Hendrix...

Bridgehouse

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Bridgehouse said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Hendrix is amazing and if I had it my way anyone who spoke against him would be perma-banned from the forum.

Defender of free speech award coming your way

Get defending - it’s melting!!!!

Rabs

lukedlb said:

I believe that Hendrix's legacy continuing to be appreciated goes beyond any of the other guitarists mentioned in this thread due to the range of his ability. Although Jimi was by all means a great guitarist, there were other contemporary guitarists far more expert than he was. What put him above them was his imagination. Moreover, his lead playing, rhythm playing, composition, lyrics, song writing, song interpretation, singing, bass playing (and other instruments including the harpsichord and paper comb), harmonic understanding, production skill, command of both instrument and amplification, grand exponent of fx pedals as well as fx experimentation in the studio (thru zero flanger, stereo panning, leslie guitar, echo experimentation), magnetic performance as well as magnetic playing, intelligence, wit, charm, sexual attraction, individuality, humility, humanity, not to mention his cultural and social significance as an afro-american, ex-soldier, anti-war protestor, young man with the skill and awareness to pull all this off between the age of 24-27, all of this and more is what makes Hendrix relevant and undeserving of 'overrated'.
The distance in development he covered between purple haze and his final recordings, whether they be Machine Gun or Straight Ahead over that self-same 4-year period puts to shame the lifelong career of Clapton. I don't believe Peter Green's misfortune prevented a development as potent as Jimi's.
Careers such as Stevie Wonder's or Prince's begin to compare, yet I firmly believe his career, had he lived beyond 1970, would have gone beyond any of our expectations. I mean, he didn't even get to properly use his own recording studio. Who knows what he would have come up with had he changed management, stopped touring, and holed himself up in the studio, rather than suffering the stress and poor health of being pushed to the limit.
I don't believe he would have gone into jazz-fusion as he had already done it. Silliness and gags just weren't part of that scene and I can't imagine Jimi enjoying it for longer than he did. He already did soul and funk and certainly was a precursor to funkadelic with his electric church routine and band of gypsies. His sonic experimentation may have pushed his recordings and perhaps encouraged his live performances to include larger bands and symphony orchestras. Classical music no doubt would have had a significant influence on him. But here's the thing: Jimi was an artist who not only absorbed everything around him but also included everything about his life and identity to create and produce his music. His love of comic book heroes and sci-fi were as relevant as the vietnam war and muddy waters. as relevant as the distant mother he loved and the women he made love with. While I cannot predict what we would have done, I firmly believe that it would have been a lot.

Good post.. Did you ever hear that last interview?  In it they discuss his direction (it was made not long before he died) and well basically he wanted to do everything   He wanted to do more Hendrix Experience, and just wanted to be a player in a band rather than a just a front man and talks about big band music.. All of it.. 

Winny_Pooh

digitalscream said:

OilCityPickups said:

Hendrix was a trailblazer ... he went where nobody else had gone and changed the way guitar was played. Was he the best ever? No of course not ... but he kicked in a lot of doors for others to run through ... and for that he deserves the term 'great'. 

See...with all the other acts around at the time, I actually have no doubt that we'd have ended up almost exactly where we are in pretty much the same way if he'd never come on the scene.

The only difference would be that we wouldn't have to suffer through all the crappy Hendrix-wannabes trotting out all the same tired old blues licks in the hope that it'll give them credibility-through-mojo literally everywhere you look.

I'd count that as a good thing.

You're mixing up Hendrix with SRV.

SRV had a strong Albert King & Hendrix influence but was more a straight blues player, and the relic guitar, aggro strat neck pickup blues style is really down to him. 

lukedlb

Winny_Pooh said:

digitalscream said:

OilCityPickups said:

Hendrix was a trailblazer ... he went where nobody else had gone and changed the way guitar was played. Was he the best ever? No of course not ... but he kicked in a lot of doors for others to run through ... and for that he deserves the term 'great'. 

See...with all the other acts around at the time, I actually have no doubt that we'd have ended up almost exactly where we are in pretty much the same way if he'd never come on the scene.

The only difference would be that we wouldn't have to suffer through all the crappy Hendrix-wannabes trotting out all the same tired old blues licks in the hope that it'll give them credibility-through-mojo literally everywhere you look.

I'd count that as a good thing.

You're mixing up Hendrix with SRV.

SRV had a strong Albert King & Hendrix influence but was more a straight blues player, and the relic guitar, aggro strat neck pickup blues style is really down to him. 

yeah, at the time he was more an inspiration to get other guitarists playing rather than imitate. For every Trower, there were a 100 inspired to pick up the guitar.

digitalscream

Winny_Pooh said:

digitalscream said:

OilCityPickups said:

Hendrix was a trailblazer ... he went where nobody else had gone and changed the way guitar was played. Was he the best ever? No of course not ... but he kicked in a lot of doors for others to run through ... and for that he deserves the term 'great'. 

See...with all the other acts around at the time, I actually have no doubt that we'd have ended up almost exactly where we are in pretty much the same way if he'd never come on the scene.

The only difference would be that we wouldn't have to suffer through all the crappy Hendrix-wannabes trotting out all the same tired old blues licks in the hope that it'll give them credibility-through-mojo literally everywhere you look.

I'd count that as a good thing.

You're mixing up Hendrix with SRV.

SRV had a strong Albert King & Hendrix influence but was more a straight blues player, and the relic guitar, aggro strat neck pickup blues style is really down to him. 

I'm really not...SRV was simply a first-gen imitator (and pretty good, to be fair).

lukedlb

@Rabs that was a great interview. kinda ruined my day... but given me a great idea.

Sassafras

He wasn't just a guitarist though, was he?
He wrote some of the most iconic songs of his era and did some amazing covers.
It's no secret that I think All Along the Watchtower is one of the most amazing recordings ever made. He took an already great song and turned it into a phenomenal song.
His influence will probably outlast any other rock/blues musician's.
TBH, I don't know why I took the bait, I must be really bored.

Octafish

Pah Hendrix, well overrated, could't even play his guitar the right way up...

Sassafras

guitartango said:

Sassafras said:

Yeah, he never had a number 1 hit in the UK. What a loser.

Nor have you  

Yeah, that's something me and Hendrix have got in common.
When You think about it, I'm at the same musical standard as he was.

menamestom

digitalscream said:

OilCityPickups said:

Hendrix was a trailblazer ... he went where nobody else had gone and changed the way guitar was played. Was he the best ever? No of course not ... but he kicked in a lot of doors for others to run through ... and for that he deserves the term 'great'. 

See...with all the other acts around at the time, I actually have no doubt that we'd have ended up almost exactly where we are in pretty much the same way if he'd never come on the scene.

It's almost impossible to quantify influence, there are obviously many artists were clearly massively influenced by him, Beck, Clapton, SRV, Via, Van Halen, Frusciante, Slash, Satriani, May, Prince for example.

Jimmy Page never saw him play, so you could argue that he wasn't influenced at all, but that assumes Led Zep came from a complete musical vacuum and were not influenced indirectly, by the people who had been influenced by him, the people Jimmy Page saw play and their styles progress.  It was all a big melting pot and most people would agree that by 1970, Hendrix had played a big part in the way rock music was developing.

The fact you have no doubt, leaves me in no doubt, you're probably wrong in your assessment of a course of history that didn't happen and couldn't be quantified if it did 

Octafish

lukedlb said:

......I don't believe he would have gone into jazz-fusion as he had already done it. Silliness and gags just weren't part of that scene and I can't imagine Jimi enjoying it for longer than he did. He already did soul and funk and certainly was a precursor to funkadelic with his electric church routine and band of gypsies. His sonic experimentation may have pushed his recordings and perhaps encouraged his live performances to include larger bands and symphony orchestras. Classical music no doubt would have had a significant influence on him. But here's the thing: Jimi was an artist who not only absorbed everything around him but also included everything about his life and identity to create and produce his music. His love of comic book heroes and sci-fi were as relevant as the vietnam war and muddy waters. as relevant as the distant mother he loved and the women he made love with. While I cannot predict what we would have done, I firmly believe that it would have been a lot.

Yeah, I think the old 'Jimi would have gone on to do jazz' is a bit spurious. I attended a Eddie Kramer studio seminar some years ago and during the Q & A Kramer said although Hendrix had dabled with a jazz direction towards the end of his career, he'd seen it as a passing interest and Hendrix had explained to Kramer it was not route he was really that interested in pursuing. Hendrix had also suggested he was still interested in a funk/soul direction and continuing experimentation.

Considering Hendrix was always experimenting and looking for new sounds, I wonder if he would headed off into electronic music/synths etc. Seems more likely than cheesy fusion noodle.

p90fool

I find it amazing that any fellow musician would think that Hendrix was all about "tired old blues licks". 

Octafish

Sassafras said:

guitartango said:

Sassafras said:

Yeah, he never had a number 1 hit in the UK. What a loser.

Nor have you  

Yeah, that's something me and Hendrix have got in common.
When You think about it, I'm at the same musical standard as he was.

He had a posthumous No1, bet you haven't........... yet

stonevibe

DaevidJ said:

Next up on "Overrated Guitarists" Prince  

poopot

stonevibe said:

DaevidJ said:

Next up on "Overrated Guitarists" Prince  

Oh ffs!!!!!!

57Deluxe

pondering....where does Ed Sheeran go to talk gear do you think??

digitalscream

p90fool said:

I find it amazing that any fellow musician would think that Hendrix was all about "tired old blues licks". 

I think you've misunderstood what I was saying.

DaevidJ

stonevibe said:

DaevidJ said:

Next up on "Overrated Guitarists" Prince  

Urgh... Much as EC might have been a great guitarist and musician I really don't get on with his music... My father was an avid fan which is probably one of the main reasons why I was put off... 

p90fool

digitalscream said:

p90fool said:

I find it amazing that any fellow musician would think that Hendrix was all about "tired old blues licks". 

I think you've misunderstood what I was saying.

No, I get that we have to listen to lots of weaker imitators who focus on the simplest aspect, but on the other hand, someone like Nile Rodgers can take a tenth of what Jimi Hendrix was about and build an entire genre around it. 

Lewy

p90fool said:

digitalscream said:

p90fool said:

I find it amazing that any fellow musician would think that Hendrix was all about "tired old blues licks". 

I think you've misunderstood what I was saying.

No, I get that we have to listen to lots of weaker imitators who focus on the simplest aspect, but on the other hand, someone like Nile Rodgers can take a tenth of what Jimi Hendrix was about and build an entire genre around it. 

Well I think in that example one could argue that had Hendrix not come along, Rodgers would still definitely have heard Curtis Mayfield and would have drawn the same influence and created the same output.