It was Chas Chandler, then with the Animals on their final tour, who saw Hendrix, brought him to London and helped make him a star. Besides, he was shy and simply drifted from one girlfriend's apartment to another's. He'd hung around New York and gained attention but nobody really knew what to make of him. It was London, in 1966, that turned him into a pop star. Some recognized his early genius, but most other musicians wanted him in the background, supporting them. Much of his early life was conventional for a young black man of the time – he listened to his dad's blues albums and absorbed everything he was given a guitar and mastered it he joined the army (he was in the 101st Airborne), he joined a band and began making a living playing in other people's bands. When he was in London and got his first recording contract, he called and said, "Well Daddy, I think I'm on my way to the big time." Throughout the doc there are examples of Jimi's letters and postcards to his dad and they are deeply charming. His dad found him and began creating a stable home and environment for the boy. His father explains that he was in the army when Jimi was born and when he returned he found that Jimi's mother had given him to another couple to raise. Then it goes back to Seattle in 1942 and his birth. The documentary begins with his performance at the Monterey Festival in 1967, playing a stunning version of Wild Thing. Hendrix as representative of an era and a generation that was naive about drug use. Hendrix as an emanation of the London music scene of the mid-sixties. Hendrix as a rare example of a black rock guitarist. When he wasn't, he was desperately unsure." Those are the twin themes and deftly coaxed from the narrative. He revolutionized the electric guitar." And someone else says, "When he was playing he was supremely confident.
The first thing we hear is this: "Jimi Hendrix is one if the most important American musicians of the 20th century. But the journey to that conclusion is truly fascinating. The upshot is that he was a guitar genius and a nice, shy guy.
American Masters: Jimi Hendrix – Hear My Train a Comin' (PBS, 9 p.m.) is a terrific look at Hendrix's short life and brief career.
And we were reminded by those assessments that Reed left a true body of work – solo recordings and collaborations over several decades. Following the death of Lou Reed recently, many of the assessments of his work included surprise that he had survived long enough to live past 70.
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