Hi all, this is my first post. This topic interests me, as I find Hendrix one of the greatest ever. Unfortunately, I have never seen him perform live as I was somewhat too young then. I have seen many of his concerts on video/dvd. And although I realise it won't be the same as actually see him in the flesh, he always rocks my world. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Firstly, Hendrix is nothing without an electric guitar. His sound is the thrill, and to say that the man is some kind of technical semi-god bestowing improvements to rock 'n roll is spitting at the faces of Jeff Beck, Fripp, Zappa etc. Jimi had a relatively small fender amp that was literally turned to 11 (Spinal Tap anyone?), hints of flanger like sounds and finely though out nuances in mike volumes. If you want to hear Jimi's specialty, put on a live Led Zep and listen to Page. Then rack up machine gun and see the longevity in it. Page had the pick and the five fingers in a somewhat fucked up accord. Jimi had the two in perfect sync. He kept what some might call a 'superfluous humming' to be present at all times. The soothing style of playing without interrupting, battling riffs. That is why Mitch Mitchell can go fuck himself. When the lead is a man playing like Jimi then the drummer must be fucking tight, not a flogging, blubbering, doped up wannabe. Mitch broke more shows than the Hells Angels. Jimi could not have gone past Frank Zappa for he lacked the kind of 'formal education' in his playing. He was stuck in the mold of blues, which is what he was - the man who perfected electric blues. Nearly every solo people hold to be a pedestal, a basis for transcendence is simply a pentatonic blues scale. Add 7's and 9's to it and keep the bass line somewhat simplistic, add a man who sees few bar's ahead of the muscle memory and gawk. That being said, the man is one of my favorite guitarists for I also play the guitar and like to imitate different artists, a lot. I play without a pick when I play, but I love to transcript styles. He is a great fucking man, but not a universal guy who saved the guitar. And I agree with invert that the hippies, along with his devious managers, left him as a marionette of himself. Hendrix did not have the means to musically act as he liked, he was constantly fucked in the ass with "c'mon jimmy, here's a suitcase full of drugs, do a few more shows and we'll see about that studio time". Short sighted audiences with greedy managers do not preserve the artist. Not an artist like Hendrix. And Segovia and Hendrix hold no comparison. That would be like comparing Ray Charles to Malcuzynski. But the dealio why people hold Hendrix in such a high place is not that much connected with how good he is. Most can't spot talent and think Ingie Malmsteen is a god. The reason why we are talking about the man; Hendrix is not truly comparable. There is a man, though, who I would compare to Jimi, if he had lived in the same era. Petri Walli from the excellent band Kingston Wall. This band is like the experience with one of the greatest drummers on earth and a touch of Indian scales. Get the "II" album to get an idea. All in all, Hendrix was a blast, a blast held to present anything the talentless hippies who played the same stages choose. I nearly choked when Jefferson Aeroplane dudes elaborated about Morrison.
that has got to be one of the most wasteful moments of my life-- reading that disjointed nonsense presented as anything more than nonsense. non formal education, 2 bars as opposed to 5, Zappa the god, and a flying pig in stilletos is an everyday event. waste of my fucking time.
Boo-fucking-hoo. But you're right, I read trough it and emulated an idiot who confuses bars with the congenital ambiences every player possesses. Every player without the "formal education" possesses. a 'soul, a 'personality'.. I bet you'd say. What I am saying is: Jimi Hendrix was the best at what he did, electric blues. We have the Mahavishnu Orchestras.
Exactly reversed. Well.. Page might be order as in truly thought out 'studio' solo's, but hendrix had more of an ear than Page. Don't get me wrong, Page is a great guitarist but the live works reveal a serious lack of longevity. Led Zeppelin had such a great cast for song making that it raised the individual worth of the members. What irks me about page is the compendious nature of his playing. Now.. Jimi, he can not be mistaken to be just a part of something. He is there, in your face. That's that. And I disagree with people who think he should have improved to be something.. more. He was pure blues (bear in mind the modern standarts). Edit: I'm talking about improvisation.
Perfect you stated.... "And Segovia and Hendrix hold no comparison. That would be like comparing Ray Charles to Malcuzynski." I was not trying to say that Hendrix was a classical guitarist like Segovia was BUT I did want to point out that Hendrix did for electric guitars what Segovia did for the acoustical guitar at his time in life. Hendrix made people take notice big time what an electric guitar could do in the hands of a genius of his time as Sergovia did during his liftime. To bring that much attention to the electric guitar really boosted the sales of records and guitars.
I found your post rather amusing. To say people hold up Hendrix has nothing to do with his talent is absurd. True, his legacy seems over exploited at times but this man was a truly amazing musician. You saywithout the electrical guitar he was nothing? For one thing that was his instrument of choice and he was damn good at playing it despite the fact he was left handed. He wrote his own music, was black and played hard rock, which was unheard of back then. His music touched millions of people and it wasn't because they were all hippies. I am not a hippy and the first time I heard Purple Haze I got a chill down my spine. The first time I heard The Wind Cries Mary, I cried. All Along the Watchtower, Hey Joe, his version of the Star Spangled Banner he played at sunrise on the last day of Woodstock! Everything about him was unique and great on a different kind of level that apparently some still fail to realize. His energy, his voice, his songs, all of these traits combined make up one helluva man. Everyone has a right to their own opinion and I appreciate all of them, but I seriously do not understand anyone who puts down Hendrix. I read a quote from a website that stated "Jimi had an energy, a beauty and a tragedy that every person should feel" HENDRIX IS A GOD
Jimi did his own thing to the end. That's why he'll be revered. But Roy Buchanan, SRV, Mike Bloomfield, Duane Allman were incredible guitarists too, and I really can't say who's better than whom.
I agree with you 100%. for some reason hendirx gets a whole lot of attention, when there are other comparable guitarists all over the place. Of course you forgot eric clapton... Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
There was a reason I didn't include Clapton. In my estimation, he's the most absurdedly overrated of them all. With Jimi, the hype is justifiable because he really brought a cool funky style to rock, plus he could really play sweet blues. Clapton, I don't know. Some Cream stuff is good, and Layla; the rest...... Jeff Beck is a superb player too, but he doesn't have too much emotion. Jimmy Page is simply terrible. I never understood his appeal; at least Clapton, for all his later blandness, had a certain style. Page was like the heavy metal guitarists who would follow him-- a barrage of notes delivered in a reckless, juvenile manner. The Eminem of Guitar players. Another guy I have little toleration for: Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple. He once compared himself to John McLaughlin, not realizing that McLaughlin plays jazz and he heavy metal and that there is a difference. Among today's guitarists I like this kid called Tim Palmieri. He's got a nice trippy style that belies his sheer virtuosity. And unlike Satriani, Vai and the like, he actually sounds like he wants to say something.
Beethoven was better. So was Haydn, Tschaikovsky, Mozart, Bach (all of them), Strauss (all of them), Brahms, Lizst, and pretty much anyone else from the period of 1660 to 1880.
Yes, yes classical musicians are indeed great. However, I think we are discussing popular music here, and Brahms hasn't been popular ever since he died.
Not really. Arguably, the music of beethoven or brahms, much like the art of van gogh, has become more popular after he died.
The greatest thing about Hendrix was that he was an innovator. He was the first guitarist of the 60's Blues/Rock era to create truly original sounds and techniques, which are influential to this day and still sound good and fresh; his production work on Electric Ladyland was awesome for its period and even though it's a trippy album and probably influenced by Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, he never had George Martin to guide him or write his arrangements. Had he lived, who's to say what direction he might have taken; who's to say whether he would have been a great or a nobody? The answer is, no-one, but one thing is for sure, the man's playing had a warmth, a feel and a personality that few musicians have matched and I love him. To many he was a god; I don't know if he was a god, but he was surely an angel!
tsk tsk tsk. I also would include eddie van halen as one of the best guitar players of all time. would you discount him, too? Yeah, I never have either. People always told me to listen to his awesome talent, but I was always just thinking "huh?" It is terrible. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! But heavy metal guitarists, especially in the 80s were talented. They might not have played a style that you much like, but you have to admit, they have some definite speed and dexterity, and it would take a while to get good enough to produce solos like that all the time.
True, but to call him good is definitely a stretch. You definitley have to be innovative to be good, but you also have to be good to be good.
The Goose You have to see the situation in context and, for the period we are talking about I think Hendrix, especially on Electric Ladyland, was definitely good; as were Clapton, Beck, Page and Blackmore along with a few others of that period, but Hendrix had a certain magic and stood out on many different levels. Had he been a car, he would have been a Ferrari.
I was a heavy metal fan once, and it was precisely the speed and dexterity that turned me off. Speed and dexterity are not what music is about, though they do have a role to play. People like Glenn Gould and Itzhak Perlman are fast, and skilled, beyond anything our Malmsteens and Vais can imagine. Yet their skill serves a purpose, a vision. Zooming across the fretboard at incredible speeds at every given opportunity is not indicative of good musical taste. I too got blown away when I heard Randy Rhoads for the first time; it was upon repeated hearing that I began to get bored with him-- so empty behind all those pyrotechnics. Its not too different with Eddie van Halen, though many of his solos are quite striking; the more melodious ones that is, not crap like 'Eruption'.
