Widely recognized as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix pioneered the explosive possibilities of the electric guitar. Hendrix's innovative style of combining fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion created a new musical form. Because he was unable to read or write music, it is nothing short of remarkable that Jimi Hendrix's meteoric rise in the music business occurred in just four years. His musical language continues to influence many modern musicians, from George Clinton to Miles Davis, Steve Vai and Jonny Lang. Jimi Hendrix, born Johnny Allen Hendrix at 10:15 a.m. on November 27, 1942, at King County Hospital in Seattle, was later renamed James Marshall by his father, James "Al" Hendrix. Young Jimmy (as he was known at the time) became interested in music, drawing inspiration from virtually every major artist of the day, including BB King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Holly and Robert Johnson. Entirely self-taught, Jimmy's inability to read music forced him to focus even more on the music he heard. Al noticed Jimmy's interest in the guitar and recalls, "I used to ask Jimmy to clean the room all the time while I was gone." , and when I came home and found a lot of broom straws at the foot of the bed, I said to him: "Well, didn't you sweep the floor?" and he was like, “Oh yeah,” he did it. But I found out later that he was sitting at the end of the bed there and playing the broom like he was playing the guitar. Al found an old one-string ukulele, which he gave to Jimmy to play, a huge improvement over the broom. In the summer of 1958, Al had bought Jimmy a used acoustic guitar for five dollars from one of his friends. Shortly after, Jimmy joined his first band, The Velvetones. After a three-month stay with the group, Jimmy left to pursue his own interests. The following summer, Al bought Jimmy his first electric guitar, a Supro Ozark 1560S; Jimi used it when he joined the Rocking Kings. In 1961, Jimmy left home to enlist in the United States Army and in November 1962, he earned the right to wear the "Screaming Eagles" patch for the Parachute Division. While stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Jimmy formed The King Casuals with bassist Billy Cox. After being discharged due to an injury suffered during a skydive, Jimmy began working as a session guitarist under the name Jimmy James..