A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix

Maybe not being able to read or write music freed him from conventions to develop his own unique style, allowing, or even forcing him to develop his guitar playing in the way he did.  There was little in the way Hendrix played the guitar that was conventional.  He could play it behind his back; he could play it with his teeth!

As can be seen from the poster above his guitar technique was different to most other guitarists.  He used a right-handed guitar upside down that was strung for left-hand playing.  This changed the sound that was produced when the strings were played.  He was also innovative in his use of the  of tremolo bar and wah-wah pedal and experimented with controlling electronic feedback to create an exciting new sounds and  used speakers in different ways  creating a boldly progressive new sound and style that was revolutionary to the day.

n 1966, Hendrix had signed up with a new manager, Chas Chandler, former bass player with the Animals, moved to London.  There he joined up with bass player Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell to form the Jimi Hendrix Experience and further develop his playing and performing style.

From then on his rise to fame was meteoric.  If his recorded music sound was different and exciting, then his live performances were electric and exhilarating.   His music his Afro-hairstyle, flamboyant and colourful way of dressing and the way he played and moved provocatively on stage presented him as someone from another world.  No one had ever seen or heard anything like him before.

The band’s first single, ‘Hey Joe,’ reached No. 6 in the UK charts in 1967 and was followed by ‘Purple Haze,’ which reached No. 3.   Other singles he released included ‘The Wind Cries Mary.’ ‘Burning of the Midnight lamp,’ All Along the Watchtower,’ and ‘Voodoo Chile.’

In the UK, The Jimi Hendrix Experience enjoyed enormous success but it was not until 1967 when he returned to the USA to play the Monterey International Pop Festival that he hit the big time in America and the rest of the world.   This was his first major American performance and he was lined up with British band, The Who also making their first major American performance.  Janis Joplin made her first public performance and Otis Redding performed for the first time to a predominantly white audience.

This was definitely the place to be for any aspiring rock artist wanting to make their name in the pop music world.  Many of the top Pop and Rock bands and artists from the USA, Britain and around the world were performing and the roll call included:-

• Eric Burdon and The Animals,  
• Simon and Garfunkel,
• Canned Heat,  
• Janis Joplin,
• Country Joe and the Fish,
• Steve Miller Band,
• The Byrds,
• Jefferson Airplane
• Otis Redding
• Ravi Shankar
• Buffalo Springfield
• The Who   
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• The Grateful Dead
• Scott McKenzie
• The Mamas & the Papas

Significant absences from the UK were the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, though Brian Jones was present at the festival.

Pete Townsend of The Who did not want to follow The Jimi Hendrix Experience and in turn Hendrix did not want to follow The Who.  Both bands had planned to climax their performance by smashing their guitars and equipment on stage.  The matter was decided by a toss of a coin and The Who produced a spectacular performance climaxed with smashing up their guitars as they had planned. 

Hendrix followed with a spectacular explosive climax to his performance.  During his last number Wild Thing,’ he not only violently destroyed  his equipment, similar to Townsend and  The Who, but topped them by sacrificially setting fire to his guitar before smashing it to pieces to the delight of a frenzied audience.  This performance rocketed The Jimi Hendrix Experience to American and global fame

Hendrix, along with Mitchell, formed new musical alliances with Billy Cox, Jerry Velez and Juma Sultan to create the Gypsy Sun and Rainbows who performed together at Woodstock.  His performance climaxed with a spectacular rendering of The Star-spangled banner,  to the delight and appreciation of the audience. 

After Woodstock Hendrix, Cox and Electric Flag drummer, Buddy Miles, were to perform together as the Band of Gypsys.  From their performances came the album’s Band of Gypsys, and the posthumous Live at the Filimore East, in 1999.’  Many other of his studio and live works have been released as bootlegs or compilations and are still widely sold today.