Hendrix 'pretended to be gay' to get out of army

[CatWoman]

My response? "So fucking what"??

Rock legend Jimi Hendrix pretended he was gay to get out of the US Army, a new biography reveals.

Hendrix was discharged from the 101st Airborne division in 1962, launching a musical career that would redefine the guitar, leave other rock heroes of the day speechless and culminate with his headlining performance of The Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock in 1969.

Hendrix’s subterfuge, contained in his military medical records, is revealed for the first time in Charles Cross’s biography, Room Full Of Mirrors.

Publicly, Hendrix always claimed he was discharged after breaking his ankle on a parachute jump, but his medical records do not mention such an injury.

In regular visits to the base psychiatrist at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in spring 1962, Hendrix complained that he was in love with one of his squad mates, Cross writes.

Finally, Capt John Halbert recommended him for discharge, citing his “homosexual tendencies” – four years before Arlo Guthrie suggested that path for avoiding military service in the protest song, Alice’s Restaurant.

Hendrix’s legendary appetite for women negates the notion that he might have been gay, Cross says. Nor, he contends, was his stunt politically motivated.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2005/07/29/story213885.html

[Wickerman]

1. I do hope the RW suggests a boycott

Sell a million more recs for the estate.

[Mizmoon]

2. So did Jim Morrison

At least that's what they claimed in "No One Here Gets Out Alive".

[johnnie]

3. I remember reading in one of Eric Burdon's books

I seem to recall Eric saying that Hendrix was very pro military and had a hard time being a "hippie" and also a military man.
Not that it matters how he got out of the military, but I think this is sensationalism to sell a book.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. I think Eric Burdon thought he knew about a lot of things

but that he didn't know Hendrix. I went to three Hendrix concerts, in 1968 and 1969 in each of which he gave a little anti-war speech to support the anti-war movement regarding Vietnam. And there's his tune "Machine Gun" and the way he played it live, with the feeling as though an entire generation of young people were getting shot down in the war. And his version of the "Star Spangled Banner" with the way he mocked the "bombs burning in air" with the sounds of "shock-and-awe" destruction produced on his guitar should leave no doubt about where Hendrix stood regarding the military, at least towards the latter part of his career. I think the Vietnam War transformed the consciousness of a lot of young people during that time, from the unquestioning supporters of the military they used to be. I was one of them.

[johnnie]

12. I don't think Burdon said he was "pro-war"

He just mentioned that Hendrix was proud of his time served and he wasn't anti-military.
I don't remember the exact quotes from the book though.

[sniffa]

4. "aLice's restaurant" is a protest song

about acting gay to avoid the miLitary?

weLL, kiss my grits. :shrug:

[ET Awful]

6. I don't think that's what they were saying . . .

they were saying that the song mentions it, which it does in an off-handed way. "If two of you do it, they might think you're both queer and they won't take either of you."

[miss_kitty]

5. take that with a grain of salt

IIRC Chris Cross is known around Seattle for being a whingeing whining crybaby asshat wanna be. That's what I've heard from people who have had direct contact with him. And they're people I trust.

[Strawman]

7. Maybe if Al Hendrix had as much pull as Poppy

He would have been assigned to a champagne unit too.

[auburngrad82]

8. The Army's loss and Rock N Roll's gain

He influenced music a Hell of a lot more than he could have influenced the military.

[ronnykmarshall]

10. Looking back ..

I think that's why the Air Force rejected my brother. They said it was because he has asthma (only once) but I think knew he was gay and rejected him. THANK GOD!!! I thought he lost his mind when I wanted to go into the Air Force.

How's the kitties doing, Catwoman?

[CatWoman]

13. Poor Streak is still in mourning

as am I.

:hi:

[charlie]

11. Ted Nugent pretended to

....no, wait. He really did shit his pants before visiting the draft board. Seems his crappiness extended to more than just his guitar playing.