Jimi Hendrix

[pauln]

People have mentioned my name comparing me with Jimi,
"That Pauln, he's no Jimi Hendrix".

[Jkniff26]

Lol, I like Stevie, but that Little Wing is pure crap, revered by white dudes who wouldn't know the blues if they gave it to someone.

For the record, I think his Voodoo Child is great. Real energy.

In fairness SRV’s “version” was a studio take that was released after his death. The Vultures preyed on all Jimi’s recordings and even doctored them after his death. They didn’t do that with Stevie Ray , but they did squeeze his legacy for that last studio release that had a bunch of shit he never wanted on official records. He had such respect for Hendrix , and I remember reading he had recorded a Little Wing version he wasn’t happy with. That’s probably what got released. They may have even doctored some rhythm sections. I have to go back and listen to Stevie soon. The 30th anniversary of that damn helicopter crash is coming up. To all you touring players: stay away from helicopters.


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[christianm77]

Just want to clarify for anyone seeing that Hendrix/Nuages clip for the first time, it's a fake.

this however is not

[John A.]

Lol, I like Stevie, but that Little Wing is pure crap, revered by white dudes who wouldn't know the blues if they gave it to someone.

For the record, I think his Voodoo Child is great. Real energy.

I agree strongly with this. There's a lightness in both the lyrics and the performance of Hendrix's own renditions of Little Wing that everyone else seems to miss no matter how closely they try to mimic him.

John

[Alter]

Being someone who practically lived for playing guitar, being really involved with it, his passion, is something that, to me, really comes across when i hear him play. But also, he was a real forward thinker. He came from a black, blues and R'n'b background but lived in the rock era, and really followed his musical vision through. Not only musically but sonically with the guitar, the rest of his gear, amps and pedals, and his band, he really searched and worked on forming a sound that helped him express what he was hearing inside (which at the time was a completely new sound). You hear him talk on interviews, and you see he was all about music, plain, humble and spiritual.

I mean, in the future, explaining what electric guitar in the second half of the 20th century was about, you could show them only that video and they'll get it!!

[John A.]

funny, but the little wing cover that first comes to mind to me, is not the later srv cover, but the great version by derek & the dominoes...with eric clapton and duane allman on guitars...and they cut it while jimi was still alive!!! it was a tribute to the living man!

whatever you think of clapton...dominoes were great band..carl radle of oklahoma on bass..rock solid..the great jim gordon..wrecking crew crowd drummer...and great bobby whitlock on organ and great gospel vocals...and add duanes slide

cheers

I love the Layla album, but have always had mixed feelings of their interpretation of Little Wing. There's a heaviness to it that fits with the overall tragic tale of the album, but it transform the spirit of the song completely. I go back and forth between whether I like that or not.

John

[John A.]

I regret if this pains fans, but I can't help saying out loud that I dislike everything about that man; music, playing, guitarsound, voice, image.

I've asked several older people to show me where the good bits are in their opinion, and why there is such a cult around him, but they never went beyond "but don't you hear it???", or "you'd have had to be there".

You've been asking the wrong people. I mean if you're posing the question in an honest way (as opposed to purely for the sake of provocation), and the best someone can do is what you're quoting, then you're dealing with people who don't know how to explain what they hear and you're not going to get a useful answer. Plenty of other people are capable of giving specific, informed and thoughtful answers to where the good bits are in Hendrix. OTOH, if you're looking for someone to somehow to talk you into liking something, without you actually going to the effort of deeply listening yourself, that seems like a waste of both sides' time.

John

[lammie200]

I love the Layla album, but have always had mixed feelings of their interpretation of Little Wing. There's a heaviness to it that fits with the overall tragic tale of the album, but it transforms the spirit of the song completely...

That's why I like it. I remember the first time I heard it I thought that it wasn't Little Wing at all probably because they couldn't mimic what Hendrix did with it. Then I put it in context and understood the power behind it. Clapton used to utilize excellent judgement IMHO. Must have been the drugs.

[wolflen]

this however is not

for those that want to attain a "horn" like approach to guitar solo lines..this is the template

AH was a master with liquid sounding solo work..his knowledge of harmonic/melodic relatiion shows in this study..

I remember him saying.."..it takes about two years to know a scale.."...indeed

[Rob MacKillop]

Just want to clarify for anyone seeing that Hendrix/Nuages clip for the first time, it's a fake.

That was clear after two seconds. I didn't go any further. Some guy's idea of a joke.

[arielcee]

Look, we all know what you mean, but personally I'd never dare to use both Hendrix and Coltrane in the same sentence. Jimi would be the first to laugh at this...

Blasphemy yes. All I said was 'this piece of halibut was good enough for jehovah!"

[marcwhy]

This must be played loudly, on good speakers:

[dot75]

Being someone who practically lived for playing guitar...

Chas Chandler tells of flat hunting with Jimi when he first brought him to London, before exploring the apartment Jimi would check if the bathroom was big enough for him to play a guitar in, Chandler assumed he liked the acoustics but Jimi just said the first thing he did when he woke up was strap on his guitar, after that he went to the bathroom....

[citizenk74]

"I thought it sounded good...."

Handsome, humble, honest, direct, polite, soft-spoken, and the most revolutionizing guitar player on the planet at the time?

What's not to like?

Only in America Dept: Cavett's other guest is Robert Young, America's Dad, the paterfamilias of "Father Knows Best", indoctrinating USA young'ns in honesty, humility, manners, and so forth from 1954 to 1960 on the TeeVee machine.

[joelf]

There was a lot of mutual admiration among all the guitarists of the time. McLaughlin btw didn’t start out as a bebop-playing prodigy. He played RnB and did rock session work and backed Georgie Fame among other things. So it’s not a stretch to say Jimi could have been a jazzer if he wanted to move in that direction. (John studied piano and violin before moving to guitar...)

Apparently there are tapes of Jimi jamming with Zappa as well.

There's also a rumor of a bootleg tape of Buzzy (now Buzz) Feiten---one of my early and still heroes---jamming on bass as a young sprout with Jimi in Woodstock, NY. That makes sense, b/c Buzzy was with Paul Butterfield, a Woodstock denizen, then (1969?)...

[Betz]

OK, I’ll take the bait. He isn’t jazz, though he can play jazzy.

He does have a jazz chord named after him. Just sayin’.

[cosmic gumbo]

He does have a jazz chord named after him. Just sayin’.

Name one jazz tune that uses it.

[MarkRhodes]

Name one jazz tune that uses it.

"Chitlins Con Carne" by Kenny Burrell

[Hugo Gainly]

Difficult to know how to refer to him now. His career as Jimi Hendrix was only 3 years long.

I went to an odd event at the Albert Hall in London a few months ago where we saw a film of a gig Jimi had played with the Experience, in the Albert Hall. 50 years ago. It was fun, and great to go back to the times. After a while I started to get bored, hearing the same stuff. At the time I don't think I would have noticed. Too many minor pentatonic cliches and hackneyed blues phrases. Maybe it was because some of the more interesting stuff wouldn't have been possible to do live. It was still a heavy experience but maybe not so shocking.

As to how he would have developed I think he would have left the stage - he was already tired of all things Experience by 1970 - and studied (unlike Eric, who I respect as a great blues player but someone who isn't bothered about changing). I think it's invidious to assess Jimi's playing. It was visceral. His arrival was a creative and cultural explosion. His sound, phrasing, peculiar and original techniques as a guitarist were new and highly emotionally engaging. I prefer to call him a superbly talented musician, who played guitar. He may have developed out of his creativity and become a better guitarist, but he was good enough at the beginning to have created that sound. It was also part of the times. Full of hope, anti-establishment, clear enemies and so on. The way he played Hey Joe was redolent to me as a teenage boy of the imagined heat and passion of the American day - that's pretty accomplished communication. That same clarity and message made him so beloved of the troops in Vietnam. It was probably profound. But, knowing the melodic minor in six places would have meant shit in that context.

As Jimi said "We don't want to be classed in any category ... If it must have a tag, I'd like it to be called, 'Free Feeling'. It's a mixture of rock, freak-out, rave and blues". There are many, many more capable guitarists out there and none of them will hold a candle to Hendrix. It was the times, our youth, a one off. "You'll never hear. Surf music. Again."

[Hugo Gainly]

That's a great album that Christian. I especially like the gardener's solo.

He does have a jazz chord named after him. Just sayin’.

Hah hah! Indeed. Don't forget E James Brown.

[joelf]

Listening right now to:

[joelf]

It was about time somebody played that stupid song right.

Think it's stupid now? Read the original long-winded English drinking song lyrics (thank G-d for small favors):

Anacreon in heaven [et al.] | Library of Congress

[Doctor Jeff]

Think it's stupid now? Read the original long-winded English drinking song lyrics (thank G-d for small favors):

Anacreon in heaven [et al.] | Library of Congress

OK, it's a rather ridiculous song and impossible (for me anyway) to sing (the SSB and the original drinking song). I for one would prefer America the Beautiful (sung by Ray Charles) to this one as the US national anthem.

But I will say, when you hear it sung at a large public event, especially a serious one, it is awe-inspiring. Partly it's the memory of learning it as a child and having respect for the history. Partly it's my 5 years in the military--though kind of a cynical guy in general and hardly an uber-patriot, I do have a sentimental spot for pomp and circumstance and tradition.

It's kind of like the Constitution--who wouldn't write it differently, if he were in charge of it today? But there it is...the weight of history...

[Zina]

Sorry for the interruption, but I just noticed a post of mine disappeared from this thread. Is that because I said stuff "against" JH? Restoring from memory:

Handsome,

Umm... ...nope!

indoctrinating USA young'ns in honesty, humility, manners, and so forth

But those are good things, no?

[pingu]

Sorry for the interruption, but I just noticed several posts of mine disappeared from this thread. Is that because I said stuff "against" JH?

yes ... it’s a voodoo thing