45th Anniversary of Hendrix's Death

Jimi in 1967, shot by Gered Markowitz

45 years ago today, news swept across London, and the world, that the legend Jimi Hendrix had died in the Samarkhand Hotel in Notting Hill. The circumstances, like so many deaths of this kind, have been widely disputed, but it seems most likely that it was the 9 sleeping pills consumed (18 times the recommended dose) that ended the life and career of (let’s just say it) the greatest guitarist ever to have lived. As well as covering his classic The Wind Cries Mary, I wanted to share some facts that you may not have known about the great man…

Born in Seattle in 1942, he was named John Allen Hendrix, but after his father’s return from fighting in World War II, he renamed him James Marshall. It wasn’t until he arrived in London in 1966 that Animals bassist Chas Candler suggested he swap to Jimi.

As a school boy, before getting his hands on an actual guitar, Hendrix practiced on a broom and also tried his hand at a one-stringed ukelele!

His first band was called the Velvetones, but after three months of them playing only on acoustic guitar, Hendrix realised electric was the way forward.

Hendrix was caught twice riding in stolen cars at the age of 19, and was given the choice of going to prison or joining the army. He spent two years as a paratrooper, but went straight back into his music when he was discharged in 1963.

As mentioned in previous blog posts, he started his musical career as a session musician, playing back up for the likes of Ike and Tina Turner, Sam Cooke and Little Richard.

Hendrix became famous for all the tricks he could perform with his guitar: playing with his teeth, behind his head, and, as all left-handed guitarists like myself will appreciate, playing a right-handed guitar upside-down.

New York City became Hendrix’s home in 1966 and soon was given a residence at Café Wha?, a famous bar in Greenwich which is still one of the city’s best music venues. He was brought to London in September 1966 by Chas Chandler and soon formed the band he’s most famous for, The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

After this, Hendrix went from strength to strength; The Experience had a string of hits, sell-out tours, as well as a number of controversial performances, including Monterey Pop Festival where he not only destroyed his guitar, but set fire to it. By the time he was headlining Woodstock in 1969, The Experience had ended and Hendrix was the world’s highest-paid rock musician.

The Wind Cries Mary was written by Hendrix in 1967 and inspired by his then girlfriend, Kathy Mary Etchingham. As she told Q magazine in 2013, "We'd had a row over food. Jimi didn't like lumpy mashed potato. There were thrown plates and I ran off. When I came back the next day, he'd written that song about me. It's incredibly flattering." 

Despite being about Hendrix having a tantrum at the dinner table, I thought the song was a very poignant choice for today’s anniversary. The man achieved so very much in his 27 years, and I doubt there's a rock musician out there today who hasn't been influenced by him. “Will the wind ever remember the names it has blown in the past”? In Hendrix’s case, how could we possibly forget?