On November 27, electric guitar genius Jimi Hendrix would have turned 80. On this occasion appears the comic strip “Kiss the Sky”, which recounts the sad childhood of the musician and his difficult beginnings until his flight to London in 1966, on the eve of a dazzling career.
The cover of “Kiss the Sky”, by Dupont and Mezzo. [Editions Glénat]Already authors of the “Love in Vain” comic book devoted to guitarist Robert Johnson, screenwriter Jean-Michel Dupont and cartoonist Mezzo are repeating the experience with a new opus dedicated to Jimi Hendrix, “Kiss the Sky”, from the name chanted in the famous song “Purple Haze”.
The comic returns to the Dickensian childhood of the American guitarist. He grew up in Seattle in poverty, with absent parents: alcoholic mother, violent father.
And when Jimi Hendrix starts playing for Little Richard or the Isley Brothers, he faces ridicule. He is called a “loser”, he is excluded for his too avant-garde playing or because he fell asleep before a concert. Misunderstanding, bad luck and fiery youth…
>> To listen, “Hey Joe” by Jimi Hendrix (1966):
Bob Dylan, this admired figure
“Kiss the Sky” also reveals that Bob Dylan was Jimi Hendrix’s big hero. He meets him in a bar following having dreamed of him for years, crazy regarding his albums and the character. They have one thing in common, the voice. Jimi Hendrix didn’t like his own voice, he didn’t want to sing.
However, listening to Dylan and his recognizable voice made him uninhibited. If Dylan might sing in that voice, then he might too. Jimi Hendrix will cover five Bob Dylan songs including “All Along The Watchtower”, which has become better known than the original.
>> A écouter, “All Along The Watchtower”:
inspiring women
Jimi Hendrix was also inspired by certain women who crossed his life, such as the American artist Lithofayne Pridgon, muse of many musicians. She might be the one nicknamed “Foxy Lady” in the song of the same name. He saw her as the only woman he loved, but might never hold back.
Another special woman meant to him: his grandmother of Cherokee ancestry. He often visited her in Vancouver, Canada and she told him the tragedy of her ancestors, stories of invisible worlds and voodoo.
>> To discover, “Voodoo Child” live in Hawaii in 1970:
A second volume to come
“Kiss the Sky” therefore returns to the first part of the life of Jimi Hendrix. Volume two is in the process of being written, but it would take several to summarize such an intense life, which only counts four years of international career before the death of the musician at the age of 27. He revolutionized all future rock with his guitar playing and innovative use of sounds. And not only guitarists: the jazzman Miles Davis also succumbed to the charm of the “loser” Jimi Hendrix.
Radio subject: Yves Zahno
Adaptation web: mh
Mezzo and JM Dupont, “Kiss the Sky vol. 1”, Glénat editions.
