This past Monday was the 47th anniversary of the death of Jimi Hendrix.
Music is the toughest subject because my musical palette is too wide to pare down to one post so I decided to focus on him to commemorate this great loss. My older cousin Ricky inadvertently exposed me to Jimi at a time and in a neighborhood that rock music was rarely heard. He had a big poster from the Smash Hits album over his couch. That image of The Jimi Hendrix Experience on horseback combined with Jimi's mesmerizing rifts completely got my attention, I think I was About 9 years old at the time. By then, he'd already died from an overdose which even then I knew there would be no more new music from this incredible artist. I don't pretend to know a lot about his life and legacy but I know he was self taught, he played with the Isley Brothers and Little Richard but left to play his own style of music. I've seen the video where he sets his guitar on fire numerous times, I know he inspired the development of many guitars, amplifiers and he's a guest artist in my Guitar Hero game which is so much fun to play with him.
These might be some of his more "main stream" songs but dammit I love them. The videos might make them more enjoyable. I like Andre 3000 and tried to watch the Netflix movie of his life but honestly couldn't do it.
Hey Joe
The
writing credit of this murder folk song was between Tim Rose and Billy
Roberts, but Billy holds the copyright. Neither perfected it the way
Jimi Did. This was also the first song I heard him play.
The Wind Cries Mary
Popular opinion is the song was written about a girlfriend at the time after a big argument but in a later interview he admitted it was about several people.Purple Haze
This is one of the best known Hendrix songs, and many people's introduction to Jimi Hendrix. It is said to be inspired by "Night of Light" by Philip Jose Farmer which he read shortly before writing this song.
These are all interesting points of Jimi & his life & legacy. Many imitators followed.
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