The Legend That is Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix Biography – Part 1
Before He Was Famous
This Jimi Hendrix biography traces the life of one of the greatest guitarists in rock’n’roll history. He was born on 27 November 1942 in Seattle, Washington.
A sixteen-year-old Jimmy, not yet Jimi, played acoustic guitar with his first real group, the Velvetones. A year later, his father bought him his first electric guitar and he joined the Rocking Kings.
Military life beckoned and he joined the US Army on 31 May 1961. After initial training, he joined the “Band of Brothers”, the 101st Airborne Division.
Whilst stationed at Fort Campbell in Kentucky he met bass player Billy Cox and they formed the King Casuals.
His Army career came to an abrupt end just over a year later, when he broke his ankle in a parachute jump. The broken ankle is the official version of the demise of his army career, although some sources suggest that the parting of the ways was more of a mutual affair.
Little Richard, Isley Brothers and others
After the Army he relocated to Clarksville, Tennessee and then on to Canada. By the end of 1962 he was playing with Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers. Guitarist Tommy Chong went on to find fame with hippie group Cheech and Chong.
He left Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers after meeting Little Richard. As well as touring with Little Richard he also played on a handful Little Richard tracks but beware of bogus albums because some purporting to be Hendrix and Little Richard together are nothing of the kind.
Jimmy recorded and toured with some of the biggest names of the time. For example, recording sessions with Don Covay and the Isley Brothers and touring with Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke.
In 1965 Hendrix was calling himself Jimmy James and appeared briefly with Joey Dee and the Starliters, famous for their 1961 hit Peppermint Twist.
Contract with Ed Chalpin
Curtis Knight invited Jimi to join the Squires as his lead guitarist in October 1965. Ed Chalpin managed Knight and he took the opportunity to add Hendrix to his list of artists. The exclusive three-year deal he signed with Ed Chalpin on 15 October 1965 was for just $1. The contract stated that, “In consideration of the sum of one (1.00) dollar and and other good and valuable consideration it is agreed…”.
This deal came back to haunt Hendrix after he parted company with Knight and Chalpin.
Hendrix found international success with new manager, Chas Chandler. When Chalpin discovered this, he invoked the contract because he felt he was entitled to his share the royalties.
The legal wrangling continued long after Hendrix’s death.
Jimmy James and the Blue Flames
When Hendrix formed Jimmy James and the Blue Flames in 1966, guitarist Randy California was part of the band. He was born Randy Craig Wolfe, in Los Angeles, California in 1951. His nickname, “Randy California”, dates from his time with Hendrix. The nickname came about because there were two Randys in the band and to avoid confusion Randy Wolf became Randy California because of his home state, California. He went on to be a founding member of Spirit.
In mid-1966 the Animals were in America for their final tour because they were about to split up. Bass player Chas Chandler wanted to get into artist management, so he was on the look out for a new band to manage.
Jimmy James and the Blue Flames were regulars at the Café Wha? in New York’s Greenwich Village. Chas Chandler’s introduction to Hendrix was down to Linda Keith, Keith Richard’s girlfriend. She famously took Chas Chandler to see Hendrix at the Cafe Wha? on 5 July. It was Linda Keith who bought Hendrix his Fender Stratocaster.
Shortly afterwards, Chas Chandler signed Hendrix to a management deal but paid no regard to his existing deal with Ed Chalpin. Consequently, this turned out to be a major oversite to say the least. Hendrix invited Randy California to go to London with him to be in his new band but he felt that he was too young for such a move.
At the end of September Hendrix and Chas Chandler boarded a plane for London and a legend was born.
Who’s on Tour…
Cheech & Chong check out tour details…
The Isley Brothers check out tour details…
Jimi Hendrix Biography – Part 2
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
This is the first real milestone in the Jimi Hendrix biography. Chas and Jimmy were in London. “Jimmy” became “Jimi” and together they set about forming a band.
On 1 October Jimi jammed with Cream at the Central London Polytechnic, where they played Killing Floor, a Howlin’ Wolf single from 1965.
Meanwhile, the plan to form a power trio was underway. Noel Redding, a guitarist from Kent was the first on board. Although, he switched to bass guitar.
Drummer Mitch Mitchell followed. Previously he’d been a founding member of the well-respected Riot Squad and Georgie Fame’s Blue Flames after their split from Billy Fury. Urban legend has it that drummer Aynsley Dunbar was also up for the gig but lost out on the toss of a coin.
Mike Jefferey had previously managed the Animals and Chas Chandler was still under contract to him. On 11 October Jimi Hendrix signed with Mike Jeffery’s Anim Ltd management company and consequently, was now managed jointly by Chas Chandler and Mike Jeffery.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience played its first gig on 13 October, supporting French rock star Johnny Hallyday. This was the beginning of a short French tour and wound up at the Paris Olympia five days later.
First UK single – Hey Joe
Recorded at De Lane Lea Studios in London, the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s first single, Hey Joe, entered the UK charts on 29 December 1966, three months after Hendrix relocated to the UK. After four years of striving for success in America, he finally achieved it as a result of his move to the UK.
The origin of Hey Joe is hazy at best. It probably began as a traditional folk song but it was certainly copyrighted by US folk singer Billy Roberts in 1962.
On his original Polydor release Hendrix took the songwriting credit as “Trad. arr. Hendrix” but subsequenly releases credited Billy Roberts. It was popularised by The Leaves but their version on the Mira label wrongly credited Dino Valenti as the writer.
Tim Rose’s slower arrangement in 1966 influenced the Hendrix version. To add to the confusion, the original Hendrix US Reprise release gives a songwriting credit to “D. Valenti”.
Hey Joe failed to make an impact on the American charts. In fact, the only showing in the Billboard Top-40 for the Jimi Hendrix Experience was All Along the Watchtower, when it reached a modest #20 in 1968.
The Experience’s second UK single in early 1967, Purple Haze, was the first-ever release on Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp’s Track Records.
Guitar pyrotechnics
Jimi Hendrix’s trademark pyrotechnics started on 31 March, when he set fire to his guitar for the first time, on the opening night of his debut UK tour, headlined the Walker Brothers. The Fender Stratocaster he set fire to that night at the Finsbury Park Astoria, was subsequently sold at auction by the Fame Bureau in 2008 for £280,000.
Lemmy was a roadie for the Jimi Hendrix Experience around this time and was probably with them on this tour. He subsequently joined Hawkwind on bass and vocals, and, after they sacked him, formed Motörhead.
They released their debut UK album, Are You Experienced, on 12 May 1967. This was the first album on the newly founded Track Records.
American concert debut at Monterey
A month later they made their American debut at the First Monterey International Pop Festival. The Who and Jimi Hendrix appeared on the third day and both bands refused to follow the other on stage. As a result, the toss of a coin put the Who on first. After that, Hendrix took to the stage and during a feedback laden version of Wild Thing, set fire to his guitar. Following this he smashed it into the stage until it snapped and threw the neck into the audience.
As a result of their appearance at Monterey, the Experience were invited by the Monkees to support them on their American tour. The Experience opened for the Monkees for the first time on 8 July at Florida’s Jacksonville Coliseum. Audiences for the two acts couldn’t have been more different, with the typical Monkees fan being a young teenage girl. As a result, Hendrix’s performances were greeted with chants of “We want the Monkees”. For Jimi and the lads the tour came to a premature end a week or so later at the Forest Hills Stadium in New York.
Urban Legend has it that the ultra–conservative Daughters of the American Revolution put pressure on the promoter to tone down Hendrix’s stage act. This came about as the result of an article by Australian journalist Lillian Roxon, who was accompanying the tour. Her tongue-in-cheek piece was written to explain the Experience’s sudden departure from the tour. The fact of the matter was that Hendrix had simply had enough of the “We want the Monkees” chants. They quit the tour but remained on friendly terms with Monkees.
The Plaster Casters of Chicago
The Jimi Hendrix Experience entered the UK charts with their second UK album, Axis Bold as Love, on 16 December 1967 and this gave him his second top-5 album.
The Plaster Casters of Chicago were legendary groupies who made plaster casts of rock stars’ appendages. Jimi had a stimulating meeting with the ladies in his hotel room at the Chicago Hilton on 25 February 1968, resulting in plaster cast #00004. This piece of Hendrix memorabilia is on sale in an edition of 30, for $2,000.
Other plaster casts exist for the Young Rascals’ Eddie Brigati, Canned Heat’s Harvey Mandel and Lovin’ Spoonful’s Zal Yanovsky.
The complications surrounding management contracts became even more convoluted as a result of Hendrix, Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchel signing a new contract with Mike Jeffery and Chas Chandler on 28 June 1968. Not long after this, Mike Jeffery bought Chas Chandler out, resulting in Hendrix having contracts with Ed Chalpin and Mike Jeffrey. This tied him up in legal knots for years to come and resulted in people fighting over who gets what from his estate long after he died. In addition, Noel Redding said in an interview decades later that he was still trying to prise money out of people who owed him from the Hendrix days. The Jimi Hendrix biography is certainly full of surprising twists and turns but sadly, this rip-off of artists by managers and record companies in the 1960s was all too frequent.
Electric Ladyland – end of the road for the original Experience
In the autumn of 1968, the Jimi Hendrix Experience scored a hit on both sides of the Atlantic with their cover of Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower. It reached #5 in the UK but only managed #20 in America. This proved to be their only Billboard Top-40 hit.
The band’s third UK studio album, Electric Ladyland, marked the end for the original lineup and management. It charted in the UK on 16 November 1968 and sported a gatefold sleeve adorned with a bevy of naked ladies. Although it was a success, this was a very different album to the first two. In addition to the three Experience members, it featured a host of rock luminaries, including Steve Winwood, Al Kooper, Dave Mason and future Band of Gypsys drummer Buddy Miles.
The time had come for manager Chas Chandler and bass player Noel Redding to move on. Frustration at constant re-takes during the recording sessions resulted in Chas Chandler relinquishing his management of Hendrix. Similarly, Noel Redding’s frustration led to him forming his own band, Fat Mattress. For his new band, Redding switched from bass and went back to his first love, guitar. Fat Mattress opened for the Jimi Hendrix Experience on the upcoming US tour. Redding played in both bands, bass in the Experience and guitar in Fat Mattress.
Who’s on Tour…
Eric Clapton check out tour details…
Bob Dylan check out tour details…
The Who check out tour details…
Mickey Dolenz check out tour details…
Jimi Hendrix Biography – Part 3
After the Jimi Hendrix Experience
One of television’s more memorable appearances for the Experience came on 4 January 1969, when they appeared on BBC’s Happening for Lulu show. Things were going to schedule until Hey Joe. During the guitar solo the band stopped playing and Hendrix proclaimed that they were going to stop playing this “rubbish”. Following that, he dedicated the song to Cream and launched into a storming introduction to Sunshine of Your Love. The programme went out live. The impromptu change of plan resulted in the show running late. Just before the show ended, Hendrix can be heard to say, “We’re being put off the air”.
Crosstown Traffic entered the UK charts on 16 April, giving the Jimi Hendrix Experience their last UK hit single in his lifetime. The track was taken from his Electric Ladyland album and peaked at #37.
The swansong for the original Jimi Hendrix Experience came on 29 June 1969. The trio headlined the final day of the three-day Denver Pop Festival at the Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado.
The original Jimi Hendrix Experience made its American debut at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. It seems fitting that the first major appearance post-Experience should be at another legendary festival, Woodstock on 15 August. This time he appeared as Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, with a lineup including Mitch Mitchell from the Experience and bass player Billy Cox from the King Casuals, in his US Army days.
Band of Gypsys
Following the outing of Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, Hendrix went back to the power trio lineup. The Band of Gypsys made their debut on 31 December 1969 at the Filmore East. The new trio consisted of Jimi, with bassist Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles who was previously a founding member of the Electric Flag. The gig resulted in the live album Band of Gypsys. Rolling Stone magazine hailed the gig as one of the Twenty Concerts That Changed Rock & Roll. Meanwhile, his previous contract with Ed Chalpin came back to haunt him. As a result of this contract Chalpin received the royalties from the Band of Gypsys album. The brief lifespan of the Band of Gypsys is one of the strangest times in the Jimi Hendrix biography.
The Band of Gypsies lineup only played two gigs with the second and final appearance coming less than a month later at the Winter Festival for Peace. This anti-Vietnam War benefit gig at Madison Square Garden was a complete contrast to the success of the Fillmore East gig. After two songs, Who Knows and Earth Blues, there was an altercation between Hendrix and woman in the audience. This resulted in Hendrix cutting the performance short and storming off the stage.
Who’s on Tour…
Lulu check out tour details…
Jimi Hendrix Biography – Part 4
The Beginning of the End
Following the demise of Band of Gypsys, Hendrix stayed with the power trio lineup and went back to calling the band The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Original drummer Mitch Mitchell returned, in addition to army buddy Billy Cox on bass. This new Jimi Hendrix Experience embarked on a US tour, opening at the Forum in Inglewood, California on 25 April. His last-ever appearance in America was at the Honolulu International Centre in Hawaii on 1 August 1970.
At the end of August Jimi officially opened his Electric Lady Studios in New York’s Greenwich Village.
He played his final UK concert at the Isle of Wight Festival on 30 August, alongside a host of rock’n’roll royalty including, The Who, The Doors and Jethro Tull. From there he headed off to Europe for concerts in Sweden, Denmark and Germany. The last-ever concert performance was on 6 September at the Open Air Love and Peace Festival on the Isle of Fehmarn in Germany.
On his return to Britain, Hendrix made his last-ever appearance jamming with Eric Burdon and War at Ronnie Scott’s club in London on 16 September. They played Blues for Memphis Slim, Mother Earth and Tobacco Road.
He wrote his final song, The Story of Life.
Who’s on Tour…
Eric Burdon check out tour details…
Jimi Hendrix Biography – Part 5
Strange Circumstances Surrounding His Death
Jimi Hendrix died on 18 September 1970. He was just 27 years old and joined Brian Jones in the tragic 27 Club.
His girlfriend Monika Dannemann found Hendrix unconscious and called an ambulance after she was unable to wake him. The ambulance crew took Hendrix to hospital but doctors failed to revive him. The death certificate gave the cause of death as the result of, “Inhalation of vomit: Barbiturate intoxication (quinalbarbitone). Insufficient evidence of circumstances: Open verdict.”
His manager Mike Jeffery considered that only $20,000 was owed to the Hendrix estate.
Considerable speculation surrounds the circumstances of Jimi’s death. Monika Dannemann’s account of Jimi’s death was inconsistent. For instance, she said that she travelled in the ambulance with Hendrix. The paramedics contradicted this. In addition, his good friend Eric Burdon reported that Dannemann travelled with him to the hospital. Other reports suggest that Hendrix had a large amount of red wine in his lungs but little in his blood stream. This can be as a result of waterboarding, rather than drinking.
Eric Burdon was one of the first people on the scene. He found the words to Hendrix’s final composition, The Story of Life. When he read it, he initially thought that it was a suicide note. He subsequently recorded the song as a part of his Mirage project.
Suggestions that Jimi Hendrix was murdered
Furthermore, Jimi Hendrix’s contract with Mike Jeffery was due to expire at the end of 1970. Several reports suggest that Hendrix was planning to cancel it. In addition to this, urban legend has it that Jeffery had taken out a $1m insurance contract on Hendrix. In their book Rock Roadie, Rod Weinberg and roadie James “Tappy” Wright go as far as to suggest that Jimi Hendrix was murdered.
Moreover, there are even reports that the FBI had Hendrix under surveillance. In short, we’ll probably never get to the truth. Two of the key people have already died. Mike Jeffery perished as the result of a mid-air collision over France in 1973 and Monika Dannemann committed suicide in 1996.
The Jimi Hendrix biography is the stuff of rock’n’roll legend. An American who found fame as a result of relocating to the UK at the end of the British Invasion. A handful of hit singles, with only one in America. Just three studio albums in his lifetime. His guitar playing was instantly recognisable and Rolling Stone magazine rated him as #1 on their list of 100 Greatest Guitarists. His death in 1970 at the age of 27 guaranteed him rock’n’roll immortality, as a member of the 27 Club.
