Jimi (John Allen) Hendrix, a 16-year-old high school student, played his first public gig with an unnamed band in the basement of Temple De Hirsch, a Reform synagogue in Seattle, Washington, on this date in 1959. Hendrix was actually auditioning for the band, and his wild playing and show-off style (dropping to his knees, sticking out his tongue, flailing his arms) got him fired before the second set. Jimi Hendrix would be also fired early in his career by Little Richard and by Ike and Tina Turner for similar hijinks. (“He was a real good guitar player, but he liked gimmicks,” complained Ike Turner.) The musical director of Temple De Hirsch from 1930 to 1963 was Samuel E. Goldfarb, co-writer of the famous Dreidel Song (“I have a little dreydl . . .”), which Hendrix, unfortunately for Jewish civilization, never covered. Today, the synagogue has campuses in Seattle and Bellevue and is the largest synagogue in the Pacific Northwest.
“Hendrix trudged home devastated, but was still buzzing about what he’d unleashed in himself. From the start, Hendrix was provoking, unsettling and thrilling people.” —Rebel Streets
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Quite a stretch for “Jewish interest.” Actually, it’s a blessing, b”h, that Jimi didn’t cover the song, given its inane lyrics: “I made it out of clay…” for no other reason than the rhyme with “play,” while the original Yiddish makes it clear that dreydlakh were made of lead. Try spinning a clay dreydl sometimes…Jimi Hendricks would bust a gut laughing.
It’s a little know fact that Jimi did cover “I have a Little Dreydel”, and he added this verse:
I have a little dreydel
I made it out of lead
And after i play with it
I play my axe behind my head.
I worked at Temple De Hirsch Sinai part-time from 1990-1997 and then full time from ’97-’01. I NEVER heard the story about Hendrix. This is great news for me that I played my guitar in the room as Hendrix. Wow…that is fantastic news.
Jimi Hendrix had a great sense of humor. His cover would have been phenomenal.