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The legend lives on in his fans' hearts
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Three decades after his death, Hendrix' works continue to generate interest among his fans
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Although deriving influences mostly from his blues roots, Jimi Hendrix branched out in other directions as well, jamming with jazz legends John McLaughlin and Larry Coryell. Famous admirers included Miles Davis and Bob Dylan himself, the guitar wizard recording the bard's versions of Like a rolling stone and All along the watchtower. Dylan returned the compliment with an adaptation of All along the watchtower, which would be performed by U2 in later years.
Pressure from Black Power proponents, calling him to perform only in all-black groups, took its toll on the Experience. Redding left and was replaced by Hendrix's army buddy Billy Cox. Mitchell stayed on for a while but by August 1969, the group was disbanded. The album Smash Hits was released the same year and went double-platinum.
At Woodstock, he performed his version of the Star Spangled Banner with the Electric Sky Church and later assembled the all-black Band of Gypsys, which had Cox and Buddy Miles for drummer. In August 1970, the Isle of Wight festival became his last as did The Cry of Love turn out to be his last album. Shortly after, he was found dead, the cause in the coroner's report being `inhalation of vomit after barbiturate intoxication'.
Penning tribute
Over a dozen books were written about Hendrix, that included those by ex-band members Redding and Mitchell. The legend grew over the years, so much so that every note he recorded was sold on nearly 100 albums, tracing his displays from days as a pickup guitarist to bootleg concerts. As late as 1990s, Hendrix tributes hit the market, including The Hendrix Set in 1993, released by former Bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers.
An audio-visual exhibition of his work called `Jimi Hendrix: On the road again,' did the rounds of college campuses and art galleries in the US that attracted audiences not perhaps born in his time! In the mid-70s, Hendrix's father Al had sold his son's work to various international corporations. Two decades later, he claimed he had been misled.
With help from Paul Allen, a die-hard Hendrix fan and co-founder of Microsoft with Bill Gates, Al regained complete control over his son's work in 1995. A string of fresh releases emerged, all of which fared well commercially.
Allen further funded a Jimi Hendrix museum, which grew into the $ 100 million Experience Music Project. It took eight years to take shape and opened at the Seattle Center in 2000.
A. GEORGE ANTONY
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