On This Day In Video

Jimi Hendrix Dead at 27 - 1970

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Jimi Hendrix, born 1942 James Marshall Hendrix in Seattle, Wash., died on this day, September 18th 1970, following a barbituate and alcohol overdose.

Hendrix, in his short musical career, was known for an innovative and extremely influential guitar style that involved the explosive, yet often sensitively nuanced, use of feedback, distortion, and other electronically manipulated sound effects. His recordings include the albums Are You Experienced? (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (1967), and Electric Ladyland (1968). He toured with his bands The Experience (1967-69) and Band of Gypsys (1969-70) and appeared at both the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock.

Jimi Henrix- Live at Woodstock '69

Labels: celebrity, drugs, Jimi Hendrix, music

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Lenny Bruce Lost To Overdose - 1966

Friday, August 3, 2007

Lenny Bruce died of a narcotics overdose on this day, August 3rd, 1966.

Born Leonard Alfred Schneider, in Long Island, N.Y., Bruce possessed a cynical, surreal, and intensely comic view of the world. He brutally satirized such sensitive areas of American life as sex, religion, and race relations. His comedy left no group unscathed, and his routines were replete with four-letter words.

Consequently, Bruce was at various times arrested and forbidden to perform; in 1964 he was convicted of obscenity charges stemming from a New York City performance. He was also arrested for narcotics violations.

After his death Bruce became a cult figure, considered by many to be a martyr to the cause of free speech. He was posthumously pardoned of his obscenity conviction by the governor of New York in 2003.

The Fall and Rise of an American Icon