<p>Johnny Jenkins, a left-handed guitarist who helped Otis Redding develop his sound and influenced guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, has died. He was 67.</p><p>Jenkins died Monday night at a hospital in Macon, according to Jones Brothers Eastlawn Chapel.</p><p>In the late 1950s and early '60s, Jenkins toured around the South, playing fraternity parties and various venues with his band, the Pinetoppers.</p><p>"He was legendary playing at college fraternities at the University of Alabama," said Paul Hornsby, a musician and producer who worked with Jenkins. "I always heard about the left-handed guitar player who was doing all these acrobatics."</p><p>One night at the Douglass Theatre, Macon's premier showcase for black performers, Jenkins was in the crowd when Redding sang. In Peter Guralnick's book, "Sweet Soul Music," Jenkins recalled inviting Redding to join the Pinetoppers.</p><p>"I heard Otis at the Douglass, and the group behind him just wasn't making it," Jenkins recalled. "So I went up to him, and I said, 'Do you mind if I play behind you?' And he looked at me like, 'Who are you?' 'Cause he didn't know me. And I say, 'I can make you sound good.' ... Well, he sounded great with me playing behind him _ and he knowed it."</p><p>Record producer Phil Walden signed Jenkins, and he became part of Walden's fledgling Capricorn Records label.</p><p>"I have a great deal of sentiment attached to Johnny Jenkins," Walden, who died in April, said in a 1996 interview with The Telegraph in Macon. "He was my first client, and it was through him that I met Otis Redding. ... I was still a teenager when I met him, and I thought my entire world rotated around Johnny Jenkins' guitar. I was convinced he could have been the greatest thing in rock 'n' roll."</p><p>Walden arranged for Jenkins to perform for Atlantic Records executives after his hit, "Love Twist," came out, but the executives went with Redding instead.</p><p>Jenkins never made it out of the Southeast, while Redding became an international superstar.</p><p>One reason: Jenkins didn't want to fly, limiting the number of gigs he could get.</p><p>Jenkins may not have made it around the world, but his style did.</p><p>Hendrix, whose aunt lived in Macon, saw Jenkins perform and fell in love with the latter's signature acrobatic left-handed guitar style. It became a part of Hendrix's act until his death in 1970.</p><p>Vocalist Arthur Ponder, who sang with Jenkins, recalled Hendrix as a "little guy who would follow us around a lot. Next thing we know, he's Jimi Hendrix."</p><p>After Capricorn went out of business in the late 1970s, Jenkins faded from the music scene. He performed at the now-defunct Music City Grill in 1996, the same year Walden produced Jenkins' comeback album, "Blessed Blues." He also performed with Randall Bramblett at the first concert at the Douglass after it was renovated in 1997.</p><p>Jenkins continued to perform sporadically, including a 2000 show at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. His last two albums, "Handle with Care" (2001) and "All in Good Time" (2003), were produced by Mean Old World Records.</p><p>Funeral services are scheduled at 2 p.m. Saturday at Glorious Hope Church, with burial following at Middle Georgia Memorial Gardens.</p>
