In 1966, Linda Keith, the girlfriend of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was in New York cruising blues clubs enjoying the scene as Brits took the blues far better than Americans did.
There she found herself at the Cheetah Club, where she encountered the group Curtis Knight and the Squires and became captivated by their guitarist, Jimi Hendrix whose play mesmerized her so much that she immediately became friends with Hendrix.
Hendrix in those days was also going by Jimmy James with his band the Blue Flames, and Keith recommended him to The Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham and even producer Seymour Stein, but both men didn't see what Keith saw and rejected him. Undeterred, Keith referred him to Chas Chandler, who left The Animals to begin managing and producing other artists. Chandler would see Hendrix play in Cafe Wha?, in Greenwich Village, and instantly liked the Billy Roberts song "Hey Joe." Chandler would bring Hendrix to London and signed him to a management and production contract.
From their the ascension of Jimi Hendrix would begin and rock music would be influenced by his prodigious talent worldwide. Hendrix would redefine the rock guitar as his influence is still felt today. Way to go Linda, you saw what few could see, but what the world would come to know.