Tired of people saying that Hendrix was the best

McLowery · Post by **McLowery** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 7:27 am

Did I say this already? I don't remember this thread... As a technical master of the fretboard Hendrix was not, but Jimi Hendrix, IMO, single handedly opened the door to "the sound" of what rock guitar was going to be and even today, anyone using an overdriven guitar tone through a Marshall stack is simply playing through a variation of the tone Hendrix pioneered. He took the electric guitar and chiseled it's place as the Rock-n-Roll weapon of choice, eternally. This is where Hendrix stands as a god umongst mortal men of the time. In my opinion that is.

Cpt Matt Sparrow · Post by **Cpt Matt Sparrow** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:37 am

McLowery wrote:Did I say this already? I don't remember this thread... As a technical master of the fretboard Hendrix was not

With what he was dealing with I think he was.

Gabriel is right, there are many performances (like Jim Morrison too) that are just tired drug induced failures but also like Jim there are also absolute magical moments that in many ways are unsurpassed.

I love Jimi on acoustic too. Here is him oozing cool!!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wCQBbgb_Lvo

One of my favourite Joe Satriani quotes when asked what he thinks about on stage is

"99 percennt of the time I am thinking about Jimi Hendrix"

Matt I love the late 60's Dweebshire

Gabriel Raphael · Post by **Gabriel Raphael** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 11:32 am

Hi Matt

I was trying to say that Jimi's life ended earlier then we all used to think according to sources and public info, his music died when his Music director died, alike the Beatles whose music director died which Yoko claims is the real reason they broke up Randy also had his mom and brother as a director, not to forget Bob Daisley did most of the work as a music director on the first 2 Blizzard of Ozz Records as i understood., not 100 percent sure about that but its very likely FROM WHAT I HEARD HIM SAY ON A RADIO SHOW.

According to jimi''s younger brother, close friends and witnesses, after his music director passed away Jimi's manager literally had him kidnapped and drugged up to make him sign off publishing a few times while pretending to be the same one who rescued him., at some point even claiming he lost money on Electric Lady land studios while all of Jimi's money and time went to building that place., i won't get into the autopsy and all that other stuff everyone argues with since my point is that the people around him already ruined his life before he actually died., near the end he was seeking to form a the "Band of the Gypsies", and both Mitch and Noel chickened out claiming they had contractual commitments with his manager and feared him, after Jimi died the EXPERIENCE tried claiming publishing in court and the Hendrix estate refused to share any after there investigation which concluded that Jimi was looked down as more less as a circus side show for been black and everyone wanted to use him, so they said since the members of the Experienced where hired guns, never speaking out in his behalf and on the managers side when he needed them they did not find it justifiable to share any of his royalties., the only other new member of the Hendrix Estate which gets income is his Swedish son out of wedlock, i met him in NY when they where in the process during the late 80s to legitimize the case, he plays bass (played) and the last i heard is that he is in StockHolme now and a transexual.

Noel Redding and Mitch had there own stories and as i understood still broke, during a freezing below zero cold day in NY around Jan 1996 Noel contacted me through his girlfriend CANDY at the time to master some live shows, he used to speak on end about the past, and he said there is one thing you have to remember and he hoped changes, "the music business is still the same, we musicians still never get paid", Noel said his life was intense, he had to pull the plug on his wife who had a accident and in a coma and he was her only living relative, Bob Dylan shared a bit of that pain too been a close friend, i also noticed that everyone around him seem to be born around dec 24th or 25th like myself, he also said he had a pub in the UK i had to come by for a drink, i never did of course, i don't drink

so there is always two sides to every story.

I agree with Matt allot about magical moments been captured live or during songwriting, i do not know any Hendrix songs other then the intro to Hey Joe and the basic chord progression to voodoo child but after seen Eric johnson do "Are you experienced" live all on stage no over dubs i was stunned thinking about Jimi and all he was about, its another tragic story like Randy's where you wonder what the music would would be like if they had lived.

Sorry for the lonnnng post, can't resist leaving out details.

Fri Jan 02, 2009 11:40 am

Gabriel Raphael wrote:Jimi Hendrix died long before he physically left

If I remember correctly during one gig he did even tell the audience himself...

Gabriel Raphael · Post by **Gabriel Raphael** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:32 pm

News still carries, looks like his swedish son sued Al his Grand father, back in 1988 Al said that if he proved to be his son he would be treated like his own., he certainly looked like Jimi when i met him, later in 1999 i spoke to mutual friends in Sweden who tol dme he flipped and changed his sex, sounds like i missed something maybe Al Hendrix is ashamed of.
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-2223288.html
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/ar ... ka_1024298+
http://www.nme.com/news/jimi-hendrix/18127
http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2006/10/27 ... state.html

Check this one out, funny:

summer of love

jimi hendrix died on september 18, 1970 at the age of 27 in a basement flat in london. the details of his death remain sketchy, but two facts are clear-- hendrix took an overdose of secobarbitol and he was not alone when he died. monika dannerman, hendrix's german girlfriend was with him. dannerman's accounts of hendrix's death were often contradictory. however, she steadfastly maintained that hendrix was alive when he was taken from the flat by ambulance. kathy etchingham, a former hendrix girlfriend, however claimed that danneman waited two hours after finding hendrix unconscious and covered in vomit before calling for help. danneman called etchingham an "inveterate liar." in response, etchingham who inspired the hendrix song, foxy lady filed a libel suit which she subsequently won. danneman was given a small fine in exchange for the legal promise that she would not repeat the remark. however, in 1996 danneman published a book, the inner world of jimi hendrix in which she did just that. etchingham sued again, and won. this time the stakes were higher, and danneman was convicted of contempt of court and fined almost $30,000. two days later monika danneman, was found dead in her car of carbon monoxide poisoning, an apparent suicide. danneman, an artist had lived with uli jon roth of the rock band scorpions, another guitar virtuoso. apparently the rivalry over the years between the two women had sparked a great deal of animosity that could not be resolved. jimi hendrix enjoyed more than a few relationships, and at least two of his encounters with women got him into trouble. in 1966 he fathered a child, tamika carpenter (pictured) after a brief relationship with a minister's daughter in new york city. a son, james sundquist was born in 1969. hendrix had a met the boy's mother in a train station in stockholm. both were given settlements from the hendrix estate. diana carpenter was given an undisclosed amount and eva sunquist was given 1 million in 1978. http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:bA ... ent=safari

Jake_E_Lee · Post by **Jake_E_Lee** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 2:55 pm

This is one of those things which has no real definitive answer. Jimi, at the time, certainly changed the way people looked at the guitar. As Paul Wolfe said above, prior to that, the guitar was really just a backup instrument that filled out the sound. What Hendrix showed was that it was okay for a guitar to be at the front of the stage and entertaining the viewers. However, that said, Jimi only took that so far. That is where personal opinion comes in. I think Jimi was a good guitarist, but obviously people took what Hendrix did and improved upon it, so when we look back on Hendrix's technique etc, it lacks maybe that sported by Yngwie or Randy etc. Thats why it has no real answer. Was he the best because without him, we may not have had Randy or the other lead guitarists of the 80s? Because, if 'best' was a representation of technique, I don't think Hendrix would be the best.

JEL

Cpt Matt Sparrow · Post by **Cpt Matt Sparrow** » Sat Jan 03, 2009 3:20 pm

Jake_E_Lee wrote:This is one of those things which has no real definitive answer. Jimi, at the time, certainly changed the way people looked at the guitar. As Paul Wolfe said above, prior to that, the guitar was really just a backup instrument that filled out the sound. What Hendrix showed was that it was okay for a guitar to be at the front of the stage and entertaining the viewers. However, that said, Jimi only took that so far. That is where personal opinion comes in. I think Jimi was a good guitarist, but obviously people took what Hendrix did and improved upon it, so when we look back on Hendrix's technique etc, it lacks maybe that sported by Yngwie or Randy etc. Thats why it has no real answer. Was he the best because without him, we may not have had Randy or the other lead guitarists of the 80s? Because, if 'best' was a representation of technique, I don't think Hendrix would be the best.

JEL

Firstly happy new year and great to see you

What is a coincidence is that in jazz and blues the guitar also took a 'back seat', being an accompaniment instrument prior to the likes of people like Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian in the 20's and 30's, who turned it into a convincing lead instrument!

Also around the same sort of time Segovia wrote his famous mission statement saying how he wanted the Classical Guitar to be elevated from a 'mindless folk instrument' (ie doing chordal accompaniment) to being an instrument on a par with any of the accepted Classical instruments.

I suppose once the electric guitar became invented it was natural too that it took the same steps!

One thing I love about Jimi's playing is his sense of chaos, the way he took risks live. Sometimes it fell flat other times it went to outer space.

I think with some of the technically and rhythmically 'tight nit' type players of today (many who play the electric guitar with a Classical mentality) there is a lack of the the rock and roll risk in their playing. There is a lusty rock and roll spirit in the legacy Jimi left in players like Derek Trucks and the late Jeff Healey etc.

Yes I see the importance etc of him and his place in being an innovator but as a player in his own right he rocked hard and could play the blues like no one else.

Matt

McLowery · Post by **McLowery** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:43 pm

I will say this also, and it's actually quite humorous coming from me the atheist. Jimi Hendrix walked on stage at the Monterey Pop Festival an ordinary rock-n-roller. Less than two hours later the sky had been split open, because an offering had been made and the gods of Rock-n-Roll took favor on this offering and not only bestowing the one man, who dare call them from the heavens, the aura of musical divinity but they took favor on all of mankind which thus ushered forth a tsunami of great rock-n-roll, so much so that it is actually hard to fathom and by the time Jimi Hendrix left that stage and the flames of his sacrifice flickered to the sky he had been transformed from an obscure musician into an ethereal creature, an immortal of sorts, who rocked the world over.

No matter how fucked up he was and all the bad performances he played, he did something so much larger than himself that it just boiled over, spilling out to the world to have and to use and expand upon. Same goes for Eddie and Randy, just so much at once a shockwave of sorts pulsed out from them and affected everyone who was touched by it.

Gabriel Raphael · Post by **Gabriel Raphael** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:37 pm

In those days we did not have internet, digital cameras built in phones or even cell phones as a common tool to communicate so giving a performance all you had really was the goal to get a good word out, this is why Randy was the peek of good guitar players for me, ever since computers and Pro Deck/pro Tools hit the scene everyone got side tracked and re learned how to do what took us ages and a fortune in big rooms.,

I think one would have to GO BACK to the times Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Eddie, Page and Randy where happening to appreciate there contributions, i can tell you that Randy was all word of mouth for me, people came back from shows saying you gotta see this guy, amazing, never heard anything like him and so much stage charisma., i wish SOMETHING like this would happen again., last time i seen anyone impress me was back when John Paul Jones toured with Diamanda Gallas., he and his drummer where so damn good, he even did guitar solos using a Bass Whammy pedal, and he was into computers since when they arrived and started using Logic 1.1 before it was Logic Audio.

Cpt Matt Sparrow · Post by **Cpt Matt Sparrow** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:45 pm

Mike

Cosmic twin coincidence with a reference to religion. There is a famous Alpha course speach given by Nicky Gumble where he says something along the lines of 'lets not patronise Jesus and say he was just a good man" etc

When I read the thread I thought as evangelical Matt "lets not just patronise Jimi and say he was JUST an innovator" LOL

Matt

ps hugs sent to Mike Lowery because he is such a tactile loving kind of guy

wareagle · Post by **wareagle** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:21 pm

randy in my opinion was better then jimi, but their is no best. best is an opinion. hendrix is often considered the best b/c he was one of the first to play true "rock n roll" music and was respected widely, and then when he died, i think he was respected even more. if he had lived to now, i think his stuff might have become less popular some of his most popluar songs are covers, and the songs he made often repeate a lot in lyrics, not sayin he isnt talented but he isnt the best

Gabriel Raphael · Post by **Gabriel Raphael** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:12 am

Peace guys

I do not think we can deny that Jimi was thee innovator and a fully matured guitarist who took performance with guitar to his limits, Randy died before getting there with his., and as for Jimi's music it is a matter of taste so these are separate opinions that do not have any relation to there level of playing or skills., Jimi was more famous after his death because people had much less respect for black artists and it is evident he never seen a day with out been treated like that, Randy was born way later and accumulated a deep musical knowledge from a educational background and musical family with many more opportunities and he was very openly humble about it., he used to say he was very lucky or even embarrassed at some point, i think he regarded as his audition for Ozzy as embarrassing assuming it was for his looks since he only tuned up when they told him he got the gig.

I like Randy more but thats my taste., as for who showed more skills and all, well Randy had allot later from Jimi and many more players and there techniques which he applied into his own style but i think he was the last of those who had nothing but the stage to make a name and this shows today with anyone from then as i said it before.,

The only thing that bugs me about Metal and young restless head-banners is that they combine powerful music with false ego satanic illusions rather then recognizing the spiritual side and pure inspiration., like take the Bad Brains for example, wether you like them or not they also innovated hardcore punk and influenced Metal in so many ways most people are not even aware of it, Metallica and Living Color would never of existed but what s strange is when you would see the Bad Brains during the late 80s with dread locks, bibles in there hands singing about Jah and raise the lord etc ect, everyone in the audience who was a skin head would dropped there jaws after 5 minutes of smashing into a pit of blood because the band would go from playing 180bmp into a trance of psychodelic reggae fusion dubb jams and singing things like David's Psalms from the Bible but those kids never bother to read like the same kids who wanted Ozzy to Byte Randy's head off or blow the band up or buy a Jackson guitar today with fire on it or naked porn stars., maybe its just me or i am getting older but i find it ironic.

Paul Wolfe · Post by **Paul Wolfe** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:17 pm

No, it's not just you. Metal is a music for posers. When Stryper started in the 80's, they showed a lot of people that metal was a form of music and the words were simply an extension of the writer. Metal is a rebellious music and religion is not often considered 'rebellion'.

Now, Frank has told us about Randy being very proud of his Christian background. He died prior to a band like Stryper hitting the mainstream. Had Randy been alive to witness that movement, Christian metal may have been huge with contributions from a talent like his.

Back to Hendrix. As I said before, Hendrix was an innovator without whom we'd have none of the music we have today. Regardless of what anyone thinks of his music, his contribution to the world of rock guitar cannot be denied.

Cpt Matt Sparrow · Post by **Cpt Matt Sparrow** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:58 pm

Paul was Randy a believer in God, or a Christian though? I know his back ground like most people was from a Christian family like many people in the Western world.

I remember Frank's post where he described a party he was at, where he spoke with Randy about beliefs; and Randy said God was very important to him. He intimated what was around him was artificial and not of great priority to him (the party).

However Randy, by many recent accounts, didn't live a life that was compatible with him being a practising Christian.

Matt

NicDots · Post by **NicDots** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:01 pm

I think just cause someone likes to go to parties doesn't discount their Christian beliefs. Faith is more complicated than that. Randy's primary school was a Christian school and their is a plaque dedicated to Randy at his old church. I seem to recall an interview where someone said Randy had a hard time finding a good Lutheran church while in England, so I assume that he went to church every now and then.