Jimi Hendrix

[Spiritinthesky]

Sept 18th 1970, Jimi Hendrix was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Mary Abbot's Hospital in London at the age of 27 after choking on his own vomit. Hendrix left the message 'I need help bad man', on his managers answer phone earlier that night.

Rumors and conspiracy theories grew up around Hendrix’s death. Eric Burdon claimed Jimi had committed suicide, but that’s contradicted by reports that he was in a good frame of mind. In 2009, a former Animals roadie published a book claiming that Jimi’s manager had admitted to him that he arranged the murder of Hendrix, since the guitarist wanted out of his contract.

From www.thisdayinmusic.com

[Markus]

My wife and I were born 4 weeks apart in 1970 - during those 4 weeks Jimi and Janis Joplin died.

That couldn't have been a fun month.

[pangolin]

I saw Jimi perform in Chicago, where I grew up, in the late sixties (guess this dates me....) His performance, along with a James Brown gig at the old Regal Theater on the south side during the same era, are the must memorable concerts of my life!

[journeybear]

Sorry to state the obvious, but if you have seen someone who died a long time ago, you have dated yourself, implicitly. :)

That said, I saw Hendrix too, back in 1968, and even met him, briefly. That school year Yale had a series of concerts in Woolsey Hall, a grand old building (you can see it in the movie "Everybody's Fine" starring DeNiro; the scenes set in a concert hall at a college in Colorado were shot here) with an enormous pipe organ, where much more often the New Haven Symphony plays. But this year they had a who's who of rock: Janis Joplin, Cream, Steppenwolf, Donovan, Moby Grape, Terry Reid, on and on - and Hendrix. I saw all of these and more (except, Sadly, Janis), sometimes for free as I found a way to sneak in via a tunnel that went under the street and came up backstage - but that's another story for another time. Maybe. :whistling:

I went to the show with my best friend and his girlfriend, who was a year behind us in high school and a bit shy. My friend had seen him a couple of months earlier at Hunter College and taken some photos, one of which he transformed into a high contrast image all jet black except for a white outline of Hendrix' head, guitar, and torso - really stunning. He wanted to give it to Jimi but couldn't leave his girlfriend by herself. So he gave it to me to see if I could get backstage. Well, I know it's hard to believe, but back then there wasn't a lot of security, so it was no problem getting back there. At the far corner I could see a few guys from the next class in my school had cornered Noel Redding. I stood outside the dressing room, waiting, wondering what to do next.

After a little while the stage manager came by, knocked on the door, and said, "Five minutes." The door swung open, a cloud of smoke billowed out, and Hendrix stuck his head out and said, "Wha'?" "Five minutes." Jimi said "OK." I went up and said, "Hi. I've got this picture of you." He took it and looked at it and said, "Wow, man, that's really beautiful. How did you do this?" I explained the process as well as I could. (I couldn't help peeking into the room meanwhile, which held Mitch Mitchell and four groupies and a few guitars.) He said, "That's really beautiful, man. I'm gonna put it in my guitar case and put it up on my wall when I get home." Just like that. What really struck me, and stuck with me ever since, is how down-to-earth and unpretentious he was - he seemed genuinely interested in the photo and how it was done. In all my dealings with famous people in the years to follow, I kept this in mind and tried to talk with them as if they too were just plain folks, and most of the time they seemed to appreciate this; I imagine the compliments and fawning must get old.

Epilogue: Thirty years later, one day at work, the UPS guy comes in with a package for me. This was unusual - usually packages were for the business. I open it up and it is a framed copy of the photo, with a typed provenance attached on the back. Apparently my friend, who now has a gallery and frame shop, had donated a copy of this photo to the Hendrix Experience Museum, and it had been accepted for exhibit. He sent me my own copy because of my involvement in this experience. I don't for a moment think the actual photo I gave Jimi survives, but at least there is this, and you can be sure if I ever get to Seattle I am going to look for this there. So I feel pretty happy about all this, and know that, yes indeed, at least this time, I have been experienced. ;)

[SternART]

Nice memory to have of the experience!!! Thanks for sharing!

[jaco]

Journey, that's a great story. Thanks. I saw Jimi in Honolulu, October of 68 at the HIC. My first rock concert, and still the best. Afterwards he showed up at an outdoor venue and jammed all night.

[Spruce]

Did ya shake hands with him, Journey?

The largest hands I ever shook hands with, with the possible exception of Tal Farlow... :disbelief:

I was at the Monterey Jazz Festival when I heard the news of his passing....
Talk about a bummer... :(

He would certainly head the list of "folks who I wish had lived"...
Can you imagine him as an elder statesman of the blues??
(Another: :disbelief:)

Here's (http://web.me.com/olgabowl/RadioFreeOlga/Bold_as_Love.html) one of my favorite recordings of Jimi...
Enjoy and remember...

[journeybear]

Found it. Wish it were larger. And that this weren't the reason to remember him this day.

After searching in vain for this, I thought to check my friends face book page - sure enough. I left him this message: There 'tis! Great image, great story - one of my all-time favorite memories. Today is the 40th anniversary of his passing, or transcendance, if you prefer. I would prefer neither, but such was not to be. Thank you.

Oh no, spruce - I was way too much in awe. I am really very shy, and I can hardly believe I had the nerve to do even this much. That's a great version of Axis: Bold As Love. But are you sure it's him? no whammy bar, wah wah, or feedback ... ;) I kid, I kid. That, and what jaco said about him showing up at jams, reminds me oh how much he just loved to play. :mandosmiley: Somewhere in my collection I have a 30 minute cassette from one of these late night jams - pretty loose, all over the map, but genius.

[Ed. note: Sometimes one gets what one wishes for - found larger version of photo]

[Miked]

Nice memory to have of the experience!!! Thanks for sharing!

My sentiments also! Journeybear, your prose lets us experience it too; cool picture!

[Santiago]

My friend was walking down the street in Manhattan one day and noticed a Corvette parked with its hood up. As he got closer he realized the frustrated man bent over the engine was Jimi. Unfortunately my friend was no better at mechanics.

[AlanN]

Guess he got stuck in some Crosstown Traffic :))

[journeybear]

I'd have gone over and at least taken a look, maybe made a suggestion, or something. "Hmmm, I dunno. Could be the axis." :whistling:

[Loretta Callahan]

Saw him with The Band of Gypsies in San Francisco in late 1969, after the Experience went South. To this day, I think he and Buddy Miles put on the most amazing show .... ever, and I was a spoiled concert brat from the SF Bay Area. Jimi Hendrix's playing went beyond musical performing into a realm I've only witnessed in some of the ceremonies on the rez. I'm grateful for the music and spirit he shared with us.

[frankenstein]

Wasn't his grandmother Cherokee ?

[Dan Hoover]

great stories..thank's for sharing..i always feel weird observing the day someone i admire,died? but that said,my wife and i spent saturday evening outside,toasting marshmellows listening to Jimi....Axis...Live at the BBC,valleys of neptune..the guy was/still something else..i still don't think there's anybody in rock/blues today who can touch him..

[AlanN]

A fave Hendrix thing was the little tune after Purple Haze in the movie Woodstock. Just a great improv groove.

[Simen Kjaersdalen]

Strange to find material about Jimi at this cafe - but why not? JH was THE great inspiration for me in the years before I went classical. I had all the records, all the movies, all the books...

When I was young I - of course - listened most to his music, but what a great poet he was too! I have studied classical litterature for 7 years, at the university in Oslo, but still, after reading many of the greatest poets in the world through the ages, I'm impressed by what he could do with simple, gentle words. In his heart he was even more of a poet than a rockstar. Of course you know these lines, from the death-bed:

The story of life
is quicker than the wink of an eye
The story of love
is hello-goodbye, untill we meet again

(From my memory, hope it's right)

Or this knockout:

Will I live tomorrow?
Well, I just can't say
But I know for sure
I don't live today

That's folk poetry on a high level, indeed!

If he had lived on, I think he would have developed as a poet as well as a musician. He had what the spanish master of poetry Lorca called "duende." A kind of "Burning soul". Sadly, we will never know those words.

Somtimes I wonder if the inspiration of Jimi has come into my own music, my own compositions. Maybe. It's not fuzz and wha-wha, of course, but the poetic universes are maybe connected, somehow. The longing. That's the word.

Thank you for sharing stories. And yes - he was 1/4 indian - cherokee, and was very proud of it. His clothes vere much inspiered by indian traditions.

[Tom Wright]

My two favorite lyrics.

This from the song "Axis":

"My red is so confident he flashes trophies of war
And ribbons of euphoria.
Orange is young, full of daring but very unsteady for the first go 'round.
My yellow in this case is no so mellow.
In fact I'm trying to say it's frightened like me.
And all of these emotions of mine keep holding me
From giving my life to a rainbow like you."

And from "You Got Me Floating":

"When the day melts down to a sleepy red glow
That's when my desire starts to show."

[JEStanek]

I'm too young to have seen Jimi live. I listened a lot in College and after. I particularly like the Album Jimi plays the Blues. I'm so happy to have Jim Richter's YouTube videos to watch from time to time... Here are my two favorites (which will likely change...)
This is mando Hendrix Madness at its best.




Jamie

[chasray]

My wife and I were born 4 weeks apart in 1970 - during those 4 weeks Jimi and Janis Joplin died.

That couldn't have been a fun month.

It was a sad few weeks. Also lost was Alan Wilson (the blind owl of Canned Heat) 9/3/70.

[Simen Kjaersdalen]

Great playing by Jim Richter! The wind cries Mary was very good, Angel magical. And THAT mandolin! Both songs are among Hendrix' most lyrical. :mandosmiley:

[TonyEarth]

I am waaay too young to have heard jimi hendrix live, or almost any of the artists i like, but i think he was pretty great. i don't listen to his music very often, but every once in a while ill play it from my itunes :) and yeah jim richter does great covers and plays very well.

[Loretta Callahan]

Hendrix Angel by Jim Richter .. .beautamous!

[Aran]

Great stories... Thanks a million for sharing... My mother and father were at the Isle of Wight festival and saw Jimi there.

I have been a life long fan and totally love reading these stories...

Jimi's untimely passing has to be one of the biggest "what could of been" stories out there. (Always wondered what Jimi & Miles Davis would have done)

[Tom Sanderson]

I was 16 in 1970. My Brother and I had tickets to see Jimi at Cobo Hall in Detroit. I gave my ticket to my brother so he could take a girl he liked. They ended up geting married,and years later she ran off with another man and left my brother with 4 small kids to raise.

[journeybear]

Yikes! I just hope you don't hold it against Jimi - not his fault. Giving tickets away is one of those things that seems to come back to haunt the generous. In retrospect, though you have nieces and nephews, maybe you should have gone ...

Decisions, decisions ... As Yogi Berra said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

[Santiago]

That was one of the few accurate things Yogi ever said. He lived in the middle of the fork, so you could go either way and still get to his house.

[Ed Goist]

The Lovell Sisters doing Bleeding Heart:
I'm speechless...Rebecca Lovell is Off the Hook! With her stage presence, and how she integrates elements of funk and rock into her playing, she's rapidly becoming one of my favorite mandolin players.
(Great solo here - check out how she hammers the G course back by the bridge at around 3:06 without losing a hint of control - Epic!)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdyPLfVni-M

[LKN2MYIS]

I was fortunate to see Hendrix play 3 times.

First time - small coffee house in Greeenwich Village - I believe it was the Cafe Wha. I think he was still calling himself Jimmy James at that time.

Second time - Westchester County Center, with Soft Machine opening up.

Final time - Woodstock.

A great guitarist.

[journeybear]

That first time must have been mind-blowing. I can hardly imagine walking into some small club and hearing something like that. A sound so extraordinary and enormous a small club could not contain it. I've thought sometimes about what it must have been like to hear bands like U2 and Big Country whose sounds are so majestic and far removed from Chuck Berry or blues covers or other standard fare that the incongruity in that setting would be unfathomable. Also, imagine them at an audition - how could they ever get hired? I know U2 played at Toad's Place in New Haven on their first American tour, but only because they mentioned it over the mike the second time they came around, headlining at the Coliseum. Where a band with a sound that big belonged. :mandosmiley:

Anyway, that applies to Jimi too. What he was doing was so unlike anything anyone else was, he must have actually had to tone it down in order to get gigs.

[LKN2MYIS]

Well, the first time I hadn't heard of him. He obviously didn't have the following he would have. But I remember leaving the club and thinking he was so loud that my hair actually hurt!

And I'll add this - a buddy went with me. We talked about the show for a long time, then all of a sudden the guy we saw had become Jimi Hendrix!

A very surreal quality to it.

[journeybear]

Yes, I'm sure it was something you would not, could not forget.

[LKN2MYIS]

I was fortunate.

[LKN2MYIS]

Actually I had an interesting discussion with a friend recently. I asked him which group/act he wishes that he could have seen in their prime. Hendrix was the first one he said.

It was a lot of fun.

[jim simpson]

Thanks to all for the stories and rememberances. I remember spelling my name as "Jimi" in high school instead of "Jim" as Jimi was my absolute favorite. The closest I got to seeing Jimi Hendrix live was seeing the film "Woodstock" plus I had a girlfriend who had gone to Woodstock prior to our short relationship.
Jimi Lives!

[Darren Bailey]

The cloest I came to Jimi was playing one of his guitars about 15 years ago. It was owned by the lead guitarist from the rock band Saxon. I was round at his house when he invited me to play it. it was thrill, but the strongest memory I have of that day is that I'd just discovered some of the Spinal Tap people had admitted basing some of their characterisation on saxon and I was desperate to tell him - but I managed to stop myself!

[tree]

In the summer of 2002 I was in Seattle for a few days and found myself at the Experience Music Project. They had Jimi's Edwardian jacket, frilly shirt and velvet breeches on display - not on a mannequin, but somehow suspended in place as if he were wearing them, with his white Strat slung over the shoulder. I was struck by the diminutive stature that display suggested. I remember being very surprised - I guess a lot of the footage of him that I've seen must've been shot from below, making him appear taller.

[Perry]

Always wondered what Jimi & Miles Davis would have done)


Watch this (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miles-Davis-Electric-Different-Kind/dp/B00009QNXN). Miles heavily influenced by Jimi.

Warning: Not for the fainthearted!

[TimmyBoomboom]

A fave Hendrix thing was the little tune after Purple Haze in the movie Woodstock. Just a great improv groove. Yes! It's gotta be my favorite part of the whole movie. It has an amazing peacefulness about. I'm not a hippy dippy kind of person, but that section sends me to another place in my mind.

[Steve Ostrander]

I think that some souls are not meant for this world. Jimi and Stevie Ray come to mind. Can you imagine Jimi and SRV jamming together? Hooo-eee...

[Steve Ostrander]

OK, not to hijack here, but since Journeybear brought it up: I saw U2 in a small club in East Lansing (Dooley's) late 1978 or early 79. I believe that was their first US tour. They were very young and obviously very talented and energetic. Since it was a small venue I was probably 3 feet away from Bono at the time. I knew right away that they were going to be big. I didn't think to shake hands or speak to them. I was very shy then.

[journeybear]

Thought I would bump up this thread rather than start a new one, as it occurred to me this section is where this post belongs. My band's regular Monday night gig this past week was on the Fourth Of July, so to make this occasion special I worked on my rendition of Hendrix' version of "The Star Spangled Banner." Seemed fitting. I did it when we started up again after the fireworks, and screwed up the beginning pretty badly. So I was glad the guitarist thought I should do it again as an encore, to end the night. Came out a lot better, even with a few errors. Fortunately, some of these were errors of omission, so only I know what went wrong. ;)





I was told later some people stood with their hands over their hearts, even though this was at an open air bar at midnight. I wasn't crazy that the guitarist stuck the flag in my Mandolin Café ball cap, but he said he thought it would look cool in the shot. What I said was "Wrong flag!" - we had a display at the front of the stage of both Old Glory and the Conch Republic flag. Well, one really doesn't have all that much control over how things go, when there are so many variables. I'm pretty happy with this, though, and it is so far the most popular of my contributions to youtube. :mandosmiley:

[Tommando]

This is great! I played it too at two Memorial Day music gatherings. Did it on acoustic mandolin. Thought I got a standing O both times, but realized later that everyone stood for the national anthem. I explained in advance that everyone would have to imagine the feedback. This confused the old folks until someone explained that I was doing the Jimi Hendrx version.

[Miked]

That was pretty cool! Thanks for sharing!

[journeybear]

Thanks, guys! I hear the mistakes - like losing my way a bit on the second round of the A part, or quoting "Santa Lucia" instead of "Over The Rainbow" (my mind really went blank at that moment, and went to a kind of default setting, one of my personal favorites rather than a popular favorite) - and dwell on them, but I think overall it went OK. It was a bit scary, going out on a limb, attempting to cover one of the holy grails of rock music, but challenges are meant to be tackled, not avoided. Right? :)

But enough about me! You know, I've been thinking - With all the recent interest in ukulele, I wonder how many people know that Jimi's first instrument was a baritone ukulele? Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, too, so I've read. Can you imagine what would have happened if he had stuck with that instead of guitar? Would people be playing solid body ukes with three pickups and whammy bars? :confused: I bet the folks over at the Ukulele Tiki Hut (whatever it's called) have had plenty to say about this.

[Ed Goist]

Cafe regular Marc Woodward & Rob Brown doing Voodoo Child.
Golden.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6iNLhIqyJQ