Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix (November 27, 1942, Seattle, Washington – September 18, 1970, London, England) was an American guitarist, singer and composer. Widely recognized as one of the most daring and inventive virtuosos in rock history, Jimi pioneered the electric guitar, opening up an endless source of possibilities for new sounds. Although he was on the scene as a solo artist for less than five years, Hendrix had an enormous impact on the development of music.

Childhood

Little Johnny Allen Hendrix saw the world for the first time at 10:15 a.m. on November 27, 1942. The world at this time was engulfed in war. For his mother, Lucille Hendricks, maiden name Jeter, the birth of her son was not an overly joyous occasion. She had just turned eighteen, was in poor health, her new husband was at war, and she had neither a home of her own nor money. From birth, Johnny faced problems that marred his entire childhood and greatly affected his later life.

It was three years before Al retired from the reserve and traveled to California to pick up his son, who was in the care of his mother’s friend Lucille. From the letters Al had received from Mrs. Champ, for that was the woman’s name, he knew that Johnny was constantly staying with relatives and friends of Lussile’s, occasionally ending up in third-rate hotels and furnished rooms. Young and frivolous Lussile, who was clearly not ready to become a mother, began to drink a lot and got involved with bad company. Once another friend beat her up so badly that she spent a long time in the hospital. All this constant moving and unsettled affected Johnny’s health. He later recalled, “I had pneumonia, and every time they stuck a needle in me, I started squealing and crying.”

Al recalls that when he first saw his three-year-old son, he was a little upset, “Mrs. Champ didn’t want to give him away. She had really grown attached to him and he had become part of her family. Even though they certainly told him about me, showed him my picture, it was still a pretty strange feeling: you see your child, he’s walking and talking, but he doesn’t know you at all.”

Back in Seattle, Al got back together with Lucille. They found a place to live, and Johnny learned for the first time what a real family was. In November 1946, Al Hendrix changed his son’s name to James Marshall Hendrix. Marshall – in honor of his brother Leon Marshall, who had died in 1932.

One of the famous regulars at New York’s Cafe Wha?” was Linda Kate, a London supermodel and girlfriend of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.

Once she saw Hendrix perform once, she knew he was a potential star.
To top it all off, she knew exactly who could make him a star.

Chas Chandler, bassist of The Animals was in New York at the time on a farewell tour and was looking for talented young musicians.

The enthusiastic Linda brought him to the club just as Jimi was performing his version of Billy Roberts’ “Hey Joe”.

As fate would have it, it was exactly the song Chandler had planned for his debut as a manager.

After Jimi finished his performance, Ches sat him down next to him and said: “I think you’re going to be a sensation in London. I can pay for your passage there and be your manager.” “If I go to London, it’s only if you set me up with Eric Clapton,” Jimi demanded. And so it was agreed.

A few days after his arrival in London, Ches fulfilled his promise and not only introduced Jimi to Clapton, but also organized a jam with the musicians of the newly founded band Cream. Ginger Baker was not enthusiastic about it, but eventually agreed: “I could see that Jimi was an outstanding guitarist, you couldn’t argue with that. But when he started doing all that stuff, falling on his knees, playing with his teeth… it just annoyed me. All the members of Cream were, first of all, musicians and they were not into that kind of nonsense”.

Clapton, on the other hand, recalls being struck by his first encounter with Jimi: “As I recall, he played Howlin’ Wolf’s number ‘Killing Floor’. But the way he did it! Playing the guitar with his teeth, lying on the floor, behind his head, and almost sitting on ‘twine’!” I turned to Ches and asked: “Is everything I’m seeing really happening? It was unbelievable!”.

Another important event that happened during Jimi’s early days in London was his meeting with the charming nineteen-year-old Kathy Etchingham, one of three women who played a significant role in Hendrix’s life. Cathy recalls how they first met at the Scotch of St. James club, “He leaned over to me, kissed me on the ear and said: ‘You’re beautiful’. He was so damn polite, I’ve never met a more courteous person in my life. We started dating, going to different places, and then I moved into his hotel. We were very close.” Jimi and Kathy were together for two years, and it was the longest affair of Jimi’s short life.