jimi hendrix *disegno di elvis*

[Lesterlong]

imi Hendrix grew up as a shy and sensitive boy, deeply affected by the conditions of poverty and neglect that he was raised in, and by the troubling family events of his childhood-namely his parents' divorce when he was nine, and the death of his mother in 1958. In an unusual experience for African Americans of his era, Hendrix grew up with children of diverse ethnic origin. Most American inner cities of the 1950s were heavily segregated by race, but Seattle's Central District was a mix of Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, Native American and Asian residents.

Young Hendrix was particularly fond of Elvis Presley; the color drawing below, showing Elvis wielding a guitar, was made by an impressionable 15-year-old Hendrix two months after attending Presley's concert at Sick's Stadium on September 1, 1957, as a follow up to his note taking there, during the concert itself, in which he wrote down the entire line-up of songs he heard Presley sing that night. Both documents can still be seen at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. His reverence to Presley continued even into adulthood, as when he attended, in late 1968, a late-night screening of Presley's 'King Creole', during his time in Paris and crediting this particular viewing with giving him the additional strength and inspiration needed to further his career, after his first, uneventful travel to London.