Talk:Jimi Hendrix

Link to nomination: Wikipedia:Featured_article_candidates/Archived_nominations/Index/July_2004#Jimi_Hendrix

Featured Article Resubmission

What is left to fix to get this article reconsidered as a featured article?--Elysianfields 06:34, 13 August 2005 (UTC)

This is: "His school counsellor told his father to get him a guitar, and his father gave him a one-stringed toy guitar. Jimi played it so much that his father finally relented and bought his son a real guitar." I'm 99 percent sure this is actually true about Slash, and not Hendrix--but not sure enough to stand by the change myself. But I suggest someone look into it. --Petey, Dec 4th, 2005.

-I'm not sure about the counsellor but the rest is definitley true. --MortalMadMan 20:23, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

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That sudden influx of "new" Hendrix albums we had in the 1990s was because the copyright situation finally got sorted out--I don't remember whom the courts decided in favor of. ("His musical legacy was still being sorted out more than twenty years after his death, with both Hendrix' father and a man claiming to be Hendrix' son in dispute over copyright.") IIRC, both parties got some portion of the royalties--but I'm not certain of it. Koyaanis Qatsi, Tuesday, June 25, 2002 hi now !!

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I kind of cheated with that phrase "musical legacy". I had in mind not only the Hendrix estate in the legal sense but also the artistic inheritance. I think a lot of people are stuck back in the "superspade" era in their understanding of what Hendrix did as an artist, notwithstanding the shambles of his career and his life before he died. There are a lot of players who are popular, whom we love, who are important to us, and then there are the very few "world artists" like Hank Williams, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Jimi Hendrix. That's not the whole list, of course, but they really are in a different category.

BTW, I really paused and repaused over "choked on his own vomit". Romantics love that stuff, but in fact what happens, as I understand it, is more like drug-induced paralysis of the central nervous system and you die, vomit or not. Take enough barbiturates and you can die hanging over the rail. It's a little different in the Hendrix case, since he may have actually died in the ambulance, but wouldn't it be enough to say "died in a barbiturate-induced coma"? Ortolan88

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Eh, I didn't write that part. My (mis?)understanding of it was that he took too many sleeping pills and never woke up. I've never read a bio of him, just various articles in guitar magazines. Koyaanis Qatsi, Wednesday, June 26, 2002

Re: previous two comments - if the cause of death was in fact suffocation, would he not in fact belong on a List of people who choked to death on their own vomit? 209.149.235.254 21:41, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)

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We mention B. B. King, Little Richard, Curtis Knight, and The Monkees, so why shouldn't we mention Ellen McIlwaine? The Ellen McIlwaine article says she "traded influences" with Hendrix. I have no idea whether that is true, but I don't understand why we should remove half a sentence in this article saying Hendrix played with another notable guitarist in his formative years. Ortolan88 16:05 Nov 4, 2002 (UTC)

Because McIlwaine is not a terribly notable guitarist, and Hendrix played with just about everyone who was passing through NYC, and played with considerably more notable people in London (Clapton, Page etc...) One can barely begin to list the notable people Hendrix played with, and McIlwaine is nowhere near the top of that list ... it seems like an arbitrary inclusion by a McIlwaine fan. (As to the McIlwaine article ... well, don't get me started on the McIlwaine article) -- User:GWO

Okay. Seems reasonable to me. Ortolan88

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So I dropped "The Wind Cries Mary" in the wrong place in a sentence. Sorry. I'll never do it again. Ortolan88

Aahh. Sorry, didn't mean to be over harsh. Bad coding day... -- User:GWO

madison square gardens link

Should the broken link to Madison Square Gardens link to Madison Square Garden. This got flagged by Daniel Quinlan's Redirect Project, on this page: User:Daniel Quinlan/redirects5

Urban Legend

The article claims that the list of 150 songs was an urban legend. It is not. The urban legend was that the songs were banned. Clear Channel did not forbid radio stations from playing these songs; however, they did recommend that the stations not play the songs. Here is what the Snopes page says:

Accordingly, a program director at Clear Channel Communications (an organization which operates over 1,170 radio stations in the United States), after discussions with program directors at several of Clear Channel Radio's stations, compiled an advisory list of songs which stations might wish to avoid playing in the short term.

In light of this, I'm going to change that paragraph. Quadell (talk) 12:54, Jun 8, 2004 (UTC)

I removed the clear channel blacklist comment. I don't believe the supposed blacklist says much of anything about Hendrix, considering that perhaps half of all recording artists who had hits that are played by clear channel had at least one song on the list. Therefore, it doesn't belong here, and since it is already present in the clear channel and sept 11 articles I think it is adequately covered.

Discography

This article has so much text describing Jimi's life, but the discography section needs work, compared to other WP music pages. Some of those have separate pages for expansive discographies (e.g. The Beatles discography), but for now I was thinking of just adding a few essentials, such as the remaining Experience Hendrix live albums, South Saturn Delta - the things that would form the 'core' collection for someone just getting into Jimi's music. And also album-pages for those, like the BBC Sessions one, currently linked to, but empty. Anyone want to help out?

Also maybe the categories are a bit off. At the moment it looks like First Rays is a completed studio album done in his lifetime, as it's in there with AYE, Axis, and Ladyland, when it's really an approximation of what *could* have been, constructed decades later. It's halfway between an album and a rarities compilation, to my mind, so I'm not sure whether it should be in 'Studio Albums' or 'Compilations' or some other category altogether. Hmm.

WikiSimon 19:27, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

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Should this page have a basic or brief discography? The existing link points to a zipped word file that failed to open on my side. Modi

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Whence came "died later at St Mary's"? If the quotations of the doctor and paramedics in Rethinking John Lennon's Assassination (online with traffic quota) are legit, he was dead well before leaving his room. He may have been pronounced dead at hospital, but that doesn't mean he died there. Kwantus 21:37, 2004 Dec 23 (UTC)

Too much detail

Like a number of WP music articles, this one suffers from too much detail; a reader may well lose the forest for the trees. In particular, the stream-of-consciousness account of Hendrix's 1970 shows and the recordings in circulation of them is almost a WP parody. The exacting account of guitar auctions also falls into this category, as do several other asides. Focus on the main points of Hendrix's life and music, so that readers can get a true appreciation for this great musician. -- jls 20 Mar 2005

I gave it once-over, but it still needs work. Some gems are buried in the detailed time-line style. --sparkit 01:21, 23 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Better now. But the 1970 section still read like a bootleg guide rather than an article. I've pulled out the set-list detail and condensed it further. Hopefully it still gets across what Hendrix's last year was like. -- jls 22 Mar 2005

Also, much of the album detail is repeated in separate articles about the albums. --sparkit 01:21, 23 Mar 2005 (UTC)

References section

This page could certainly use one. ~~ Shiri 04:25, Mar 26, 2005 (UTC)

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Which is correct? Or did this actually happen twice? Ubermonkey 13:07, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)

In November 1968 the band appeared live on BBC's primetime variety show hosted by Lulu on the day that Cream announced their disbanding.

vs.

On 4 January 1969 he was accused by television producers of arrogance after playing an impromptu version of "Sunshine of Your Love" past his allotted time slot on the BBC1 show Happening for Lulu.

Dick Cavett Show appearance

I've modified the comment about 'outrage' in association with the Dick Cavett show reference; it's too strong. Cavett made a lighthearted reference to "nasty letters", then when Hendrix queried this, he spoke of the "unorthodox" nature of the performance. jamesgibbon 22:05, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Jimi's last Boston Gig

I saw Hendrix once, in 1970, at the Boston Garden. Does someone know what month/day that was? I dont... isnt there some kind of agenda left? guess not... Thanks

Hendrix faked being gay, was avidly anti-Communist

Someone added a claim on 30 July 2005 that Hendrix claim to have fallen in love with a fellow soldier in order to get discharged. This was unattributed, but I revised to note that this claim was made by Charles Cross in his new book, Room Full of Mirrors: : A Biography of Jimi Hendrix". Cross also made another claim, that's also likely to be controversial: that Hendrix was an avid anti-Communist who did not leave the Army in protest of the war, but rather that he just wanted to focus on playing guitar. Cross claims to have learned about the claims of gayness in previously unreleased Army records. This story has been picked up by various papers, such as this review of the biography by the (Seattle Post-Intelligencer).

Better choice of words?

Some comments regarding the following paragraph:

"The Strat's easy action and relatively narrow neck were also ideally suited to Hendrix's evolving style and enhanced his tremendous dexterity — Hendrix' hands were large enough to fret across all six strings with the top joint of his thumb alone, and he could reputedly play lead and rhythm parts simultaneously. A more amazing fact about Hendrix is that he was left-handed, yet used a right-handed Stratocaster, meaning he played the guitar upside down. While Hendrix was capable of playing with the strings upside down per se, he restrung his guitars so that the heavier strings were at the top of the neck."

I don't understand the use of the word 'reputedly' in regards to Hendrix playing simultaneous rhythm and lead parts. The evidence is all there in the recordings - Hendrix adapted to the trio format by developing a style of playing where elements of what would normally be considered 'rhythm' and 'lead' guitar were blended together. Hendrix's 'rhythm' guitar part for any given song (as opposed to his solos, which were more in the straight 'lead' guitar vein) would usually include elements of 'riffs', 'chords' and single-note 'lead' licks. This was largely his own innovation and set him apart from other guitarists of the time.

Also, I don't understand why it is 'more amazing' that Hendrix was left-handed, then that he could fret all six strings with his thumb. As you note, by preference he strung his (admitedly upside-down) guitars in the same way as a right-handed player would, with the heavier stings at the top. This is hardly amazing, it's what you would expect.

The only thing that may be of interest to add to the left-handedness issue is why he didn't just play a left-handed guitar. For one thing, left-handed guitars are generally less available than right-handed models. Jimi is reported to have had to pawn his guitar fairly often during his early career as a sideman, buying another when gigs and money came along. He may well have got used to playing a right-handed model upside-down. It has also been suggested that, at that time, the left-handed models were often of inferior quality to their right-handed counterparts. Finally, Hendrix-obsessed guitarists today believe that the reverse angle of the bridge pickup (and headstock) on a Stratocaster, relative to the strings, when turned upside-down contributes a subtle difference in tone that Hendrix may have exploited. Or it may have been merely incidental. This has led to the creation of the left-handed 'Hendrix Strat' by Fender, designed to be played upside-down by right-handed guitarists.

- You're right, the wording is poor and confusing. If he strung a right-handed guitar the same way a right-handed player would, the heavier strings would be on the bottom, not the top, when he played it. Anyway, that's what I always thought about how he played guitar. Not amazing, but interesting because this would have an effect on the sound: When strumming downstrokes are naturally more powerful than upstrokes, and emphasize the strings on top. So if Hendrix had the high strings on top, he would have had to develop some strategies to get a "normal" bass-rooted sound. Obviously this wasn't a limitation for a guitarist of his caliber, but rather an invitation to explore fresh territory in guitar technique.

Another suggestion: In the quote:

"Mostly self-taught on the instrument, the left-handed Hendrix used a right-handed guitar that was restrung and played right side up" It should be written UPSIDE DOWN. The guitar is upside down. not right-side up. Even the picture shows this.

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a lengthy comment from a casual wp user: This comment section seems contradictory. As a lifelong guitarist and Hendrix fanatic, I can say this for sure: Most guitarists play "right-handed", ie the neck of the guitar is in the left hand and the body falls beneath the right hand, which strums or picks. Most guitars are designed for right-hand playing. Tradition has led to the heaviest string (lowest tuned note) being on the "top", or nearest the guitarist's head, while the lightest string (highest tuned note) is on the "bottom", or nearest the guitarist's feet. the other four strings are graduated from heavy to light in between. Most right-handed guitars have the "controls", ie knobs, switches, input jacks, etc, on the "bottom" portion of the face of the guitar, nearer the guitarist's feet, in order to keep them out of the way of strumming, but not so far away that they can't be easily reached. Have a look at a picture of any "righty" guitarist like Clapton or George Harrison to see examples.

Left-handed guitars are usually mirror images of right-handed guitars. Heavy string on top, controls on bottom, but neck in right hand, body under left. Lefty guitarists typically play just like righty guitarists, but with hands switched - see Paul McCartney, Tony Iommi, Kurt Cobain, etc. The arrangement of the parts of the guitars means that most righty players can't easily play an unmodified lefty guitar, and vice versa. If you turn the guitar over to switch hands, all the parts get turned over, too, and then you've got the heavy string on bottom and the controls on top. Chord fingerings have to be inverted (flipped), which can be extremely difficult to do on the fly, and totally counterintuitive to boot. Knobs and cables tend to get in the way.

HOWEVER, some guitarists, famous or not, have learned to play righty guitars left-handed without modification. It's all in how you learn, you know? The arrangement of the guitar's parts is nearly as much tradition as utility. See, for instance, Elizabeth Cotten and Albert King.

I know you already know this, but bear with me:

Jimi Hendrix preferred Fender Stratocasters for various known and unknown reasons. He did not play them exclusively, but he played them usually, and is associated with that model above all others. He typically played righty Stratocasters WHICH HAD BEEN RESTRUNG LEFTY. Hendrix belongs to the group of "normal" lefty guitarist like McCartney and Cobain. He played right-handed guitars, but the string order was reversed, top to bottom, to be left-handed.

This means that his chording, strumming, and other fingerwork were not that unusual, despite being very, very good compared to rock guitarists of the day. He played standard chord and scale patterns most of the time.

What confuses people is that the actual structure of the Stratocaster was obviously "upside down". Though the strings, and therefore his technique, were standard as such, he APPEARED to be doing something very strange.

It has been reported anecdotally (there may be actual quotes from Hendrix to this effect, but I don't know) that Hendrix liked some or all of these aspects of right-handed Fender Stratocasters with reversed strings: 1) the quality of righty Strats (and other righty makes and models) was better because so few lefties were built at the time 2) he preferred being able to buy a righty Strat (easily restrung) in just about any city, when lefties were hard to find 3) he liked having the controls and vibrato bar (another story) "closer to him", ie on the upper side of the face of the guitar, so that he might more easily manipulate them in mid-song 4) he liked the reverse relative position of the "slanted" bridge pickup on the Strat (you'll have to look at a good picture of a Strat) when the strings had been reversed 5) he liked the harmonic difference in sound derived from the reverse relative length of the "runout" string between the nut and the tuners (see a picture, again) when the strings had been reversed.

Hendrix used restrung Gibson electrics and various restrung acoustics, too. Since he restrung most of his guitars, regardless of make and model, there must be some weight to some of the above reasons, particularly concerning quality and availability. It is also true that Hendrix, unlike most guitarists, was ambidextrous to some extent and could play right-handed if circumstances required. I have seen photos of him playing right-handed on right-handed guitars, left-handed on right-handed guitars, and everyone has seen pictures of him playing lefty on lefty guitars, which he clearly preferred. Accepted anecdotal evidence (from Eddie Kramer, Mitch Mitchell, and others) says that Hendrix re-recorded some of Noel Redding's bass parts on Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland with Noel's right-handed bass, without hesitation.

Hope all that helps clarify things a little bit.

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"The Strat's easy action and relatively narrow neck were also ideally suited to Hendrix's evolving style"

• This description is not accurate. Stratocasters did not necessarily have easier action or narrower necks than other guitars of Hendrix's time. Stratocasters were definitely considered good guitars, but not for those reasons per se.

Not about the featured article submission

The first paragraph says that Jimi "is widely considered to be the most important electric guitarist in the history of popular music". I call Weasel words on this. How about "James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (1942-11-27 – 1970-09-18) was a hugely influential American guitarist, singer, and songwriter"? Hughcharlesparker 20:51, August 18, 2005 (UTC)

I personally think that "He is widely considered the most important electric guitarist in the history of popular music." is somewhat redundant since the electric guitar was only invented in the 30s and really gained attention in the 40s, which was the same era as jump blues, the precursor rock and roll. I'm going to leave it for a bit and see if anyone else has any thoughts on it, but i think saying that "He is widely considered to be the most important electric guitar player of all time." Or to be more modest "of rock and roll" or "of the rock and roll era" --Cptbuck 01:08, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

Step-sister, not half-sister

Should not the article make it more clear that Janie Hendrix is not a blood relative of the Henrdrix family at all, and was Al Hendrix's adopted daughter?

Suicide?

From what I understand, this is still suspected. Am I outdated? A biography I read on Hendrix claimed it was almost definately the case.

Everything I've ever read made it clear that it was UNLIKELY that Hendrix would commit suicide at that time, and that it was certainly not "almost definately the case". There's plenty of mistakes in the many biographies out there. Don't trust just one.

Guitars

The section on his guitars needs editing. Why are some guitars lumped into one line at the bottom? Also, I think we should have a good source for this section. Regards encephalon 12:46, 23 October 2005 (UTC)

amen. and what the hell is a "Gibson stereo"?

I've changed "Black Widow acoustic" to "Acoustic Black Widow." Acoustic was an actual brand in the late 60s and early 70s which. I've seen Hendrix's on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, though I don't believe it's still on display there. There isn't much information about this guitar out there, but here's a page I found Acoustic Black Widow

First name

Just saw a quote on slashdot.org, where the name Robert was used as the firstname for Jimi Hendrix, not sure if this is right tough.
'Scuse me, while I kiss the sky! -- Robert James Marshall (Jimi) Hendrix
--havarhen | Talk 12:25, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

According to the biography _Electric Gypsy_, he was born Johnny Allen Hendrix which was legally changed into James Marshall Hendrix when he was (iirc) 3 years old.

• That is almost surely a misprint or mistake. Johnny Allen Hendrix -> James Marshall Hendrix are the only names I've ever heard, and I've been studying Hendrix for 20 years.

More photos

People, is there anyone out there who would care to upload more photos of our favourite Voodoo Child/Chile? Am a near techno-illiterate myself. Fergananim 12:59, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Name

Jimi was born "Johnny Allen Hendrix" not "James Marshall Hendrix." Wanka 03:57, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

If so, then I am sorry for the revert. But I guess then the name would have to be changed also in the lead of the article. However, on his tombstone it says 'Forever In Our Hearts -- James M. "Jimi" Hendrix -- 1942-1970' See [1]]. But hey, I am not an expert on Jimi Hendrix. I'll leave that to the regular people here. :) Garion1000 (talk) 02:16, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

His name was legally changed to James Marshall Hendrix. I just wanted it to be set as "born Johnny Allen Hendrix" because "His father, after returning from World War II, legally renamed him James Marshall Hendrix." when it says he was born James Marshall Hendrix seems a bit strange, doesn't it? Wanka 03:57, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

Indeed, I managed to skip over the rename part in the article. Garion1000 (talk) 03:36, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

Why shouldn't it say "born Johnny Allen Hendrix"? That was his original name. Just mention that his name was changed later.

POV

I removed a blatant piece of POV. The bit about the Star Spangled Banner is better suited to allmusic or something, but not wikipedia. daleki 05:20, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

Can't spk for anybody else, but the criticism of his "Star Spangled " is bogus. It was magnificent. Trekphiler 01:31, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Say what?

That first sentence about the one-string ukulele sure sounds dumb, and it wasn't there last time I looked. Sounds unsubstantiable and stilted. I'm not taking it out, but I just wanted to say that the second sentence in that paragraph is a much better place to start. We all want to put in our two cents, I know, but that two cents is bad.

Effect Pedals

That eBow addition is patently false. Jimi Hendrix did not have or use an eBow. See http://www.ebow.com/ebow/history.htm for the inventor's own timeline. Absolutely false claim as to Hendrix's use. There is no reason for that to be there.

Estate, legal wranglings

I feel that this section really has no additive value to this article. It isn't really about Jimi at all, but rather his money. Because of the size of the article already, I am going to delete this section within 24 hours unless there are any strong objections. RENTASTRAWBERRY ^{FOR LET?} röck 05:36, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

You're Fired

Didn't notice this (& maybe nobody cares), but I've heard JH got fired by Little Richard for missing the bus, once... Trekphiler 01:31, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Where'd you hear? Can you document? Sounds interesting and relevant to me (Hendrix admirer when he was alive). --ILike2BeAnonymous 05:06, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Improvisation skills

Sometimes I've read that Hendrix was especially good improviser. This is probably true, but I haven't found any further information from the internet. If anybody could write something about his skills as an improviser, that would be nice. --128.214.205.5 13:27, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Hmm; seems to me this is one of those things that's self-evident, like the fact that the sky is blue: no supporting documentation needed. Is it possible you haven't listened to any of Hendrix's music? In any case, I can attest, having grown up listening to his recordings as well as having seen him live, that he was indeed an exquisitely masterful improviser. --ILike2BeAnonymous 19:51, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

Patriotic

Was he "deeply patriotic" as this article claims? He supported official views of vietnam war first, but I have got the picture he changed his views a bit in his last years. I don't remember anything that directly tells us that he was "deeply patriotic". Patriotic in some sense he might have been... --128.214.205.5 13:32, 11 January 2006 (UTC)