BY ANDY ALEDORT
THEE ULTI TH ULTIMAT MATEE DVD GU GUID IDE! E! JAMES MARSHALL “JIMI” HENDRIX (BORN JOHNNY ALLEN HENDRIX; NOVEMBER 27, 1942 – SEPTEMBER 18, 1970) WAS AN AMERICAN GUITARIST, 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; HE WAS GRANTED AN HONORABLE DISCHARGE 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 BEING DISCOVERED BY LINDA KEITH, WHO IN TURN INTERESTED BASSIST CHAS CHANDLER OF THE ANIMALS IN BECOMING HIS FIRST 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 FROM BARBITURATE-RELATED ASPHYXIA ON SEPTEMBER 18, 1970, AT THE AGE OF 27. HENDRIX WAS INSPIRED MUSICALLY BY AMERICAN ROCK AND ROLL AND ELECTRIC BLUES. HE FAVORED OVERDRIVEN AMPLIFIERS WITH HIGH VOLUME AND GAIN, AND WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN DEVELOPING THE PREVIOUSLY UNDESIRABLE TECHNIQUE OF GUITAR AMPLIFIER FEEDBACK. HE HELPED TO POPULARIZE THE USE OF A WAH-WAH PEDAL IN MAINSTREAM ROCK, AND WAS THE FIRST ARTIST TO USE STEREOPHONIC PHASING EFFECTS IN MUSIC 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 RANKED , AXIS: BOLD , AND ELECTRIC LADYLAND , AMONG THE 100 GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME, AND THEY RANKED AS LOVE HENDRIX AS THE GREATEST GUITARIST AND THE SIXTH GREATEST ARTIST OF ALL TIME. JIMI HENDRIX WAS PRIMARILY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN DESCENT, WITH IRISH AND CHEROKEE ANCESTORS. HIS PATERNAL GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER WAS A FULL-BLOODED CHEROKEE FROM GEORGIA WHO MARRIED AN IRISHMAN NAMED MOORE. THEY HAD A SON ROBERT, WHO MARRIED AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN NAMED FANNY. IN 1883, ROBERT AND FANNY HAD A DAUGHTER WHOM THEY NAMED ZENORA “NORA” ROSE MOORE, HENDRIX’S PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER. HENDRIX’S PATERNAL GRANDFATHER, BERTRAN PHILANDER ROSS HENDRIX (BORN 1866), WAS THE RESULT OF AN EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR BETWEEN A BLACK WOMAN, ALSO NAMED FANNY, AND A GRAIN MERCHANT FROM URBANA, OHIO OR ILLINOIS, AND ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST WHITE MEN IN THE AREA AT THAT TIME. ON JUNE 10, 1919, HENDRIX AND MOORE HAD A SON THEY NAMED JAMES ALLEN ROSS HENDRIX; PEOPLE CALLED HIM AL. IN 1941, AL MET LUCILLE JETER (1925–1958) AT A DANCE IN SEATTLE; THEY MARRIED ON MARCH 31, 1942. AL, WHO HAD BEEN DRAFTED BY THE UNITED STATES ARMY TO SERVE IN WORLD WAR II, LEFT TO BEGIN HIS BASIC TRAINING THREE DAYS AFTER THE WEDDING. TOP SECRET
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2 FIGURE 1
E MINOR PENTATONIC
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E BLUES SCALE
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JIMI’S “MUDDY” INFLUENCE
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E MINOR PENTATONIC, EXTENDED POSITION
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E BLUES SCALE, EXTENDED POSITION
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CHAPTER 3
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BEND BEHINDNUT
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CHAPTER 4
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E MINOR PENTATONIC
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E MINOR PENTATONIC, FIFTH POSITION
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E MINOR PENTATONIC, SEVENTH POSITION
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E BLUES SCALE, SEVENTH POSITION
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E MINOR PENTATONIC, TENTH POSITION
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COMBINING
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E MINOR, PENTATONIC, TWELFTH POSITION
POSITIONS
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CHAPTER 5
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E BLUES SCALE, TWELFTH POSITION
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F I GU R E 4 1
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F I G U R E 4 6 VI BR AT O
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TE CH NI QU ES
BENT VIBRATO
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CHAPTER 6
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PINCH HARMONICS
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BENT VIBRATO
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F I G U R E 52
F IG U R E 5 5
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F IG U R E 5 7
F I GU R E 5 8
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CHAPTER 7
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CHAPTER 8
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CHAPTER 9
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CHAPTER 10
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CHAPTER 11
F I G U R E 1 0 5 A
MA JO R SC AL E
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CHAPTER 12
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