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Janie and Jimi Hendrix in Seattle, 12 February 1968. © ULVIS ALBERTS

"Jimi was an icon, of course, but to me he was always just Jimi, my older brother. He was a special kind of brother, though. Even before I realized how incredibly talented he was and that he had become a star, I knew there was always something a little magical about him. I think it was just in the way he acted towards me and how good I felt when I was around him.

"Jimi belonged to the world, and he loved traveling and performing, but he couldn't wait to come home and spend time with us. And we couldn't wait to have him back. I remember one time I was at the airport with my father, and we were standing at the gate waiting for Jimi, who was just coming back from Europe. Everybody got off the plane and walked by us. One by one, there everybody went. We started to think that maybe he missed his plane or we had the wrong flight information or something.

"Well, wouldn't you know it? Jimi was the last one off the plane. We were so thrilled to see him. He had on his cool rock 'n' roll military jacket and his hat - he looked incredible! But he had gotten so skinny from traveling and all the late nights. He was excited to get home and relax and eat home-cooked food again.

"Whenever he came home, he didn't have to be 'Jimi Hendrix.' He could just be himself, and he liked that. We sat around and talked. We played Monopoly, too, just like normal brothers and sisters. There was always a lot of laughing. It was like a big celebration when Jimi would come home.

"One thing that was interesting was that, around that time, my father was teaching himself how to play the tenor saxophone. It was so sweet, watching the two of them talk about music. My father had tried to learn the sax before. He actually bought a saxophone at the same he bought Jimi his first guitar, and the plan was that they would learn the instruments together.

"Whenever he came home, he didn't have to be 'Jimi Hendrix.' He could just be himself, and he liked that."

"But my dad was so busy with work and trying to pay the bills, and it became clear that Jimi was making more progress on the guitar. So my dad said, 'I'm going to take the saxophone back and pay off the guitar - I think you're going to go places with it, Jimi.' Obviously, he was right, but it was nice when he got the saxophone again and told Jimi he was finally going to learn to play it.

"Growing up, it was very odd having the private Jimi, my brother, and then seeing the public Jimi in newspapers or on the Dick Cavett Show. On TV, he was one person, kind of shy and brooding and uncomfortable. But when he was home, he was totally different, running around the house, tickling me and goofing around, trying to make me laugh. He just loved to have fun.

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