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Jimi Hendrix

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Jimi Hendrix was a famous rock musician in the 1960s. By himself, he took traditional styles of rock, threw them away, and redefined "rock" music with his own style. A notable example of his style of music can be found in his version of The Star Spangled Banner. His roots in music began to sprout when he was a young boy.
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Jimi Hendrix was a famous rock musician in the 1960s. By himself, he took traditional styles of rock, threw them away, and redefined "rock" music with his own style. A notable example of his style of music can be found in his version of The Star Spangled Banner. His roots in music began to sprout when he was a young boy.
Hendrix was born into a poor family in Seattle, which affected him. When he saw Elvis Presley perform, he wanted to buy his own guitar. However, Hendrix was left handed, but guitars were manufactured for right handed players. Left handed guitars were more expensive, but being in the poor family he was in, he could not afford one. So, he bought a right handed guitar and reversed the strings.
Right handed guitars weren't designed for this, though. The pickups accentuated treble, or higher notes, so when he reversed the string order, the lower notes were made louder. This was one of many ways that made Hendrix's sounds that came from his guitar unique.
Jimi got his guitar when he was about fifteen years old, so he was about our age, in high school. He dropped out of high school and decided to join the military because he had always dreamed of becoming a paratrooper. While in the military, he became more experienced with his guitar and met Billy Cox, a bassist. They left the military and created a band, gaining recognition quickly. Another musician at the time found him became his manager, Chas Chandler.
Working with Chandler, they created the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Some consider the Monterey Pop Festival Hendrix's first "real" beginning of his rise to fame. At the end of the festival, he set his guitar on fire. This shocked and awed the audience. The climax of his career was at Woodstock, and the climactic song in this festival was the Star Spangled Banner. He changed the song, adding noises and sounds that weren't in the original. This stirred the crowd because it was extremely emotional.
Unfortunately, while he was at the peak of his fame, he died the next year.
He abused marijuana the days prior to his death, swallowed nine sleeping pills, and drank too much wine, passing out at his girlfriend's house. At 27 years old, he was found dead. While he was out, he vomited, covering and blocking his nose and mouth, which caused him to choke on it and die of asphyxiation.
After his death, though, many still wonder what made Jimi Hendrix so popular and an important figure in the 1900s. Hendrix brought about a new era of rock, which is important because it brought about new varieties of music derived from his type. He experimented and invented new styles, and people enjoyed his new music. Also, he influenced many teens and others who listened to his music with songs that expressed individuality, such as the song If 6 was 9.
Hendrix was all about being new and different, and provided new views on society through his music. For example, some say that the Star Spangled Banner was supposed to mock America, which was very controversial because it was at the time of the Vietnam war, and it would be very bad to be unpatriotic at that time.
Being a teenager himself, Cory may have found a sense of individuality from Hendrix's songs and music. Lyons, being a musician, would have known about Hendrix and would have been influenced by his style of music as well. Finally, a quote about Jimi Hendrix is, ""Who I am as a guitarist is defined by my failure to become Jimi Hendrix." from John Mayer.
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