![\"Jimi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Jimi-Hendrix-1967-Copenhagen-Bent-Rej-Far-Out-Magazine-F-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Bent Rej)<\/p>\n
Sun 28 December 2025 11:03, UK <\/p>\n
Jimi Hendrix<\/a> was perhaps the most fluid and fearless electric guitarist of his time and has remained unrivalled since his death in 1970. The skilled stringman shaped rock music from the 1950s and early \u201960s rhythm and blues style, pioneered by the likes of Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley, into his own heavier and psychedelic style. Not only was Hendrix a true virtuoso, but his underrated talent for songwriting was also commendable.<\/p>\n After a difficult childhood living with feuding parents in a poor household, Hendrix joined the US Army for a term before being discharged on medical terms after allegedly breaking his ankle during his 26th parachute jump. However, the Army has never confirmed his medical discharge, and Hendrix\u2019s superior officers are known to have been critical of his passion for the military.<\/p>\n Throughout the early and mid-\u201960s, Hendrix became a session musician and even managed to secure a few gigs playing alongside Little Richard in his touring band, The Upsetters. While in Los Angeles in February 1965, he even joined Richard in the studio to record \u2018I Don\u2019t Know What You Got (But It\u2019s Got Me)\u2019, the only single of Richard\u2019s to which he would ever contribute. <\/p>\n Despite this early exposure, Richard\u2019s career prospects were already waning since his heyday of the \u201950s; Hendrix\u2019s career had yet to kick off to any significant degree. His ticket to fame and fortune came when The Rolling Stones\u2019 Keith Richards referred him to Chris Chandler, who, at the time, was wrapping things up with The Animals with newfound aspirations of managing and producing for rock groups.<\/p>\n In 1966, impressed with Hendrix\u2019s early reworking of Billy Roberts\u2019s \u2018Hey Joe\u2019, Chandler brought Hendrix to London, where he would go on to form his band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Having fallen in love with London and the British music scene, Hendrix spent much of his remaining life in the UK before his death in London\u2019s Samarkand Hotel in 1970.<\/p>\n In a revealing 1967 interview with British journalist Steve Barker, Hendrix identified The Who<\/a> as one of his favourite contemporary acts and was asked for his opinion on the band\u2019s \u201cauto-destruction\u201d habits. \u201cWe don\u2019t really break anything onstage,\u201d Hendrix said. \u201cOnly a few strings. Actually, we do anything we feel like. If we wanted to break something up, we would do it. There\u2019s a lot of times in the past I have felt like that too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut it isn\u2019t just for show, and I can\u2019t explain the feeling,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt\u2019s just like you want to let loose and do exactly what you want if your parents weren\u2019t watching. I dig The Who. I like a lot of their songs!\u201d <\/p>\n Not long after the interview, Hendrix\u2019s performances began to include a great deal more \u201cauto-destruction\u201d, which included setting his guitar on fire on a couple of occasions. <\/p>\n Later in the interview, Hendrix also picked out The Byrds as one of his favourite groups from his homeland. The group, fronted by Roger McGuinn<\/a>, were famous for their electric and more rock-centric covers of Bob Dylan hits \u2013 a footstep Hendrix would follow in 1968 with his rendition of \u2018All Along the Watchtower\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Byrds are pretty good too,\u201d Hendrix told Steve Barker. \u201cThough I know you don\u2019t dig them over here [in the UK]. They\u2019re on a different kick. I like them.\u201d No discussion of the band would be complete without touching on the brilliance of their original lineup. The truth is, only retrospectively can the band be hailed as a supergroup. At the time of the band\u2019s formation in 1964, they were not plucked from surrounding successful bands, rather, it is a reflection of the huge figures of rock they would all become. Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark,\u00a0David Crosby<\/a>, Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman all took pioneering strides. But Hendrix seemed to understand their greatness.<\/p>\n![\"Jimi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766930049_450_Jimi-Hendrix-in-colour-2-Copenhagen-1967-Bent-Rej-Far-Out-Magazine-F-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>A confident Jimi Hendrix poses with icy cool charm. (Credits: Bent Rej)<\/p>\n