"Six, five, four, three, two, one. "On behalf of the Fillmore family, a very, very happy new year! It's January 1, 1970, midnight 2 a.m. Jimi & Co. take the traditional "Auld Lang Syne" from the Guy Lombardo orchestra - highly melodic, not sawing through - and let it turn grooving into "Who Knows" ..
Jimi Hendrix's stage life had always been a kaleidoscope of highlights: 1966 the sensation in London's Speakeasy, 1967 Monterey with pyromaniacal guitar grilling, 1968 Miami with the most relaxed experience of all time, because "Electric Ladyland" was finally in the can after a year of tinkering, plus the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco with six dream gigs in three days. 1969 then a brutal broadside with Marshall amplifiers in the "Happening For Lulu" show against the will of the playback-mad BBC bosses, Woodstock including deconstruction of the US national anthem and criticism of the Vietnam War.
No, a reputation like Donnerhall did not precede Jimi Hendrix when he climbed out of the plane on 24 September 1966 in London at the side of his new manager, the ex-animal bassist Chas Chandler. But only a few months after his arrival the man from Seattle was on everyone's lips. And by the end of 1967 he had not only taken guitar playing, but rock music as a whole into a new dimension. "Suddenly this stranger comes running along, and all hell breaks loose," said Jack Bruce. We follow Hendrix' numerous stations in this year, which was so decisive for him, when the incomparable jumped off the Rainbow Bridge.
The crucial day is a Friday. More precisely: September 23, 1966. 180 passengers gathered at the departure gate of New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, a few moments later they boarded a Boeing 707. Among the passengers were two young men: 27-year-old Englishman Brian James "Chas" Chandler and 23-year-old American James Marshall Hendrix, who will soon call himself Jimi. For them, Pan Am flight 102 to London is associated with the launch of a mission. They want to change the world of music.
Touchdown at the Thames
DAVID BOWIE
The day after next day
That really wasn't to be expected: Almost ten years after his last studio album David Bowie released "Where Are We Now?", a new single in January. The album "The Next Day" followed on March 8th. A comeback out of the blue. And one that raises questions.
JIMI HENDRIX
Deep in the Archive
JIMI HENDRIX
To everything there is a season
He'd be in jail by a hair's breadth. He was saved from that by joining the army. There he met Billy Cox, with whom he would later play in Woodstock, among other places. But before this happened, the US American Jimi Hendrix had to take the road via England to be recognised as a star in his home country. We remember important stages in the short life of the immortal rock guitarist, who would have turned 70 on 27 November.
STEVE HACKETT
Full Power Back
JIMI HENDRIX
I don't live today
When Jimi Hendrix left the stage in Woodstock, he had 397 days left. The period after 18 August 1969 was marked by personal problems and attempts at musical reorientation. Protocol of a year that ended on 18 September 1970 in London with the tragic death of the guitar revolutionary.
THE FLAMING LIPS
Pink Floyd 2.0
JIMI HENDRIX
Have you ever been to Electric Ladyland...?
Concerts, press and photo appointments, gruelling studio sessions, growing tensions between musicians, pressure from management - despite all these factors, a new album of the Jimi Hendrix Experience was released in the autumn of 1968: the legendary double LP "Electric Ladyland", the third and last recording of the trio. By the time it happened, Hendrix, bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell had come a long, stony and intoxicated way.
QUEENSRŸCHE
Back to the Front
LED ZEPPELIN
Destination unknown
The sparrows whistled it off the roofs for months on end, now it's official: Led Zeppelin, another 70s icon, takes part in the illustrious reunion hustle and bustle of modern times. So far, however, without a new album, let alone a complete tour, but "only" with a one-off show on 10 December in London's O2 Arena. But already the announcement of the group's participation in the "Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert" was enough to put 20 million fans into hysteria.
THE SAN FRANCISCO
JETS The Hippie Year 1967
