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Electric Ladyland

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Flanging / ˈ f l æ n dʒ ɪ ŋ / is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds . This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and notches are produced in the resulting frequency spectrum , related to each other in a linear harmonic series . Varying the time delay causes these to sweep up and down the frequency spectrum. A flanger is an effects unit that creates this effect.

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134-657: Electric Ladyland is the third and final studio album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience , released in October 1968. A double album , it was the only record from the Experience with production solely credited to Hendrix. The band's most commercially successful release and its only number one album, it was released by Reprise Records in the United States on October 16, 1968, and by Track Records in

268-793: A Curtis Knight and the Squires single in 1966. Feeling restricted by his experiences as an R&B sideman, Hendrix moved in 1966 to New York City's Greenwich Village , which had a vibrant and diverse music scene. There, he was offered a residency at the Cafe Wha? on MacDougal Street and formed his own band that June, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames , which included future Spirit guitarist Randy California . The Blue Flames played at several clubs in New York and Hendrix began developing his guitar style and material that he would soon use with

402-403: A "true classic of the psychedelic rock era". In a retrospective review for Blender , Christgau wrote that it was the definitive work of psychedelic music , describing the record as "an aural utopia that accommodates both ingrained conflict and sweet, vague spiritual yearnings, held together by a master musician". In Charlotte Greig 's opinion, much like Are You Experienced , Electric Ladyland

536-412: A black American entertainer should and could look like." The Experience went on to perform renditions of "Hey Joe", B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby", Chip Taylor 's " Wild Thing ", and Bob Dylan 's " Like a Rolling Stone ", and four original compositions: " Foxy Lady ", "Can You See Me", "The Wind Cries Mary", and "Purple Haze". The set ended with Hendrix destroying his guitar and tossing pieces of it out to

670-665: A career opportunity, he played the Harlem club circuit and sat in with various bands. At the recommendation of a former associate of Joe Tex , Ronnie Isley granted Hendrix an audition that led to an offer to become the guitarist with the Isley Brothers ' backing band, the I.B. Specials, which he readily accepted. In March 1964, Hendrix recorded the two-part single " Testify " with the Isley Brothers. Released in June, it failed to chart. In May, he provided guitar instrumentation for

804-589: A closet in their home. His relationship with his brother Leon (born 1948) was close but precarious; with Leon in and out of foster care, they lived with an almost constant threat of fraternal separation. In addition to Leon, Hendrix had three younger siblings: Joseph, born in 1949, Kathy in 1950, and Pamela in 1951, all of whom Al and Lucille gave up to foster care and adoption. The family frequently moved, staying in cheap hotels and apartments around Seattle. On occasion, family members would take Hendrix to Vancouver to stay at his grandmother's. A shy and sensitive boy, he

938-558: A color photo by Linda Eastman (later known as Linda McCartney following her marriage with Paul McCartney ) of the group sitting with children on the sculpture of Alice in Wonderland in Central Park , and drew a picture of it for reference. The company instead used a blurred red and yellow photo of his head while performing at Saville Theatre , taken by Karl Ferris . Track Records used its art department, which produced

1072-402: A comb filter with irregularly spaced teeth. In both phasing and flanging, the characteristics (phase response and time delay respectively) are generally varied in time, leading to an audible sweeping effect. To the ear, flanging and phasing sound similar, yet they are recognizable as distinct colorations. Commonly, flanging is referred to as having a "jet-plane-like" characteristic. In order for

1206-534: A concert at the Whisky a Go Go , the Experience was booked as the opening act for the first American tour of the Monkees . The Monkees requested Hendrix as a supporting act because they were fans, but their young audience disliked the Experience, who left the tour after six shows. Chandler later said he engineered the tour to gain publicity for Hendrix. The second Experience album, Axis: Bold as Love , opens with

1340-481: A cover image by photographer David Montgomery , who also shot the inside cover portrait of Hendrix, depicting nineteen nude women lounging in front of a black background. Hendrix expressed initial displeasure and surprise with this "naked lady" cover (but later told Rolling Stone magazine that he "dug it anyway"), much as he was displeased with the Axis: Bold as Love cover, which he found disrespectful. The cover

1474-417: A final photo. It would become one of the most famous images in rock and roll. Caraeff stood on a chair next to the edge of the stage and took four monochrome pictures of Hendrix burning his guitar. Caraeff was close enough to the fire that he had to use his camera to protect his face from the heat. Rolling Stone later colorized the image, matching it with other pictures taken at the festival before using

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1608-505: A frantic version of the Howlin' Wolf song " Killing Floor ". In 1989, Clapton described the performance: "He played just about every style you could think of, and not in a flashy way. I mean he did a few of his tricks, like playing with his teeth and behind his back, but it wasn't in an upstaging sense at all, and that was it ... He walked off, and my life was never the same again". In mid-October 1966, Chandler arranged an engagement for

1742-403: A guitar gained the attention of the school's social worker. After more than a year of his clinging to a broom like a security blanket , she wrote a letter requesting school funding intended for underprivileged children, insisting that leaving him without a guitar might result in psychological damage. Her efforts failed, and Al refused to buy him a guitar. In 1957, while helping his father with

1876-524: A loosely organized band, the Casuals. Hendrix completed his paratrooper training and, on January 11, 1962, Major General Charles W. G. Rich awarded him the prestigious Screaming Eagles patch. By February, his personal conduct had begun to draw criticism from his superiors. They labeled him an unqualified marksman and often caught him napping while on duty and failing to report for bed checks. On May 24, Hendrix's platoon sergeant, James C. Spears, filed

2010-524: A management and production contract with himself and ex-Animals manager Michael Jeffery . That night, Hendrix gave an impromptu solo performance at The Scotch of St James and began a relationship with Kathy Etchingham that lasted for two and a half years. Following Hendrix's arrival in London, Chandler began recruiting members for a band designed to highlight his talents, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hendrix met guitarist Noel Redding at an audition for

2144-580: A medical discharge after breaking his ankle during his 26th parachute jump, but no Army records have been produced that indicate that he received or was discharged for any injuries. In September 1962, after Cox was discharged from the Army, he and Hendrix moved about 20 miles (32 km) across the state line from Fort Campbell to Clarksville , Tennessee, and formed a band, the King Kasuals. In Seattle, Hendrix saw Butch Snipes play with his teeth and now

2278-629: A medium for Hendrix's guitar feedback improvisation and " Fire " was driven by Mitchell's drumming. Released in the UK on May 12, 1967, Are You Experienced spent 33 weeks on the charts, peaking at number two. It was prevented from reaching the top spot by the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band . On June 4, 1967, Hendrix opened a show at the Saville Theatre in London with his rendition of Sgt. Pepper 's title track , which

2412-511: A mixture of rock, freak-out, rave and blues". Through a distribution deal with Polydor Records , the Experience's first single, "Hey Joe", backed with "Stone Free", was released on December 16, 1966. After appearances on the UK television shows Ready Steady Go! and Top of the Pops , "Hey Joe" entered the UK charts on December 29 and peaked at number six. Further success came in March 1967 with

2546-408: A mutual friend. Mitchell, who had recently been fired from Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames , participated in a rehearsal with Redding and Hendrix where they found common ground in their shared interest in rhythm and blues. When Chandler phoned Mitchell later that day to offer him the position, he readily accepted. Chandler also convinced Hendrix to change the spelling of his first name from Jimmy to

2680-444: A process in the spring of 1966. Tired of laboriously re-recording dual vocal tracks, John Lennon asked Townsend if there was some way for the Beatles to get the sound of double-tracked vocals without doing the work. Townsend devised automatic double tracking (ADT). According to historian Mark Lewisohn , it was Lennon who first called the technique "flanging". Lennon asked George Martin to explain how ADT worked, and Martin answered with

2814-614: A program produced and aired on Nashville TV station WLAC-TV (now WTVF ). Performing in Little Richard's ensemble band, he backed up vocalists Buddy and Stacy on " Shotgun ". The video recording of the show marks the earliest known footage of Hendrix performing. Richard and Hendrix often clashed over tardiness, wardrobe, and Hendrix's stage antics, and in late July, Richard's brother Robert fired him. On July 27, Hendrix signed his first recording contract with Juggy Murray at Sue Records and Copa Management. He then briefly rejoined

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2948-614: A recording session for her single, which included the Arthur Lee penned "My Diary" as the A-side , and "Utee" as the B-side. Hendrix played guitar on both tracks, which also included background vocals by Lee. The single failed to chart, but Hendrix and Lee began a friendship that lasted several years; Hendrix later became an ardent supporter of Lee's band, Love . In July 1965, Hendrix made his first television appearance on Night Train ,

3082-484: A report in which he stated: "He has no interest whatsoever in the Army ;... It is my opinion that Private Hendrix will never come up to the standards required of a soldier. I feel that the military service will benefit if he is discharged as soon as possible." On June 29, 1962, Hendrix was granted a general discharge under honorable conditions . Hendrix later spoke of his dislike of the army and that he had received

3216-463: A rock-era pop recording occurs in the Small Faces ' 1967 single " Itchycoo Park ", recorded at Olympic and engineered by Chkiantz's colleague Glyn Johns . The first stereo flanging is credited to producer Eddie Kramer , in the coda of Jimi Hendrix 's " Bold as Love " (1967). Kramer said in the 1990s that he read BBC Radiophonic Workshop journals for ideas and circuit diagrams . In 1968,

3350-459: A series of peaks and troughs in the frequency response of the system. In general, the position of these peaks and troughs do not occur in a harmonic series . In contrast, flanging relies on adding the signal to a uniform time-delayed copy of itself, which results in an output signal with peaks and troughs which are in a harmonic series. Extending the comb analogy, flanging yields a comb filter with regularly spaced teeth, whereas phasing results in

3484-451: A show experience that would define him from then on: when trying to escape in panic from a frenetic audience that had pulled him off the stage, he smashed his guitar for the first time in a sound explosion on stage, which was perceived by the audience as part of the show. Observing the audience's reaction, Chandler decided that this show of violence had to become a permanent feature of the Experience's show. In mid-November, they performed at

3618-564: A side-job, Hendrix found a ukulele among the garbage they were removing from an older woman's home. She told him that he could keep the instrument, which had only one string. Learning by ear, he played single notes, following along to Elvis Presley songs, particularly " Hound Dog ". By the age of 33, Hendrix's mother Lucille had developed cirrhosis of the liver, and on February 2, 1958, she died when her spleen ruptured. Al refused to take James and Leon to attend their mother's funeral; he instead gave them shots of whiskey and told them that

3752-546: A single overnight session, but they could not match the quality of the lost mix of " If 6 Was 9 ". Redding had a tape recording of this mix, which had to be smoothed out with an iron as it had gotten wrinkled. During the verses, Hendrix doubled his singing with a guitar line which he played one octave lower than his vocals. Hendrix voiced his disappointment about having re-mixed the album so quickly, and he felt that it could have been better had they been given more time. Axis featured psychedelic cover art that depicts Hendrix and

3886-434: A single pair of the birds that were released by Hendrix on Carnaby Street in the 1960s. According to a study, however, which mapped historical news reports of sightings of the birds, the myth is not true. After the UK chart success of their first two singles, "Hey Joe" and "Purple Haze", the Experience began assembling material for a full-length LP. In London, recording began at De Lane Lea Studios , and later moved to

4020-696: A stop in Los Angeles in February 1965, he recorded his first and only single with Richard, "I Don't Know What You Got (But It's Got Me)", written by Don Covay and released by Vee-Jay Records . Richard's popularity was waning at the time, and the single peaked at number 92, where it remained for one week before dropping off the chart. Hendrix met singer Rosa Lee Brooks while staying at the Wilcox Hotel in Hollywood, and she invited him to participate in

4154-484: A three-day event held at Denver 's Mile High Stadium that was marked by police using tear gas to control the audience. The band narrowly escaped from the venue in the back of a rental truck, which was partly crushed by fans who had climbed on top of the vehicle. Before the show, a journalist angered Redding by asking why he was there; the reporter then informed him that two weeks earlier Hendrix announced that he had been replaced with Billy Cox. The next day, Redding quit

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4288-594: A three-year recording contract with entrepreneur Ed Chalpin on October 15. While the relationship with Chalpin was short-lived, his contract remained in force, which later caused legal and career problems for Hendrix. During his time with Knight, Hendrix briefly toured with Joey Dee and the Starliters , and worked with King Curtis on several recordings including Ray Sharpe 's two-part single, "Help Me". Hendrix earned his first composer credits for two instrumentals, "Hornets Nest" and "Knock Yourself Out", released as

4422-485: A variable notch filter . The term "flanging" comes from one of the early methods of producing the effect. The finished music track is recorded simultaneously to two matching tape machines , then replayed with both decks in sync. The output from the two recorders is mixed to a third recorder. The engineer slows down one playback recorder by lightly pressing a finger on the flange (rim) of the supply reel. The drainpipe or subtle swoosh effect sweeps in one direction, and

4556-525: A while, and then went back to my flat." The last Experience sessions that included Redding—a re-recording of "Stone Free" for use as a possible single release—took place on April 14 at Olmstead and the Record Plant in New York. Hendrix then flew bassist Billy Cox to New York; they started recording and rehearsing together on April 21. The last performance of the original Experience lineup took place on June 29, 1969, at Barry Fey's Denver Pop Festival ,

4690-521: Is "undoubtedly a rock album, albeit rock on the point of evolving into something else." Uncut magazine's John Robinson said that its music reconciles the psychedelic pop of Hendrix's earlier recordings with the aggressive funk he would explore on his 1970 album Band of Gypsys . During its recording, Kramer experimented with innovative studio techniques such as backmasking , chorus effect , echo , and flanging , which AllMusic 's Cub Koda said recontextualized Hendrix's psychedelic and funk sounds on

4824-404: Is an early example of a studio device that was able to successfully simulate tape flanging using bucket-brigades to create the audio delay. The flanging effect in most newer digital flangers relies on DSP technology. Flanging can also be accomplished using computer software. The original tape-flanging effect sounds a little different from electronic and software recreations. Not only

4958-488: Is similar to the Shepard tone effect, and is equivalent to an auditory " barber pole ". The sweep of the flanged sound seems to move in only one direction ("up" or "down") infinitely, instead of sweeping back-and-forth. While Shepard tones are created by generating a cascade of tones, fading in and out while sweeping the pitch either up or down, barber pole flanging uses a cascade of multiple delay lines, fading each one into

5092-498: Is the tape-flanging signal time-delayed, but response characteristics at different frequencies of the tape and tape heads introduced phase shifts into the signals as well. Thus, while the peaks and troughs of the comb filter are more or less in a linear harmonic series, there is a significant non-linear behaviour too, causing the timbre of tape-flanging to sound more like a combination of what came to be known as flanging and phasing. Also known as "infinite flanging", this sonic illusion

5226-616: Is widely regarded as the greatest guitarist in the history of popular music and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as "arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music." Born in Seattle , Washington, Hendrix began playing guitar at age 15. In 1961, he enlisted in the US Army, but was discharged the following year. Soon afterward, he moved to Clarksville , then Nashville , Tennessee, and began playing gigs on

5360-484: The Berkeley , California, home of a family friend named Mrs. Champ, who had taken care of and attempted to adopt Hendrix; this is where Al saw his son for the first time. After returning from service, Al reunited with Lucille, but his inability to find steady work left the family impoverished. They both struggled with alcohol, and often fought when intoxicated. The violence sometimes drove Hendrix to withdraw and hide in

5494-566: The Cheetah Club . During a performance, Linda Keith, the girlfriend of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards , noticed Hendrix and was "mesmerised" by his playing. She invited him to join her for a drink, and the two became friends. While Hendrix was playing as Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, Keith recommended him to Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham and producer Seymour Stein . They failed to see Hendrix's musical potential and rejected him. Keith referred him to Chas Chandler , who

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5628-686: The Don Covay song, " Mercy Mercy ". Issued in August by Rosemart Records and distributed by Atlantic , the track reached number 35 on the Billboard chart . Hendrix toured with the Isleys during much of 1964, but near the end of October, after growing tired of playing the same set every night, he left the band. Soon afterward, Hendrix joined Little Richard 's touring band, the Upsetters . During

5762-634: The Hotel Theresa in Harlem , where he befriended Lithofayne Pridgon, known as "Faye", who became his girlfriend. A Harlem native with connections throughout the area's music scene, Pridgon provided him with shelter, support, and encouragement. Hendrix also met the Allen twins, Arthur and Albert. In February 1964, Hendrix won first prize in the Apollo Theater amateur contest. Hoping to secure

5896-642: The London Astoria , Hendrix and Chandler discussed ways in which they could increase the band's media exposure. When Chandler asked journalist Keith Altham for advice, Altham suggested that they needed to do something more dramatic than the stage show of the Who, which involved the smashing of instruments. Hendrix joked: "Maybe I can smash up an elephant", to which Altham replied: "Well, it's a pity you can't set fire to your guitar". Chandler then asked road manager Gerry Stickells to procure some lighter fluid . During

6030-642: The chitlin' circuit , earning a place in the Isley Brothers ' backing band and later with Little Richard , with whom he continued to work through mid-1965. He then played with Curtis Knight and the Squires before moving to England in late 1966 after bassist Chas Chandler of the Animals became his manager. Within months, Hendrix had earned three UK top ten hits with his band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience (with its rhythm section consisting of bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell ): " Hey Joe ", " Purple Haze ", and " The Wind Cries Mary ". He achieved fame in

6164-443: The chitlin' circuit . In addition to playing in his own band, Hendrix performed as a backing musician for various soul, R&B, and blues musicians, including Wilson Pickett , Slim Harpo , Sam Cooke , Ike & Tina Turner and Jackie Wilson . In January 1964, feeling he had outgrown the circuit artistically, and frustrated by having to follow the rules of bandleaders, Hendrix decided to venture out on his own. He moved into

6298-561: The 100 Greatest Rock Albums Ever, and number 37 on The Times ' 100 Best Albums of All Time. Music journalist and author Peter Doggett argued that it is very likely the greatest rock album of all time because of its exceptional concept, artful melodies, experimentation, and skilled musicianship, which he felt remains unparalleled by any other rock artist. The album was included in "A Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of

6432-451: The 1993 MCA compact disc liner notes. The Jimi Hendrix Experience Additional musicians Production Digital remastering Sales figures based on certification alone. Shipments figures based on certification alone. The Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall " Jimi " Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix ; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, songwriter and singer. He

6566-613: The Bag O'Nails nightclub in London, with Clapton, John Lennon , Paul McCartney , Jeff Beck , Pete Townshend , Brian Jones , Mick Jagger , and Kevin Ayers in attendance. Ayers described the crowd's reaction as stunned disbelief: "All the stars were there, and I heard serious comments, you know 'shit', 'Jesus', 'damn' and other words worse than that." The performance earned Hendrix his first interview, published in Record Mirror with

6700-498: The Beatles' influence meant the term "flanging" is still in use today, more than 50 years later. The first Beatles track to feature flanging was " Tomorrow Never Knows " from Revolver , recorded on 6 April 1966. When Revolver was released on 5 August 1966, almost every song had been subjected to flanging. Others have attributed it to George Chkiantz , an engineer at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London . Another flanging instance on

6834-551: The Experience and returned to London. He announced that he had left the band and intended to pursue a solo career, blaming Hendrix's plans to expand the group without allowing for his input as a primary reason for leaving. Redding later said: "Mitch and I hung out a lot together, but we're English. If we'd go out, Jimi would stay in his room. But any bad feelings came from us being three guys who were traveling too hard, getting too tired, and taking too many drugs ... I liked Hendrix. I don't like Mitchell." Flanging Part of

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6968-621: The Experience as Johnny Hallyday 's supporting act during a brief tour of France. Thus, the Jimi Hendrix Experience performed their first show on October 13, 1966, at the Novelty in Evreux . Their enthusiastically received 15-minute performance at the Olympia theatre in Paris on October 18 marks the earliest known recording of the band. In late October, Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp , managers of

7102-453: The Experience as various avatars of Vishnu , incorporating a painting of them by Roger Law , from a photo-portrait by Karl Ferris . The painting was then superimposed on a copy of a mass-produced religious poster. Hendrix stated that the cover, which Track spent $ 5,000 producing, would have been more appropriate had it highlighted his American Indian heritage. He said: "You got it wrong ... I'm not that kind of Indian." Track released

7236-507: The Experience toured Scandinavia, West Germany, and gave their final two performances in France. On February 18 and 24, they played sold-out concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall , which were the last European appearances of this lineup. By February 1969, Redding had grown weary of Hendrix's unpredictable work ethic and his creative control over the Experience's music. During the previous month's European tour, interpersonal relations within

7370-434: The Experience, with Chandler as producer and engineers Eddie Kramer and Gary Kellgren , moved the sessions to the newly opened Record Plant Studios in New York. As the sessions progressed, Chandler became increasingly frustrated with Hendrix's perfectionism and his demands for repeated takes. Hendrix also allowed numerous friends and guests to join them in the studio, which contributed to a chaotic and crowded environment in

7504-570: The Experience. In September, they gave some of their last concerts at the Cafe Au Go Go in Manhattan , as the backing group for a singer and guitarist then billed as John Hammond . By May 1966, Hendrix was struggling to earn a living wage playing the R&;B circuit, so he briefly rejoined Curtis Knight and the Squires for an engagement at one of New York City's most popular nightspots,

7638-508: The Isley Brothers, and recorded a second single with them, "Move Over and Let Me Dance" backed with "Have You Ever Been Disappointed". Later that year, he joined a New York-based R&B band, Curtis Knight and the Squires, after meeting Knight in the lobby of a hotel where both men were staying. Hendrix performed with them for eight months. In October 1965, he and Knight recorded the single, "How Would You Feel" backed with "Welcome Home". Despite his two-year contract with Sue, Hendrix signed

7772-533: The Kasuals' second guitarist, Alphonso "Baby Boo" Young, was performing this guitar gimmick. Not to be upstaged, Hendrix also learned to play in this way. He later explained: "The idea of doing that came to me   ... in Tennessee. Down there you have to play with your teeth or else you get shot. There's a trail of broken teeth all over the stage." Although they began playing low-paying gigs at obscure venues,

7906-515: The New Animals, where Redding's knowledge of blues progressions impressed Hendrix. Another important criterion for Hendrix was fashion—according to author Keith Shadwick, "what he really liked was Redding's hairstyle." Chandler asked Redding if he wanted to play bass guitar in Hendrix's band; Redding agreed. Chandler began looking for a drummer and soon after contacted Mitch Mitchell through

8040-645: The Rocking Kings, which played professionally at venues such as the Birdland club. When his guitar was stolen after he left it backstage overnight, Al bought him a red Silvertone Danelectro . Before Hendrix was 19 years old, law authorities had twice caught him riding in stolen cars . Given a choice between prison or joining the Army , he chose the latter and enlisted on May 31, 1961. After completing eight weeks of basic training at Fort Ord , California, he

8174-642: The Seventies (1981). In 1999, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame , and in 2000, it was voted number 32 in Colin Larkin 's All Time Top 1000 Albums . In 2003, Q magazine named Electric Ladyland as one of the 100 greatest albums. Rolling Stone ranked it 54th in the 2003 edition of its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" publication and 53rd in the 2020 edition. The original US Reprise and UK Track albums did not list running times for

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8308-599: The UK nine days later. By mid-November, it had reached number 1 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, spending two weeks there. In the UK it peaked at number 6, where it spent 12 weeks on the British charts. Electric Ladyland includes a cover of Bob Dylan 's " All Along the Watchtower ", which became the Experience's best-selling single, reaching number six in the UK and number 20 in the United States. Although

8442-543: The UK number three hit " Purple Haze ", and in May with " The Wind Cries Mary ", which remained on the UK charts for eleven weeks, peaking at number six. On March 12, 1967, he performed at the Troutbeck Hotel, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, where, after about 900 people turned up (the hotel was licensed for 250) the local police stopped the gig due to safety concerns. On March 31, 1967, while the Experience waited to perform at

8576-874: The US after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and in 1968 his third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland , reached number one on the US Billboard 200 . The double LP was Hendrix's most commercially successful release and his only number one album. The world's highest-paid rock musician, he headlined the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 before his accidental death in London from barbiturate -related asphyxia in September 1970. Hendrix

8710-632: The US on August 23 by Reprise Records , Are You Experienced reached number five on the Billboard 200 . In 1989, Noe Goldwasser, the founding editor of Guitar World , described Are You Experienced as "the album that shook the world ... leaving it forever changed". In 2005, Rolling Stone called the double-platinum LP Hendrix's "epochal debut", and they ranked it the 15th greatest album of all time, noting his "exploitation of amp howl", and characterizing his guitar playing as "incendiary ... historic in itself". Although popular in Europe at

8844-494: The US public. After the festival, the Experience was booked for five concerts at Bill Graham's Fillmore , with Big Brother and the Holding Company and Jefferson Airplane . The Experience outperformed Jefferson Airplane during the first two nights and replaced them at the top of the bill on the fifth. Following their successful West Coast introduction, which included a free open-air concert at Golden Gate Park and

8978-580: The United States and UK between July 1967 and January 1968. Recording resumed on April 18, 1968, at the newly opened Record Plant Studios in New York City, with Chas Chandler as producer and engineers Eddie Kramer and Gary Kellgren . Hendrix was famous for his studio perfectionism; he and drummer Mitch Mitchell recorded over 50 takes of " Gypsy Eyes " over three sessions. Hendrix was insecure about his voice and often recorded his vocals hidden behind studio screens. He sang backing vocals himself on

9112-488: The Watchtower" became the band's top-selling single and their only US top 40 hit, peaking at number 20; it reached number five in the UK. The album also included one of Hendrix's most prominent uses of a wah-wah pedal , on "Burning of the Midnight Lamp", which reached number 18 in the UK charts. Hendrix had written to Reprise describing what he wanted for the cover art , but was mostly ignored. He expressly asked for

9246-656: The Who , signed the Experience to their newly formed label, Track Records , and the group recorded their first song, "Hey Joe", on October 23. " Stone Free ", which was Hendrix's first songwriting effort after arriving in England, was recorded on November 2. From November 8 to 11, 1966, The Jimi Hendrix Experience had a short residency at the Big Apple club in Munich , their first gigs in Germany. At this occasion Hendrix had

9380-570: The Year. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Rolling Stone has ranked the band's three studio albums, Are You Experienced (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (1967), and Electric Ladyland (1968), in its various lists of the " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ", and it ranked Hendrix as the greatest guitarist and

9514-451: The acoustic guitar, Hendrix formed his first band, the Velvetones. Without an electric guitar, he could barely be heard over the sound of the group. After about three months, he realized that he needed an electric guitar. In mid-1959, his father relented and bought him a white Supro Ozark . Hendrix's first gig was with an unnamed band in the Jaffe Room of Seattle's Temple De Hirsch , but they fired him between sets for showing off. He joined

9648-477: The album confounded critics upon its release, it has since been viewed as one of Hendrix's best works and one of the greatest albums of all time, being featured on various "greatest albums" lists, including Q 's 2003 list of the 100 greatest albums and various editions of Rolling Stone ' s list of the " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ", on which it was ranked 53rd in the 2020 iteration. The Experience began recording Electric Ladyland at several studios in

9782-403: The album in the UK on December 1, 1967, where it peaked at number five, spending 16 weeks on the charts. In February 1968, Axis: Bold as Love reached number three in the US. While author and journalist Richie Unterberger described Axis as the least impressive Experience album, according to author Peter Doggett, the release "heralded a new subtlety in Hendrix's work". Mitchell said: " Axis

9916-678: The album is "the fullest realization of Jimi's far-reaching ambitions." In 2004, author Peter Doggett wrote: "For pure experimental genius, melodic flair, conceptual vision and instrumental brilliance, Electric Ladyland remains a prime contender for the status of rock's greatest album." Doggett described the LP as "a display of musical virtuosity never surpassed by any rock musician." In January 1969, after an absence of more than six months, Hendrix briefly moved back into his girlfriend Kathy Etchingham's apartment in Brook Street , London, next door to

10050-414: The album lacked structure and sounded too dense. Melody Maker called it "mixed-up and muddled", with the exception of "All Along the Watchtower", which the magazine called a masterpiece. Reviewing for Rolling Stone in 1968, Tony Glover said Hendrix's original songs sometimes sound unstructured and was somewhat disappointed by the "heavy handed guitar" on "1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" and

10184-497: The album. Electric Ladyland is a cross-section of Hendrix's wide range of musical talent. It includes examples of several genres and styles of music: the psychedelic " Burning of the Midnight Lamp ", a UK single the previous summer (1967), the extended blues jam " Voodoo Chile ", the New Orleans-style R&;B of Earl King 's " Come On ", the epic studio production of " 1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be) ",

10318-443: The audience. Rolling Stone 's Alex Vadukul wrote: When Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival he created one of rock's most perfect moments. Standing in the front row of that concert was a 17-year-old boy named Ed Caraeff . Caraeff had never seen Hendrix before nor heard his music, but he had a camera with him and there was one shot left in his roll of film. As Hendrix lit his guitar, Caraeff took

10452-654: The band eventually moved to Nashville 's Jefferson Street, which was the traditional heart of the city's black community and home to a thriving rhythm and blues music scene. They earned a brief residency playing at a popular venue in town, the Club del Morocco, and for the next two years Hendrix made a living performing at a circuit of venues throughout the South that were affiliated with the Theater Owners Booking Association (TOBA), widely known as

10586-474: The chorus, which culminates in what musicologist Andy Aledort described as "simply one of the greatest electric guitar solos ever played". The track fades out on tremolo-picked 32nd note double stops . The scheduled release date for Axis was almost delayed when Hendrix lost the master tape of side one of the LP, leaving it in the back seat of a London taxi. With the deadline looming, Hendrix, Chandler, and engineer Eddie Kramer remixed most of side one in

10720-403: The comb filter effect to be audible, the spectral content of the program material must be full enough within the frequency range of this moving comb filter to reveal the filter's effect. It is more apparent when it is applied to material with a rich harmonic content, and is most obvious when applied to a white noise or similar noise signal. If the frequency response of this effect is plotted on

10854-449: The condition that the Experience perform at the festival in mid-June. On June 18, 1967, introduced by Brian Jones as "the most exciting performer [he had] ever heard", Hendrix opened with a fast arrangement of Howlin' Wolf's song "Killing Floor", wearing what Shadwick described as "clothes as exotic as any on display elsewhere". Shadwick wrote: "[Hendrix] was not only something utterly new musically, but an entirely original vision of what

10988-450: The control room and led Chandler to sever his professional relationship with Hendrix. Redding later recalled: "There were tons of people in the studio; you couldn't move. It was a party, not a session." Redding, who had formed his own band in mid-1968, Fat Mattress , found it increasingly difficult to fulfill his commitments with the Experience, so Hendrix played many of the bass parts on Electric Ladyland . The album's cover stated that it

11122-477: The effect in the late 1940s and 1950s; however, he did most of his early phasing experiments with acetate disks on variable-speed record players. On "Mammy's Boogie" (1952) he used two disk recorders, one with a variable speed control. The first hit song with a very discernible flanging effect was " The Big Hurt " (1959) by Toni Fisher . Further development of the classic effect is attributed to Ken Townsend , an engineer at EMI 's Abbey Road Studio , who devised

11256-399: The first recording of stereo phasing . Shadwick described the composition as "possibly the most ambitious piece on Axis , the extravagant metaphors of the lyrics suggesting a growing confidence" in Hendrix's songwriting. His guitar playing throughout the song is marked by chordal arpeggios and contrapuntal motion , with tremolo -picked partial chords providing the musical foundation for

11390-512: The greatest double-albums in Rock." According to author Michael Heatley, "most critics agree" that the album was "the fullest realization of Jimi's far-reaching ambitions"; Guitar World editor Noe Goldwasser called it his greatest work. The record was also deemed an essential hard rock album in Tom Larson's 2004 book History of Rock and Roll , and Clash reviewer Robin Murray viewed it as

11524-438: The group had deteriorated, particularly between Hendrix and Redding. In his diary, Redding documented the building frustration during early 1969 recording sessions: "On the first day, as I nearly expected, there was nothing doing ... On the second it was no show at all. I went to the pub for three hours, came back, and it was still ages before Jimi ambled in. Then we argued ... On the last day, I just watched it happen for

11658-408: The guitar from him until he had begged for its return. In November 1961, fellow serviceman Billy Cox walked past an army club and heard Hendrix playing. Impressed by Hendrix's technique, which Cox described as a combination of " John Lee Hooker and Beethoven ", Cox borrowed a bass guitar and the two jammed . Within weeks, they began performing at base clubs on the weekends with other musicians in

11792-410: The headline: "Mr. Phenomenon". "Now hear this ... we predict that [Hendrix] is going to whirl around the business like a tornado", wrote Bill Harry , who asked the rhetorical question: "Is that full, big, swinging sound really being created by only three people?" Hendrix said: "We don't want to be classed in any category ... If it must have a tag, I'd like it to be called, 'Free Feeling'. It's

11926-433: The home of his girlfriend Betty Jean Morgan, asked his father to send it to him as soon as possible, stating: "I really need it now." His father obliged and sent the red Silvertone Danelectro on which Hendrix had hand-painted the words "Betty Jean" to Fort Campbell. His apparent obsession with the instrument contributed to his neglect of his duties, which led to taunting and physical abuse from his peers, who at least once hid

12060-455: The home of the composer Handel . After a performance of " Voodoo Child ", on BBC's Happening for Lulu show in January 1969, the band stopped midway through an attempt at their first hit "Hey Joe" and then launched into an instrumental version of " Sunshine of Your Love ", as a tribute to the recently disbanded band Cream , until director and producer Stanley Dorfman was forced to bring

12194-535: The lagging signal crosses over the leading signal and the signals change places. A similar "jet plane-like" effect can occur naturally in long distance shortwave radio music broadcasts. In this case the delays are caused by variable radio wave propagation time and multipath radio interference. In the 1970s, advances in solid-state electronics made flanging possible using integrated circuit technology. Solid-state flanging devices fall into two categories: analog and digital. The Eventide Instant Flanger from 1975

12328-450: The mix and fading it out as it sweeps to the delay time limit. The effect is available on various hardware and software effect systems. Flanging is one specific type of phase-shifting , or "phasing". In phasing, the signal is passed through one or more all-pass filters with non-linear phase response and then added back to the original signal. This results in constructive and destructive interference that varies with frequency, giving

12462-472: The more exotic Jimi . On October 1, 1966, Chandler brought Hendrix to the London Polytechnic at Regent Street, where Cream was scheduled to perform, and where Hendrix and guitarist Eric Clapton met. Clapton later said: "He asked if he could play a couple of numbers. I said, 'Of course', but I had a funny feeling about him." Halfway through Cream's set, Hendrix took the stage and performed

12596-403: The nonsense explanation "Now listen, it's very simple. We take the original image and we split it through a double vibrocated sploshing flange with double negative feedback". Lennon thought Martin was joking. Martin replied, "Well, let's flange it again and see". From that point, when Lennon wanted ADT he would ask for his voice to be flanged, or call out for "Ken's flanger". According to Lewisohn,

12730-449: The output signal is usually fed back to the input (a re-circulating delay line ), producing a resonance effect that further enhances the intensity of the peaks and troughs. The phase of the fed-back signal is sometimes inverted, producing another variation on the flanger sound. As an audio effect, a listener hears a drainpipe or swoosh or jet plane sweeping effect as shifting sum-and-difference harmonics are created analogous to use of

12864-442: The playback of that recorder remains slightly behind the other when the finger is removed. By pressing a finger on the flange of the other deck, the effect sweeps back in the other direction as the decks progress towards being in sync. The Beatles ' producer George Martin disputed this reel flange source, attributing the term to himself and John Lennon instead. Despite claims over who originated flanging, Les Paul discovered

12998-456: The prestigious Olympic Studios . The album, Are You Experienced , features a diversity of musical styles, including blues tracks such as " Red House " and the R&B song "Remember". It also included the experimental science fiction piece, " Third Stone from the Sun " and the post-modern soundscapes of the title track , with prominent backwards guitar and drums. "I Don't Live Today" served as

13132-629: The production exceptional—"the best job of stereo for its own sake I know"—and was surprisingly impressed by the quality of the lyrics. While most guitarists in rock believed improvisation to be a straightforward endeavor, Christgau said "Hendrix achieves unique effects, effects you'll never get from Kenny Burrell ", citing "Voodoo Chile" as an example. He later named Electric Ladyland the fifth-best album of 1968 in his ballot for Jazz & Pop magazine's critics poll. Over time, Electric Ladyland ' s critical standing improved significantly, with author and musicologist John Perry describing it as "one of

13266-478: The record producer for the Litter , Warren Kendrick, devised a method to precisely control flanging by placing two 15 ips (inches per second) stereo Ampex tape recorders side by side. The take-up reel of recorder A and supply reel of B were disabled, as were channel 2 of recorder A, channel 1 of recorder B and the erase head of recorder B. The tape was fed left-to-right across both recorders and an identical signal

13400-653: The science-fiction conclusion to "House Burning Down". Ultimately, Glover appreciated the "energy flow" unifying the songs and described Hendrix as "amazing", adding that Electric Ladyland serves as "an extended look into Hendrix's head, and mostly it seems to have some pretty good things in it (who among us is totally free of mental garbage?)". Robert Christgau was more enthusiastic in Stereo Review , regarding it as an explosive showcase of rock's "most important recent innovation"—the "heavy" guitar aesthetic—and "an integrated work-in-itself in more ways than one". He found

13534-414: The shot for a 1987 magazine cover. According to author Gail Buckland, the final frame of "Hendrix kneeling in front of his burning guitar, hands raised, is one of the most famous images in rock". Author and historian Matthew C. Whitaker wrote that "Hendrix's burning of his guitar became an iconic image in rock history and brought him national attention". The Los Angeles Times asserted that, upon leaving

13668-482: The show, Hendrix gave an especially dynamic performance before setting his guitar on fire at the end of a 45-minute set. In the wake of the stunt, members of London's press labeled Hendrix the "Black Elvis" and the "Wild Man of Borneo". An enduring urban legend in the UK maintains that a possible explanation for the feral parakeets that have appeared in Great Britain since the mid-20th century may derive from

13802-477: The show...Afterwards, Dorfman refused to speak to us, but the result is one of the most widely used bits of film we ever did. Certainly, it’s the most relaxed." Dorfman recalls at the BBC club after the show, he found Hendrix to be "a very sweet man, very quiet, he didn’t know he’d done anything wrong at all." However, according to rock and roll legend, Hendrix was banned from working at the BBC again. During this time,

13936-455: The single reached number five in the UK. " Burning of the Midnight Lamp ", his first recorded song to feature a wah-wah pedal , was added to the album. It was originally released as his fourth single in the UK in August 1967 and reached number 18 on the charts. In 1989, Noe Goldwasser, the founding editor of Guitar World , described Electric Ladyland as "Hendrix's masterpiece". According to author Michael Heatley, "most critics agree" that

14070-412: The sixth-greatest artist of all time. Hendrix was of African-American and alleged Cherokee descent . His paternal grandfather, Bertran Philander Ross Hendrix, was born in 1866 from an extramarital affair between a woman named Fanny and a grain merchant from either Urbana, Ohio or Illinois, one of the wealthiest men in the area at that time. Hendrix's paternal grandmother, Zenora "Nora" Rose Moore,

14204-558: The social commentary of "House Burning Down", and the sixties-era British pop of Noel Redding 's "Little Miss Strange". The album also features an electric reworking of the Bob Dylan song " All Along the Watchtower ", which has been highly acclaimed by critics as well as by Dylan himself, and also " Voodoo Child (Slight Return) ", a staple of both radio and guitar repertoire. Rolling Stone 's Holly George-Warren praised "Crosstown Traffic" for its hard rock guitar riff. "All Along

14338-451: The song to a premature end. The Experience bass player Noel Redding describes in his autobiography, "as the minutes ticked by on his live show, short of running onto the set to stop us or pulling the plug, there was nothing he could do. We played past the point where Lulu might have joined us, played through the time for talking at the end, played through Stanley tearing his hair, pointing to his watch and silently screaming at us. We played out

14472-437: The songs. Track lengths are taken from the 1968 International Polydor Production album. Some of the song titles differ slightly between the original US and UK album editions and between the titles shown on the album back cover, the inside liner notes, and the labels on the records themselves; the titles listed here are those shown on the record labels. All songs are written by Jimi Hendrix, except where noted. Credits taken from

14606-537: The stage, Hendrix "graduated from rumor to legend". Author John McDermott wrote that "Hendrix left the Monterey audience stunned and in disbelief at what they'd just heard and seen". According to Hendrix: "I decided to destroy my guitar at the end of a song as a sacrifice. You sacrifice things you love. I love my guitar." The performance was filmed by D. A. Pennebaker and included in the concert documentary Monterey Pop , which helped Hendrix gain popularity with

14740-415: The stockade, received a telegram announcing his son's birth. During Al's three-year absence, Lucille struggled to raise their son. When Al was away, Hendrix was mostly cared for by family members and friends, especially Lucille's sister Delores Hall and her friend Dorothy Harding. Al received an honorable discharge from the US Army on September 1, 1945. Two months later, unable to find Lucille, Al went to

14874-408: The studio; you couldn't move. It was a party, not a session." Redding, who had formed his own band in mid-1968, Fat Mattress , found it increasingly difficult to fulfill his commitments with the Experience, so Hendrix played many of the bass parts. The album's cover states that it was "produced and directed by Jimi Hendrix", which disturbed Chandler since he produced some of the songs. The double LP

15008-467: The time, the Experience's first US single, "Hey Joe", failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100 chart upon its release on May 1, 1967. Their fortunes improved when McCartney recommended them to the organizers of the Monterey Pop Festival . He insisted that the event would be incomplete without Hendrix, whom he called "an absolute ace on the guitar". McCartney agreed to join the board of organizers on

15142-437: The title track and on "Long Hot Summer Night". As recording progressed, Chandler became frustrated with Hendrix's perfectionism and his demands for repeated takes. Hendrix allowed friends and guests to join them in the studio, which contributed to a chaotic and crowded environment in the control room and led Chandler to sever his professional relationship with Hendrix. Bassist Noel Redding recalled: "There were tons of people in

15276-526: The track "EXP", which uses microphonic and harmonic feedback in a new, creative fashion. It also showcased an experimental stereo panning effect in which sounds emanating from Hendrix's guitar move through the stereo image, revolving around the listener. The piece reflected his growing interest in science fiction and outer space . He composed the album's title track and finale around two verses and two choruses, during which he pairs emotions with personas , comparing them to colors. The song's coda features

15410-433: Was "groundbreaking, introducing audiences to a style of psychedelic rock rooted in the blues". The Washington Post critic Geoffrey Himes names it an exemplary release of the progressive soul development from 1968 to 1973. Author Amy Wallace called the album a "classic of acid rock ." Electric Ladyland has been featured on many greatest album lists, including a number 10 ranking on Classic Rock magazine's list of

15544-592: Was "produced and directed by Jimi Hendrix". During the Electric Ladyland recording sessions, Hendrix began experimenting with other combinations of musicians, including Jefferson Airplane's Jack Casady and Traffic's Steve Winwood , who played bass and organ, respectively, on the 15-minute slow-blues jam, " Voodoo Chile ". During the album's production, Hendrix appeared at an impromptu jam with B.B. King, Al Kooper , and Elvin Bishop . Electric Ladyland

15678-531: Was Preston Jeter (born 1875), whose mother was born in similar circumstances as Bertran Philander Ross Hendrix. Lucille's mother, Clarice ( née Lawson), had African-American ancestors who had been enslaved people. Al, who had been drafted by the US Army to serve in World War II , left to begin his basic training three days after the wedding. Johnny Allen Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942, in Seattle; he

15812-528: Was a former dancer and vaudeville performer who co-founded Fountain Chapel in Hogan's Alley . Hendrix and Moore relocated to Vancouver , Canada, where they had a son they named James Allen Hendrix on June 10, 1919; the family called him "Al". In 1941, after moving to Seattle , Washington, Al met Lucille Jeter (1925–1958) at a dance; they married on March 31, 1942. Lucille's father (Jimi's maternal grandfather)

15946-408: Was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and stationed at Fort Campbell , Kentucky. He arrived on November 8, and soon afterward he wrote to his father: "There's nothing but physical training and harassment here for two weeks, then when you go to jump school ... you get hell. They work you to death, fussing and fighting." In his next letter home, Hendrix, who had left his guitar in Seattle at

16080-520: Was banned by several record dealers as "pornographic", while others sold it with the gatefold cover turned inside out, or in a brown wrapper. In France and the Benelux countries, Hendrix's recordings were released by Barclay Records , and Electric Ladyland featured a front cover photograph by Alain Dister , and inner sleeve photographs by Jean-Pierre Leloir and Donald Silverstein. Electric Ladyland

16214-403: Was deeply affected by his life experiences. In later years, he confided to a girlfriend that he had been the victim of sexual abuse by a man in uniform. On December 17, 1951, when Hendrix was nine years old, his parents divorced; the court granted Al custody of him and Leon. At Horace Mann Elementary School in Seattle during the mid-1950s, Hendrix's habit of carrying a broom with him to emulate

16348-533: Was how men should deal with loss. In 1958, Hendrix completed his studies at Washington Junior High School and began attending, but did not graduate from, Garfield High School . In mid-1958, at age 15, Hendrix acquired his first acoustic guitar, for $ 5 (equivalent to $ 53 in 2023). He played for hours daily, watching others and learning from more experienced guitarists, and listening to blues artists such as Muddy Waters , B.B. King , Howlin' Wolf , and Robert Johnson . The first tune Hendrix learned to play

16482-417: Was inspired by American rock and roll and electric blues . He favored overdriven amplifiers with high volume and gain , and was instrumental in popularizing the previously undesirable sounds caused by guitar amplifier feedback . He was also one of the first guitarists to make extensive use of tone-altering effects units in mainstream rock, such as fuzz distortion, Octavia , wah-wah , and Uni-Vibe . He

16616-468: Was leaving the Animals and was interested in managing and producing artists. Chandler saw Hendrix play in Cafe Wha? , a Greenwich Village, New York City nightclub. Chandler liked the Billy Roberts song " Hey Joe ", and was convinced he could create a hit single with the right artist. Impressed with Hendrix's version of the song, he brought him to London on September 24, 1966, and signed him to

16750-472: Was recorded on each channel of the tape, but displaced by approximately 18 inches along the length of the tape. During recording, an ordinary screwdriver was wedged between the recorders to make the tape run "uphill" and "downhill." The same configuration was employed during the playback/mixdown to a third recorder. The screwdriver was moved back and forth to cause the two signals to diverge, then converge. The latter technique permits zero point flanging; i.e.,

16884-483: Was released in the US on October 16, 1968. It was a "hit psychedelic album", Richie Unterberger later wrote, and by mid-November, it had reached number one in the US, spending two weeks atop the pop charts . The double LP was the Experience's most commercially successful release and Hendrix's only number-one album. In the UK, it peaked at number six and charted for 12 weeks. Electric Ladyland confounded contemporary critics; reviewers praised some of its songs but felt

17018-455: Was released just three days previous. Beatles manager Brian Epstein owned the Saville at the time, and both George Harrison and Paul McCartney attended the performance. McCartney described the moment: "The curtains flew back and he came walking forward playing 'Sgt. Pepper'. It's a pretty major compliment in anyone's book. I put that down as one of the great honors of my career." Released in

17152-480: Was released on October 25, and by mid-November it had reached number one in the US, spending two weeks at the top spot. The double LP was Hendrix's most commercially successful release and his only number one album. It peaked at number six in the UK, spending 12 weeks on the chart. Electric Ladyland included Hendrix's cover of a Bob Dylan song, " All Along the Watchtower ", which became Hendrix's highest-selling single and his only US top 40 hit, peaking at number 20;

17286-417: Was the first musician to use stereophonic phasing effects in recordings. Holly George-Warren of Rolling Stone commented: "Hendrix pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. Players before him had experimented with feedback and distortion, but Hendrix turned those effects and others into a controlled, fluid vocabulary every bit as personal as the blues with which he began." Hendrix

17420-531: Was the first of Lucille's five children. In 1946, Johnny's parents changed his name to James Marshall Hendrix, in honor of Al and his late brother Leon Marshall. Stationed in Alabama at the time of Hendrix's birth, Al was denied the standard military furlough afforded servicemen for childbirth; his commanding officer placed him in the stockade to prevent him from going AWOL to see his infant son in Seattle. He spent two months locked up without trial, and, while in

17554-526: Was the first time that it became apparent that Jimi was pretty good working behind the mixing board, as well as playing, and had some positive ideas of how he wanted things recorded. It could have been the start of any potential conflict between him and Chas in the studio." Recording for the Experience's third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland , began as early as December 20, 1967, at Olympic Studios. Several songs were attempted; however, in April 1968,

17688-673: Was the only Experience album mixed entirely in stereo. Hendrix experimented with other combinations of musicians, including Jefferson Airplane 's Jack Casady and Traffic 's Steve Winwood , who played bass and organ, respectively, on the 15-minute slow-blues jam " Voodoo Chile ". In March 1968, he was joined onstage at the Scene Club in New York by Jim Morrison of the Doors and in early April, Hendrix appeared at an impromptu jam with B.B. King , Al Kooper , and Elvin Bishop . According to music journalist David Stubbs , Electric Ladyland

17822-714: Was the recipient of several music awards during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1967, readers of Melody Maker voted him the Pop Musician of the Year and in 1968, Billboard named him the Artist of the Year and Rolling Stone declared him the Performer of the Year. Disc and Music Echo honored him with the World Top Musician of 1969 and in 1970, Guitar Player named him the Rock Guitarist of

17956-500: Was the television theme " Peter Gunn ". Around that time, Hendrix jammed with boyhood friend Sammy Drain and his keyboard-playing brother. In 1959, attending a concert by Hank Ballard & The Midnighters in Seattle, Hendrix met the group's guitarist Billy Davis . Davis showed him some guitar licks and got him a short gig with the Midnighters. The two remained friends until Hendrix's death in 1970. Soon after he acquired

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