Jimi Hendrix

Jimi was born in Seattle, Washington, on November 27, 1942. He spent many of his early years with his grandmother, a full-blooded Cherokee Indian, in Canada. When he was 12, he got his first electric guitar. At the age of 16, Jimi was thrown out of school before joining the army at 17 - an alternative provided to him by a judge after he was arrested for being a passenger in a stolen car. After 14 months as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne he suffered an injury and was discharged. The next four years were spent touring, playing back-up guitar for various R&B bands including Little Richard, Ike and Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, the Isley Brothers and King Curtis among others. In late 1965 he formed his first band - Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. He was signed by Chas Chandler, the bassist in The Animals who was looking to become a manager and record producer. It was Chandler who came up with the spelling change of "Jimmy" to "Jimi", and Chandler who brought Hendrix to London where The Jimi Hendrix Experience was formed, with Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums. They toured Europe, breaking attendance records at one club after another. Hendix' American success came as a result of his booking at the 1967 Monterey Pop and Jazz Festival, based on the recommendation of Paul McCartney. Early on September 18, 1970, Jimi Hendrix died in London. He had spent the latter part of the previous evening at a party. According to the estimated time of death, from autopsy data and statements by friends about the evening of September 17, he died within a few hours after midnight, though no precise estimate was made at the original inquest. Many theories about the cause of death, including accusations of murder, have been published; but the officlal cause of death was asphyxiation - choking on his own vomit after taking many Verparax sleeping pills. Hendrix's body was returned to Seattle and he is interred in Greenwood Memorial Park, Renton, Washington.