Song:Wild Thing
Album:Voodo Child: The Jimi Hendrix Collection
Jimi Hendrix was a star for only four years but his influence is much larger than that. I guess some fans think he just fell out of the sky but he served a lengthy apprenticeship on the "Chitlin Circuit" and only became a solo artist because Chas Chandler saw something in him. He was born Nov. 27, 1942 in Seattle but had a very unstable childhood and moved around a lot. The one thing he did get was a love for music. After he got out of the Army in 1961, he moved to Nashville and backed up various bands on the Chitlin Circuit. He moved to New York in 1964 and an Apollo Theatre talent contest win got him a job as guitarist for The Isley Brothers. Then he moved to Atlanta and toured with Little Richard. He also toured with Joey Dee & Curtis Knight and by 1966, he was playing a lot of sessions. Eventually he was referred to Animals bassist Chas Chandler. The Animals were at an end in 1966 and Chandler was looking for artists to produce and he brought Hendrix to London and formed The Jimi Hendrix Experience with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell. The rest is history. Wild Thing was already a big hit for the British group The Troggs and Hendrix put his own unique stamp on the song on this performnce of the song at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival complete with burning guitar. It 's famous performance because it was filmed for a documentary and you can get it on this 2CD comp that is a pretty good intro for beginners. Of course everyone knows that Jimi Hendrix died due to a drug overdose on Sept. 18, 1970 at age 27 but his legend has only grown over the years and his music is essential listening. Here's Jimi Hendrix performing Wild Thing at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.
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