Jimi Hendrix: The Man, The Myth, & The Music.
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Jimi Hendrix was an American musician whose innovative electric guitar playing had a profound role on influencing rock music and its culture. Jimi was born in Seattle, Washington on November 27, 1942. He was originally named Johnny Allen Hendrix. However, after his parents got divorced in the early 1950's, his father renamed him James Marshall Hendrix. Jimmy was brought up by his father, James Allen Ross Hendrix (1919-2002), better known as Al. .
Jimmy got well acquainted with his father's collection of blues and jazz records. As an early teen he also became fascinated with the pure magic of rock "n" roll and r & b on local radio stations. By the age of 11, he had picked up an old acoustic for the first time. From that moment, his career had been chosen. About a year later, Jimmy had recieved his first Supro "Ozark" model electric guitar.
Al recognized his son's obsession and bought Jimmy a cheap guitar. He learned the instrument by playing along to the hot tunes of the day. Pretty soon Hendrix was also playing with a variety of local bands. (Partridge, p. 4).
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Some of the first bands he started playing with were The Velvetones and The Rocking Kings. Eventually, he joined Luther Rabb & The Stags and Tomas and The Tomcats.
He also jammed with his dad who had an old, beat up saxophone.
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In May of 1961, Jimmy decided to leave Seattle and join the army. He enlisted himself into the 101st Airborne Division as a paratrooper. He was stationed in Fort Campbell in Kentucky where he met up with Billy Cox who played bass guitar. They became good friends and started a group called The Kasuals. By July of 1962, Jimmy had broken his ankle during a jump. He got out of the Army on honorable discharge. .
He then moved to Tennessee where he waited for Billy to be discharged as well.