CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) \u2014 Famously known for playing electric guitar left-handed and performing \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d at\u00a0Woodstock,\u00a0Jimi\u00a0Hendrix\u00a0has a tie to the\u00a0Clarksville\u00a0area at the\u00a0historic\u00a0L&N\u00a0Train\u00a0Station.<\/p>\n
\u201cA\u00a0lot of people find it hard to\u00a0believe\u00a0but railroads are how people moved back then,\u201d William Parker, Historical Interpreter for the city of Clarksville\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
This historical site\u00a0was\u00a0renovated back to its former glory. For decades,\u00a0soldiers\u00a0came and left\u00a0Fort\u00a0Campbell\u00a0by train.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a hopping, busy place, this whole area was,\u201d\u00a0Parker said.<\/p>\n
Clarksville\u2019s Franklin Street offering array of businesses & boutiques<\/b> <\/a><\/p>\n The\u00a0last train to\u00a0Clarksville was in 1968.\u00a0However,\u00a0just seven years earlier,\u00a0Jimi\u00a0Hendrix\u00a0most likely\u00a0traveled\u00a0to\u00a0town by train. <\/p>\n \u201cI grew up here in Clarksville, and I heard all the lore of Jimi Hendrix, I love rock music, and I was like I want to learn more,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n Parker has called\u00a0Clarksville\u00a0home his entire life.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0now the historical\u00a0Interpreter for the city.\u00a0His interest in\u00a0Jimi\u00a0Hendrix\u2019s\u00a0past motivated him\u00a0to look through his military records.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Jimi Hendrix poses with a fellow passenger on the runway as he arrives at Hamburg airport on Sept. 5, 1970. (AP Photo\/Helmuth Lohmann)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n (Photo: WKRN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Jimi Hendrix arrives at Hamburg airport on Sept. 5, 1970. (AP Photo\/Helmuth Lohmann)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Noel Redding, left, Jimi Hendrix, centre, and Mitch Mitchell, of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, arrive at Heathrow airport, London, Aug. 21, 1967, after completing a nine week tour of the United States. (AP Photo\/Peter Kemp)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Jimi Hendrix playing his guitar on tour in Germany at the Rheinhalle in Dusseldorf on Jan. 14, 1969. (AP Photo\/Hinninger)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n \u201cIt dispelled a lot of rumors, but then it confirmed a lot of rumors about his stay here at Fort Campbell,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n Hendrix was enlisted into the Army\u00a0after\u00a0Parker said\u00a0he got in trouble with law enforcement for allegedly riding in stolen cars and stealing items from a clothing store.\u00a0 <\/p>\n \u2018What got him caught, this is so Jimi Hendrix, there\u00a0was a Christmas drive, and he donated most of the clothing to the Christmas drive and someone said \u2018that was stolen out of my store,\u2019\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n \u23e9\u00a0Read today\u2019s top stories on wkrn.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n His choice of punishment: jail or the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0Army.\u00a0His choice eventually brought him to\u00a0Fort\u00a0Campbell,\u00a0a long way from his home in\u00a0Seattle.\u00a0But\u00a0he found comfort in his guitar.\u00a0 <\/p>\n \u201cHe went AWOL three times because he was late for bed check, but he had a great excuse, he was off\u00a0post\u00a0in an\u00a0R&B band,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n While stationed in\u00a0fort\u00a0Campbell, he formed\u00a0The\u00a0King\u00a0Casuals.<\/p>\n But\u00a0Hendrix\u2019s\u00a0time at\u00a0Fort\u00a0Campbell\u00a0lasted less than a year\u00a0after\u00a0he\u00a0was honorably\u00a0discharged\u00a0because of\u00a0a parachuting injury.<\/p>\n His passion for music turned into a career, playing in\u00a0Clarksville\u00a0then moving to\u00a0Nashville\u00a0before he left for\u00a0England.<\/p>\n \u201cHe never had a guitar lesson, not one. He was a genius with the guitar. The pinnacle of his career was his performance at Woodstock where he played the star-spangled banner on the guitar,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n (Photo: WKRN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n (Photo: WKRN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n (Photo: WKRN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n (Photo: WKRN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n (Photo: WKRN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n (Photo: WKRN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n (Photo: WKRN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n (Photo: WKRN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n (Photo: WKRN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n (Photo: WKRN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n (Photo: WKRN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Hendrix was the\u00a0highest-paid\u00a0performer\u00a0at\u00a0Woodstock.\u00a0He\u00a0recorded\u00a0three albums before he died at the age of 27 from an overdose. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to speculate what he could have done. The sky would have been the limit\u00a0of\u00a0his genius creativity that he had,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n A creative genius\u00a0and\u00a0a rock and roll legend.<\/p>\n\n
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