Jimi Hendrix Biography - life, family, name, school, mother, young, son, old, information, born
Jimi Hendrix Biography
London, England
African American musician, songwriter, and guitarist
Jimi Hendrix was one of the most original electric guitarists of all time,       combining blues, hard rock, modern jazz, and soul into his own       unmistakable sound. He was also a gifted songwriter.
Raised by his father
Jimi Hendrix was born Johnny Allen Hendrix in Seattle, Washington, on         November 27, 1942, the son of Al Hendrix and Lucille Jeter. His         father—a gifted jazz dancer who worked at a number of jobs,         including landscape gardening—bore much of the responsibility of         raising the boy and his brother, Leon, as did their grandmother and         various family friends. This was due to the unreliability of Lucille,         who drank excessively and who would disappear for extended periods. Al         Hendrix changed his son's name to James Marshall Hendrix in 1946.         Al and Lucille divorced in 1951; Al Hendrix won custody of his sons and         exercised as much discipline as he could, but the boys—young Jimi         especially—worshipped their absentee mother.
Jimi Hendrix wanted a guitar early on. Before acquiring his first real         instrument, he "played" guitar on a broom and on a         one-stringed ukulele. At last Al got his son a guitar, and the         twelve-year-old Jimi began to teach himself to play. Jimi restrung the         guitar upside down—as a left-hander, he was forced to turn the         instrument in the opposite direction from how it is usually played,         which left the strings at the bottom unless he rearranged them. He         learned blues songs from records by greats like B. B. King         (1925–) and Muddy Waters (1915–1983). The guitar rarely         left Jimi's side, even as he slept. By his mid-teens, Hendrix had         formed a band called the Rocking Kings. He played behind his back,         between his legs, and over his head—as had many blues guitarists         before him. Thus he became a favorite to audiences, if not to all         musicians.
Reputation grows
After dropping out of Garfield High School in Seattle, Hendrix joined         the army at age seventeen to avoid a jail sentence for riding in a         stolen car. He volunteered as a para-trooper (a person who jumps from         planes using a parachute) and was soon jumping out of airplanes.         Eventually he sent for his guitar and continued playing whenever he         could. He met another soldier, bass player Billy Cox, with whom he         formed a band that entertained troops all over the region. After leaving         the army, the two friends formed the King Kasuals and began playing         regularly at a club in Nashville, Tennessee. Hendrix became known as the         hottest guitarist in town. At the time he lacked confidence in his         singing and was content to back other artists.
Over the next few years Hendrix toured with several different bands,         often stealing           attention away from bandleaders who expected him to stay in the         background. Hendrix's looks and on-stage behavior were influenced         by the early rocker Little Richard (1932–). Hendrix played with         the Isley Brothers, with saxophonist King Curtis, and later with friend         Curtis Knight. In 1965 he signed a contract with Knight's         manager, Ed Chalpin, receiving an advance of one dollar. He then formed         his own group, Jimmy James & the Blue Flames, and moved to New         York.
Jimi Hendrix Experience
In September 1966 Hendrix was brought to London, England, by Chas         Chandler, a member of the rock group the Animals who wanted to be a         manager. Chandler suggested changing the spelling of Hendrix's         first name to Jimi and helped him form the Jimi Hendrix Experience with         bass player Noel Redding and drummer John "Mitch" Mitchell. Recording began the following month. By December the         Experience had released its first hit single, "Hey Joe." Hendrix amazed even London's biggest rock stars with his         electrifying stage show. He once said, "I sacrifice part of my         soul every time I play."
The Experience's first album, Are You Experienced?, was a huge success. Back in the United States, crowds were stunned by         Hendrix's performances, which included the burning of his guitar.         The band's next album, Axis: Bold as Love, showed Hendrix's growth as a songwriter, but he was unhappy with         the way it sounded. He was also becoming tired of audiences who expected         a "wild man" act. Hendrix tried to expand his musical         range on Electric Ladyland, an album he had complete control over, and that was the greatest         achievement of his brief recording career.
Jimi Hendrix.