Ellen McIlwaine credited Jimi Hendrix, with whom she played in Greenwich Village in 1966, for inspiring her distinctive slide guitar work. She fronted psychedelic rockers Fear Itself for their sole debut two years later, before embarking on a long solo career with 1972’s Honky Tonk Angel. Her various collaborators included Jack Bruce (1982’s Everybody Needs It) and tabla player Cassius Khan (2006’s Mystic Bridge).