Influential guitarist Johnny Jenkins, who worked with Otis Redding and inspired Jimmy Hendrix with his style, died on Monday in Georgia, reports Billboard. He was 67.

When Jenkins met Redding, the guitarist was playing fraternity parties and other venues with his band, the Pinetoppers, in the Souther U.S.

“So I went up to him, and I said, ‘Do you mind if I play behind you? … I can make you sound good,’” Jenkins recalled in Peter Guralnick’s book, “Sweet Soul Music.” “Well, he sounded great with me playing behind him — and he knowed it.”

Jenkins faded from the music scene in the 1970s, but continued to perform occasionally, including a show at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2000. His last release was 2003’s “All in Good Time” on Mean Old World Records.






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