A Long Walk Home
...Marshall Hendrix have made him impossible to forget. This
American rock music guitarist made a legendary mark not only in
the history of rock 'n' roll but also on the pop culture as a
whole (Ross 32). With unique techniques never seen before and
blatant sex-related performances on stage, he became one of the
most influential music figures of the 60s (Kamin).
Hendrix was not born into stardom nor was it given to him by
any means. He strived all throughout his life to be the very
best. Johnny Allen Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 in
Seattle, Washington to Al and Lucille Hendrix, and not until four
years later did his father change his son's name to James
Marshall Hendrix. He certainly did not lead an easy life with
his sporadic schooling and his parents' divorce in 1958. Added
to the building pressures, his mother died just one year later
("Jimi", Rolling 42).
Hendrix purchased his first guitar in 1958, probably to
relieve tensions as it was the same year his parents divorced.
It was a used acoustic for which he paid only five dollars. At
the age of seventeen with only one year's playing experience, he
joined his first band, the Rocking Kings. It may be hard to
imagine because of his image, but Hendrix was also in the Army
for a brief period of time. He was soon discharged as a result
of "medical unsuitability" after a parachuting accident in which
he landed on his ankle ("Jimi", Rolling 42). He ventured back to
his hometown of Seattle and began playing with Bobby Taylor and
the Vancouvers (Wolters, "Pre-Experience").
He seized the opportunity to go on the road after being
discovered by Little Richard in 1963 but soon regretted the
decision because he felt the tour was degrading, and he was
constrained as being a sideman to Richard. His guitar was used
as little more than a background rhythm instrument, but...
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