Random Wild Stories From Guitar-Shredding Life Of Jimi Hendrix (12 items)

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  (#3) Hendrix Defied His Father And Played The Guitar Left-Handed

  The world can be a pretty inconvenient place for left-handed people, especially for lefty guitar players. There are several different ways left-handed musicians go about playing guitar in a right-handed world. When Hendrix, a natural lefty, first picked up a guitar, his father, Al, wanted him to learn how to play right-handed. Al allegedly thought a guitarist playing left-handed was a sign of the devil. 

  Jimi ignored his father's superstitions and flipped the guitar around to suit his dominant hand. He then restrung the instrument so the strings would remain in their proper positions, with the lowest notes on the bottom. Not wanting to upset his dad, Jimi also learned to play the same instrument right-handed, even though the strings were now upside down.
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  (#7) Hendrix Burned His Hand The First Time He Set His Guitar On Fire

  Hendrix was already a wild performer before he set anything on fire. He was known for playing the guitar with his teeth and behind his back. But despite his onstage antics, he still felt like he needed to set himself apart from the other popular rock acts featured in a 1967 European tour. 

  Taking the Pete Townsend route, Hendrix sometimes smashed his guitar to pieces - but even that wasn't enough. Before the first show of the Jimi Hendrix Experience's European tour at Finsbury Park Astoria in London, a journalist wrote it would be "cool" to take the song "Fire" literally.

  The idea seemed like a good one to Hendrix and band manager Chas Chandler. They sent a roadie out for lighter fluid.

  When the band ended their first set with "Fire," Hendrix placed his guitar down on the floor, while the rest of the band played on. Chandler then stepped onstage and covered Jimi's guitar with lighter fluid. The frontman knelt down, lit a match, and set his 1965 Fender Stratocaster on fire. The flames grew several feet and also wound up burning Hendrix's hand. However, the show had to go on, and Hendrix, pro that he was, finished the concert (with another guitar). His burns were later treated at a hospital.
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  (#8) The Monterey Pop Festival Turned Hendrix Into A Rock God 

  Woodstock may be more widely recognized, but the 1967 Monterey International Pop Music Festival is just as important to rock history. The three-day live music event introduced American audiences to the Jimi Hendrix Experience (along with The Who, Janis Joplin, and Otis Redding.) Even though Hendrix had already set his guitar on fire at a previous gig, it was his Fender Stratocaster's legendary flame at Monterey that launched Hendrix into rock legend status. 

  Photographer Ed Caraeff was only a junior in high school when he attended Monterey. The teenager happened to capture what is now considered one of the most iconic images of rock, Hendrix setting his guitar on fire while playing the cover song "Wild Thing."

  Writer Seth Lorinczi described the scene:

  Hendrix had already laid his Stratocaster on the stage and was mounting it in an uncomfortable but mesmerizing display of dominance. Then, with drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding unleashing a sonic hellstorm, amplifiers howling in squalling sheets of feedback behind him, Hendrix abruptly rose, reached for something hidden behind an amp, and began to anoint his tortured instrument.

  Caraeff, already blasted by his close proximity to three high-powered guitar amps, was now in a different sort of pickle, close enough that he had to shield his face from the heat of the burning guitar. But he knew this was a moment that would not be repeated. Working the camera’s lever to advance the roll, he found it wouldn’t advance-it was stuck. There was only one shot left, and it was going to have to count. As Jimi Hendrix raised his fingers, seemingly conjuring fire with his bare hands, Caraeff took his final photograph of the night.
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  (#10) His Unconventional Version Of The National Anthem At Woodstock Sparked Protests Across The Country

  By the summer of 1969, Jimi Hendrix was one of the biggest rock stars in the world, even headlining at Woodstock. He was originally supposed to play last, closing the festival on Sunday night. But because of bad weather, he took the stage at 9 Monday morning.

  The festival, packed with almost a half a million attendees at its peak, had shrunk by half by the time Hendrix played his first note with new band Gypsy Sun and Rainbows. One of the most celebrated moments in rock history occurred on that stage: Hendrix's solo electric guitar rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

  His version was filled with heavy distortion and feedback. It lasted nearly four minutes and occurred in the middle of a medley that included "Voodoo Child" and "Purple Haze." The unconventional version of the national anthem sparked protests across the country, with some offended patriots calling Hendrix un-American.

  But Hendrix didn't think that his rendition should be considered unorthodox. He later said on The Dick Cavett show: “That’s not unorthodox. I thought it was beautiful."

  It wasn't the first time Hendrix played the national anthem live during one of his shows. In fact, there are 50 live recordings of the guitarist playing the anthem. Woodstock marked the 28th time. 
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  (#6) He Angered A Swedish Promoter By Playing Too Long

  Hendrix was looking to get back into the studio in September of 1970. However, manager Michael Jeffrey convinced him they needed to go on tour to earn money for the new Electric Lady Studios that Hendrix was having constructed in New York. Hendrix reluctantly embared on a series of European tour dates that would take him through Denmark, Sweden, and Germany. 

  One of the gigs included a stop at an amusement park in Stockholm. The promoter allegedly told Hendrix not to play for more than an hour, because he wanted the park guests to spend money on the fair's attractions. This declaration did not sit well with Hendrix, who in defiance played for 110 minutes.
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  (#1) He Taught Himself How To Play Guitar On A Ukulele With One String

  When Hendrix was a child, he found a ukulele with just one string while helping his father clean out an older woman's garage. She told young Jimi he could keep the ukulele. The future Rock God spent hours fiddling with his newfound instrument. According to his brother Leon's book, Jimi Hendrix: A Brother's Story, Hendrix eventually discovered that by turning the peg on top of the instrument, he could make the note louder and higher. 

  Leon described how his brother (whom he called "Buster") learned to play the ukulele by ear: 

  If Buster tightened it a little more, it got even higher and vibrated less. He began turning the tuning peg as he strummed to make the pitch go up and down. Even though he was playing single notes, he still followed along to a couple Elvis Presley songs on the radio. Buster did it all by ear and matched up the notes. 

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