Bassist Billy Cox is the last surviving musician to have regularly played with Jimi Hendrix. Now 84, Cox first met Hendrix in 1961 when they were both still teenagers, while they were serving in the U.S. Army at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Videos by American Songwriter
The two musicians became friends and played together frequently while in the army, and continued performing together after they left the military. After Hendrix gained fame later in the 1960s as the leader of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, he called on Cox to tour and record with him following the departure of founding Experience bassist Noel Redding.
Cox recently chatted with American Songwriter, and shared some recollections of his early days making music with Hendrix.
“I was walking [into] a service club, and I heard this young kid [playing guitar]. I was 19 and Jimi was 17,” Billy recalled. “We struck up a conversation, and lo and behold, a month later, we had a group … at Fort Campbell.”
Cox shared that the first song he ever jammed on with Hendrix was “Soul Twist” by R&B saxophonist King Curtis. The tune topped the Billboard R&B singles chart in 1962 and reached No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Eventually, Billy explained, “I terminated my jump status to become the manager of Service Club No. 2.” Cox noted that being manager of the service club gave the group he’d formed with Hendrix at the base the chance to rehearse there.
“I became the babysitter, so no one would interfere with the rehearsal,” Billy said.
After He and Hendrix Were Discharged from the Army
Then, after Cox and Hendrix were discharged from the army, Billy noted, they formed a band with “a few [other] guys who could play” and began performing at clubs in the Nashville area, as well as at other venues around the “Chitlin’ Circuit.”
“We called the group the King Kasuals,” Cox explained. “Now we called it Casuals at first … ’cause I thought it was a cool name.” He added, “Because … after we’d get into our civvy clothes at the end of the day, we always dressed casual. But we found out that Brenda Lee had a group … in Nashville called The Casuals, so we changed the name to the King Kasuals, and we didn’t get sued.”
Hendrix eventually left the King Kasuals and began playing guitar and recording with various other artists. Jimi eventually came to the attention of founding Animals bassist and music manager Chas Chandler while playing at a club in Greenwich Village in New York City. Chandler signed him to a management deal, and brought him to London, where he began putting a band together to help showcase Hendrix’s talents.
Cox said that before Hendrix went to London, Jim called him and asked him if he wanted to be part of his new group.
Billy explained why he turned down the invitation at the time.
“I told him I couldn’t do it, ’cause I had a publishing company [and] had a band [in Nashville],” Cox recalled. “We were number-one recording guys [at] Excello Records here in Nashville … and I was making a very good living for myself.”
Billy remembered that Jimi then told him “when he makes it big, he was gonna call me. And guess what? Made it big and he called.”
About Cox’s Work with Hendrix and Beyond
Hendrix invited Cox to record with him in the studio in 1969, shortly before Redding quit the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Billy continued to play with Jimi until Hendrix’s death in September 1970.
Cox was part of Hendrix’s backing group, informally known as Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, at the 1969 Woodstock festival. He also played with Hendrix and drummer Buddy Miles as the trio that came to be known as Band of Gypsys. In addition, Billy toured with Jimi and drummer Mitch Mitchell as The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Recordings Cox did with Hendrix have been released on various posthumous albums. From the late 1990s though 2022, Billy took part in a variety of official Hendrix tribute concerts and tours.
Most recently, Cox took part in a series of events held in Chicago in early November to support the Maui, Hawaii-based Hua Momona Foundation. The events raised money for the organization’s efforts to provide food and mental-health programs for those in need, helping the Lahaina area rebuild following the devastating 2023 wildfires there, and to support a new youth-music program in West Maui.
(Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.