi Hendrix had two children, James Daniel Henrik Sundquist (b. 1970), whose mother was Swedish Ewa Sundquist, and a daughter, Tamika Laurice Carpenter James (b. 1966), whose mother was Diana Carpenter, older than him, a fact not long known to the public. Officially, they are his only children, although it is possible that there are more. In December 1978, a Swedish court awarded $1 million to the Sundquist family from Hendrix”s estate. In 1994, 24-year-old James Daniel Sundquist fought (unsuccessfully) with Al Hendrix for the rights to the artist”s compositions.

Several hundred items have been written about Jimi Hendrix (and The Experience). Below is a selection, arranged alphabetically (by title).

Books

Videos

Booklets accompanying discs

Websites

Music

Other

Sources

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Jimi Hendrix