Jimi Hendrix Played Back-Up Guitar for Ray Charles in 1960
Jimi Hendrix became a legendary rock guitarist in the late 1960s with his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience. But before he became a respected musician in his own right, Hendrix played backup guitar for stars including singer and pianist Ray Charles.
Jimi Hendrix performed with Ray Charles in 1960
Ray Charles may have been born in Georgia, but he was discovered in Seattle after playing at the local Rocking Chair club and doing his earliest recordings on the city’s Down Beat label. Seattle is also where a future superstar named Jimi Hendrix grew up.
In early 1960, Hendrix was just a teenager with a guitar, and Charles was a performer who did regular shows in the city. Charles needed a back-up guitarist for his shows, and before Hendrix knew it, he was sharing a stage with Charles.
Hendrix’s brother Leon recalled how it happened in Philip Norman’s 2020 book Wild Thing: The Short, Spellbinding Life of Jimi Hendrix.
“Someone recommended Jimmy and he got the job,” Leon recounted. “Even our dad was a little bit impressed by that. I was home again and Jimmy back to babysitting me, so he took me with him every night. It was a club called the Penthouse where all the big jazz names like Wes Montgomery used to hang out.”
“Jimmy got on real well with Ray; they played together for a few weeks and we’d have soul food afterwards,” Leon continued. “The movie about Ray’s life with Jamie Foxx has a scene where his manager says to him: ‘You should never have left that kid back in Seattle.'”
He went on to perform with artists like Little Richard, The Isley Brothers, and Ike and Tina Turner
Hendrix’s gig performing with Ray Charles would be the beginning of successful career as a backup guitarist. But first, Hendrix would have to go through his own personal tribulations. The year after he performed with Charles, he enlisted in the US Army and trained to be a parachutist. He was honorably discharged after a year, however, and turned his focus back to music.
Throughout the early and mid-1960s, Hendrix played backup guitar for a number of popular musicians at the time. This included Little Richard (who later ended up firing Hendrix for seemingly trying to upstage him), The Isley Brothers, Ike and Tina Turner, Sam Cooke, Wilson Pickett, and B. B. King.
He became a rockstar in his own right
Eventually, Hendrix decided to form a band of his own called The Jimi Hendrix Experience. In May 1967, the band released their debut album Are You Experienced, which made them one of the hottest rock bands in music almost instantly. They followed it up with Axis: Bold as Love, released later that year. Their third and final album Electric Ladyland was released in October 1968.
The group parted ways in early 1969, but Hendrix continued to perform with other musicians and solidifying his spot in rock’s pantheon of legends. He gave an infamous performance at Woodstock in August 1969, but he descended further into addiction over the following year. Hendrix died in September 1970 at age 27.
