Jimi Hendrix's Biography: Jimi Hendrix

Johnny Allen Hendrix was born to James Allen "Al" Hendrix and Lucille Jeter in Seattle, Washington on 27th November, 1942. For much of his infant life, his father was absent due to serving with the military in France until discharge on September 1st, 1945. Upon his return Johnny Allen's name was changed legally to James Marshall in 1946. Aged 9 James Marshall saw his parent's get divorced after several years of troubled marriage, which affected him profoundly. His father won rights to custody. Thereafter James Marshal was raised along with younger siblings Leon, Joseph, Kathy and Pamela under the strict upbringing of their paternal grandmother in Vancouver.

Despite a life that saw parents getting divorced and his mother dying in 1959, he was a successful student at junior school in Washington. Here he passed his leaving exams with good results. This aside, he was known to have socialised among kids with mixed cultural backgrounds; African, European and Asian. He was exposed to different styles of music from various parts of the world. It was also around this time that he bought his first guitar and began learning songs by B.B. King and Muddy Waters among others, as is stated by The Famous People website's biography, Jimi Hendrix Biography - Jimmy Hendrix Childhood, Life & Timeline (2014). Soon after learning guitar he found himself playing various gigs in the local area, his first being in the Temple de Hirsch, a synagogue in Seattle. It wasn’t long before he found himself in more formal line-ups such as the Velvetones, then the Rocking Kings and eventually, Birdland. It was here that he learned many of his onstage tricks and crafted his showmanship which he would later become revered and immortalised in memory for as a frontman i...

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...chedelic movement during the 1960’s and his image made him an icon in the UK whereas in the US he was perceived as too outlandish initially but he helped spearhead the more flamboyant dress sense of bellbottoms, floral shirts, flamboyant colours, floral and paisley patterns that is commonly associated with the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Politically, Hendrix always took an anti-war stance, so much so that he performed the Star Spangled Banner at every live show for over a year in protest of the Vietnam War, and most famously at Woodstock in 1969, and continuing to play it in the southern states while touring despite threats. It was perhaps this contempt and also the lack of recognition that helped Jimi to feel more at home in the UK than in America. But also the more accepting culture in the UK could have motivated Jimi to want a change for the better in American society.