Former Experience and Band of Gypsys bassist Billy Cox met Jimi Hendrix when they were stationed together at the same army base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Legend has it that one rainy night, Billy heard a guitar screaming in the service club. So he went inside and introduced himself to the big-handed kid playing his axe upside down and backwards.
They started jamming together, became fast friends, and toured the bustling rooms of America's black club circuit after leaving the armed forces.
Once Hendrix became a living legend, they got together again for Band of Gypsys, the
group some critics hail as having produced Jimi's most virtuosic playing. Just listen to the track "Machine Gun" from the band's live album and decide for yourself.
Nowadays, the members from every other Hendrix-led band is dead. But Billy Cox is still going strong. And the steady, bass-rocking genius has assembled a supergroup of blazing musicians including Kenny Wayne Sheperd, Jonny Lang, Eric Johnson, and Bootsy Collins (the bass man famous from his work with James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic) for the Experience Hendrix Tribute Tour.
The show is improvised by masters of their craft. So expect a one-of-a-kind, acid-scorched trip from players with more history than a pyramid in Egypt.
Experience Hendrix Tribute Tour with Billy Cox, Robby Krieger, Jonny Lang, Bootsy Collins, Dweezil Zappa, and others. Wednesday, March 14. Hard Rock Live, One Seminole Way, Hollywood. The show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets cost $35 to $75 plus fees via ticketmaster.com. Call 954-797-5531 or visit hardrocklivehollywoodfl.com.
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