Hendrix, Jimi, 1942-1970

Variant names

Hide Profile

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music".

Born in Seattle, Washington, Hendrix began playing guitar at the age of 15. In 1961, he enlisted in the US Army, but was discharged the following year. Soon afterward, he moved to Clarksville, Tennessee, and began playing gigs on the Chitlin' Circuit, earning a place in the Isley Brothers' backing band and later with Little Richard, with whom he continued to work through mid-1965. He then played with Curtis Knight and the Squires before moving to England in late 1966 after bassist Chas Chandler of the Animals became his manager. Within months, Hendrix had earned three UK top ten hits with the Jimi Hendrix Experience: "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze", and "The Wind Cries Mary". He achieved fame in the US after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and in 1968 his third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland, reached number one in the US. The double LP was Hendrix's most commercially successful release and his first and only number one album. The world's highest-paid performer, he headlined the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 before his accidental death in London from barbiturate-related asphyxia on September 18, 1970.

Hendrix was inspired by American rock and roll and electric blues. He favored overdriven amplifiers with high volume and gain, and was instrumental in popularizing the previously undesirable sounds caused by guitar amplifier feedback. He was also one of the first guitarists to make extensive use of tone-altering effects units in mainstream rock, such as fuzz distortion, Octavia, wah-wah, and Uni-Vibe. He was the first musician to use stereophonic phasing effects in recordings. Holly George-Warren of Rolling Stone commented: "Hendrix pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. Players before him had experimented with feedback and distortion, but Hendrix turned those effects and others into a controlled, fluid vocabulary every bit as personal as the blues with which he began."

Hendrix was the recipient of several music awards during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1967, readers of Melody Maker voted him the Pop Musician of the Year and in 1968, Billboard named him the Artist of the Year and Rolling Stone declared him the Performer of the Year. Disc and Music Echo honored him with the World Top Musician of 1969 and in 1970, Guitar Player named him the Rock Guitarist of the Year. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Rolling Stone ranked the band's three studio albums, Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love, and Electric Ladyland, among the 100 greatest albums of all time, and they ranked Hendrix as the greatest guitarist and the sixth greatest artist of all time.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Hendrix, Jimi. Love or confusion / by Jimi Hendrix. Library of Congress
referencedIn Southern Folklife Collection Artist Name File, 1940-2005 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection.
referencedIn Mayes, Elaine. Elaine Mayes Photographs, 1967 June 16-18. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives
creatorOf Hendrix, Jimi, 1942-1970. Star spangled banner [Multimédia multisupport] / Jimi Hendrix, chant. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Hendrix, Jimi. Are you experienced / by Jimi Hendrix Library of Congress
referencedIn Nicolas Slonimsky Collection, 1873-1997, (bulk 1920-1990) Library of Congress. Music Division
creatorOf Hendrix, Jimi, 1942-1970. Hey Joe / Johnny Hallyday, chant... [et al.] ; Jimi Hendrix, guit. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
creatorOf Fitzgerald, Kit. Antarctica [videorecording] / John Sanborn and Kit Fitzgerald. Getty Research Institute
referencedIn Ochs, Michael, 1943-. Michael Ochs Collection, 1948-1997, undated. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives
referencedIn Records of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, 1973 -. Video Tape Programs and Worldnet Broadcasts, 1999 - 2009. Vibes 142, 2005. National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Henderson, David, 1942-. David Henderson collection on Jimi Hendrix, 1970-1979. UC Berkeley Libraries
creatorOf Hendrix, Jimi, 1942-1970. Star spangled banner [Multimédia multisupport] / Jimi Hendrix, chant. Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF
referencedIn Gold, Jeff, 1956-. Jeff Gold Collection, 1938-2010, undated. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Official Military Personnel File for James M. Hendrix National Archives at St. Louis
Relation Name
associatedWith Henderson, David, 1942- person
associatedWith Mayes, Elaine. person
associatedWith Ochs, Michael, 1943- person
associatedWith Slonimsky, Nicolas, 1894-1995 person
memberOf United States. Army corporateBody
participantIn Woodstock Festival (1969 : Bethel, N.Y.) corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
London ENG GB
Seattle WA US
Subject
Popular music
Rock music
Rock music
Occupation
Singers
Composers
Guitarists
Songwriters
Activity

Person

Birth 1942-11-27

Death 1970-09-18

Male

Americans

English

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6941jcx

Ark ID: w6941jcx

SNAC ID: 85259433