1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,480 Speaker 1: The twenty seven Club is the production of I Heart 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: Radio and Double Elvis Media. Jimmie Hendricks was born on 3 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:11,719 Speaker 1: the seven day of November, and he lived a life 4 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: of character building faux pause. I can give you twenty 5 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,599 Speaker 1: seven reasons why that statement is true. Ten would be 6 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: the number of times his father caught him playing the 7 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,319 Speaker 1: Devil's Guitar left handed, upside down guitar the way that 8 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: Satan liked it. It wasn't allowed in his father's house. 9 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: One would be the number of times he was caught 10 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,520 Speaker 1: masturbating the Army barracks as a private first class, an 11 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:36,519 Speaker 1: act that would ultimately lead to his welcome dismissal from 12 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: the Armed Forces. Two more would be the number of 13 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: times he was arrested for riding around and stolen cars 14 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 1: as a teenager in Seattle. Another three would be the 15 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: number of times he tried to infiltrate the backstage dressing 16 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: room of Hank Ballard in the midnighters to get someone 17 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: on one guitar lessons not to mention an intensely strong contact. 18 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: High and eleven would be the number of years he 19 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: had left to live after he first saw Little Richard 20 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: preached some fire and Brimstone Gospel all totally on this 21 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: our fourth episode of season one, getting caught with your 22 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:14,400 Speaker 1: pants down, Stolen Cars, backstage, Reefer Madness and the god 23 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:19,320 Speaker 1: fearing Georgia Peach. I'm Jake Brennan and this is the 24 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: Seven Cars. Jimmy Hendrix was up against the back of 25 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: the Chevy Corvett when the handcuffs bit into his wrists, chest, 26 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 1: pressed flat on the car's turquoise frame, legs straight and 27 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: spread apart. The wind picked up and howled and then 28 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 1: died back down again. Typical Seattle weather for early May, 29 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: windy and just about ten degrees above freezing. The air wet, salty, frigid, 30 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: and the wind bit into the back of Jimmy's neck 31 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: just like the cuff metal dug in his hands. Two 32 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: of his friends were in the same upright position, standing 33 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 1: next to him. Maybe friends was a stretch. There were 34 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,239 Speaker 1: a couple of other aimless punks from the neighborhood, high 35 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: school dropouts like Jimmy, searching for something to occupy their 36 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:30,239 Speaker 1: idle time on a Friday night. Again, like Jimmy and 37 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:34,079 Speaker 1: the Seattle cops were white, middle aged, uptight, the polar 38 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: opposite of the three black kids that they had pulled over. 39 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: Mc carr was definitely not there's, and it was definitely hot. 40 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 1: Jimmy had been riding shotgun when the familiar blue lights 41 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: snapped on behind them. Jimmy stood there with his arms 42 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: behind his back, didn't say a word. One of the 43 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:53,240 Speaker 1: cops was doing the Miranda thing, you have the right 44 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: to remain silent, and the other one looked Jimmy up 45 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 1: and down to come all in. Squinted his eyes in 46 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: the dark, wet, salty wind, pelting his eyelids and ringing 47 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: a bitter tone in his ear. The wind, ever, remember 48 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 1: the names that has blown in the past. Don't I 49 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: know you, cop asked Jimmy, Didn't I just see you 50 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:13,920 Speaker 1: a few nights ago. Jimmy, head down and still silent, 51 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,799 Speaker 1: slowly turned to look at the cop, one hand pointing 52 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 1: his flashlight and Jimmy's general direction together resting on top 53 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: of his standard issue piece and its holster. Fuck, he 54 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: was made about joy riding again, Hendricks. The cop wasn't wrong. 55 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: Jimmy had been picked up three nights earlier doing the 56 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: exact same thing, riding around in a hot car. He 57 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 1: tell the cops the same thing. He told him the 58 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: other night. He didn't know the car was stolen. He 59 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: was bored looking for something to do. This is a 60 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: nine sixty Chevy Corvet. Would you refuse a ride in 61 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty Chevy Corvet? If someone you knew pulled up 62 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: to your house and howid yo, let's go for a ride, 63 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: would you honestly turn your back and sit at home. 64 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: It's not like there was homework to do. Jimmy had 65 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: flunked out of Garfield High School back in the fall, 66 00:03:57,800 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: and he was starting to get a little too equinated 67 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: with the local fuzz, taking rides in cars that didn't 68 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: belong to him, didn't belong to his family. The police 69 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: had been targeting black teenagers in the city due to 70 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: a rash of home burglaries, profiling stopping black kids as 71 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: they walked down the street. The MOUTHI cop couldn't help themself. 72 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: You're a real dumb shit. Huhboy? You don't learn new lessons, 73 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: do you. Jimmy didn't say anything. His father always told 74 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,040 Speaker 1: him a fish wouldn't get into trouble if it kept 75 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: its mouth shut. The relationship between white cops and black 76 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 1: kids in Seattle wasn't all that different from anywhere else 77 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: in the country. At the time, tensions were high, ignorance 78 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: was wide, bullshit ran deep, and there were bad eggs. 79 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 1: An investigation of police brutality in the Seattle department a 80 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: few years earlier brought some deeply Harvard ships to the surface. 81 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 1: All negroes carry knives, went one of the popular tenants 82 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 1: of the forest. Any negro driving a Cadillac is either 83 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:55,919 Speaker 1: a pimp or a dope headler was another of Seattle 84 00:04:55,960 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: police departments in sane truisms, and the cops arresting Jimmy 85 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,799 Speaker 1: and his fellow joy riders mumbled to each other and laughed, 86 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: shot their fair share of glances at the kids. Made 87 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 1: them uncomfortable, sure, as black kids being arrested by white cops, 88 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: but also as kids being arrested by cops. And the 89 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:16,360 Speaker 1: cops bent Jimmy's head down and pushed him into the 90 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:18,839 Speaker 1: back of the police cruiser, and the heat was on 91 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: full blast, and the back seat smelled like sweaty teenage boys, 92 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: and the cops kept up with their inside jokes, and 93 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,039 Speaker 1: Jimmy let his head fall against the headrest and tuned out. 94 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 1: If only he hadn't jumped in that fucking Corve air. 95 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:35,920 Speaker 1: He wasn't paying attention when they pulled up to the 96 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 1: Rainier Vista for h Youth Center. He'd spent a night 97 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 1: at this juvenile detention ship box earlier in the week 98 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: when he was picked up the first time, his father 99 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: billed him out. Now he was a repeat offender. The 100 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: one thing he was sure of as the cops yanked 101 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:51,839 Speaker 1: him from the back seat was that he wasn't busting 102 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:54,039 Speaker 1: out after just one night. He would sit in this 103 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:58,679 Speaker 1: cooler for a while. The receptionist at the front desk 104 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: wore cat eyeglasses beneath her stylish bouffant. She sat hypnotized 105 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: by a small black and white TV. It's funny years 106 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:09,720 Speaker 1: askew Alan Shepard was on the news, first American man 107 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: in space, his spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral earlier that day. 108 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 1: Jimmy stopped transfixed watched the TV screen. The other worldliness 109 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:21,359 Speaker 1: of it, the thrill of it, the future of it. 110 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 1: He thought of gazing up at the stars and seeing 111 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: his mother nestled between two bright spots in the dark. 112 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: About Buster Crabb, who played Flash Gordon in those old 113 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 1: film serials he loved. How about the flying saucer doodles 114 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: he drew when he was little. It was brought back 115 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: to reality when the officer removed his handcuffs started barking, 116 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 1: take off your damn shoes and your belt, empty your 117 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: fucking pockets. Jimmy sat in that cooler for a week, 118 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 1: sat searching through his own mind, through the weeks and 119 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:51,560 Speaker 1: years and events that had led him here. And the 120 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: first day he thought about his parents, whose Seal was 121 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: only seventeen when she became his mother. She named him 122 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: Johnny Allen. She was unprepared, couldn't even change a diaper, 123 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 1: bounced around from house to house and family. The family 124 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: relied on the kindness of strangers. Al, his dad, was 125 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: stationed with the army in Alabama when Jimmy was born. 126 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: Denied paternity, they jailed him instead flight risk, They transferred 127 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: him to the South Pacific. When Al finally met his 128 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 1: son at age three, he changed Jimmy's name from Johnny 129 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: Allen to James Marshall. James was Al's legal first name, 130 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 1: and Marshall was the middle name of his dead brother. 131 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: The second day, he thought about his parents, fighting, Al 132 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 1: coming home drunk and walking in the wrong house in 133 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: the street stumbling into the wrong living room, sitting down 134 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 1: on the wrong couch, yelling at the wrong family. When 135 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: he did find his way at home, he get violent, 136 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: de nined paternity to half his offspring. His parents split 137 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: when he was nine. The fourth day he thought about 138 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: his brothers and sisters. Goddamn Shakespearean tragedy. Cathy born blind, 139 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: Pamela put into foster care, Joe born with two rows 140 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:00,040 Speaker 1: of front teeth, a club foot, cleft palette. Jim Me 141 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: himself didn't speak for the longest time, and when he 142 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: finally did, he stuttered. They were hungry. They were fed 143 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: by neighbors and friends. Alan Lucille would eventually sign away 144 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: their parental rights to most of them. The fifth day 145 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: he thought about his ancestors, slaves, slave owners, Native Americans, 146 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: The shame of America tangled up in the roots of 147 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 1: his family tree. The sixth day, he thought about his guitar, 148 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 1: actually thought about his guitar every day. He'd been without 149 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 1: the silver tone for nearly a week, and it was 150 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: killing him. It was an instrument of comfort, a sense 151 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: of self. He needed it back in his hands. On 152 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: the last day, Jimmy found himself standing in front of 153 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 1: the judge public defender at his side. He was still 154 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,319 Speaker 1: searching in his own head for answers, for an explanation, 155 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: for a good reason why he was standing in front 156 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: of a judge. The public defender was explaining to the 157 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:53,320 Speaker 1: judge that his client would like to avoid jail time 158 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: by enlisting in the U. S. Army. He'd sign up 159 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,599 Speaker 1: for three years. Would that suit the court? As he 160 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: left court and checked out of the youth center, he 161 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: wasn't thinking about the army. His thoughts were stuck on 162 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: his guitar. On playing that sound. He thought about Ernestine Penson, 163 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:11,840 Speaker 1: a border who had stayed at Al and Jimmy's place 164 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: when Jimmy was in the seventh grade. Her seventy eight 165 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: record collection was Revelatory, Wolf, Muddy Lightning, Robert Johnson. She 166 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: bought him an acoustic guitar with one string for five bucks. 167 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:25,880 Speaker 1: It was first when you get a full set of 168 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 1: strings for it. He restrung a lefty style. Jimmy was 169 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:32,439 Speaker 1: born left handed, but Al was always trying to get 170 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: him to use his right hand. Jimmy would eat cereal 171 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: with a spoon in his left hand, and I would 172 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: take the spoon and put it in his right hand. 173 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:41,320 Speaker 1: I would take the pencil out of Jimmy's left hand 174 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:43,520 Speaker 1: to put it in his right hand. God forbid that 175 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: Il caught Jimmy playing the guitar left handed. Ain't no 176 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:48,840 Speaker 1: son of mine gonna play no devil guitar. You play 177 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,000 Speaker 1: that thing like a normal person, like a Christian, or 178 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: so help me God, I will break it in half 179 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:57,120 Speaker 1: while you watch. Left handed guitar was surely the sign 180 00:09:57,160 --> 00:09:59,960 Speaker 1: of the devil. It was unnatural, Al thought to pray 181 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: raved ungodly people would talk, so Jimmy had to learn 182 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:05,679 Speaker 1: to play it upside down like a right hander. In 183 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: case Al walked in his bedroom and announced left handed 184 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:15,319 Speaker 1: guitar was some devil ship. Jimmy sat on his bed alone, 185 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,440 Speaker 1: the five dollar guitar pulled tight against his chest on 186 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: top of his lap. His door was closed but not latched. 187 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 1: A two inch gap kept it open to the hallway. 188 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,400 Speaker 1: Better to hear his father approaching the next time and 189 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:30,880 Speaker 1: not be taken by surprise. He was holding the guitar 190 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,240 Speaker 1: right handed, and where he had strung at lefty it 191 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:35,720 Speaker 1: was upside down. He had to try at least to 192 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 1: play it upside down, if for nothing else, to avoid 193 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 1: the hell fire. That al was just itching unleash. It 194 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:44,440 Speaker 1: was like someone had swapped wires in his brain. His 195 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:46,600 Speaker 1: left hand on the neck and right hand picking at 196 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 1: the strings like some scavenger bird picking at the corpse 197 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:51,560 Speaker 1: of a bloated animal on the side of the road, 198 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 1: childlike remedial run of the middle dissonance, random packs, garbage sound. 199 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:00,880 Speaker 1: He flipped back over lefty style, and right hand wrapped 200 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 1: itself tight around the neck and wouldn't let go. The 201 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,320 Speaker 1: maple wood of the guitar neck was flesh now. He 202 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: felt the blood pumped to the palm of his hand 203 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:11,000 Speaker 1: and surged into the guitar neck like his heart was 204 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 1: right there. The hair on the back of his neck 205 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: stood up. His left hand brought the guitar pick down 206 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: to the strings viciously, and he lit into that little 207 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:21,559 Speaker 1: ship box. He played the flurry of notes he heard 208 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:24,880 Speaker 1: in his head, this melodic improvisation over a one, four 209 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: or five blues tune. The fingernails on his right hand 210 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 1: arched like plants, favoring the sun towards the fretboard. The 211 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:36,080 Speaker 1: guitar was hot, hell fire for sure. He thought he 212 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:38,480 Speaker 1: heard footsteps in the hall and quickly turned the guitar 213 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:41,640 Speaker 1: back over right handed. He sounded like shit again and 214 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: there was no connection between his body and the instrument. 215 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 1: Clunky pecks again, garbage sound. He flipped it back lefty 216 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 1: style and felt the surge to go through his body 217 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 1: once more. His right hand got hot. He looked down 218 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:55,960 Speaker 1: and couldn't tell where his hand ended him the guitar's 219 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 1: neck began. He didn't even think about what he was doing. 220 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 1: He didn't have to his hands, his arms there were 221 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,599 Speaker 1: a part of this now, soon his whole body to me. 222 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 1: In a few years, Jimmy would play it upside down, 223 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:09,160 Speaker 1: right side up, on his head, behind his back. He 224 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:13,080 Speaker 1: would lower it over the Devil's instrument. But first things first. 225 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:16,480 Speaker 1: Before he could devote himself entirely to the guitar, his 226 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:20,440 Speaker 1: time belonged to someone else, Uncle Sam. It was army 227 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,400 Speaker 1: time for joy riding Jimmy Hendricks, and no amount of 228 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: devil ship was going to stop that from happening. He 229 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:27,839 Speaker 1: would just have to figure out a way to make 230 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: the best of it, endure it, live through it, and 231 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:33,199 Speaker 1: then get out fast, get out early. He'd have to 232 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: get creative, do something that would shock the army. Not 233 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:40,000 Speaker 1: enough for a dishonorable discharge, but just enough so that 234 00:12:40,040 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 1: he packed his bags and hit the road. Jimmie Hendricks 235 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: was masturbating furiously, and he got caught. Not by his mom, 236 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: not by his dad, not in his bedroom. Jimmy was 237 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:15,680 Speaker 1: having a whank in the barracks at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, 238 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: out in the open. A superior officer found him. There 239 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:23,200 Speaker 1: are moving at a feverish pace, his breathing labored and rough. 240 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:28,000 Speaker 1: He was peeking plateaung. He was nineteen Private first Class 241 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 1: and the hundred first Airborne. The screaming eagles. Goddamn right 242 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 1: that eagle was screaming in the spring two Private Hendricks 243 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:39,320 Speaker 1: Jimmy's head shot up from where he was seated on 244 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: his bunk, panicked, humiliated, mortified, no pun intended, caught red 245 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:46,840 Speaker 1: handed with his pants down, with his stick in his hand. 246 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:49,840 Speaker 1: Are you supposed to be on duty? Son? It was 247 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 1: on all in act. The shock, the disbelief, the shame, 248 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 1: the humiliation. This whole thing was jive. Private Hendricks, Private 249 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,079 Speaker 1: first class jump or paratrooper, death to fire. Jim Me 250 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 1: Hendrick sitting prone in an army barracks in Kentucky, wearing 251 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:07,960 Speaker 1: standard issue all of drab fatigues. Jimmy Hendricks in the army. 252 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,520 Speaker 1: Now it was all bullshit. This wasn't Jimmy Hendricks. Anyone 253 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: could see that Jimmy wanted to get caught in the act. 254 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: Do something stupid. Jimmy, wait until they were making their 255 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:22,880 Speaker 1: rounds and just sit out in the open spanking it. 256 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:26,360 Speaker 1: It would make his story airtight, legit. His plan to 257 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: get the funk out of the army less than a 258 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: year after he went and got himself enlisted was gonna work. 259 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: He met with the based psychiatrist a few times in 260 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:38,840 Speaker 1: the spring to put his plan into action. Change up 261 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: the plot, and he no longer wanted to be Jimmy Hendricks, 262 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: the army man, the one on one er. He needed 263 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 1: something fantastical in order to wriggle out of his three 264 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: year commitment, and offered. They couldn't refuse three years, three 265 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: years of tumbling from great heights and praying to God 266 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:55,680 Speaker 1: that the shoot would open when it was supposed to. 267 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,040 Speaker 1: Funck now, never mind what was going on in Cuba. 268 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 1: Laos to be an um. It made it through the 269 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 1: exhaustion of basic training at Fort Ord in California the 270 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: previous year, only to realize that Fort Campbell as the 271 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:11,840 Speaker 1: greenest member of the hundred and first Airborne, that this 272 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:15,280 Speaker 1: certainly wasn't his path, not who he was supposed to be. 273 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 1: He asked to speak with the base psychiatrists. It was urgent. 274 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: Uh Doc, it's like this, I think I'm a homosexual 275 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: homo what? Jimmy spun the tail to an army shrink 276 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: in a proto don't ask, don't tell a world. He 277 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: was thinking about the other guys in the barracks and 278 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: the showers. He was getting turned on all the time. 279 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:38,320 Speaker 1: He was hard all the time. He couldn't take it anymore, Doc, 280 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: And the psychiatrist wasn't sure what to do with this. 281 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: Is his love or is this confusion? He told Jimmy 282 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: to calm down, to get over it. That's what he 283 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: did in the army, get over it. But Jimmy kept 284 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:53,200 Speaker 1: going back, kept requesting appointments with the base headshrinker, kept 285 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 1: adding to the story. Uh, Doc, it's like this. I 286 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: can't stop touching myself. Do you know what I mean? Doc? 287 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: Can you even look at these guys in here and 288 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:02,600 Speaker 1: the next thing you know, your hands are down your pants. 289 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: I can't stop it, Doc, I don't want to stop. 290 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 1: Jimmy sat on a chair in the base psychiatrist's office, 291 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 1: his eyes straight to the floor. He pulled on his 292 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: standard issue tie, turned his standard issue cadet cap over 293 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: and over in his hands. Once he was caught in 294 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 1: the act, things moved quickly. He got the once over 295 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 1: by a captain at the base who gave Jimmy the 296 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 1: first full exam he'd had since joining the year before. 297 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:33,560 Speaker 1: Captain Halbert his notes were a succinct bigoted, narrow minded. 298 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 1: Just as Jimmy had hoped. Jimmy had quote unquote personal problems. 299 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,280 Speaker 1: Perhaps the United States Military and Jimmie Hendricks should go 300 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: their separate ways. Jimmie Hendrix just was an army material. 301 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 1: Jimmy chose the hundred and first Airborne not just because 302 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,680 Speaker 1: it was sexy and cutting edge. The airborne power troopers 303 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 1: who hit the beach on D Day were the stuff 304 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 1: of legends, but serving for the hundred and first Airborne 305 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,560 Speaker 1: also meant an extra freak bucks in your pocket. Each month, 306 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: Jimmy's father, Al Hendrix, shipped his guitar to him from 307 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 1: back home in Seattle. It allowed him to hang on 308 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:10,639 Speaker 1: to a piece of himself, a piece of himself that 309 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: he could recognize. It was like a missing appendage. The 310 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 1: guitar was a Dan Electro, a silvertone, a budget model 311 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,480 Speaker 1: with a decent tone, budget enough that a teenager like 312 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 1: Jimmy could afford it, but decent enough that it would 313 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:27,399 Speaker 1: be favored. I'lbe it briefly by Eric Clapton during his 314 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:31,119 Speaker 1: Blind Faith and by Sid Barrett and Pink Floyd's Salad years. 315 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:34,639 Speaker 1: Jimmy bought it for fifty bucks at Sears Roebuck. It 316 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:37,440 Speaker 1: was white, but he painted it red. He wrote Betty 317 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: Jean and big letters on its front after his high 318 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:43,840 Speaker 1: school girlfriend, and Jimmy didn't keep his guitar in a case. 319 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:46,920 Speaker 1: At every opportunity he would play, he walked around the 320 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: basse with it strung to his back like string Hayden 321 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 1: and Johnny guitar. He talked to it, slept with it. 322 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: During downtime, Jimmy would plug his Dan Electro and amplifiers 323 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 1: at the club on bass. He'd jam on the blues 324 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,680 Speaker 1: tunes from Back Home, Muddy Waters, Helen Wolf, BB King, 325 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: and the guitar would echo through the empty service club hall, 326 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 1: and Jimmy would close his eyes and imagine the hall 327 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:10,359 Speaker 1: full of people, and this could be him, This could 328 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:15,159 Speaker 1: be Jimmy Hendricks. One afternoon, another serviceman walked in with 329 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:19,639 Speaker 1: a club, seeking shelter from the rain outside. Jimmy was oblivious, 330 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: but this dude stopped to listen. It's nd like anything 331 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: he'd ever heard before. Later described what he heard as 332 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:29,679 Speaker 1: Beethoven meets John Lee Hooker. It was Billy Cox, bass 333 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: player from Pittsburgh, fellow Screaming Eagle. He'd go on to 334 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:35,320 Speaker 1: play in one of Jimmy's first real bands, and again 335 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: in his last real band. Throughout he'd be a constant 336 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:42,320 Speaker 1: in Jimmy's life, a friend, an ally, a fellow gypsy, 337 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:46,360 Speaker 1: fellow army trooper, a true brother in arms. Right now, 338 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: though Billy Cox was standing silent listening to the sounds 339 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:53,640 Speaker 1: from Jimmy, stan electro bounced around the service Club Number one, 340 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 1: thinking who the fuck is this dude. Jimmy and Billy 341 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 1: became fast friends. They're band, The Casuals with a K 342 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,719 Speaker 1: played bass clubs. Eventually they played joints outside of Fort Campbell, 343 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,920 Speaker 1: morph into the King Casuals with two K's, and soon 344 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:12,080 Speaker 1: Jimmy was imagining a life outside the Army, a life 345 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 1: without the army, a life free from the stress of 346 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,720 Speaker 1: the jumps and the repetition of the Fort Campbell lifestyle. 347 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,159 Speaker 1: Play Late, sleep in, wake up, Play, guitar jam, a 348 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,399 Speaker 1: little hit, the next gig. Repeat. But to get to 349 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 1: that place where he could stroll around like Sterling Hayden 350 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:29,959 Speaker 1: all day long, he would have to transcend this reality. 351 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 1: He would have to get as far away from the 352 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:35,360 Speaker 1: army as possible before his skin turned the color of camouflage, 353 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:38,119 Speaker 1: before he bled red, white and blue. He had to 354 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:41,440 Speaker 1: lay some trip that would be impossible to come back from. 355 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,399 Speaker 1: He'd say he was gay. He had no problem with 356 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:47,479 Speaker 1: that personally, but it drove the military types up the 357 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:51,159 Speaker 1: fucking wall. Being gay in the early nineteen sixties was 358 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:54,040 Speaker 1: a social prison for some, but for Jimmy Hendricks, it 359 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: was his ticket to freedom. Gotta get away, Stone, free 360 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:01,120 Speaker 1: to do what I please, Stone, free to ride the breeze. 361 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: Jimmy had recently heard his ankle jumping from an airplane, 362 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:07,400 Speaker 1: and that would be the perfect reason to give when 363 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 1: friends and family asked what had happened to him why. 364 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:12,679 Speaker 1: Less than a year after enlisting, he was out on 365 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:17,159 Speaker 1: the street, out on his own, no direction home. His 366 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 1: discharge papers in May sixty two told a different story. 367 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 1: Of course, behavior problems requires excessive supervision. While on duty, 368 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:31,000 Speaker 1: apprehended masturbating and platoon area the ruse worked. He was 369 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:34,359 Speaker 1: stone free, and now what? He didn't have to play 370 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,200 Speaker 1: this role any longer. But now who would he be? 371 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:40,359 Speaker 1: It would have to be different new He's sure as 372 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:42,280 Speaker 1: hell wasn't going to go back to that spody was 373 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:45,760 Speaker 1: him before winding up in the army, Dead, broke, busted 374 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:50,720 Speaker 1: head in jail. He let his guitar lead him there, 375 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 1: lead him far away from the army, far away from home, 376 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:58,360 Speaker 1: far from a comfort zone, surrounded by smoke, noise, temptation, 377 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 1: things he hadn't seen, and things he would start to 378 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:03,640 Speaker 1: see a lot more of. Some of the best teachers 379 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,840 Speaker 1: laid in wait downe a darkened hallway behind the stage, 380 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,399 Speaker 1: stained with sweat and spit and dirt, in a dressing 381 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: room stained with god knows what else. Deep into these 382 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:16,679 Speaker 1: dens of experience, he'd go to find out just how 383 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 1: much more devilish he could become. We'll be right back 384 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:31,040 Speaker 1: after this word word word. Jimmie Hendricks was out of 385 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:34,880 Speaker 1: the army and searching for Billy Davis, the Billy Davis, 386 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 1: Hank Ballard's guitar player, the cat behind the monster riff 387 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:41,639 Speaker 1: on Sexy Ways and the Whiplash solo on look at 388 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 1: Little Sister, the guy who rubbed elbows with John Lee Hooker, 389 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: Jackie Wilson and Smokey Robinson. They called him the face. 390 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: Chicks dug him. Dudes wanted his duds. He was only 391 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:54,359 Speaker 1: a few years older than Jimmy, but in guitar years, 392 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:57,320 Speaker 1: in show biz years, the dude was a legend. He 393 00:21:57,440 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 1: was the wise old man at the top of the 394 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:03,000 Speaker 1: mountain that she me had only begun to climb. Hank 395 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:05,880 Speaker 1: Ballard in the Midnighters, had just finished their first set 396 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,280 Speaker 1: of the night in Jimmy's hometown at the Eagles Auditorium. 397 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 1: Sixteen year old Jimmy brought his guitar to the show. 398 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 1: Brought his own guitar to someone else's show. It wasn't 399 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 1: leaving until he got some pointers from his hero, Billy Davis. 400 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 1: It was the shitty acoustic guitar given to him by 401 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: Ernestine that he had re strong lefty. He sat there 402 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: in a chair, guitar on his lap, and watched the 403 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:30,919 Speaker 1: Midnighters run through their well oiled show, dressed to the nines, 404 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,879 Speaker 1: singing those lyrics that got their songs pulled from the 405 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 1: air by stations all over the country. Annie Please don't cheat, 406 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:41,639 Speaker 1: give me all my meat, and Billy Davis nearly showing 407 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: up Hank Ballard. He was flashy as hellfire, dancing, spinning, twirling, 408 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:49,200 Speaker 1: playing his guitar behind his head, holding his guitar near 409 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,160 Speaker 1: his amp to coax house some discord and feedback. Billy 410 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,359 Speaker 1: had it all the chops, the looks, the moves. Everyone 411 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,919 Speaker 1: else in the room was watching Hank Ballard, but Jimmy 412 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,880 Speaker 1: kept his eye on the guitar player absorbed every move. 413 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:07,160 Speaker 1: Intermission hit and Jimmy jumped up clawed his way through 414 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: the crowd towards the stage to track down Billy. He 415 00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:12,919 Speaker 1: had to find Billy. The band was nowhere to be found, 416 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,240 Speaker 1: probably in their dressing room already. Jimmy didn't know how. 417 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:19,000 Speaker 1: He didn't filtrate, but did he get back there? Pulled 418 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:21,880 Speaker 1: up ballads. Trumpet player was talking up some little mistranged 419 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,400 Speaker 1: and well warmed polo skirt stage right. Jimmy made a bline, 420 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:28,439 Speaker 1: the acoustic guitar in his hand, banging into people mingling 421 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: throughout the crowd. Hey man, Jimmy Hollard at the Hornman. 422 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:35,760 Speaker 1: Where's Billy Davis? Can I talk to Billy? Hornman held 423 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:37,879 Speaker 1: up his finger to the girl to pause their conversation 424 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: and gave Jimmy a look that was halfway between disgust 425 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: and shock. Say what, Billy, Billy Davis? I want to 426 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:48,000 Speaker 1: ask him some questions about playing guitar? See and Jimmy 427 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,480 Speaker 1: lifted a guitar up to offer the Hornman a better view, 428 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 1: flashed a toothy smile, and the Hornman's face changed from 429 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 1: a scowl to a smirk, and suddenly he was laughing. Ship, 430 00:23:58,080 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: you gotta be kidding me with this horse Ship kid, 431 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: Go back to your seat, enjoy the show. Jimmy stood 432 00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:05,200 Speaker 1: his ground. He came all the way over here. He 433 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:07,640 Speaker 1: brought his damn guitar. He was gonna get some tips 434 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:11,200 Speaker 1: from Billy Davis. God damnit, he interrupted Hornman again. This 435 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,840 Speaker 1: was important, urged he was a huge fan. He just 436 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,760 Speaker 1: had to meet him. Horn Man looked at Jimmy's face, 437 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:20,640 Speaker 1: that face that summoned strangers, that face that had charisma 438 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,920 Speaker 1: to spare. All right, fuck it, follow me. I am 439 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:27,400 Speaker 1: promising you nothing though, Hornman motion to Jimmy to follow 440 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 1: him behind the stage down a darkened hallway to the 441 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:33,399 Speaker 1: band's dressing room. The dressing room door opened, and peaking 442 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 1: over Hornman's shoulder, Jimmy spied the action dressing room confidential. 443 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:40,760 Speaker 1: The midnight is laughing, yelling at each other, drinking hoops 444 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 1: from little cups, smoking stubby cigarettes, thick waffs of reefer suspenders, 445 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:49,080 Speaker 1: shined up shoes pullmade infectious laughter of women. A two 446 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: radio pumping out the coasters. Charlie Brown fee fee five 447 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 1: five fox fox fum I smell smoke. In the auditorium 448 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,399 Speaker 1: front and center. Billy Davis chilling on a seat with 449 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 1: a girl dangling on each knee. The girls were laughing, 450 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,520 Speaker 1: laughing way too hard, their heads thrown back into attention, 451 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:10,160 Speaker 1: getting ecstasy. Billy's eyes at half masks grinning from ear 452 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,359 Speaker 1: to ear. Who walks in the classroom? Cool and slow? 453 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:17,479 Speaker 1: Who calls the English teacher daddy yo yo? Billy Hornman 454 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:19,680 Speaker 1: hauled into the dude, this is this kid who wants 455 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 1: to talk to you. He brought a guitar. I'm busy man. 456 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:25,919 Speaker 1: Billy turned his attention back to the girls, took a 457 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 1: long drag from a thin cigarette, mumbled something to one 458 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:31,639 Speaker 1: of them, something like tell me that again, baby, But 459 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:33,240 Speaker 1: one of the band members in the room shut the 460 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 1: dressing room door, a shut Hornman shrugged his shoulders, and 461 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:42,520 Speaker 1: that was that. Them's the brakes, kid, Nah, them's ain't 462 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:46,480 Speaker 1: the brakes, Jimmy insisted, dog torn man, how did him 463 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 1: threaten to annoy the ship out of him all night 464 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:50,679 Speaker 1: long if he didn't get him five minutes with his 465 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:54,120 Speaker 1: idol or Man made another attempt, and Billy shot back 466 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:57,960 Speaker 1: the same response. I said, I was busy, Billy. This 467 00:25:58,040 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: kid is annoying the ship out of me. He only 468 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:03,720 Speaker 1: be a loan and he brought his goddamn guitar. The 469 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:06,720 Speaker 1: third time turned out to be the charm. Billy conceded 470 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,040 Speaker 1: ushered the girls off his lap, and that Jimmy out 471 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:12,359 Speaker 1: in the hallway, and Jimmy smile took over his entire face. 472 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:17,879 Speaker 1: The face made fast friends. Billy felt his annoyance deflate. Obviously, 473 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:19,919 Speaker 1: this was a fan and a dedicated one at that. 474 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 1: Billy's ego was in control now, so Jimmy and Billy 475 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 1: shook hands, and then the day loser questions him, how 476 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:29,119 Speaker 1: do you make a sound like that. When do you 477 00:26:29,119 --> 00:26:30,520 Speaker 1: know how to bend a note? How do you know 478 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:32,080 Speaker 1: you're bending the right note? How do you make that 479 00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:34,359 Speaker 1: scuffing sound and fingerpop in time? How many hours a 480 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:38,080 Speaker 1: day do you play? Billy laughed, answered some of the questions, 481 00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 1: told him some of the other answers would have to 482 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,399 Speaker 1: wait until Jimmy had some more experience under his belt. 483 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,399 Speaker 1: He examined the shitty acoustic guitar, which Jimmy knew was shitty, 484 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,040 Speaker 1: knew he could do better. He was just so eager 485 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:51,480 Speaker 1: to learn. And maybe Billy could just stop by his 486 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:53,560 Speaker 1: house this week. They could sit down and he could 487 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:55,840 Speaker 1: show him a thing or two. I went to midnighters 488 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: here in town for a whole week playing shows. Billy 489 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:02,359 Speaker 1: saw the since Sarah in Jimmy's eyes, the realness. The 490 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:05,120 Speaker 1: kid didn't care about the dressing room confidential going on 491 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:08,160 Speaker 1: behind the door, didn't care about the girls, about the smokes, 492 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:11,280 Speaker 1: about the tube radio powered hijinks. He wanted to learn 493 00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 1: everything there was to learn about the guitar, as shitty 494 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,679 Speaker 1: as his was. He wanted to take the mojo from 495 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 1: Ernestine's seventy eight and injected straight into the fret board 496 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:23,359 Speaker 1: and he wanted Billy Davis to show him how sure 497 00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: a kid? What's your address? What do you do in tomorrow? 498 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:30,760 Speaker 1: Action June Jimmie Hendricks's crash course tutoring by the Billy 499 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:35,560 Speaker 1: Davis is fantastical, mythical even, but it totally happened. Billy 500 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:37,960 Speaker 1: went to Al and Jimmy's house a few times during 501 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:40,560 Speaker 1: the week that the band was in Seattle, distilled the 502 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,200 Speaker 1: lifetime of playing and noodling and learning into a couple 503 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 1: of afternoon sessions. A few years later, Billy laid down 504 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 1: the guitar on Jackie Wilson's time was classic You Love 505 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,359 Speaker 1: Keeps lifting Me higher and higher, and in two thousand 506 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:54,520 Speaker 1: twelve he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall 507 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 1: of Fame as a member of the Midnighters. But his 508 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 1: tutelage of a young Jimmie Hendricks likely was enough of 509 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 1: a country be your Ship. Jimmy's first attempt to insert 510 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:06,239 Speaker 1: himself into the scene, be in the right place at 511 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,400 Speaker 1: the right time, to learn what he wanted from who 512 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,440 Speaker 1: he wanted was his success, and it gave him confidence, 513 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 1: or at least the lack of fear, to go out 514 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,760 Speaker 1: and do it again. It came in handy as he 515 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,840 Speaker 1: joined some of his first bands, first the Velvet Tones 516 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:21,399 Speaker 1: and then the Rock and Kings. He'd hang around the 517 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:25,320 Speaker 1: Spanish Castle legendary dance Hall, an hour outside of Seattle, 518 00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 1: and offered to fill in for other bands if they 519 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: needed a player. The more he looked, the more he saw. 520 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:34,399 Speaker 1: The more he searched, the more he found. Sometimes he 521 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,560 Speaker 1: wouldn't even be looking. Sometimes these things just pulled up 522 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:40,640 Speaker 1: in a car, opened the door, and stepped out in 523 00:28:40,760 --> 00:29:07,320 Speaker 1: front of him. Jimmy's younger brother, Leon burst through the 524 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: front door and recounted the story breathlessly. It was a 525 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:13,280 Speaker 1: long black limousine. It was parked right outside to Carlton 526 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:15,560 Speaker 1: having a grocery. Just as he was walking by, a 527 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:18,200 Speaker 1: little Richard climbed out of it. It was Leon there, 528 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: of course, Leon was there. He stopped dead in his tracks, 529 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:24,680 Speaker 1: mouth the game. Little Richard stepped out of that limo, 530 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:28,520 Speaker 1: white tie on, white shirt, dark mohair suit, big gass hair, 531 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 1: pencil mustache, right here in Seattle. He took one look 532 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:37,480 Speaker 1: at Leon and started to testify. Praise Jesus. This wasn't 533 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:39,960 Speaker 1: the twoty fruity Little Richard or leather g string and 534 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,880 Speaker 1: feather head dressed Little Richard. This was the god fearing, 535 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:48,480 Speaker 1: life changing gospel spreading Little Richard. Little Richard was known 536 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,240 Speaker 1: as one of the architects of rock and roll that 537 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,680 Speaker 1: year in ninety seven. After years of wearing makeup and 538 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:58,600 Speaker 1: singing tirelessly of sex charged liberation, he was looking for 539 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:03,120 Speaker 1: and finding signs God. He infamously mistook the launch of 540 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:06,080 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union spot Nick Jue as a red fireball 541 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,240 Speaker 1: sent from the heavens. He was on tour in Australia 542 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:12,200 Speaker 1: and saw armageddon and the sky through his big, gaudy 543 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:14,760 Speaker 1: rings in a river boom. No more rock and roll. 544 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:18,640 Speaker 1: It was all God's work from then on out, Old man, trouble, 545 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:22,920 Speaker 1: please wash away all my fears. Leon was out running 546 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:25,280 Speaker 1: a few errands for the house when Little Richard's limo 547 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:28,600 Speaker 1: entered his life. Little Richard immediately invited Leon to come 548 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: to the Baptist church that night, where he'd be preaching. 549 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:33,960 Speaker 1: Leon had never met a celebrity before, and Jimmy would 550 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: never believe it. The brothers didn't have church clothes per se, 551 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,720 Speaker 1: but they did their best. Jimmy shirt was a little dirty, 552 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 1: his shoes torn, and the fancy church going crowd looked 553 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:46,080 Speaker 1: at the brothers up and down when they arrived, like 554 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:48,680 Speaker 1: they were orphans out of a Dickens novel? Who let 555 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: these street urchins in here? And they leaned their bikes 556 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,320 Speaker 1: up against the exterior of the church. They found a 557 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:56,520 Speaker 1: few seats up front, as close as they could get 558 00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:59,320 Speaker 1: to the pulpit, and Jimmy was reminded of the feeling 559 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 1: he got when he saw Elvis performed just a few 560 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:05,440 Speaker 1: months earlier, the anticipation of seeing this person in the flesh, 561 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,480 Speaker 1: this famous person who was on your radio all the time. 562 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:11,520 Speaker 1: Unlike the Elvis show, though, Jimmy was going to be 563 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:13,920 Speaker 1: only a few arms length the way from the start tonight, 564 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 1: Little Richard hit the stage, still with the big gass 565 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:23,840 Speaker 1: hair and the pencil mustache minus the makeup, oversized purple 566 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: robe trailing behind him. As he prowled in front of 567 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:28,920 Speaker 1: the packed house, his eyes blew up wide, just like 568 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,240 Speaker 1: when he's sang Rock and Roll. He shook his head 569 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:33,480 Speaker 1: and raptures twitches, just like you would in front of 570 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:36,960 Speaker 1: a piano. With men, it's impossible, but with God, all 571 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:41,720 Speaker 1: things are possible, he exclaimed. The crowd immediately responded with amens. 572 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:45,400 Speaker 1: And other agreeable grunts ecstasy. Teary eyed, he went on, 573 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,000 Speaker 1: he shall know the truth, and the truth shall set 574 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: you free. Jimmy closed his eyes, listen to Little Richard's 575 00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:54,120 Speaker 1: words and imagine that he wasn't talking about God in 576 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:57,200 Speaker 1: the hereafter he knew what Little Richard was talking about. 577 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,479 Speaker 1: He was talking about other truths, about long till Sally, 578 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:02,400 Speaker 1: and about ripping it up, and about how the girl 579 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:06,040 Speaker 1: can't help it. Jimmy imagine that voice booming and wooing 580 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:09,120 Speaker 1: into the Baptist ceiling and transposed it onto the words 581 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,360 Speaker 1: he wanted to hear. And after the sermon, Jimmy and 582 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:14,920 Speaker 1: Leon stood in the receiving line to get their blessing 583 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:18,240 Speaker 1: from the celebrity pastor to touch the hem of his garment. 584 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 1: For Jimmy, it was another one of his creative osmosis moments, 585 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:25,680 Speaker 1: to stand next to greatness, observe it, decoded, become it. 586 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:29,160 Speaker 1: Little did Jimmy know that only a few years down 587 00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:32,040 Speaker 1: the road, Little Richard would trade in his preaching robe 588 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 1: for his rock and roll shoes once more, only this 589 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:38,640 Speaker 1: time he'd have a young Jimmy Hendrix playing guitar by 590 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:57,720 Speaker 1: his side. I'm Jake Burning In this seven Claus Club 591 00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:00,240 Speaker 1: is scored and co written by me jacob En and 592 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:03,680 Speaker 1: Zeth Lundi is the lead writer, editor, and co producer. 593 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:06,840 Speaker 1: The twenty seven Club is mixed and engineered by Sean 594 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:10,280 Speaker 1: Kalen and Matt Owdin, both of whom lent their considerable 595 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 1: music talent to the scoring of this series, as well 596 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:17,360 Speaker 1: additional music and score elements by Ryan Spraker. The twenty 597 00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:20,000 Speaker 1: seven Club is produced by myself for Double Elvis in 598 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:23,840 Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. Sources for this episode are 599 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:26,560 Speaker 1: available at Double Elvis dot com on the twenty seven 600 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:30,240 Speaker 1: Club series page. The twenty seven Club is released weekly 601 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:34,640 Speaker 1: every Thursday. Season one features twelve episodes on Jimmy hendricks In. 602 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:38,520 Speaker 1: Season two will feature twelve episodes on Jim Morrison. If 603 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:40,480 Speaker 1: you like what you here, please be sure to subscribe 604 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 1: to the twenty seven Club on Apple podcast the I 605 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts, and 606 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:48,040 Speaker 1: if you'd like to win a free twenty seven Club 607 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,480 Speaker 1: poster designed by the man himself, Nate Gonzalez, then leave 608 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:54,320 Speaker 1: a review for twenty seven Club on Apple Podcasts or 609 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:58,440 Speaker 1: hashtag subscribe to twenty seven Club on social media and 610 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,240 Speaker 1: We'll pick two winners each week and announced them on 611 00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:05,120 Speaker 1: the Double Elvis Instagram page. That's at double Elvis. You're 612 00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 1: gonna want to give that a follow, So get out 613 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,960 Speaker 1: there and please spread the word about As always, you 614 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:13,279 Speaker 1: can find me blabbing about other crazy rock stars on 615 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,120 Speaker 1: my other podcast, dis Graceland, and you can talk to 616 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:20,000 Speaker 1: me per usual on Instagram and Twitter at this Graceland pod. 617 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:22,520 Speaker 1: One way or another, I hope to be talking to 618 00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:34,279 Speaker 1: you soon. Until then, what's up, Fear is