Jimi Hendrix- The Guitar Legend Revisited

by Zack R.

Who’d have thought that a self-taught musician who, as a boy, desired a guitar so desperately he completely built one out of a broom before acquiring a pathetic one-stringed ukulele, would eventually be acclaimed by many as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists in rock and blues music history?

Jimi Hendrix was born in 1942 and served in the US military army as a paratrooper in his early days.Having taught himself the guitar, he played the US’ ‘Chitlin Circuit’ of clubs before heading over to New York, garnering a spot as the new guitarist for The Isley Brothers’ band before joining Little Richard’s back-up band and others.

On moving to London in 1966, he formed a trio - The Jimi Hendrix Experience - which gained rapid popularity in Europe. Jimi became known for entertaining showmanship, which sometimes included setting his guitar on fire! With a landmark appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and huge success of album ‘Are You Experienced?’ Jimi became a world-wide star.

James Marshall Hendrix was the headline artist at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, where he played his controversial military fuzz-guitar version of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’. James Marshall Hendrix died at the tender age of 27 in 1970, having recorded only three fully-conceived studio albums and more than three hundred unreleased recordings.

With his unique style of playing guitars upside down (’left-handed’) and restrung to suit him, Hendrix is credited with taking the electric guitar to a higher level. Hendrix aimed to mix what he called ‘earth’, a blues, jazz, or funk driven rhythm accompaniment, with ’space’, the high-pitched psychedelic sounds he improvised on his guitar.

Hendrix played a key role in making the Fender Stratocaster the biggest-selling electric guitar in history and making popular the use of guitar distortion using effects pedals, including the wah-wah pedal, and units. He pioneered in the recording studio, experimenting with stereophonic and phasing effects.

With his albums amongst the most influential of the 1960s, James Marshall Hendrix altered rock and roll as the world knew it.

About the Author:

Zack R is the founder of 50 Blues Studios. If you are a blues musician, listen to samples of free blues guitar backing tracks at 50 Blues. If you are a harp player, get access to 50 blues harp backing tracks at 50 Blues website.