Things I did not know: Jimi Hendrix... conservative
04/01/09
Prompted by a segment in the must-read Best of the Web Today from the Wall Street Journal's James Taranto, Christopher Alleva at the American Thinker brings to light some information on Jimi Hendrix of which I was heretofore unaware:
Those fussing over Hendrix should know he was an avowed conservative. In arguably the most definitive biography of Hendrix, Harry Shapiro and Caesar Glebbeek recount the words of Hendrix as well other musicians on the scene in the late 60s that document conclusively his deeply held conservative beliefs.
Oddly enough, the authors suggest that his self induced psychosis on LSD didn't even cause him to give up his conservative principles. In a 1967 interview with a Dutch magazine, Hendrix defended America's involvement in Vietnam commenting that if America bugged out of Vietnam they (the Vietnamese) will be at the mercy of the communists (page 387).
Additionally, as noted in today's Best of the Web column:
Hendrix enlisted in the Army in 1961, trained as a paratrooper, and was honorably discharged in 1962.
Rock on.