Jimi Hendrix

[joelf]

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...

Hey, I always stand up. Easier to aim and shoot me (;

[citizenk74]

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:



Umm... ...nope!



But those are good things, no?

Yes, they are good things. Kind of my point.

Also: Your personal opinions are your absolute right, as are mine. We can agree to disagree and still get along nicely as civilized people. Life is good.

Also, also: Posts occasionally disappear. I've lost a couple recently, myself. One of the unfathomable mysteries of Teh Interwebz.

[Zina]

Yes, they are good things. Kind of my point.

Also: Your personal opinions are your absolute right, as are mine. We can agree to disagree and still get along nicely as civilized people. Life is good.

Also, also: Posts occasionally disappear. I've lost a couple recently, myself. One of the unfathomable mysteries of Teh Interwebz.

Oh sure, I don't try to convince anyone; and you seldom say anything I disagree with anyway! And re. vanishing posts: good to know, thanks.

[Doctor Jeff]

Just came across Gil Evans plays the music of Jimi Hendrix. Surprising I have never heard this before.

It's really quite a good record, and emphasizes the quality and inventiveness of Hendrix' composing. Evans makes these songs sound like JAZZ STANDARDS.

It's not fair to judge it by the Hendrix originals. The guitar work does include John Abercrombie, Keith Loving and Ryo Kawasaki. But the guitar is generally the least interesting part of it. The rhythm section with Don Pate on bass and Bruce Ditmas on drums just rocks, and the horns (including a young David Sanborn) really stand out.

Anyway if you're tired of listening to Purple Haze every other day on Channel 26 on Sirius/XM, give it a listen. It'll put a new perspective on Hendrix.

[TOMMO]

Name one jazz tune that uses it.

Recorda Me.

[Zina]

Posts occasionally disappear. I've lost a couple recently, myself.

I just lost another batch, including one I'd stayed up late for to make sure it was formulated as honestly as I could. Wasn't controversial, and I don't use swearing or cursing, so..? If it's for derailment; many threads go off-topic for a moment without posts then being destroyed. And if one can't react to something like "...I don't like these XYZ guitars, for they are crafted by silly dwarves..." because one is a silly dwarf oneself, well...

[Gabor]

Name one jazz tune that uses it.

Sorry, I can not resist this low hanging fruit :-), cosmic, please do not take this personal :-)

ATTYA, Charlie Parker in the intro. C7#9, somewhere in the 40s of the last century...

[lammie200]

Just came across Gil Evans plays the music of Jimi Hendrix. Surprising I have never heard this before.

It's really quite a good record, and emphasizes the quality and inventiveness of Hendrix' composing. Evans makes these songs sound like JAZZ STANDARDS.

...It'll put a new perspective on Hendrix.

It has been a while since I listened to it and I have it in my collection. I do remember that my impression was not as flattering as yours, but I respect your opinion. I just remember that certain aspects seemed stilted to me. Exaggerated like they were meant to be a flash to some kind of statement about a particular motif. I honestly can't remember the specifics, but it might have even been the take on Little Wing. I will try to give it another listen soon.

[Doctor Jeff]

It has been a while since I listened to it and I have it in my collection. I do remember that my impression was not as flattering as yours, but I respect your opinion. I just remember that certain aspects seemed stilted to me. Exaggerated like they were meant to be a flash to some kind of statement about a particular motif. I honestly can't remember the specifics, but it might have even been the take on Little Wing. I will try to give it another listen soon.

Well it was a little pretentious and obviously well orchestrated and well mannered, kind of the opposite of a real rock recording. However...

I think one's distance from the source makes a difference. Years ago I would probably have scoffed and just thought of it as a poor attempt to "gentrify" or "tame" Jimi. Now, it sounds rather complex and intriguing, obviously a little bit of its time, but rewarding nonetheless.

Having listened to a lot of big band music from all eras, I really appreciate the craftsmanship that went into it.

[lammie200]

I can't disagree with any of that.

[deacon Mark]

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".

I listen to him for history and such but frankly just not my cup of tea. He certainly could play and seems he lead a pretty fast life and died to young. Would be interesting to see where he would have gone after 5, 10, 15 years of giging and playing more. It is not something I think I want to turn on a hear at almost any time. He has chops and I am sure much talent to probably play anything but I don't hold in up as probably most do.

The interesting thing is that for the same reason I never cared to listen to Stanley Jordan and he is clearly a jazz guitarist and of course tremendous talent but goes in a way that just does not grab me.

[charlieparker]

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".

Like others have already stated his rhythm and feel is miles beyond any other rock guitarist. You can hear it in his chordal riffs on tons of songs. Incredibly funky. Even his lead playing is so in the pocket on tunes like Hey Joe. That's his true genius for me. He basically fused together funky chordal riffs and r&b from the chitlin circuit with blues and rock.

His live playing was a different thing where it was more about performance, a show, and emotion, but if you look at his studio work on his first three albums it is amazing.

[Christian Miller]

I always felt Jimi had a unique and beautiful vibrato


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[Doctor Jeff]

That's funny. I can't remember listening to that Gil Evans recording I commented on in February.

Have I killed off that many brain cells since February?

The nice thing about dementia though...every album sounds fresh and new.

[Doctor Jeff]

Just another random comment.

Listening to Stevie Ray's take on some Jimi classics like Voodoo Chile and Little Wing--while I LOVE the originals and feel they are completely iconic and can hardly be improved upon, it's sure interesting to hear what Stevie does with them. His style and craftsmanship are superlative.

Jimi is relaxed and laidback, maybe like Muddy Waters singing a song. Stevie brings a real country shuffle to those songs. Lots of stuff going on with the syncopation around the melody. While Jimi really emphasizes the sonic bombast of the Strat, Stevie brings out the rhythmic chiming from the tremolo.

[Mick-7]

His live playing was a different thing where it was more about performance, a show, and emotion, but if you look at his studio work on his first three albums it is amazing.

Not true, saw him when I was in high school at Winterland, in San Francisco (concert poster below) and he was supersonic - in his second set anyway, his first set kind of sucked, guess the inebriants had worn off or not kicked in yet, not sure which. He played a fiery version of Red House.

Sitting through Dino Valente beforehand was quite tedious though, I didn't like him with Quicksilver Messenger Service and he was even harder to take as a solo act.

[lammie200]

Just another random comment.

Listening to Stevie Ray's take on some Jimi classics like Voodoo Chile and Little Wing--while I LOVE the originals and feel they are completely iconic and can hardly be improved upon, it's sure interesting to hear what Stevie does with them. His style and craftsmanship are superlative.

Jimi is relaxed and laidback, maybe like Muddy Waters singing a song. Stevie brings a real country shuffle to those songs. Lots of stuff going on with the syncopation around the melody. While Jimi really emphasizes the sonic bombast of the Strat, Stevie brings out the rhythmic chiming from the tremolo.

I am not sure about SRV's Voodoo Chile but his Little Wing was kinda out of control IMHO. He nailed the motif but it seemed like he was repeating it just by mere fact that he nailed it. While Hendrix's version left me wanted more, SRV's left me wanting less. And I like SRV - don't get me wrong.

[sgcim]

Even Roy Buchanan paid tribute to Hendrix. Buchanan never used any pedals until his last album. This is all just Tele and a Twin or Deluxe Reverb:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohZjWwgMerc
Name the last lick....

[Cunamara]

Name one jazz tune that uses it.

All Blues.

[Stringswinger]

There are a few guitar players who upon hearing them, caused me to have a "road to Damascus" moment. Jimi Hendrix is one of them.

Here is my list:

John Lennon: I heard the Beatles as a young boy and I wanted to be a guitarist (and I pretty much have been since hearing them)

Eric Clapton: Hearing him with Cream made me want to be a LEAD guitarist

Jimi Hendrix: Hearing him made me want to learn more chords than the basics

Wes Montgomery: Hearing him made me want to be a jazz guitarist

Joe Pass: Hearing him made me want to be a SOLO jazz guitarist

Bireli Lagrene: Hearing him made me want to play Jazz Manouche

All six of those great guitarists changed my life and I owe them an un-repayable debt. I listen to them all regularly and frankly, I get Pissed off by the writings of mediocre guitar players who put down the great playing of these masters on forums such as this one.

But as they say, opinions are like assholes.....

Play on Little Wing....

[Mick-7]

I don't think that anyone who was not alive in the 60's when Jimi appeared on the music scene could possibly grasp how big an impact he had, especially on guitarists - pretty much shock and awe all around. No one had ever heard anything like his first album, "Are You Experienced."

[nyc chaz]

There are a few guitar players who upon hearing them, caused me to have a "road to Damascus" moment. Jimi Hendrix is one of them.

Here is my list:

John Lennon: I heard the Beatles as a young boy and I wanted to be a guitarist (and I pretty much have been since hearing them)

Eric Clapton: Hearing him with Cream made me want to be a LEAD guitarist

Jimi Hendrix: Hearing him made me want to learn more chords than the basics

Wes Montgomery: Hearing him made me want to be a jazz guitarist

Joe Pass: Hearing him made me want to be a SOLO jazz guitarist

Bireli Lagrene: Hearing him made me want to play Jazz Manouche

All six of those great guitarists changed my life and I owe them an un-repayable debt. I listen to them all regularly and frankly, I get Pissed off by the writings of mediocre guitar players who put down the great playing of these masters on forums such as this one.

But as they say, opinions are like assholes.....

Play on Little Wing....

That list would pretty much be my list growing up but i would have to substitute hearing Django for Birelli.For rock guitar,Hendix and Clapton pretty set the gold standard for generations to come and they established the Strat and Les Paul as the guitars everyone had to have.The one thing Jimi doesn't get enough love for is his writing as he penned many iconic rock tunes.

[Stringswinger]

That list would pretty much be my list growing up but i would have to substitute hearing Django for Birelli.For rock guitar,Hendix and Clapton pretty set the gold standard for generations to come and they established the Strat and Les Paul as the guitars everyone had to have.The one thing Jimi doesn't get enough love for is his writing as he penned many iconic rock tunes.

I heard early Django stuff back in the 70's and found it to be too old fashioned for my taste. I saw Bireli channel a later Django sound about 22 years ago and it drew me in. Having listened to Django's post war stuff, I now am a huge fan of Django.

And Les Pauls and Strats are still guitars that float my boat. Furthermore, you are spot on about the compositions of Jimi Hendrix. He was truly one of the greats.

[dasein]

I was born well after the 60's, long after many of his innovations had been absorbed into the mainstream (at least on a surface level). Hearing his music for the first time was a bit like watching Eisenstein's films for the first time. You watch "Battleship Potemkin" and you listen to "Purple Haze" and go, "This is cool, but why does everyone make such a big deal about it?" You don't initially realize that this where it all came from.

There was never a point I didn't really like his music, but when I was a young (re: dumb) teenager whose ambitions outpaced his skill, I would not have had him on my personal list of all-time greats. I wrote off the fact that he invariably topped everyone's list as more of a nod to his status as a historical innovator.

Thankfully, someone told me to check out "Band of Gypsies," and... oh man. The solo on "Machine Gun" alone absolutely floored me. I still think it's the greatest electric guitar solo ever played, in any genre. I later read that John Scofield feels exactly the same way. Even moreso than John McLaughlin, Sonny Sharrock, Tisziji Munoz, etc (all great players, don't get me wrong), Hendrix was able to channel that late Coltrane mega-watt spiritual intensity like no one else. The few bootlegs floating around of Arthur Rhames are the closest I've heard.

It wasn't until later (and many gigs later) that I also fully realized that Hendrix was almost certainly the greatest rhythm guitarist in the history of rock as well. Playing those parts really well, nailing the rhythmic and technical details, is damn near impossible. SRV came the closest.

He is one of the musicians, like Bird and Trane, where if a grown adult musician dismisses him, I known I can safely disregard just about any other opinion they might have.

[wolflen]

my yellow in this case is not so mellow

He wrote some classic songs

not jazz ..hmm..his solo on the "Wind Cries Mary" .. let a sax play that note for note