Chapter 6
A Brethren of Oddities

It’s well-told, pop culture legend that Jimi Hendrix became a superstar simply by catching a plane to Britain. In 1966, in the four years since he had left the army his career in the music business had been patchy. When Linda Keith famously spotted him in the Cheetah Club in New York he was a frustrated, under-the-radar, jobbing guitarist. Keith later took Chas Chandler, ex- drummer of the Animals and by that time, a talent scout and manager, to see Hendrix play in Café Wha? in Greenwich Village and he intuited that Hendrix might be better appreciated in the London that London was in 1966 – the Beatles had just released Revolver, Cream and Led Zeppelin were materialising and an atmosphere prevailed where the virtuoso guitar player, particularly an African American virtuoso guitar player would not just be embraced, they would be cherished and revered.