Editing Jimmy James and the Blue Flames (section)

==Chas Chandler and breakup==
Jimmy James and the Blue Flames managed to attract a lot of attention during their short run and the Animals' Chas Chandler was the first to offer the all-important deal. Chandler had just heard Tim Rose's [[Folk rock|folk-rock]] arrangement of the [[Billy Roberts]] song "Hey Joe" and thought that it might be a good vehicle to launch a new artist and his career as a producer.{{sfn|Roby|Schreiber|2010|p=168}} By chance, when Linda Keith brought him to hear the Blue Flames in August, the first song they played was "Hey Joe"; in the often repeated Bob Kulick quote, Chandler "became so excited he spilled his milkshake all over himself".{{sfn|Roby|Schreiber|2010|p=168}}{{efn|At that time, Cafe Wha? did not have a license to sell alcoholic beverages.}} Upon his return to New York in September, Chas Chandler brought [[Michael Jeffery (manager)|Michael Jeffery]] to hear Hendrix with Hammond at the Cafe au Go Go and the two agreed to become Hendrix's co-managers.{{sfn|Roby|Schreiber|2010|pp=171–172}}

Although it would have been fitting to continue in a blues-based vein that was then popular with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, John Hammond, and [[the Blues Project]],
{{blockquote|Hendrix already knew that he was looking for more than that. He was looking for an all-inclusive musical language. Chas Chandler's encouragement and advice suggested that he could encompass those ambitions. The future, it seemed, was with Chandler.{{sfn|Shadwick|2003|p=81}}}}

Hendrix wanted to keep the group together, but bringing them to England (with California still a minor) was unworkable. He expressed his discomfort to several other Village musicians: "Jimi felt guilty, but he was going through with it", recalled [[Ellen McIlwaine]], a folk singer whom Hendrix had accompanied at the Cafe Au Go Go.{{sfn|Roby|Schreiber|2010|p=172}} Although his economic circumstances had not improved appreciably, playing with the Blue Flames enabled him to explore his own sound and material.  It also allowed him to raise his expectations{{snd}}after one last gig with Curtis Knight and the Squires, where he was again criticized for being too flashy and loud, he ripped out his guitar cord and announced, "That's the last time I play this shit. I'm going to England."{{sfn|Roby|Schreiber|2010|p=169}}