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The 27 Club Part 2: Are You Experienced?

Three of the most revered Rock Musicians of the 1960’s all died within a year of each other, all at the age of 27. Their deaths shocked the world, and began the discussion of the disturbing phenomenon called the 27 Club. They were Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison. Needless to say, their lives and talents could never be summed up in my few words.

Jimi Hendrix is widely regarded as the most influential rock guitarist of all time, despite not being able to read music. He first found work as a gig musician in Nashville, Tennessee, going on to work in the backing bands of artists like Little Richard, and the Isley Brothers. He moved to England and had a great deal of success with his band the Jimi Hendrix Experience. One of his most notable on stage performances came in 1969 when, on the third day of the Woodstock festival, when he played one of the most iconic renditions of the national anthem to a tired audience who had been rained on the night before. He died accidentally in 1970 due to barbiturate induced asphyxiation. After his death, his music and in particular his guitar playing was massively influential, as it led to the popularity of fuzz, gain, and overdrive as methods of sound distortion in rock records up until the present day.

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The 27 Club Part 1: The Lizard King

Three of the most revered Rock Musicians of the 1960’s all died within a year of each other, all at the age of 27. Their deaths shocked the world, and began the discussion of the disturbing phenomenon called the 27 Club. They were Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison. Needless to say, their lives and talents could never be summed up in my few words.

Other than Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison was perhaps the greatest poet of the Rock’n’Roll scene. He grew up as an army brat with a strict disciplinarian as a father, who upon hearing his son’s music told him that he would never amount to anything. Morrison never had any formal musical education and in fact could not read music, but he had a great talent for singing and songwriting, having both a poetic sensibility, and a great range of both pitch and tone in his voice, being on of the few singers in rock history who could alternate between a smooth croon and a scream, back to a croon on command. As a member of the Doors he worked with the talented pianist and rock composer, Ray Manzarek, who along with Robby Krieger and John Densmore added musical depth and complexity to Morrison’s lyrics. In his lyrics Morrison focuses on themes of psychoanalysis, mythology and the occult. Jim Morrison was a habitual user of alcohol in the later years of his life, which greatly affected his performance and personal life. He died in Paris, France in 1971, with the cause of death unknown as no autopsy occurred.

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It’s the summer of 1971 and one of the greatest albums in rock music history is being created.

The story behind Exile on Mainstreet by The Rolling Stones is a tale excess, drug addiction, gangs and desperation.

The Stones who were deep in the grips of heroin addiction at the time, took around 5 years to complete the double LP. Because of the length of time and the expense of their drug habit, they found themselves deep in debt to the wrong kind of people. Because of the danger this put them in they had to move from the French Riviera to Los Angeles. They found themselves in almost as much trouble seeing as after a free concert The Rolling Stones put on in 1969, several members of the Hell’s Angels conspired to kill Mic Jagger. In spite of the danger they managed to put out the album in 1972 to lukewarm critical reception, but has since gained the reputation for being on of the greatest albums ever made.