Having never seen or read a biography of the greatest guitarist history has known, I sprung at the opportunity when spotting a documentary by Imagine currently on BBC i player.
Immediately there is the sense of a young, shy boy who confronted his social anxieties by playing guitar. He brought the instrument everywhere, even to the movies.
Inspired by his Dad's blues record collection, he set about, when his Dad bought him an acoustic guitar, he spent all his free time practicing and playing in the eccentric style of artists like Robert Johnson. And so it wasn't long before his Dad purchased Jimi his first electric guitar, which he carried on him throughout military service and his early musical career in New York.
But these early career days were spent playing background guitar for shows which certainly didn't let him express his own, unique personal touch, so it was only when he met the girlfriend of a Rolling Stones band member and traveled to the vibrant music scene in London where he truly took off.
His ability to make a completely unique performance out of simple melodies and chord progressions like the kind seen in 'Hey Joe' is what I believe rocketed his fame in Britain, which was only about to get bigger on his return to America. Setting fire to his guitar onstage in Monteray was only the beginning of a flamboyant image Jimi would convey as a musical act.
This considered, he had a dual-personality, and performing on stage was his chance to escape from his deep social insecurities and be free:"When I bite the strings with my teeth on stage I do it because I feel like it."
A musician who wasn't afraid to do what he felt.
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