Jimi Hendrix influenced several Kiwi musicians significantly. The two who spring to mind immediately are Reno Tehei and Billy TK. Of course there were others too including Fred Bower (from Auckland group Le Frame who became Mantra in Australia), Kevin Borich, Phil Para …

Hendrix was in London by 1967 where he was fast on the way to becoming bigger than Texas. Hendrix biographer Mick Wall noted that Hendrix ‘flattened’ London musicians with his skill as a guitar player, observing that high profile UK musicians already in the spotlight were in awe of him.

Hendrix wrote songs, performed those, was a wonderful singer and when he delivered covers he did this in a way that made them sound bigger. The UK embraced him whereas the US was indifferent to him and many UK musicians have acknowledged he changed their lives.

Fred Bower when he was in Mantra in Melbourne

Melbourne promoter Michael Browning was a Hendrix tragic & did his utmost to promote Hendrix music as often as he could. When he heard about Fred Bower he (Browning) flew to New Zealand to meet him but Fred wasn’t interested in moving to Australia then. He in turn mentioned Reno who had even seen the great man in action when he (Reno) was with Wellington band Sounds United & they were in London after playing on a ship travelling to the UK during 1967. On their return to Wellington several keen members of this band assimilated lots from Hendrix’s act into their own live performances.

Sounds United fractured & out of that divide Joyful Crye formed; Reno, Ben Kaika (b) & drummer Paddy Beach. It was this trio Browning witnessed in Wellington. He brought them to Melbourne & re-named them Compulsion.

Browning: “Reno had the whole act down: the burning guitar, the upside-down Fender Stratocaster, the set-closing attack on his Marshall Amplifier stack. The violence and destruction was thrilling.” Music writers believed that of the New Zealand guitarists who copied Hendrix’s style (& there were a few) Reno was the best.

Billy TK spent time in Australia when Compulsion was at their peak. Unfortunately he didn’t find much work in Melbourne. Back in Auckland after his return he joined Human Instinct replacing Bill Ward on lead guitar. Billy had become a passionate Hendrix devotee & adopted much of his style with a similar ardour. Eggleton described him as “one of the fieriest guitarists of the decade.” In time he was considered to be a guitar God. Billy bestowed much of his enthusiasm for Jimi & his music to his son Billy TK Jnr, who was seen in Melbourne in 2019 when he did a series of gigs in that city.

In 1979 Kevin Borich got to jam with Carlos Santana at shows in Sydney & Melbourne & of Kevin, Santana noted: ‘He sounds so much like Jimi Hendrix yet has an individual style.’

These thoughts have been sparked because recently I read Mick Wall’s Two Riders were Approaching: the Life & Death of Jimi Hendrix. And over the last few months I have read about a series of Kiwi musicians from the era I’m writing about who have stated that Hendrix was an influence for them …

And we all know that his influence on young musicians will continue.