Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child Page #4

---

for having that much nerve

to sing out of key.

But when I started listening to the words,

that sold me.

First real group I got together,

that would be around 1965, I guess.

My big slice of luck came

when a little English friend

persuaded Chas Chandler,

the bass player of The Animals,

to come down where

we were gigging and give an ear.

Chas came down

and heard me and asked,

would I like to come to England

and start a group there?

He seemed like a pretty sincere guy

and I'd never been to England before.

I wasn't thinking about nothing

but the idea of going to England.

That's all I was thinking about.

'Cause I like to travel, you know?

One place bores me too long,

so I have to see if I can get something

together by moving somewhere else.

And the idea of England

was the idea of England itself.

I said, "Wow! I've never

been there before. "

September 24th 1966.

That's when I came to England.

They kept me waiting at the airport

for three or four hours

because I didn't have a work permit.

They carried on like

I was going to make all the money in England

and take it back to the States.

I moved into a flat with Chas Chandler.

We used to get complaints about loud,

late parties when we were out of town.

Chas got real mad about it

but I didn't let it bug me.

Chas knows lots of telephone numbers.

He helped me ind

my bassist and drummer.

Four days after we got together,

we were playing at the Paris Olympia

with Johnny Hallyday,

who is like the French Elvis.

We just got thrown together,

we didn't know each other from Adam.

I was thinking of the smallest pieces

possible with the hardest impact.

That's why I like us being called

The Experience, it's right.

All the photos I had done

for publicity to begin with

were picked because I looked so grim.

But I guess it was necessary

to get that visual thing going

before we could make people listen.

My music isn't pop, it's me.

My guitar is my notes,

regardless of where they came from.

I haven't set out

to produce a commercial sound

but our intention is to be respected, you know,

after we die and we're old and all that.

Who doesn't want

to be written down in history?

"Dear Dad,

We're playing around London now.

"That's where I'm staying these days.

"I have my own group and

we'll have a record out in about two months

"named Hey Joe

by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

"I hope you get this card.

"I think things are going a little better.

Your loving son, Jimi. "

We all dug Hey Joe as a number.

Chas made me sing serious.

I was too scared to sing.

It was the first time

I ever tried to sing on a record.

While we were working on it,

I don't think

we played it the same way twice.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes