Quite a few myths are circulating among music lovers in general and rock ‘n’ roll in particular around the legendary musician, singer, and guitarist Jimmy Hendrix, who passed away a little over 51 years ago, on September 18, 1970. Hendrix knew how to create with his guitar magic that no guitarist before him (and some would say after him) managed to create. He embodied the lifestyle of sex, drugs, and rock and roll and represented the generation of flower children.
Beyond being a guitar virtuoso who dominated a variety of musical styles, Hendrix was able to read the musical map and provide the audience with what he wanted without losing his artistic “I believe”: he knew how to produce mainstream rock songs like Purple Haze, Little Wing, Foxy Lady, Fire and – The Wind Cries Mary, alongside successful covers such as the American folk song Hey Joe (the hit that first released it) and Bob Dylan’s All Along The Watchtower. He also did not give up on complex and lengthy works that were difficult to digest in those years, such as Voodoo Child or Hear My Train A Comin, in which his fingerprint stood out that contributed to his unique sound design.
There were quite a few people who got to see the legend live, but a few artists got to meet him and perform with him on the same stage. Hendrix used to play at high decibels before performances. One of his most memorable performances was in 1969 in Woodstock. Those who got to see him perform at Woodstock claim that “he played like God.” “He just burned the stage with the guitar.” “It was huge.”
His sensational performances led him to participate in popular rock festivals such as the Monterey Festival (1967) in California, the Isle of Wight Festival (1970) in England, and the aforementioned Woodstock Festival (1969). I was not Hendrix’s groovy. I loved his music, but no more than that, but he was the sharpest pencil in the pencil case among the countless bands and artists I heard. Hendrix was ranked in Rolling Stone magazine at number one on the list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time and has influenced entire generations of musicians.
At that time, when he gained recognition and fame, and even at the height of his fame, no one played like him. There were, of course, blues artists he was influenced by, but he took playing to a whole other level because he wrote terrific things, and the sounds he took out of the guitar, like the effects of motorcycle noise or machine guns, were ingenious at that time. Not many people know that the legendary Hendrix was accused of racism, abandoned his children, and believed in aliens.
His parents divorced when he was nine years old. Seven years later, his mother died of cirrhosis of the liver. Hendrix grew up with his father under a rigorous education. His brothers claimed that their father did not like that his talented son wanted to play music and sing all the time, and they ordered him to be silent. Despite all this, his father bought him the first guitar and thus helped bring into the world one of the most excellent musicians.
Hendrix was very apprehensive of racism. When he and his band performed in Louisiana, a state where the separation policy still existed, he was afraid to enter a restaurant on the way. After much persuasion, he came in and snatched a lot of looks that resulted from being the only African-American in the place.
According to a description given by Charles Cross, the author of the biography “A Room Full of Mirrors,” a local white policeman was attached to Hendrix as a bodyguard, and he was the one who almost pulled out a gun in front of Hendrix when he saw him behind the scenes with a white girl. On that tour in the South, Hendrix met Jerry Lee Lewis, and he refused to shake his hand because he did not recognize him and was racist (and also a lover of minors).
On the other hand, when he appeared in Harlem, bottles, and eggs were thrown at him. African-Americans saw him as a pet black man who played music suitable for whites. He was frustrated that blacks and whites did not understand him and rejected him without listening to his music.
When his band was in Sweden, he was arrested after a guest at the hotel where he was staying complained about the noise. Hotel staff broke into his room and discovered the singer lying on the bed, blood around him and a mess everywhere. Hendrix broke the window in his hand from a nervous breakdown fueled by drugs and alcohol. The local police were not impressed with being a famous singer and arrested him for two weeks.
In contrast, stories of violence against his girlfriend are less cool. In the movie “All is by my side,” written and directed by the same screenwriter who wrote “12 Years of Slavery,” Andre 3000 from Outcast plays Hendrix, a scene describing how Hendrix beat his girlfriend, Kathy Etchingham.
The difficult moments were probably taken from Curtis Knight’s “Jimmy, an Intimate Biography” and Charles Cross’ book. However, Kathy herself claimed that the scenes were fabricated, that Knight had never interviewed her, and that Cross had apologized for the scene he had written.
She claims, “Hendrix was a gentle and wonderful person,” and it only remains to be hoped that she is telling the truth and not just maintaining the image of a person she loved.
Tamika Loris James Hendrix was born in 1967 and is the daughter of Diana Carpenter, who lived with Hendrix in New York and later in California. Following the pregnancy, Diana could not join Hendrix on tour, returned to her home in Minneapolis, and gave birth to Tamika. She tried to locate him in New York to tell him, but he was in London.
In 1970, Diana’s lawyers contacted Hendrix and demanded that he perform a paternity test. Hendrix did not deny the girl, but at the same time, did not confirm that he was her father. Due to a crowded his schedule, he did not have time to do a blood test and died before it was carried out. In 1971, Diana tried to arrange a share of the Hendrix inheritance for her daughter, which then reached $ 400,000 (and today for much more), but the court denied her request.
Tamika is not the only one who tried to share the inheritance. In 1994 James Sandquist also tried this, claiming to be the son of Hendrix from a brief affair in Sweden with a girl named Eva.
In her book “Jimmy Hendrix’s Inner World,” Monica Dunerman recounts a conversation she had with Hendrix in which he told about the future as he sees it.
In this future, galactic from a favorable planet will reach Earth and help humans in their war against evil. The arrival of the Galactics will restore love, brotherhood, and peace to Earth, just as it was on the continent of Atlantis. Oh, yes, he also believed in Atlantis.
Hendrix even wrote songs about encounters with aliens, with the famous “Third rock from the sun” sounding like alien speech when increased to 78 BPM.
On one occasion, Hendrix was caught boarding a plane with a jar containing four sachets filled with white powder (heroin) in his side bag. When he asked by the customs official what it was, he said the night before he had been at the hotel, felt a little wrong, and some fan pushed him that jar and said maybe it would help him. He even thought it was a powder for stomach aches. To his claims fans have always pushed things for him, and he just put them in the bag.
In addition, there is another rumor circulating that Hendrix and several other singers met aliens on tour in the mid-1960s. They were on their way when suddenly a spaceship landed next to them, and out came a tall, yellowish alien with slits instead of eyes. We would attribute these beliefs of Hendrix to the use of illicit substances, but he argued otherwise.
Hendrix claimed at trial that he smoked weed only four times, cannabis three times, did acid five times, and cocaine twice, but that he grew up and was addicted to drugs. The jury believed him because he came out eligible.
Nine months later, Hendrix drank a lot of alcohol and took a lot of painkillers, fell asleep, vomited in his mouth, and suffocated from the vomit. So maybe if he were in jail for that apparent drug possession, we would have a few more years with the kicking rocker.
