Today in Rock History- Sept 24- James becomes Jimi but he was actually Johnny.
How many names can one man have?
On September 24 James Marshall Hendrix got off a plane that arrived in London from New York. Under the guidance of his manager Chas Chandler, Hendrix formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience, with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell. They found little initial success, however, in America that changed almost overnight once Hendrix set foot on U.K. soil.
Which is all well and good but we’re here to learn about his name.
In 1966 James legally changed his name to Jimi.
What you probably didn’t know was that Hendrix was actually born Johnny. In fact, that was his real name: Jimi was born Johnny Allen Hendrix on November 27, 1942, and it was on September 11, 1946 that his father Al Hendrix had him renamed James Marshall Hendrix.
Johnny, James, Jimi Hendrix. There you have it.
A young James in the US Army in 1961
An amazing quality clip of Hendrix talking about his “groovy Canadian audiences”.
