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James Marshall Hendrix

NipponPoke

All-Conference
Aug 26, 2002
311
474
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November 27, 1942 - September 18, 1970

What an immeasurable loss this was for music.

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The dead at 27 was a thing when I was growing up.....and it sucked!

"Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970)
Remembered as one of the greatest electric guitarists in history, Jimi Hendrix revolutionized rock and roll as both an artist and a producer during his brief four-year career. He died in London in September 1970, asphyxiating on his own vomit while sleeping. His girlfriend claimed that Hendrix, a heavy drug user who was particularly fond of LSD, had washed down a handful of sleeping pills with red wine before going to bed. "

https://www.history.com/news/music-legends-who-lived-fast-and-died-at-27-slideshow
 
Just scratching the surface of what he could have become.

Eric Clapton said in "A Film About Jimi Hendrix" that he felt Jimi simply "couldn't keep up" with what his life had become. I interpret that to mean...the pace Jimi put on back then to perform, record, etc to make good on the various contracts he signed early on pre-Chas Chandler days wore him down to where he sort of was an "old 27" by the time he died. Of course, the drug and alcohol use didn't exactly help. But "handful of sleeping pills" kinda tells the story I think. Rest was apparently difficult to come by for him at the time.


The 3 Experience albums are about as strong a 3 album stretch as any rock and roll artist in history from an innovation/excellence/originality standpoint. "Are You Experienced?" is simply stunning, one of my 10 favorite all time albums.

And there was no better live guitarist ever imho. Isle of Wight's "Red House", Band of Gypsies' "Machine Gun", the version of "Johnny B Goode" from Berkeley, Woodstock's "Star Spangled Banner" and "Fire"...to me it's like there's those performances, then the rest of live rock and roll history after them.
 
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This video sums up all that I love about Jimi. Was finishing a report on him for my freshman high school music class when I read the story of his death in the Sunday newspaper.
 
R.I.P. to Hendrix and Morrison and Joplin. Drugs can take a toll at an early age. Yet, Keith Richards has now outlived all of them by 50 years.
 
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