JIMI HENDRIX' Brother Leon Reminisces About Growing Up With Guitar Legend
September 19, 2008, 15 years ago
The following story is courtesy of Ernest Jasmin from Thenewstribune.com:
Seattle rock legend JIMI HENDRIX' younger brother, Leon Hendrix will appear Saturday at Jazzbones in Tacoma, WA. He and his backing band will share a bill with ex-STEPPENWOLF keyboard player Goldy McJohn for a show that’s sure to pack a few fan-pleasing anthems from the ’60s. But Hendrix’s set will mostly focus on original material he started recording this week in Seattle. You can hear what the new songs sound like online at www.myspace.com/leonhendrix.
On the phone, he shared a few memories of his older brother. “I remember when me and Jimi were growin’ up, and my dad was always so mad at Jimi for playin’ guitar,” he said. “Jimi got whuppins before for playin’ guitar. … I begged (my dad) for a guitar when I was a kid, when Jimi was playin’. He said, ‘Nah, your brother will never make it. You just need to stick with me and keep doin’ this (landscaping) work.’”
Leon recalled being jobless, depressed and short on options. “I just had a dream one night. And Jimi said, ‘The only thing you’ve got is to play music because it’s in our blood.’”
“I had this old guitar in the corner. It had been sitting in the corner for about five years,” he said. “So in a moment of inspiration I started pickin’ it up and trying to play the tunes I used to hear Jimi play when I was a kid, like ‘Hound Dog’ and CHUCK BERRY stuff and ELVIS PRESLEY. He’d play ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ all the time for me when I was a kid.”Read more here.
