OPPapers.com

Hello And Goodbye

Hello and Goodbye

There had been none like him, and there will be none to come. Jimi Hendrix revolutionized the way guitar and music in general was played. He was a mirror of his era in that he epitomized the "sex, drugs, and rock and roll" life style of the late 60s. Hendrix is still immensely popular today because of his unprecedented guitar style coupled with an outrageous lifestyle and stage show. All that this legend accomplished in life, in his eyes, may have felt to go unnoticed even stating at one point, in 1968, "It's funny the way most people love the dead...Once you are dead you are made for life. You have to die before they think you are worth anything" (Lawrence 255). Apparently his words are true, since he will always be an idol in rock and roll history. A major part of why Hendrix had such an appeal to the ladies was the mystery of who he was. Hendrix was a quiet and introverted person that rarely told anyone how he felt about them. His inconsistent parenting, loss of his mother at the early age of fifteen, and lack of meaningful relationships in life only encouraged this type of behavior. This enabled him to focus on the only thing that was ever there for him on a constant basis-his guitar.
A Legend Is Born
The legend was born November 27, 1942, in Seattle, to James Allen (Al) and Lucille Jeter Hendrix. His given name was Johnny Allen Hendrix (Cross 15). His mother was a Cherokee Indian who had tuberculosis but despite that she was wild and loved to party (Cross 8). For the first years of young Jimi's life, he was taken from house to house. Al Hendrix was in the army and young Lucille was left to raise her newborn. The pair survived on the kindness of others to feed and house them (Lawrence 15). Throughout these vital first years of Jimi's life, it is said that Lucille did not even know how to change a diaper, and although there was a lack of parenting taking place, Jimi still idolized his mother very much (Cross 18). Lucille...