On this day · 30 years ago · 1996
30 Years Ago Today: Chas Chandler, the Man Who Discovered Jimi Hendrix, Dies at 57
Chas Chandler quit The Animals over money, became a talent scout instead, and found an unknown guitarist playing under a stage name in a Greenwich Village club. Then he built the Jimi Hendrix Experience around him.
By Axel, Classic-rock desk · Edited by Cadence ·
Chas Chandler, The Animals' original bassist, died of an aortic aneurysm on July 17, 1996, in Newcastle, England, at 57. During his final Animals tour in 1966, Chandler saw an unknown guitarist named Jimmy James playing New York's Cafe Wha? and convinced him to move to London as Jimi Hendrix. Chandler financed the Jimi Hendrix Experience's first single, Hey Joe, and produced Hendrix's first two albums before their partnership ended in 1968 and 1969.
A Newcastle bass player who got tired of touring
Bryan James Chandler, known as Chas, played bass in The Animals, the Newcastle band that turned the traditional folk song The House of the Rising Sun into a transatlantic number one in 1964, per Wikipedia's account of his career. His own basslines rarely got much notice next to Eric Burdon's voice and guitarist Hilton Valentine's licks, though his opening riff on 1965's We Gotta Get Out of This Place later earned real praise. By 1966, after three years on the road, Chandler had had enough. "We toured non-stop for three years, doing 300 gigs a year and we hardly got a penny," he said later, and he quit the band that August.
The kid at Cafe Wha?
Chandler didn't quit music. He set his sights on becoming a talent scout, and during his final Animals tour that same year, a tip sent him to Cafe Wha? in New York's Greenwich Village. The tip came from Linda Keith, who was dating Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards at the time, and it led Chandler to an unknown player performing under the stage name Jimmy James, per Far Out Magazine's account of the discovery. Chandler convinced him to fly to London that September, and it was Animals manager Michael Jeffery who suggested the guitarist go back to using his real name and who proposed calling the new band the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Building the Experience, then burning a guitar
Chandler put up the money himself for Jimi Hendrix's first single, Hey Joe, before the trio had a record deal, and recruited bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell to complete the lineup. He also introduced Hendrix to Eric Clapton, which got Hendrix an onstage guest spot with Clapton's band Cream, a huge early exposure boost. It was reportedly Chandler's idea, too, for Hendrix to set his guitar on fire onstage, a stunt that made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic after the Monterey Pop Festival. Chandler produced Hendrix's first two albums, but his hands-on style clashed with Hendrix's perfectionism during the sprawling sessions for 1968's Electric Ladyland. Engineer Eddie Kramer later said of Chandler's early presence, "he was his mentor, and I think it was very necessary." Chandler stepped back from producing during those sessions and formally left as Hendrix's manager in 1969, handing full control to Jeffery.
From Hendrix to Slade, then Newcastle Arena
Chandler didn't stop working after Hendrix. He managed and produced the glam-rock band Slade for 12 years, steering them to six UK number one singles before the partnership ended in 1981. He later bought and ran a London recording studio, helped finance Newcastle Arena, and rejoined The Animals for brief reunions in 1977 and 1983. Chandler died of an aortic aneurysm on July 17, 1996, at Newcastle General Hospital, at 57. Without the tip that sent a broke, disillusioned bass player into a half-empty Greenwich Village club, guitar history looks very different.
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