On the morning of November 27, 1942, Johnny Allen Hendrix was born in the city of Seattle, Washington. Johnny spent the first few years of his childhood being shuffled from relative to relative because neither his mother Lucille, nor his father, who was in the military at the time, could properly care for him. In 1945, Al Hendrix returned to Seattle and discovered that his son had been named Johnny Allen. On September 11, 1946, Johnny Allen's name was officially changed to James Marshall Hendrix. James prefered to call himself Jimmy, and when he was in his early teens his father bought him his first electric guitar, a white Supro Ozark. In the summer of 1959, Jimmy joined his first band, called the Rocking Kings. He played with the Rocking Kings for a couple of years until he decided that he wanted to go into the Army to become a parachutist with the 101st Airborne Division - and in 1961 he became one. After Jimmy was discharged from the Army in 1962, he began to devote more of his time to music. He spent a few years touring the U.S. with various acts such as Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and Little Richard.
On July 5, 1966 Jimmy performed with his newly-formed band Jimmy James and the Blue Flames at the Cafe Wha? in New York City's Greenwich Village. This gig changed Jimi's life, for at the club that night was Chas Chandler, who at the time was on his farewell tour with the group, the Animals. Chas Chandler was so impressed by Jimmy, that he returned to New York City after his tour was over to work out arrangements with Jimmy to take him to England to make him a star. On September 23, 1966 Jimmy and Chas flew from New York's Kennedy International Airport to London. In October of 1966, auditions were held to find a drummer and a bass player for what was to become The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Noel Redding was quickly chosen to play bass and Mitch Mitchell was chosen to fill the drummer's spot. With the band members decided upon, a search for a suitable name for the band began.
Shortly afterwards it was established that the name would be The Jimi Hendrix Experience. With that decided the band headed out for their first official tour, which ran from mid- October until late December of 1966. In December of 1967 the Experience's debut album "Are You Experienced?," was released in England. In Another nine months, "Are You Experienced?" reached the shores of America. On June 18, 1967 Jimi made his return to the U.S. when he performed at the Monterey International Pop Festival, in Monterey, California. It was at this festival that Jimi, set his Stratocaster ablaze. After his appearance at Monterey, Jimi became an international superstar. The Experience's second album, "Axis: Bold as Love," was released in the U.S. in January, 1968.
The Experience released there third album in October of 1968 called "Electric Ladyland.". On June 29, 1969, the Experience played their last show together at Denver's Mile High Stadium. In August of that same year, Jimi played with his newly formed band,Gypsy Suns and Rainbows at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. In October of 1969, Gypsy Suns and Rainbows disbanded and Jimi formed The Band of Gypsys with his old Army buddy Billy Cox, who was a bass player. The Band of Gypsys played 5 shows together before they too disbanded. Their last show was held at New York's Madison Square Garden on January 28, 1970. The live album of this performance was released in April of that year and has since gone on to become one of the most critically-acclaimed live albums of all time.
On August 26, 1970 the official opening of Jimi's own recording studio, Electric Lady Studios, was held in New York City. A couple of weeks after the opening of his studio Jimi went to London, where on the night of September 17, he composed his last song, "The Story of Life." The next afternoon he was pronounced dead at St. Mary Abbots Hospital. The official cause of death as listed by the coroner was "inhalation of vomit, due to barbituate intoxication." The death of Jimi Hendrix was a shock to the music world. Still, today he is considered by many to be the best guitarist ever.
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