The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Life of a Guitar Player
Taylor Haywood
September 14, 2015
Period 4
Miss Records
There have been many bigshot artists that have gone down in music history over the years. One man in particular, however, will forever be known all over the world for his famous works and amazing stage performances. This man is none other than the one and only Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix altered the style of rock and roll during the late 60’s early 70’s and is widely considered one of the most influential guitar players amongst the music world to this day.
Born November 27, 1942 as Johnny Allen Hendrix (Who later changed it to Jimi Hendrix) in the town of Seattle, Washington. There, he lived with his mother
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Lucille and father Al (NY Times). His four other siblings Lennon, Joseph, Kathy and Pamela were all raised in the same household together (Family Tree). As a young child, he enjoyed the sound and influences that the art of music had to offer him. At only fourteen years old, Hendrix went and saw Elvis Presley live in 1957 (Rockhall). It seemed as though a spark filled him that day, that was the day he decided to incorporate music into his life. Somehow he managed to bring music into his daily chores, such as sweeping the floor while imagining that the broom was a guitar. Al, Hendrix’s father, saw how music affected him and eventually bought him his first guitar, a Supro Ozark, from the town’s music store in 1959 (Ground Guitar). During this point in his life, Hendrix knew he was meant to do great things in the music world.
There was only one problem, he struggled to read music (PBS). Even though he had a difficult time reading and writing music, Hendrix joined his first band The Velvetones for about three months (PBS). In the summer of 1959, Hendrix finally sought out his calling and joined a new band that was called The Rocking Kings. Hendrix would never have gotten very far without his inspirations, which included the famous Buddy Holly, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and many others. In the year 1961 Hendrix joined the United States Army, but was discharged in 1962 due to an injury in …show more content…
battle. During late 1962, Hendrix made an appearance and played for many different music stars including Little Richard and The Isley Brothers.
Not only that, he played for great stars like Ike and Tina Turner as well as Sam Cooke. The year 1965 was when things really started to take flight for Hendrix’s music career. He played for more bands and artists such as Joey Dee. Hendrix played for the Starlighters at the time as well. During the next three years, Hendrix played for many major music artists and decided to make his own band he named Jimmy James And The Blue Flames. One day, while performing, former bassist of the band The Animals, Chas Chandler watched him and offered to be his manager in mid 1966 (Rockhall).
With Chas as his partner in crime, or manager, Hendrix became known world wide. He began his very first tour with his band Jimmy James And The Blue Flames. Chas and Hendrix worked very hard that year and finally released their first Album in the late 1966 early 1967 titled Are You Experienced? This album included the famous tracks Hey Jude and Purple Haze. During mid 1967, Hendrix did something that took the world by surprise. While performing at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967 he set his favorite guitar on fire. When later asked about why he did so, Hendrix simply
replied: “The time I set my guitar on fire it was like a sacrifice. You have to sacrifice the things you love. I loved my guitar.” Expanding his music career even further, Hendrix released his second album titled Axis: Bold As Love in 1967. He continued to release singles throughout 1967 including the songs Little Wing, Castles Made Of Sand, Red House, and If 6 was 9. In the following year, Jimmy James And The Blue Flames released yet another album titled Electric Ladyland and became Hendrix’s very first number one album in the United States. The U.S. went crazy over this particular album. Some of the most popular pieces of music from said album included Voodoo Child, Crosstown Traffic and a remake of Bob Dylan’s song All Along The Watchtower in 1968. During the summer of 1969, at the height of their career, Jimmy James And The Blue Flames play at their final tour date located at the Denver Pop Festival. After the festival, the group eventually breaks up. Only one year later did Jimi join another group, a trio actually called Gypsy Sun And Rainbows also called The Band Of Gypsys. This group consisted of Hendrix on guitar, Billy Cox on the bass and drummer Buddy Miles. Their popular grew very rapidly during one of their performances and was highlighted by the renegade version of “Star Spangled Banner,” which brought the audience to a berserk frenzy. They also played at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East in New York City and Bill Graham called the show: “The most brilliant, emotional display of virtuosic electric guitar playing I have ever heard.”
Jerry Garcia’s life was filled with wonderful things, many of which he never expected in the first place. After an almost fatal heroin overdose in 1986, “ Garcia philosophically stated, ‘ I’m 45 years old, I’m ready for anything, I didn’t even plan on living this long so all this shit is just add-on stuff.’ ” (“Garcia”) This attitude shows why Garcia did all of the things he did and even how some of them came about. Garcia, who “functioned as the preeminent pied piper of the rock era,” led a life of great artistic ability which he used in many ways(“Grateful Dead_ Rockhall”).
He also was known to influences experimental new music and electronic music. Although he spent a good part of his life in the recording studio, he also performed live. In addition to being one of the greatest vocalists in the 1950s, Holly played guitar, a variety of percussion instruments, and electric bass. Although Holly’s music career was short lived, the amount of music he produced is very impressive. As a songwriter, he is famous for developing his own material. It is in his songs and his band, The Crickets, that we truly see Buddy Holly’s unique musical personality. Holly also appeared to be a vocalist and instrumentalist, playing bass and guitar on almost all his songs. “Buddy Holly played rock and roll for only a few short years, but the wea...
They were making music at the same time as other extremely successful musicians like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and Pink Floyd.
His family was poor so he lived with his grandmother. When he was 9 he sang on the street for penny’s, in 1915 Louis shot a gun at midnight and was arrested. After that incident he was sent to a boy’s home, as he was there he learned how to play the cornet. When he was released he learned how to play jazz. When he was 18 he played full time. He was a trumpet player for New Orleans. His rough voice earned him the nickname Satchelmouth and Satchmo. Some of Louis’s famous songs are “What a Wonderful World” and “This little rock of mine.” He was loved by many musicians but critics gave him harsh racial comments he didn’t let that stop him, Armstrong went on tour around Europe numerous times. During this tour his career began to fall because he got into a fight with his manager and was also involved into more conflict with the American Mob. He was married four times, and adopted a disabled boy named Clarence and raised him for the rest of his life and had a daughter named Sharon. By 1932 he began appearing in movies and made way to his first tour. Heart and kidney problems caused Louis to stop performing. In 1969 his manager for the longest passed away, after that he spent most of his time home, but he still had the trumpet in his mouth practicing. By 1971 he died in his sleep at the age of 69, but he had toured the world several times and made over 50 movies. Louis Armstrong was a very successful man. (The Harlem
On November 23, 1936, Johnson recorded his music for the first time. The first song he recorded was "Terraplane Blues." It became a best-selling hit for Vocalon, a Columbia Records specialty label. In June of 1937, Johnson recorded for his fifth and final time.
Many people from the 1900’s contributed to the evolution of the history of rock and roll. However, Jimi Hendrix was the rock legend who changed the way music was made and he raised the bar for the rest of the music industry. Jimi was born in 1942, in Seattle, Washington, he had a difficult childhood, being raised by a young mom who had Jimi at seventeen and a dad who eventually left and started another family, he was often left living with relatives. He only saw his mom a few times before she eventually died in 1958. In many ways, music has become a sanctuary for Jimi since he grew up not having much.
Twenty-six years later it seems like such an incredible waste. Hendrix would be 53. With the exception of Charlie Christian and Robert Johnson, the other black geniuses of American music all had more time.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s first album, Are You Experienced, is undeniably one of the most influential albums of all time. For a debut record, it achieved many milestones and influenced many artists, fans, and consumers alike. Are You Experienced changed music in many ways, including the way it was artistically presented and how the band used technology at that time. The record is extremely creative. Most agree that the record is timeless and will never grow old. Are You Experienced is truly the definition of an evergreen album.
Armstrong recorded his first Hot Five records that same year. This was the first time Armstrong
at age four, and then eventually he was the lead singer and front man of the family band.
Jimmy Page played guitar, Robert Plant was the vocalist, John Paul Jones played bass guitar and the keyboard, and John Bonham beat the drums. The group had the complete set up for a band right off the start. They produced their first record in thirty hours to complete their deal with the old Yardbirds. They toured Scandinavia for awhile also to complete their obligations to the Yardbirds.
It combined a multitude of styles such as western, country, rhythm and blues. They coined the term “rockabilly” by combining “rock” with “hillbilly”, because it described the tone and group of people who were performing in this approach of music at the time. This group included artists such as Johnny Cash, Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis. With their extraordinary rhythm and hard twang in their voice, they were able to produce the most distinctive and pivotal sound the world has ever known. The breakthrough in Rockabilly music can give credit to their sound, which was pioneered by the founder of Sun Records, Sam Phillips.
During that time, he was never sent into combat. Therefore, he spent most of his time working on his music. After his time in the army, he moved to Philadelphia to pursue a full-time music career. Soon after the move, her started performing for Joe Webb Band. From that time until 1948, he performed with a multitude of different jazz bands, until he resigned from Jimmy Heath’s band and started performing as a solo artist. On March 1, 1951, he performed his first solo performance of the song “We Love to Boogie” with Gillespie. However the success that his music brought him, was beclouded by the horrible turn his heroin addiction took on his life. This addiction was truly life altering. Because of this addiction, he was not able to keep a job. Over the course of three years, he jumped from band to band
Rock and Roll has the most incredible history. Before there was rock and roll, there was blues. Most people think rock music started with Elvis Presley, but he didn’t record his first single until 1953. The first recorded song described as “Genuine Rock-and-Roll” was “Rocket ’88” by pianist Ike Turner and singer Jackie Brenston in 1951. Rock-and-Roll music in the 1950’s was described as a mixture of jazz, blues, country, and has a strong guitar, bass, and drums.
Are there aliens on the moon? Neil Armstrong would know, he was the first man to step foot on the moon. Even though Neil encountered no aliens his life was pretty interesting.You might think Neils early life, adult life, and his accomplishments are boring. But that is what got him to be the astronaut he was. Neil was known for being the first man to step on the moon. But he did much more than that!