Random Wild Stories From Guitar-Shredding Life Of Jimi Hendrix (12 items)

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  (#1) He Taught Himself How To Play Guitar On A Ukulele With One String

  When Hendrix was a child, he found a ukulele with just one string while helping his father clean out an older woman's garage. She told young Jimi he could keep the ukulele. The future Rock God spent hours fiddling with his newfound instrument. According to his brother Leon's book, Jimi Hendrix: A Brother's Story, Hendrix eventually discovered that by turning the peg on top of the instrument, he could make the note louder and higher. 

  Leon described how his brother (whom he called "Buster") learned to play the ukulele by ear: 

  If Buster tightened it a little more, it got even higher and vibrated less. He began turning the tuning peg as he strummed to make the pitch go up and down. Even though he was playing single notes, he still followed along to a couple Elvis Presley songs on the radio. Buster did it all by ear and matched up the notes. 
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  (#2) He Allegedly Got Himself Kicked Out Of The Airforce On Purpose

  Hendrix got locked up on two separate occasions for joyriding in stolen cars. The judge told the teenager he could either go to jail or enlist in the Army.

  In 1961, Hendrix enlisted and was stationed in Kentucky. There were other musicians at the base, and they put together a band. Hendrix, anxious to start his music career, knew he needed to find a way out of the Army, so he allegedly made up a story to get himself discharged.

  The official reason why Hendrix received an honorable discharge was that he broke his ankle during a parachute jump. However, according to Charles R. Cross's book, Room Full of Mirrors, Hendrix fibbed to the base psychiatrist and said he was in love with one of his army mates. He also claimed to be addicted to self pleasure. After he was caught pleasuring himself (probably planned), the doctor recommended Hendrix be discharged for "homosexual tendencies."
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  (#3) Hendrix Defied His Father And Played The Guitar Left-Handed

  The world can be a pretty inconvenient place for left-handed people, especially for lefty guitar players. There are several different ways left-handed musicians go about playing guitar in a right-handed world. When Hendrix, a natural lefty, first picked up a guitar, his father, Al, wanted him to learn how to play right-handed. Al allegedly thought a guitarist playing left-handed was a sign of the devil. 

  Jimi ignored his father's superstitions and flipped the guitar around to suit his dominant hand. He then restrung the instrument so the strings would remain in their proper positions, with the lowest notes on the bottom. Not wanting to upset his dad, Jimi also learned to play the same instrument right-handed, even though the strings were now upside down.
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  (#4) He Got Fired From His First Band Midway Through Their First Show

  When Hendrix was in the 10th grade, he was invited to play with a group of boys from his high school as a tryout for their band. It was the first time Hendrix appeared onstage as a guitarist; the show was in the basement of a synagogue. During the first set, Jimi indulged his wild style of playing guitar. When the spotlight hit him, he did not shy away from attracting as much attention as possible. 

  Following the set break, the band returned to the stage, but Hendrix was nowhere to be found. His girlfriend eventually spotted him outside in an alley, on the verge of tears. Jimi told her he'd been fired for his exuberant playing style. She suggested that perhaps he could tone down his flashy performance. Hendrix refused.
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  (#5) He Butted Heads With Little Richard For Being 'Too Pretty'

  In the mid-1960s, Hendrix often worked as a studio musician. He played guitar for Little Richard on the rock legend's popular cover of Jerry Lewis's "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," and played several live gigs with Richard as well.

  Little Richard's image depended on wearing flashy clothing and styling his hair in a massive pompadour. The frontman wanted the spotlight on him - and only him - when he performed. But it wasn't Jimi's style to simply strum his guitar, wear uniforms, and perform backing band dance steps. 

  A clash between the two larger-than-life personalities was probably inevitable. After Jimi pulled too much attention away from the band leader, Little Richard held a meeting with Hendrix and another musician to go over their clothing and hairstyles.

  According to Harry Shapiro's book, Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy, Little Richard warned his musicians to tone it down:  

  I am Little Richard and I am the King of Rock 'n' Rhythm and I'm the one who is going to look pretty on stage. Glyn and Jimi, would you please turn in those shirts or else you will have to suffer the consequences of a fine.

  That wasn't the only time Little Richard felt he had to keep his employee from hogging the spotlight. As Richard revealed in an interview with VH1 Legends:

  On the stage he would actually take the show. People would scream and I thought they were screaming for me. I look over and they’re screaming for Jimi! So I had to darken the lights. He’d be playing the guitar with his teeth.

  Not surprisingly, Hendrix was eventually fired from Little Richard's band.
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  (#6) He Angered A Swedish Promoter By Playing Too Long

  Hendrix was looking to get back into the studio in September of 1970. However, manager Michael Jeffrey convinced him they needed to go on tour to earn money for the new Electric Lady Studios that Hendrix was having constructed in New York. Hendrix reluctantly embared on a series of European tour dates that would take him through Denmark, Sweden, and Germany. 

  One of the gigs included a stop at an amusement park in Stockholm. The promoter allegedly told Hendrix not to play for more than an hour, because he wanted the park guests to spend money on the fair's attractions. This declaration did not sit well with Hendrix, who in defiance played for 110 minutes.
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  (#7) Hendrix Burned His Hand The First Time He Set His Guitar On Fire

  Hendrix was already a wild performer before he set anything on fire. He was known for playing the guitar with his teeth and behind his back. But despite his onstage antics, he still felt like he needed to set himself apart from the other popular rock acts featured in a 1967 European tour. 

  Taking the Pete Townsend route, Hendrix sometimes smashed his guitar to pieces - but even that wasn't enough. Before the first show of the Jimi Hendrix Experience's European tour at Finsbury Park Astoria in London, a journalist wrote it would be "cool" to take the song "Fire" literally.

  The idea seemed like a good one to Hendrix and band manager Chas Chandler. They sent a roadie out for lighter fluid.

  When the band ended their first set with "Fire," Hendrix placed his guitar down on the floor, while the rest of the band played on. Chandler then stepped onstage and covered Jimi's guitar with lighter fluid. The frontman knelt down, lit a match, and set his 1965 Fender Stratocaster on fire. The flames grew several feet and also wound up burning Hendrix's hand. However, the show had to go on, and Hendrix, pro that he was, finished the concert (with another guitar). His burns were later treated at a hospital.
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  (#8) The Monterey Pop Festival Turned Hendrix Into A Rock God 

  Woodstock may be more widely recognized, but the 1967 Monterey International Pop Music Festival is just as important to rock history. The three-day live music event introduced American audiences to the Jimi Hendrix Experience (along with The Who, Janis Joplin, and Otis Redding.) Even though Hendrix had already set his guitar on fire at a previous gig, it was his Fender Stratocaster's legendary flame at Monterey that launched Hendrix into rock legend status. 

  Photographer Ed Caraeff was only a junior in high school when he attended Monterey. The teenager happened to capture what is now considered one of the most iconic images of rock, Hendrix setting his guitar on fire while playing the cover song "Wild Thing."

  Writer Seth Lorinczi described the scene:

  Hendrix had already laid his Stratocaster on the stage and was mounting it in an uncomfortable but mesmerizing display of dominance. Then, with drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding unleashing a sonic hellstorm, amplifiers howling in squalling sheets of feedback behind him, Hendrix abruptly rose, reached for something hidden behind an amp, and began to anoint his tortured instrument.

  Caraeff, already blasted by his close proximity to three high-powered guitar amps, was now in a different sort of pickle, close enough that he had to shield his face from the heat of the burning guitar. But he knew this was a moment that would not be repeated. Working the camera’s lever to advance the roll, he found it wouldn’t advance-it was stuck. There was only one shot left, and it was going to have to count. As Jimi Hendrix raised his fingers, seemingly conjuring fire with his bare hands, Caraeff took his final photograph of the night.
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  (#9) Hendrix Impressed The Best Guitarists Of The Day

  Hendrix lived in London for about a year in 1966-67. He played several gigs during his time abroad, and he wound up impressing the best guitar players of the day. Jeff Beck described seeing Hendrix for the first time:

  When I saw Jimi we knew he was going to be trouble. And by "we" I mean me and Eric [Clapton], because Jimmy [Page] wasn’t in the frame at that point. I saw him at one of his earliest performances in Britain, and it was quite devastating. He did all the dirty tricks - setting fire to his guitar, doing swoops up and down his neck, all the great showmanship to put the final nail in our coffin. I had the same temperament as Hendrix in terms of "I’ll [end] you," but he did in such a good package with beautiful songs.

  Eric Clapton was playing with Cream in 1966 when he first encountered Hendrix at the London Polytechnic. Hendrix joined Cream onstage during one of their sets and played a couple of songs with the band. The experience changed Clapton's life forever. He said during an interview in 1989: 

  He played just about every style you could think of, and not in a flashy way. I mean he did a few of his tricks, like playing with his teeth and behind his back, but it wasn't in an upstaging sense at all, and that was it ... He walked off, and my life was never the same again.
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  (#10) His Unconventional Version Of The National Anthem At Woodstock Sparked Protests Across The Country

  By the summer of 1969, Jimi Hendrix was one of the biggest rock stars in the world, even headlining at Woodstock. He was originally supposed to play last, closing the festival on Sunday night. But because of bad weather, he took the stage at 9 Monday morning.

  The festival, packed with almost a half a million attendees at its peak, had shrunk by half by the time Hendrix played his first note with new band Gypsy Sun and Rainbows. One of the most celebrated moments in rock history occurred on that stage: Hendrix's solo electric guitar rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

  His version was filled with heavy distortion and feedback. It lasted nearly four minutes and occurred in the middle of a medley that included "Voodoo Child" and "Purple Haze." The unconventional version of the national anthem sparked protests across the country, with some offended patriots calling Hendrix un-American.

  But Hendrix didn't think that his rendition should be considered unorthodox. He later said on The Dick Cavett show: “That’s not unorthodox. I thought it was beautiful."

  It wasn't the first time Hendrix played the national anthem live during one of his shows. In fact, there are 50 live recordings of the guitarist playing the anthem. Woodstock marked the 28th time. 
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  (#11) His Last Concert Ended With The Hell's Angels Setting The Stage On Fire

  Hendrix's final concert gig occurred at the Isle of Fehmarn Festival in Germany, in September 1970. Hendrix was at the height of his popularity, and the festival promoters hoped to cash in on his fame. Unfortunately, everything that could have gone wrong at Fehmarn, went wrong. The show was plagued by terrible weather, severe overcrowding, band cancellations - and the Hell's Angels. 

  The scene at the Festival was bordering on all-out chaos. Several band managers pulled their acts due to safety concerns. Hendrix's original stage time got pushed back because of gale-force winds and rain.

  Hendrix and his band did eventually take the stage the following afternoon. Unfortunately, the musicians were met with boos from the German crowd. Video footage shows Hendrix being civil to the crowd, even saying, "I don’t give a f*ck if you boo, as long as you boo in tune..."

  By the end of the first song, "Howlin' Wolf's Killing Floor," the booing stopped. The band had won over the crowd and kept them happy through "All Along the Watchtower," "Hey Joe," "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)," "Message To Love," and "Foxey Lady." During the next number, "Red House," the weather once again took a turn for the worse. 

  Hendrix continued despite the rain and cold. Toward the end of the set, Hendrix and his team spotted a fight in the unruly crowd. Despite the mayhem, Hendrix performed the last two songs he would ever play live: "Purple Haze" and "Voodoo Child." The band then exited the stage unharmed. 

  There was no real police presence at the event, and the Hell's Angels started to run amok. The German anarchist rock band Ton Steine Schergen performed after Hendrix. As the German band played their set, the bikers lit the stage on fire. 

  Hendrix passed two weeks later on September 18, 1970 at the age of 27.
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  (#12) Paul McCartney Called Hendrix's Cover Of 'Sgt. Pepper' One Of The Greatest Honors Of His Career

  Hendrix's band the Jimi Hendrix Experience released their debut album, Are You Experienced, in 1967. The psychedelic rock LP was an instant hit with critics and fans around the world. The power trio's recording, often regarded as one the greatest albums of all time, featured four hit singles: "Purple Haze," "Foxey Lady," "Hey Joe," and "The Wind Cries Mary." The album is also considered one of the most ingenious guitar records ever made. 

  The LP spent a total of 33 weeks on the charts, but never went higher than No. 2. The only thing stopping it from reaching the top spot was The Beatles' eighth studio album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The now-legendary Beatles record was impressive enough to Hendrix that he decided to cover its eponymous first track at his gig at the Saville Theatre in London just days after the album released. 

  Two Beatles were in attendance that evening, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. McCartney described just how impressed he was with Hendrix's cover:

  The curtains flew back and he came walking forward playing "Sgt. Pepper." It's a pretty major compliment in anyone's book. I put that down as one of the great honors of my career.

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