Born in Seattle, Washington, Hendrix began playing guitar at the age of 15. In 1961, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and trained as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division; he was granted an honorable discharge the following year. Soon afterward, he moved to Clarksville, Tennessee, and began playing gigs on the Chitlin' Circuit, earning a place in the Isley Brothers' backing band and later with Little Richard, with whom he continued to work through mid-1965. He then played with Curtis Knight and the Squires before moving to England in late 1966 after being discovered by Linda Keith, who in turn interested bassist Chas Chandler of the Animals in becoming his first manager. Within months, Hendrix had earned three UK top ten hits with the Jimi Hendrix Experience: "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze", and "The Wind Cries Mary". He achieved fame in the U.S. after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and in 1968 his third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland, reached number one in the U.S.; it was Hendrix's most commercially successful release and his first and only number one album. The world's highest-paid performer, he headlined the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, before his accidental death from barbiturate-related asphyxia on September 18, 1970, at the age of 27.
Hendrix was inspired musically by American rock and roll and electric blues. He favored overdriven amplifiers with high volume and gain, and was instrumental in utilizing the previously undesirable sounds caused by guitar amplifier feedback. He helped to popularize the use of a wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock, and was the first artist to use stereophonic phasing effects in music recordings. Holly George-Warren of Rolling Stone commented: "Hendrix pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. Players before him had experimented with feedback and distortion, but Hendrix turned those effects and others into a controlled, fluid vocabulary every bit as personal as the blues with which he began."
Hendrix was the recipient of several music awards during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1967, readers of Melody Maker voted him the Pop Musician of the Year, and in 1968, Rolling Stone declared him the Performer of the Year. Disc and Music Echo honored him with the World Top Musician of 1969 and in 1970, Guitar Player named him the Rock Guitarist of the Year. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Rolling Stone ranked the band's three studio albums, Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love, and Electric Ladyland, among the 100 greatest albums of all time, and they ranked Hendrix as the greatest guitarist and the sixth greatest artist of all time.
Like A Rolling Stone
Jimi Hendrix Lyrics
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Threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you
Peopled called you, said 'beware the doll, you're bound to fall',
You thought they were all kidding you
You used to laugh about
Everybody else that was hanging out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
In no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone
The song "Like A Rolling Stone" by Jimi Hendrix is a song about falling from grace. The song talks about a woman who was once rich, popular and always had people around her but is now poor, dejected and has lost her social standing. The lyrics express the irony of her situation and how her fate had been sealed because of her arrogance and her belief that she was above everyone else.
The first verse sets the stage by painting a picture of the woman in her prime, when she used to be wealthy and charitable. But now, she's lost everything and is forced to live in poverty. The line "Peopled called you, said 'beware the doll, you're bound to fall'" is the cautionary tale that people warned her about. But she ignored them, thinking they were just envious and didn't know what they were talking about. The chorus then asks how it feels to hit rock bottom and be alone, with no one to turn to and no direction home.
The song is a poignant reminder of the fleeting nature of life and how one's fortunes can change in an instant. It's a commentary on the emptiness of materialism and the importance of humility and kindness. The chorus's haunting repetition of "how does it feel" emphasizes the gravity of the situation and the unanswerable question that lingers in the air.
Line by Line Meaning
Once upon a time you dressed so fine
At one point in your history, you dressed elegantly and attractively
Threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you
During your youth, you gave beggars coins
People called you, said 'beware the doll, you're bound to fall'
Others warned you that your reckless behavior would be your downfall
You thought they were all kidding you
You believed their warnings were all jokes
You used to laugh about everybody else that was hanging out
You mocked others who were idle and had nothing to do
Now you don't talk so loud
You are no longer boastful and talk loud
Now you don't seem so proud
You are no longer exhibiting confidence and pride
About having to be scrounging around for your next meal
You have to resort to begging and scavenging just to survive
How does it feel
How does it feel
A rhetorical question asking for one's emotion during this hardship
To be on your own
In no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone
You are lost and alone with no fixed destination, feeling disconnected from the world, moving aimlessly like a vagabond
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Bob Dylan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Devin Kennedy
on Spanish Castle Magic (alternate take)
Is this really the alternete take