Post by erik on Jun 4, 2022 12:50:27 GMT -5
The only Top 40 hit for pioneering 1960's blues-rock guitarist and vocalist Jimi Hendrix is in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight.
ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER (Jimi Hendrix; Reprise; 1968)—Combining a wicked playing style that occasionally included playing his electric guitar behind his head and traditional blues riffs, Jimi Hendrix was among the single most influential musicians in rock and roll history, and especially during the 1960’s. Born in Seattle in the fall of 1942, he started playing electric guitar at the age of 15, during rock and roll’s first years. After spending a year in the U.S. Army (1961-62), he got his foot into the musical door by working wit the Isley Brothers and Little Richard; but success for him wasn’t forthcoming until he moved to England and fell under the managerial aegis of Chas Chandler, the bassist for The Animals. Indeed, his major initial success was in England, as his first three singles, “Hey Joe”; “Purple Haze”; and “The Wind Cries Mary” got into the Top Ten in 1967. He finally achieved success in his own country, when he set the stage alight with his appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967; in fact, it was quite literal when he set his electric guitar on fire, the first of many times for him. His hard-rocking style made him something of a pioneer for arena rock and heavy metal in the years to come, especially with his minor U.S. hit “Foxy Lady” at the beginning of 1968. That same year, his album Electric Ladyland gave him his biggest singles success with “All Along The Watchtower”. Written and recorded in Nashville in late 1967 by Bob Dylan for his C&W-influenced album John Wesley Harding, this mystical, quasi-religious song was instantly snapped up by Hendrix; and, much to Dylan’s delight, and Hendrix’s as well, “All Along The Watchtower” managed to reach #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1968. Hendrix would make a prominent appearance at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969, attracting a measure of both admiration and controversy for his stinging version of “The Star-Spangled Banner”, as well as England’s Isle of Wight Festival in August 1970. Sadly, however, Hendrix also had a long relationship to drugs and booze; and on September 18, 1970, about a month and a half before he would have turned 28, he died a spectacularly ugly death, choking on his own vomit after consuming alcohol while on tour in England. Hendrix was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER (Jimi Hendrix; Reprise; 1968)—Combining a wicked playing style that occasionally included playing his electric guitar behind his head and traditional blues riffs, Jimi Hendrix was among the single most influential musicians in rock and roll history, and especially during the 1960’s. Born in Seattle in the fall of 1942, he started playing electric guitar at the age of 15, during rock and roll’s first years. After spending a year in the U.S. Army (1961-62), he got his foot into the musical door by working wit the Isley Brothers and Little Richard; but success for him wasn’t forthcoming until he moved to England and fell under the managerial aegis of Chas Chandler, the bassist for The Animals. Indeed, his major initial success was in England, as his first three singles, “Hey Joe”; “Purple Haze”; and “The Wind Cries Mary” got into the Top Ten in 1967. He finally achieved success in his own country, when he set the stage alight with his appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967; in fact, it was quite literal when he set his electric guitar on fire, the first of many times for him. His hard-rocking style made him something of a pioneer for arena rock and heavy metal in the years to come, especially with his minor U.S. hit “Foxy Lady” at the beginning of 1968. That same year, his album Electric Ladyland gave him his biggest singles success with “All Along The Watchtower”. Written and recorded in Nashville in late 1967 by Bob Dylan for his C&W-influenced album John Wesley Harding, this mystical, quasi-religious song was instantly snapped up by Hendrix; and, much to Dylan’s delight, and Hendrix’s as well, “All Along The Watchtower” managed to reach #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1968. Hendrix would make a prominent appearance at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969, attracting a measure of both admiration and controversy for his stinging version of “The Star-Spangled Banner”, as well as England’s Isle of Wight Festival in August 1970. Sadly, however, Hendrix also had a long relationship to drugs and booze; and on September 18, 1970, about a month and a half before he would have turned 28, he died a spectacularly ugly death, choking on his own vomit after consuming alcohol while on tour in England. Hendrix was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.