78 YEARS AGO, A ROCK LEGEND WAS BORN IN SEATTLE ON THIS VERY DAY . HIS NAME: JOHNNY ALLEN. HE WOULD LATER BECOME JIMI HENDRIX, ONE OF THE GREATEST GUITARISTS IN THE WORLD.
The very man who helped develop the rock and roll sound that we hear listen to, was born today.
As a child, he would pretend his Dad's broom was a guitar, and his father, spotting the potential decided to buy him a real one, although it was a old second hand thing that only cost him $5 .A left-hander who took a right-handed Fender Stratocaster and played it upside down, Hendrix pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. Not only did this look unusual, but it meant that the Strat’s bridge pick-up was also reversed, making the lower strings more resonant and producing a unique sound.Players before Hendrix had experimented with feedback and distortion, but he turned those effects and others into a controlled, fluid vocabulary every bit as personal as the blues with which he began. Apart from his sublime skill in making his guitars sing, Hendrix is probably best known for smashing and setting fire to many of them.And to think, his first string instrument was a ukulele that started off with only one string.
Hundreds look up to Jimi Hendrix, as the God of Rock n Roll. And so, today, I think we should all spend a couple of minutes in remembrance of him by watching the video below. Jimi Hendrix, although you died of heart failure, you live on in the sound of the guitar. We salute you.
Hundreds look up to Jimi Hendrix, as the God of Rock n Roll. And so, today, I think we should all spend a couple of minutes in remembrance of him by watching the video below. Jimi Hendrix, although you died of heart failure, you live on in the sound of the guitar. We salute you.
