Jimi Hendrix 18/09/1970.
As of today it is 53 years since Jimi Hendrix, the greatest and most legendary guitarist of all time, passed away.
Found dead in a London hotel room from a cocktail of barbiturates that induced him to remit until he suffocated in his sleep.
He touched the earth as if it were a meteor, set it ablaze, and headed elsewhere to mess up wigs from other planets.
As of today it is 53 years since Jimi Hendrix, the greatest and most legendary guitarist of all time, passed away.
Found dead in a London hotel room from a cocktail of barbiturates that induced him to remit until he suffocated in his sleep.
He touched the earth as if it were a meteor, set it ablaze, and headed elsewhere to mess up wigs from other planets.
Like all greats, or almost all greats, he had a difficult childhood.
He was born in Seattle on November 27, 1942, to James Allen Hendrix and 17-year-old Lucille Jeter.
For years he lived with his grandmother (a full-blooded Cherooke Indian who brought him even closer to his Indian and rebel roots), while his father and mother fended for themselves at a thousand jobs.
At the age of 12 he receives his first electric guitar as a gift, affectionately called by him "Al," a small instrument with which he begins his first musical experiences as a self-taught musician.
His mother dies three years later, and young Jimi reacts violently to his grief.
He is expelled from school and begins to wander, earning a living with rhythm and blues and rock and roll groups.
Arrested in 1961 for being found driving a stolen car, he is faced with a choice between a stint in prison and enlistment.
He would spend the next two years in the paratroopers, then at the age of 21 would begin an intense session-man activity, quickly becoming the guitarist for Little Richard or Tina Turner, just to name two at random.
He was born in Seattle on November 27, 1942, to James Allen Hendrix and 17-year-old Lucille Jeter.
For years he lived with his grandmother (a full-blooded Cherooke Indian who brought him even closer to his Indian and rebel roots), while his father and mother fended for themselves at a thousand jobs.
At the age of 12 he receives his first electric guitar as a gift, affectionately called by him "Al," a small instrument with which he begins his first musical experiences as a self-taught musician.
His mother dies three years later, and young Jimi reacts violently to his grief.
He is expelled from school and begins to wander, earning a living with rhythm and blues and rock and roll groups.
Arrested in 1961 for being found driving a stolen car, he is faced with a choice between a stint in prison and enlistment.
He would spend the next two years in the paratroopers, then at the age of 21 would begin an intense session-man activity, quickly becoming the guitarist for Little Richard or Tina Turner, just to name two at random.
From here everything changed, Jimi embarked on a life of music and lightheartedness given the musical historical moment of the time.
He became the forerunner of the "whaWha" technique.
The "wah wah" is one of the most widely used electric guitar effects in the world, made famous by the late Jimi Hendrix who illustrated its potential in "Voodoo Child" and at Woodstock.
The sound was created by a pedal which modified the sound of the instrument by gradual change of tone between treble and bass, which left even Mr. Eric Clapton and Mr. Jeff Beck speechless. For them it was a most violent shock, as the two best guitarists of the time immediately realized that this boy, who may not yet have had any idea of his talent, was already surpassing them by sweeping away everything that had come before.
But his virtuosity was not only in the crazy way he played and in the pure technicalities of the gesture given by an innate creativity, but rather, from an interpretation of the present and an exceptional transport given by the moment, it seemed as if the sounds came straight out of his body and not from the instrument itself.
He became the forerunner of the "whaWha" technique.
The "wah wah" is one of the most widely used electric guitar effects in the world, made famous by the late Jimi Hendrix who illustrated its potential in "Voodoo Child" and at Woodstock.
The sound was created by a pedal which modified the sound of the instrument by gradual change of tone between treble and bass, which left even Mr. Eric Clapton and Mr. Jeff Beck speechless. For them it was a most violent shock, as the two best guitarists of the time immediately realized that this boy, who may not yet have had any idea of his talent, was already surpassing them by sweeping away everything that had come before.
But his virtuosity was not only in the crazy way he played and in the pure technicalities of the gesture given by an innate creativity, but rather, from an interpretation of the present and an exceptional transport given by the moment, it seemed as if the sounds came straight out of his body and not from the instrument itself.
Mr. Hendrix mixing his rhythm and blues and rock'n'roll soul with new age virtuosity ranks him as the best guitarist of all time and legendary musician/genius.
A unique character, capable of linking the roots of the past and culture to a natural but at times extreme future, almost incomprehensible to contemporaries without an "open" view of the world and its immense possibilities.
A unique character, capable of linking the roots of the past and culture to a natural but at times extreme future, almost incomprehensible to contemporaries without an "open" view of the world and its immense possibilities.
Thank you Jimi.
Team Petri
Team Petri