Everybody Sucks At First

James was an abused and impoverished black boy attending Horace Mann Elementary School in Seattle, Washington. He had a peculiar habit of carrying a broom with him, pretending it was a guitar. 

After more than a year of carrying the broom everywhere like a security blanket, the school’s social worker wrote a letter requesting school funding for underprivileged children, insisting that leaving him without his “guitar” might result in psychological damage. Her efforts failed and his single, widower father could not afford to buy him a real guitar.

While helping his father with a side job, James found a ukulele among the garbage they were removing from a woman’s home. She told him he could keep the instrument which only had one string. Taking it home and learning by ear, he played single notes, following along to Elvis Presley songs, particularly “Hound Dog”.

At age 15, James acquired his first acoustic guitar for $5. He played for hours daily. The first song he learned was the TV theme song to “Peter Gunn”.

Soon after, he tried to form his first band, but without an electric guitar, he couldn’t be heard over the group. Seeing his dedication to the instrument, his father bought him his first electric guitar. His first gig was with an unnamed band in the Jaffe Room of Seattle’s “Temple De Hirsch” but he was fired between sets. 

After joining another band and playing at the Birdland Theater, his guitar was stolen from backstage. It would seem that fate was not smiling upon James’ decision to become a musician.

Another trick fate played on the young man was that he was a left handed player in a right handed world. Left handed guitars are notoriously hard to find and extremely expensive. His father encouraged him to switch to his right hand when playing but James wasn’t having it. Instead, he took his right-handed guitar and turned it upside down. He even had to change the strings and alter the hardware so that it would play properly. 

James had a shy personality and was greatly discouraged after being fired from his first group. Other guitarists around him seemed so much better and more confident. The idea of giving up crossed his mind, but he decided to keep going.

As if all these roadblocks weren't enough: poverty, abuse, failure, shyness, and the theft of his guitar, there was his hard upbringing in a crime riddled neighborhood. By the time he was 18 years old, law authorities had twice caught him riding in stolen cars. He was given the choice of jail or joining the army. He chose the latter, and after basic training was assigned to the 101st airborne division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

James’ continued obsession with the guitar caused him to neglect his military duties, which led to taunting and physical abuse from his peers who, on more than one occasion, hid the guitar from him until he begged for its return.

James ultimately completed his paratrooper training and was awarded the prestigious “Screaming Eagle” patch, but his personal conduct had begun to attract criticism from his superiors.

A few months later, his platoon sergeant filed a report in which he stated: "He has no interest whatsoever in the Army ... It is my opinion that he will never come up to the standards required of a soldier. I feel that the military service will benefit if he is discharged as soon as possible.” James was soon granted a “general discharge under honorable conditions”. 

After he was discharged from the Army, he moved across the state line to Clarksville, Tennessee and formed a band which began playing low-paying gigs at obscure venues. 

For the next two years James scratched out a meager living performing throughout the South.

His passion and talent finally began to be recognized through those lean years and in addition to playing in his own band, he began performing as a backing musician for various soul, R&B, and blues musicians, including Wilson Pickett, Slim Harpo, Sam Cooke, Ike & Tina Turner and Jackie Wilson.

In 1966, James Hendrix decided to change his name to Jimi. 

In 9 years, he went from plunking out songs on a one string ukulele to recording the rock album, “Are You Experienced?”. The album was an immediate critical and commercial success, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. Hendrix's innovative approach to songwriting and electric guitar playing soon established a new direction in psychedelic and rock music as a whole.

He gave some advice for those starting to learn: “You have to stick with it. Sometimes, you are going to be so frustrated you want to give up the guitar - you’ll hate the guitar. But all of this is just a part of learning because if you stick with it, you’re going to be rewarded”.

Great advice for life in general, whether that concerns playing an instrument, building a business, learning a trade, getting an education, or mastering a difficult discipline. Stick with it. Endure the frustration. Continue to learn, and you will be rewarded.

And now you know… the rest of the story…

Sources:

“5 Iconic musicians and how they learned to play the guitar” - fretello.com

“Wikipedia - Jimi Hendrix”

Why Did Jimi Hendrix Play His Guitar Upside Down?” Musician Hall of Fame.com - Alex Hawker