Report: JIMI HENDRIX Died Angry, Says Friend

December 7, 2010, 13 years ago

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RockAAA has issued the following report form Eric Mackinnon:

JIMI HENDRIX died a frustrated man after being forced to perform music he no longer wanted to play, says a one-time friend of the guitar icon.

And moviemaker Jon Brewer believes we’ll hear more of Hendrix’s unreleased work in the future because people who had tied themselves up in legal wrangles would now rather the music was heard before they die.

Brewer has a history in making movies and music videos, before which he managed bands including DAVID BOWIE, YES, ALVIN LEE and others. He met Hendrix when the guitarist first arrived in London, and was at many of his earliest shows.

Now he’s made Jimi Hendrix: The Guitar Hero, which will appear as part of Classic Rock Magazine’s Hendrix special edition before going on general release next year.

Brewer tells RockAAA: “Jimi felt stifled and frustrated towards the end of his life. He was experimenting with a lot of musicians and a lot of ideas. He was interested in fusion jazz, big sounds and orchestras and the like.

“But he was having to play the same things every night because of resistance from his management and record company. There were other reasons causing him to suffer – he was caught up in political movements which had very little to do with, but were associating themselves with him.

“Johnny Winter was very close to Jimi. He said he went to a show in New York just before his death and saw him huddled in the corner with his head in his hands, he was so frustrated.

“Jimi would have gone on to bigger things – but he wasn’t allowed to go.”

Read the full report at this location.

Members of the EXPERIENCE HENDRIX tour - namely original JIMI HENDRIX BAND OF GYPSYS bass legend Billy Cox, AEROSMITH's Brad Whitford, JONNY LANG and Chris Layton (STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN AND DOUBLE TROUBLE) - performed the JIMI HENDRIX classic 'Fire' on the Tonight Show last night (Monday, December 6). Check out YouTube footage of the performance below:

For the first time in its history, Experience Hendrix, the concert tour that has wowed audiences revisiting the music and inspiration of Jimi Hendrix featuring an all-star line up of music greats was re-launched within a single calendar year. The Experience Hendrix tour crisscrossed the country this past March for a string of sold-out concerts and recently returned with a new set of US and - for the first time - Canadian dates in October/November.

Anchoring the tour was Billy Cox, the legendary bassist whose relationship with Jim Hendrix and his music dates back to the early 1960s when the two met while serving in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division. The two bonded over their love of music and would later work together backing R&B; acts on the “chitlin’ circuit.” They reunited when Cox was recruited to be part of the Jimi Hendrix Band of Gypsys as well as the ultimate iteration of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, performing at such landmark festivals as Woodstock and the Isle of Wight. Cox, who has been part of all previous Experience Hendrix tours, notes, "It's always a great thrill and honor for me to play Jimi's music for audiences now just as it was in the 1960s. The Experience Hendrix tours have shown how timeless this music really is and is just wonderful that we’ve continued to get an infusion of new, very enthusiastic artists to participate and are able to offer the most wide-ranging Jimi Hendrix-related repertoire possible."

The Experience Hendrix Tour is presented by Experience Hendrix, LLC, the Hendrix family-owned company founded by James A. “Al” Hendrix, Jimi’s father, entrusted with preserving and protecting the legacy of Jimi Hendrix. Earlier this year, Sony Music Entertainment’s Legacy Division and Experience Hendrix entered into a worldwide catalog licensing venture to make all of Jimi’s extraordinary music, including classic albums, never before heard archive recordings, and filmed concerts available through all forms of media. The initial release from the alliance was Valleys of Neptune bringing Jimi Hendrix back to the upper reaches of album charts throughout the world. This fall’s Experience Hendrix tour dates will be followed by a second wave of Hendrix releases through Legacy including the 4 CD + 1 DVD anthology set West Coast Seattle Boy plus other key catalog titles.

For more info and tour dates visit Experiencehendrixtour.com.



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