Jimi Hendrix And Why He Is Imp

Essay, Research Paper

Jimi Hendrix and Why He Is Important

Jimi Hendrix became popular for the person that he was rather than the songs that he wrote. Purple Haze was known as his signature song primarily because it was his first really big hit that was his own music. He crossed many boundaries and influenced many musicians to come. Hendrix excelled in unique guitar sounds, and Purple Haze is a fine showing of Hendrix s combination of sounds and innovative lyrics. He changed rock and roll by making his music show what the musician was thinking instead of just giving the listener what they wanted to hear. He gave musicians motivation for musical expression he didn’t just show talent when he played he showed feeling and emotion. These are just a few of the reasons why Hendrix s music was included in the NPR s top 100.

Hendrix was born November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington. The father of this young rock star bought him his first guitar at age eleven. It wasn’t anything spectacular; it was actually an old right-handed acoustic. Even though Hendrix was left-handed it still didn’t stop him. He strung the guitar up backwards, so he could play lefty, and started to teach himself how to play. Learning to play by yourself isn’t exactly easy, but Hendrix had a lot of patience and determination to keep up with his playing. At the time Hendrix listened to blues musicians like Robert Johnson and B. B. King. This influenced Hendrix s blues riffs in his music later in life. As a teenager Hendrix played in a few different rock bands in Seattle. The young musician discovered what he loved to do at an early age. Fans question why Jimi Hendrix looked elsewhere before realizing that rock and roll would be his life.

Hendrix left school at age sixteen with his fathers’ permission. He decided that he would join the army as a paratrooper. While in the army Jimi met a fellow musician who kept his interest in music during the time he was away. They both taught each other different things. He listened intently still to the great musicians of the time like Muddy Waters and Lightning Hopkins. He actually began to take after some musicians of his day by impersonating them and the rituals involved with their practicing. Jimi only spent a short time in the army. While he was on his 26th jump he got hurt. The army had no choice, but to discharge him.

Once Hendrix was out of the army that s when he started to focus more on his music career. He first played as backup guitarists in a few different bands. One of these bands was the Isley Brothers. Hendrix wasn’t one to boast about himself. He was actually quite shy, but he began to realize that he wasn’t supposed to be a back up guitarist. He then made another change; he started playing in New York at a few different clubs in the area. Hendrix began to develop his style. Heads started to turn in the clubs that he played. He caught the eyes of some big musicians of the time. A man by the name of Chas Chandler talked Hendrix into going to London to play over there and start a new band.

While in London Hendrix was thrown together with Noel Redding who was a bassist and Mitch Mitchell as drummer for this trio soon to be known worldwide. The collaboration of these three musicians was indeed out of the ordinary. Redding was a guitarist, but decided to play bass for this project. Redding said that he needed some money and he hoped that this job would pay off. Mitchell was a jazz drummer, but oddly enough got selected for the job. Jazz is usually played at a different tempo than rock music, however Mitchell contributed to the unique sounds of the three musicians with his style of drumming. Jimi truly unleashed his musical talent with these two musicians instead of just using the standard blues format for their songs. Hendrix thought up something else. He would create a new sound that nobody ever heard before.

On top of this new sound Hendrix had a ridiculous sense of stage presence. The engineer in the recording of Purple Haze was a man by the name of Eddie Kramer. Kramer said that Hendrix was unbelievably shy and hated the sound of his own voice. In order to record him they had to set up screens all around him and turn the lights down so nobody could see him. If what Kramer said is true; it s hard to understand how Hendrix could be so out of control on stage. It has been known that he was a fan of drugs. Excuse me while I kiss the sky is one of Hendrix s lines in Purple Haze.

This line as well as some others in the song can be understood by some people to be a reference to drugs. Some people say that he used them before, during, and after his performances. This could indeed be the reason for his stage antics. Jimi as well as the other two members would wear outrageous clothes and puff out their hair. Hendrix was also known to make sexual gestures with his guitar and sometimes even set his guitar on fire after his set was done. Hendrix s first show with The Experience in the U.S. Hendrix torched his guitar at the Monterey Pop Festival. This began the stardom of Jimi Hendrix in the United States.

Prior to his rise to fame, well-known musicians had already predicted Jimi as being the next rock legend. While Jimi was in London, Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend saw him at a local club. The two were so impressed that they went to every show that Hendrix had in London from that time on. After a while Jim