by Brian Andrew Marek #17

- The Three Hendri -
These days, a saturated market means Elvis impersonators need a gimmick, hence the midget Elvis, the Mexican Elvis, the nudist Elvis - for all I know, there's an Amish Elvis out there. A similar thing happened in the early '70's, when Jimi Hendrix was the dead man everybody wanted to be. Thus, I give you the Female Hendrix, the Hoser Hendrix and the Hendrix with the Pimp Name - collectively, I call them the Three Hendri.

- The Female Hendrix -
- Char Vinnedge of Billy Cox's Nitro Function -
Billy Cox's Nitro Function suffered from Spencer Davis Group syndrome, where the ostensible titular head of the band actually plays more of a support role. In this particular case, it probably seemed necessary to sign and/or market the band, as Mr. Cox was, of course, a long time friend of Jimi Hendrix who participated in the Band of Gypsys and other post-Experience Hendrix projects. The real musical focal point of the group, however, was guitarist/vocalist Char Vinnedge, formerly of the reportedly excellent all-girl Chicago band the Luv'd Ones. Her distaff tones do much to give this album a unique flavor, referencing Jimi without complete apeing him.

"Billy Cox's Nitro Function" 1972
























- The Hoser Hendrix -
- Frank Marino of Mahogany Rush -
One day when I'm old and grey and feeble, I'm gonna open one of those cheap roadside attraction museums, and mine is going to be dedicated to the urban legends and tall tales of rock 'n' roll. Somewhere amongst exhibits like The Ham Sandwich That Killed Mama Cass, Morrison's "Little Jim" Live in Miami and The Rod Stewart Stomach Pump will be a mural depicting Frank Marino in a drug-induced coma being taught guitar by the ghost of Jimi Hendrix. To put it another way, this well-worn version of Marino's story is complete balderdash, but it's too imbedded into the rock 'n' roll consciousness to ever really go away.

But even the hard facts are pretty amazing: Canadian drug enthusiast Frank Marino taught himself how to play guitar while in the hospital (but not in a coma) recovering from a bad trip and went on to record the first Mahogany Rush album at the tender age of 16! Marino managed to make a long career out of his Hendrix obsessions, but I give the nod to the debut simply because later offerings were produced far too slickly.

Mahogany Rush "Maxoom" 1973























- The Hendrix with the Pimp Name -
- Velvert Turner of Velvert Turner Group -
Subliminalsounds:
"Of the various myths and legends that have sprung up since Jimi Hendrix's death in 1970, one of the most enigmatic and enduring concerns his relationship with Velvert Turner, the New York born axeman who claimed both to be friend and protege of the late guitarist. More evidence comes courtesy of ex-Television guitarist Richard Lloyd, who not only listened to a lengthy telephone conversation between the pair when the Hendrix was playing in New York, but generally hung out with Turner at the time he was receiving lessons from Hendrix. Commenting on this, Lloyd says "They used to use a large mirror for the lessons because Jimi was left handed and Velvert was not. Velvert used to come to my house after the lessons and show me what Jimi had taught him" Supported by Prescott Niles (later to form The Knack) and Tim McGovern, both of whom cropped up on Randy California's Kapt Kopter album, Turner produced two different musical versions of his album with the same sleeve and catalogue number, distinguishing them only by their matrix numbers. This, then, is the "heavier" version (matrix no. 16741) with crazed, heavy solo guitar overdubs rather than the "soul" version (matrix no. 16951) with the second lead guitar overdubs removed. The Velert Turner album may be just another small piece in the Hendrix jigsaw, but it also happens to be a pretty good guitar album too."

"Velvert Turner Group" 1972






















BaM