November 27, 1942
One of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, the legendary Jimi Hendrix was born in Seattle, Washington.
The impact James Marshall Hendrix had during his brief four-year career is immeasurable, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has labelled him as “arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music.”
Hendrix was inducted into the ‘Rock Hall’ in 1992, the same year he was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award.
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Specializing in psychedelic-blues-rock, he was discovered in 1966 by Bryan “Chas” Chandler after the former bass player for the British Invasion group The Animals had left the band to begin a career in artist management.
While scouting for talent, Chandler happened to catch Hendrix’ act at New York City’s Cafe Wha? and invited him to come to London, where The Jimi Hendrix Experience was formed with Hendrix, bass player Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell.
Prior to his spectacular solo career, Jimi was first a studio musician, then a member of the American group Joey Dee & The Starliters and later formed his own band called Jimmy James & The Blue Flames.
Hendrix died of asphyxiation on September 18, 1970 (age 27).
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ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
[1968]
Primarily a non-singles recording artist, Hendrix did place several songs on the Billboard Hot 100, including the classics Purple Haze (1967 • #65), Foxey Lady (1967 • #67) and his most successful Top 40 hit, 1968’s uber-psychedelic-rock version of Bob Dylan‘s folk original, All Along The Watchtower (#20).
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WILD THING / FIRE
Jimi Hendrix
(1967]
In March of 1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience was part a British tour which included the Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and Engelbert Humperdinck (OMG!)
To gain attention from fans and the press for a new song Jimi was debuting called Fire, manager Chandler concocted a new gimmick to wrap up the Experience’s opening set of the tour’s first show on March 31 at London’s Finsbury Park Astoria.
This is what happened …
At an auction in 2008, after spending decades in storage, the charred Fender Stratocaster that Hendrix torched that night sold for more than $450,000 at auction.
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In his much-too-short career, Jimi Hendrix recorded only three original studio albums:
Released on May 12, 1967, their debut LP Are You Experienced went to #5 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
Recorded to fulfill the group’s recording contract which stated they must produce two albums in 1967, Axis: Bold as Love was issued on December 1st of ’67 and peaked at #3 in America.
The final studio album, a double disc titled Electric Ladyland, was the only one produced solely by Hendrix.
Released on October 16, 1968, it hit the top of the Billboard 200 (2 weeks) and is ranked on Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” at #54.
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Song Source: The Music Vault of HouseoftheHits, Inc.
Billboard® Chart Data: Joel Whitburn’s Record Research (eBook Editions)
Record Sleeve & Label Graphics: Courtesy of 45cat
