Star Spangled Hendrix – BBC Radio 4
Written by admin on August 24, 2010 – 10:42 pm -| Jimi Hendrix’s political beliefs have been put under the microscope by BBC Radio 4 in a show titled “Star Spangled Hendrix.”
The show discusses the pressure Hendrix was under to make declarations about both the Vietnam conflict and the Black Panther movement. |
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Jimi’s brother Leon provides some insight into Hendrix’s time as a paratrooper in the Screaming Eagles 101 Airborne Division, which he was invalided out of after 14 months.
Comments from lead singer of The Animals, Eric Burdon, then suggest that Hendrix’s position as a former paratrooper left him sympathetic to the Government’s official line on Vietnam. Burdon speaks of how after the riots in Grovesnor Square in 1968 Jimi defended the American Government’s position by explaining the “Domino Theory,” ie the notion that if one country in a region came under the influence of communism, the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect.
Jimi does seem to have been sympathetic to the Black Panther movement. The Seattle Chapter of the Black Panthers was run by former high school friends of Jimi, Aaron and Elmer Dixon, and they tell of how receptive Jimi was to their cause.
Robinson asserts that Jimi’s definitive political statement was wordless, ie his Woodstock Festival performance of “The Star Spangled Banner.”
“Star Spangled Hendrix” is presented by Tom Robinson and was produced by John Sugar for Radio 4. It will be up on BBC Radio 4’s website for the next six days.
Tags: Jimi Hendrix, Star Spangled Hendrix
Posted in American Rock |
