Inside Jimi Hendrix’s first ever live gig
In 1959, the teenage Jimi Hendrix took to the stage of a Seattle synagogue to play his first ever live performance – only to be fired halfway through
No one remembers the exact date of Jimi Hendrix’s first professional gig, because at the time no one, not even Hendrix himself, thought the event was significant enough to keep a record of it. We do know that it was in the autumn of 1959, and that the performance took place in the basement of Temple De Hirsch Sinai, one of Seattle’s biggest synagogues.
In that era, Jimi wasn’t even Jimi. Back then he was known as James to his high school teachers, Jimmy to his family, and Butch to many of his musician friends. “Butch was his nickname for a while,” recalled Sammy Drain, who grew up down the street from Jimi, “because he was so shy. But he wasn’t shy about learning licks from other guys.”
Hendrix had only got his electric guitar the previous year, and at 16, he wasn’t even considered the best guitar player on his street. He’d jammed with the neighbourhood boys in garages and at community centres, but had never done an actual gig before a few older high-school boys asked him if he could play at a dance at Temple De Hirsch Sinai and Jimi had said yes.