What's interesting about Hendrix is his Detroit connection: Billy Davis, of the city's Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, was Hendrix's mentor-teacher and got him his first white Strat. When Davis went into the service, he lobbied for Hendrix to get the job (I want to say that was his first pro gig). Davis hung out a lot at the Grande Ballroom, as well as the infamous scene hangout-hippie commune, the Gar Wood Manson on the Detroit river. So he knew all of those psychedelic stoner cats.

Davis ended up in A&R working with Hendrix friend, Bunny Jones: a hairdresser-to-the-stars-and-who's-who who was friends with Stevie Wonder. She ran Astral Studios (where Stevie recorded; lots of Disco stuff in the '80s) and Billy signed and produced artists, there. Thus, Electric Ladyland and Astral get mixed up sometimes with their recording rosters.