King
George and Jimi Hendrix met the first time in New York in the sixties.
They became friends and started to hang out at the club "The Lighthouse.
By then Jimi Hendrix was almost unknown and was jamming around in the
small clubs in Harlem. Jimi & George had a lot of things in common,
especially concerning the music. Among other things they both worked with
Don Covay and participated on his album "Have Mercy" George
remembers that Jimi Hendrix was the person who introduced him to Bob Dylans
music, which was unknown at the time. George, Jimi, a drummer by the name
of Jimi Mayes and some other people shared a house on upper west side.
They hung out in places like Smalls Paradise in Harlem, but also in Greenwich
Village.
In 1966 King George got an offer to become the singer in the black rhythm'n'blues
band Harlem Kiddies and go on tour to Europe. About the same time Jimi
Hendrix was brought to England by Chas Chandler. The friendship continued
and when Jimi Hendrix made a tour in Denmark in 1967 Harlem Kiddies with
King George was the warm up group. This year the Harlem Kiddies released
a live record called "Live in Las Vegas" which was recorded
in Copenhagen. The last time they met was only one week before Jimi died.
Jimi
& George met many times in Stockholm where King George used to play
at the
Golden
Circle. In 1968 Jimi Hendrix had a son in Sweden and George had a daughter
in the same age. After a concert Jimi was going to meet his son for the
first time, but the mother did not bring him. Lately George has been one
of the withness in the American trial about if the son is going to get
officially accepted as Jimis child. Jimi Hendrix never met his son, but
once in Stockholm he mixed him up with George's daughter Ditte. At the
time they looked almost identical.
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King
George and Jimi Hendrix does not only have the music in common. They both
write lyrics in the same poetic way. Jimi Hendrix and King George are
also related through ancesters from the Cherokee indians. During the years
King George has participated in some reunions with among others the band
members from the old Jimi Hendrix Experience. He has also helped with
the writing of the biography "Electric Gypsy" and he performed
at the opening of the Jimi Hendrix exhibition in Stockholm. King George
is an alive example that Jimi Hendrix' music will never die. -I talked
to Jimi a lot about the music, and he had so many ideas that he never
got to record. But I'm sure of one thing, If he was alive today his music
would sound very different. He was always ahed of time in his music. The
guitarsound people still try to copy with the help of a lot of technical
equipment he did only with his guitar and his amp.
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