#The Jimi Hendrix Experience #hard rock #psychedelic rock #blues rock
#R&B #heavy metal #British psychedelia #acid rock #1960s Mitch Mitchell #Noel Redding
There has been a lot of speculation that Hendrix had bipolar disorder based on some erratic behavior and mood swings he had. A big part of this, I think, is because he wrote a song called “manic depression” (an older term for bipolar disorder) with some assuming it was based on personal experience. My answer to this is that so far as I know Hendrix was never diagnosed with that disorder during his lifetime. I’ve never heard of him having either characteristic manic or depressive episodes, either. There are potentially other explanations for his behavior (including more mundane substance abuse). The description of “Manic depression” in his song of the same name doesn’t really correlate well with current understanding of that disorder. So my answer is that absent a contemporary psychiatric evaluation, I don’t think anyone can say for sure that he did or didn’t have bipolar disorder, but I think evidence for it is pretty thin.
I believe he did in fact suffer from Bipolar Disorder Through his lyrics, his drug/alcohol addiction, his mannerisms, the depression that he suffered from and from his clothing. Mental illnesses including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder gives away physical symptoms, such as the sufferers wearing bright colors and strange patterns. On top of that, there’s a significant loss in his weight from the time he entered the military and the time that he was discovered. This disorder makes them unable to even get out of bed to eat. Then again, this could have been caused by the lack of money he had at the time, when he was traveling in the chitlin circuit. But, his weight got even lower and according to his close friends, not the hanger-ons, they stated that he hardly ate. Another concern would be his sleeping pattern. He often said that he had trouble sleeping and that he either slept too little or slept too much. Sometimes he would go days without sleeping. There was even an incident where he was scheduled to appear on the Dick Cavett show the day after Woodstock, I believe. But, he ended up missing. It probably had something to do with exhaustion because he had to be carried back to his dressing room. Dick asked about Jimi about twice during the interview, it was poignant and kind of creepy.
From: https://www.quora.com/Did-Jimi-Hendrix-have-bipolar-disorder
The Jimi Hendrix Experience was an English-American rock band that came together in London, in 1966. Composed of singer, songwriter, and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding, and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until 1969. During this time they released three successful studio albums. After Redding left the band in mid-1969, Hendrix and Mitchell continued to work together on other projects. The Experience reunited in 1970, with Billy Cox on bass, until Hendrix's death in September. Widely recognized as hugely influential in the development of the hard rock and heavy metal music genres during the late-1960s and beyond, The Jimi Hendrix Experience was best known for the skill, style and charisma of their frontman, Hendrix, who has since been called one of the greatest guitarists of all time by various music publications and writers. In his brief four-year reign as a superstar, Jimi Hendrix expanded the vocabulary of the electric rock guitar more than anyone before or since. Hendrix was a master at coaxing all manner of unforeseen sonics from his instrument, often with innovative amplification experiments that produced astral-quality feedback and roaring distortion. His frequent hurricane blasts of noise and dazzling showmanship - he could and would play behind his back and with his teeth and set his guitar on fire - has sometimes obscured his considerable gifts as a songwriter, singer, and master of a gamut of blues, R&B, and rock styles. From: https://rock.fandom.com/wiki/The_Jimi_Hendrix_Experience and https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-jimi-hendrix-experience-mn0000088906/biography
