Bipolar Musicians: Jimi Hendrix

Am I happy, or in misery? Jimi Hendrix from Purple Haze

   Jimi Hendrix never received a diagnosis of Bipolar during his lifetime, but like I've always said, if being creative and self destructive at the same time isn't a sign of being bipolar then I don't know what is. A study conducted in the 1970's (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hide-and-seek/201203/bipolar-disorder-and-creativity) studied 30 prominent authors and found that 80% had experienced at least one episode of major depression, hypomanic, or mania compared to only 30% of the control group. A follow up done 15 years later found that 43% of the authors had been diagnosed Bipolar as opposed to only 10% of the control group.

  The link between Bipolar Disorder and creativity is definitely there. 


  And being Bipolar myself, I like to think we can smell our own.

There are other things too.

1. Jimi Hendrix Wrote a Song Called Manic Depression 

 Manic Depression is what Bipolar Disorder was called back in the old days. The lyrics go from the highs of "Manic Depression is touching my soul," to the lows of, "Manic Depression is a frustrating mess." ...

Manic depression is touching my soul
I know what I want but I just don't know
How to, go about gettin' it
Feeling sweet feeling,
Drops from my fingers, fingers
Manic depression is catchin' my soul

Woman so weary, the sweet cause in vain
You make love, you break love
It's all the same
When it's, when it's over, mama
Music, sweet music
I wish I could caress, caress, caress
Manic depression is a frustrating mess

Well, I think I'll go turn myself off,
And go on down
All the way down
Really ain't no use in me hanging around
In your kinda scene

Music, sweet music
I wish I could caress, caress, caress
Manic depression is a frustrating mess 

2. Jimi Hendrix was an Army Paratrooper.

  Jimi Hendix was an army paratrooper in the 101st Airborne. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) lists engaging in high risk behaviors as one of the symptoms of manic behavior. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/index.shtml

3. Jimi Hendrix had a history of violence

 The book, Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix describes an incident where he hit a woman over the head with a vodka bottle in a drunken rage. The same book tells of another incident where he was engaged in a drunken brawl in a hotel in Sweden where he also put his hand thru a plate glass window. 

 The book, Scuse Me While I Kiss The Sky also tells of more violent run ins with women. 

 Psychiatrictimes.com states that just under 50% of people with Bipolar disorder have some history of violent behavior. (http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/bipolar-disorder/violence-bipolar-disorder)

4. Jimi Hendrix and Drugs

 Yes, obviously Jimi Hendrixs' history with alcohol, LSD, and pill is well documented, as is the fact that he obviously died of a drug overdose. According to statistics presented by the American Journal of Managed Care: 

 About 56 percent of individuals with bipolar who participated in a national study had experienced drug or alcohol addiction during their lifetime

• 

  There's the Jimi Hendrix that showed his charming and humorous side on the Dick Cavett show

   There's the Jimi Hendrix that belted out that beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

and there's the Jimi Hendrix that was a boozing, drug using violent womanizer. This contrast is the reality of Bipolar Disorder. 

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Studies have found that just under 50% of people with bipolar disorder have some history of violent behavior.1 - See more at: http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/bipolar-disorder/violence-bipolar-disorder#sthash.NBAvEYvm.dpu

Studies have found that just under 50% of people with bipolar disorder have some history of violent behavior.1 - See more at: http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/bipolar-disorder/violence-bipolar-disorder#sthash.NBAvEYvm.dpuf

Studies have found that just under 50% of people with bipolar disorder have some history of violent behavior.1 - See more at: http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/bipolar-disorder/violence-bipolar-disorder#sthash.NBAvEYvm.dpuf

The 27 Club

What is the 27 Club you ask?

The 27 is:

a) A swingers sex club in Phoenix, AZ

b) the 27 women who have let me see them naked. 

c) musicians who have died at age 27

If you answered A, you are obviously on the wrong blog. If you answered B, you're way, way under. And if you answered C you're correct. 

Original Bluesman Robert Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain are just a few of the members of this prestigious club.  But there are a few rules for membership:

27 Club Rules

1. You have to be a famous musician. 

2. You have to be dead at age 27

3. Your death must be from something drug or alcohol related.

* the third rule isn't really a rule, just more of a guideline. 

The Truth About the 27 Club

 The truth is, there is no 27 Club and its all bullshit. There is nothing unusual or mysterious going on, and there is no curse that causes musicians to die at age 27. Furthermore, this phenomenon has been studied by scientists and researchers and it has been proven that musicians are just as likely to die at any age, not just 27. 

 An Australian study conducted at the Queensland University of Technology performed a mathematical analysis of over 1,000 musicians and found 86% died at ages other than 27 while only 7% did. (source: Time.com)

  Likewise, the British Medical Journal published a study in 2011 that also concluded there was no increased risk of musicians dying at age 27. 

 For all the poor, unlucky bastards who died at 27, there are just as many , if not more musicians who died at other ages. John Lennon (40), Elvis (42), Jerry Garcia (53), Sid Vicious (21), John Bonham (32), Bon Scott (33), Keith Moon (32) Layne Staley (34) are just a few I can name off the top of my head. 

 And don't forget the ones who have used drugs/alcohol heavily and survived like Ozzy Osbourne, Keith Richards, Steven Tyler, Alice Cooper, and Lou Reed to name a few. 

Getting Old: What Rock Stars Dread

 PsychologyToday.com has written that getting older is a major threat to our creative enterprises.  

 After age 30, we become more emotionally stable, more conscientious, more agreeable and less open to new experiences. 

 The fact is, becoming older more boring, conforming and adjusted can be a major threat to a rocker who's livelyhood depends on being youthful, rebellious, wild and dangerous. The public wont buy into it. 

 Want proof? Look at Paul McCartney. He wrote/cowrote 27 number 1 songs with The Beatles all by age 30. Since then? His last number one hit was Say Say Say in 1983 over 30 years ago. 

 The Rolling Stones, who began their careers with several number 1 hits, last topped the charts with Honky Tonk Women in 1969  

What Does This Prove?

 Rock n Roll is for the young, and for those rock stars nearing age 30, getting older can be a scary concept. To think that they are only 3 years away from waking up one morning 30 years old, irrelevant, obsolete and your palm blinking red hoping to God that perhaps you will be renewed. 

...Ahh the firey ritual of Carrousel. 

 So yes some rock stars die at 27 but no more than at any other age. 

 If Hendrix or Morrison died in their thirties we would all be talking about the. "Thirty Something Club" today. 

 Which of course would all be bullshit too. 

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Pull Your Damn Guitars Up!

WHY YOU LOOK LIKE AN ASSHOLE WHEN YOUR GUITAR STRAP IS TOO LOW

  I view these kids who play with their guitars too low in much the same way I view these kids who walk around with their pants hanging around their God damn ankles.

 

 It doesn't make you look cool, it just makes you look like an ignorant, uneducated piece of trash.

You kids pull your god damn guitars back up!

I'm almost 40 now. Since life expectancy these days is roughly 78 years, that technically puts me in middle age. My beef with douchebags who wear their guitars too low makes me the musical version of the angry old man who's always yelling at the neighborhood kids to 'get the hell off my lawn!' 

I believe in first impressions. For example, when I see someone wearing their pants around their ankles I get the impression that this is someone who mistakenly believes they look good when they really don't and are willing to stick to this erroneous belief even at risk of ridicule, unemployment and profiling by law enforcement. 

When I see someone wearing their guitar too low I get the impression that this too is someone who mistakenly believes they look good when they really don't, and that "looking good with the guitar" is ultimately more important than anything you actually play on the guitar. 

   And as a lifelong guitar player, I hold the instrument in a much higher regard. Yes the way you play is important because playing a certain way is better for your technique. 

 I also believe that if you wanna play great music then you need to look like you're playing great music. 

But I think its disrepecting to the guitar and to all the great guitarists in history to view your guitar as nothing more than simply a fashion accessory. 

Wearing your guitar too low also hinders the rest of your band as it doesn't present the music very well. If you truly did care about image then you would never wear your guitar like that.

  What do you think presents the music better?

  someone who wears their guitar this?

or 

someone who wears their guitar this?

 

 Besides, the lower your guitar hangs, the harder it is on your fret hand wrist, and your technique will suffer as a result. 

  In the photo above, Prince, shows how its done. You should have the guitar no higher or lower than belt level. This length looks best and is easy on the wrist, unless you have short alligator arms which in that case you may need to stop reading this and seriously consider changing hobbies.

 CORRECT. One again take note of the fret hand wrist and how it is resting in a natural, un-inverted position.

 Incorrect. Playing like this will also make you an alcoholic and will eventually kill you as Steve Clark has already so masterfully shown us. 

 

Correct

Incorrect 

A NOTE ON JIMMY PAGE

Techically, I would call this too low, but Jimmy Page is an exception to the rule. His arms are so damn long that he can comfortably play this low. Note how his fret hand wrist is still in a natural, unbent position. 

  Also, he's not calling attention to the fact he's playing low. 

He's doing it with class unlike the following douches below...

   

HOWEVER

  

If you're wearing pants and you wear 'em too low you look like an asshole but if you wear them too high you also look like an asshole. 

Don't rest the guitar on your belly, it looks lazy. Also note how wearing the guitar too high also leads to the un-natural position of the fret hand wrist.

Besides, wearing your guitar that high does not give the impression of confidence. It just makes it look like you're trying too hard, and you have not yet reached the level where you can just let it rip without a care in the world

like this...

Who do you think looks like the more confident, able guitarist? 

 

 someone who plays like this

  

someone who plays like this?

or 

 like this?

The first two DOUCHEBAGS just look like they're playing guitar. 

Hendrix and Gilmour look like THE GUITAR IS PLAYING THEM.

And that right there is the next level I want you to reach. 

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I Have an Idea for a Movie

The Pornographic

History of

Rock n Roll

   The story is simple. Its starts in the 1950's when white people steal rock and roll from black people who are too busy getting laid to notice. Then Elvis gets laid, then later he gets laid in the army. Then even later on than that fat Elvis gets laid. Buddy Holly gets laid as his plane crashes.

   Then in the 60's The Beatles get laid, The Rolling Stones get laid, The Who gets laid. Jimi Hendrix gets laid. At Woodstock, everybody gets laid. At Altamont, the Hells Angels get laid, then stab people. The Grateful Dead get laid but they're trippin so hard they don't even realize it.

   Then you have the seventies. Aside from disco, loose morals and even looser standards of "body hair grooming", you got Led Zeppelin getting laid, Black Sabbath getting laid, and Lynyrd Skynyrd getting laid while people shout "Free Bird" and hold their cigarette lighters in the air.

   Then there's punk rock and more people get laid...IN ENGLAND.

   Then you have the 80's and hair metal bands. Since all the guys looked like chics anyways, I'll just have girls playing the bands and the groupies.

  Freddie Mercury does NOT get laid. This ain't that kind of a movie.

   It would be the Citizen Kane of porn.

   It would also be four hours long, and shot entirely on my I-Phone.