(It’s now three years since his death, but the vision of Jimi Hendrix may be harder to ignore now than it was in 1968. Albums have continued to flow as if by schedule, and it appears that the continuing attention devoted to the man has attracted a substantial audience who probably never saw him perform. Warners has just released a film documentary by Joe Boyd, John Head and Gary Weiss, and the market turnabout of recent years is amply indicated by the fact that the soundtrack was released months in advance of the film itself. The following is a chapter from HENDRIX, a biography recently published by Flash Books. Its author, Chris Welch, is an Editor at Melody Maker, the widely-read British weekly. - B.E.)

It is doubtful if Chas Chandler had any idea his first discovery would have such impact and become such an integral part of the incredible boom in rock music that was to come. In 1966 Jimi Hendrix was just a Greenwich Village jammer and Chas was quitting music, believed destined for obscurity.