“I wrote one called ‘First Look’ and another called ‘The Purple Haze,’ which was all about a dream I had that I was walking under the sea.” (In another interview, he said the idea for “Purple Haze” came to him in a dream after reading a sci-fi novel, believed to be Philip José Farmer’s Night of Light.) 5. “I dreamt a lot and I put a lot of my dreams down as songs,” he explained in a 1967 interview with New Musical Express. Hendrix drew inspiration for his music from a lot of places, including his dreams. Jimi Hendrix used his dreams as inspiration for his songwriting. “Jealousy is purple-‘I'm purple with rage’ or purple with anger-and green is envy, and all this.” 4. “ome feelings make you think of different colors,” he said in an interview with Crawdaddy! magazine. He learned to play by ear and would often use words or colors to express what he wanted to communicate. In 1969, Dick Cavett asked the musician whether he could read music: “No, not at all,” the self-taught musician replied. “I heard one of his old records when I was a little boy and it scared me to death because I heard all these sounds.” 3. “The first guitarist I was aware of was Muddy Waters,” Hendrix said. But Muddy Waters was the first musician who truly made him aware of the instrument. When asked about the guitarists who inspired him, Hendrix cited Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Elmore James, and B.B. Muddy Waters turned Jimi Hendrix on to the guitar-and scared the hell out of him. Though Hendrix was performing as Jimmy James at the time, it was Chandler who suggested he use the name “Jimi.” 2. "People were saying, 'What the hell?' and Chas thought, 'I could do something with this kid.’” "This guy didn't seem anything special, then all of a sudden he started playing with his teeth," roadie James "Tappy" Wright, who was there, told the BBC in 2016.
In 1966, Chas Chandler-the bassist for The Animals, who would go on to become Jimi’s manager-saw the musician playing at Cafe Wha? in New York City.
When Al returned to the United States in 1945, he collected his son and renamed him James Marshall Hendrix. He was initially raised by his mother while his father, James “Al” Hendrix, was in Europe fighting in World War II. Jimi Hendrix was born in Seattle on Novemas John Allen Hendrix. Jimi Hendrix didn't become "Jimi" until 1966. Here are 10 things you might not have known about the musical legend.
Still, he managed to accomplish a lot in the approximately four years he spent in the spotlight, and leave this world a legend when he died on September 18, 1970, at the age of 27. Though he’s widely considered one of the most iconic musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix passed away as his career was really just getting started.