Hendrix - was he really that good?

I agree with ya Vic on the smashing......You're right...Pete was the first I remember doing that.....
I guess I was talking about his musically style........soon after, many followed.

He did really push guitar forward for a lot of people....... and at the time not many could play like Hendrix but now there's a lot of players young and old who can do what he did and some can even play way more technical things.

However...... it is still the music that resonated with me, I don't consider his music as just something there to show off his skill. I listened way before I was a guitarist anyway and that's one thing about Hendrix - he appeals to people even if they aren't guitarists. Where as many who advanced it further don't (Yngwie Malmsteen comes to mind). However in defense of people who don't get it....... I think at that time of my life I was already becoming obsessed with the guitar and wasn't far off taking my steps into becoming a guitarist, by 15 I had a bass, I was 12 when I first heard Hendrix and by 16 I was playing guitar.

I don't completely agree with you on this one Fleaaaa, I can play everything Hendrix played, but I can't play like Hendrix. Some people play guitar, some people are guitar players.
And as far as "showing off" as has been mentioned, I believe Hendrix could have played more if he chose too. I think he was really in tune to what was appropriate for the song and the performance.
I wasn't around back then, but I don't think guitar playing was a competitive sport like it is today. But look at the big guys like Vai, Satch, Malstem, Belew, Fripp, EVH... they all venerate Hendrix above all others. The same is true for Bonamassa, Mayer and that set. Guitar players became academic in the 80's and less emotional partly because of Jimi's influence as kids from the suburbs weren't discovering guitar the way keiff and Beck and God were, they were discovering Hendrix on top 40 radio. It wasn't a slow burn of enlightenment and personal discovery - the gauntlet was thrown. And where could anyone go from there? Pardon my crude innuendo but, going faster is easy, its going deeper that's the challenge.

1.) Maybe I phrased it badly........ they can play his riffs and solos.

2.) I agree, I said I didn't consider him to be just showing off for the sake of it.

Oh and btw despite the fact that I know those 80s guitarist were showing off and many trying to outdo each other I still enjoy some of that stuff. Vai and Satch appear to be the most accessible though Vai can get really weird - but some of his music is palatable and Joe Satriani has a lot to offer. However I also realise I wouldn't have listened to them were I not a guitarist, so they are not like Hendrix in that respect.

You think Vai is weird - check out Mike Keneally. Awesome improv stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G23s9aIgOoI

This is cool

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G23s9aIgOoI

This is cool

Heard the first four notes, thought, "Improvisation? That's 'Dazed And Confused'!"

Pffffft.............

The song remains the same.....

:D :D :D

Vic

Vic....... I don't listen to music that way, analyzing and comparing. I feel sorry for those who do it is more of a curse than a blessing.

Oh and I doubt Jimmy Page was the first person ever to compose a chromatic riff and he wont be the last either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTsvs-pAGDc

P.s - I thought it was well known by now that Jimmy Page was a major rip off artist who never credited the artists he stole from.

Improvisation - the art of creating something new on the spot. It took exactly four notes to recognise "Communication Breakdown".....nothing to see here, move along please.

Jimmy Page....I prefer him to Hendrix, but as always, these things boil down to personal taste. Page played a HUGE variety of styles, from heavy metal to pop to folk to blues and, hell, almost any conceivable genre you can think of. Electric, acoustic, 12-string, dulcimer, mandolin, whatever - if it had strings, JP would get a tune out of it. You're probably right in saying he ripped a lot of licks off the old-time blues guys, and didn't give them credit - but he's done so much more than that.

I can't ever remeber Hendrix playing acoustic - pretty sure I've never seen a photo of him with one. As always, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. The only JH track I can call to mind that even had an acoustic guitar track is "All Along The Watchtower," and if my memory's still working correctly, I think Dave Mason played that. (Great version of a great song, BTW - better than the original, IMHO. Dylan has played a Hendrix-influenced version of AATW in his live shows for about 30 years now....that's how much HE liked it!)

I like JP, you like JH... we've got different tastes in guitarists. I prefer the huge variety in JP's work to JH's....but who could possibly know what Hendrix would have done if he'd lived? He could have created a whole new genre of music, or he could have branched out into any genre, or he could have encompassed the entire musical spectrum....but we'll never know. What we do know is that JP HAS virtually encompassed the entire musical spectrum, and created a couple of new sub-genres along the way.....

Apples, oranges, bananas......we all have different tastes. What I do is that after 50 years of listening to music - yeah, I was glued to the radio before the Beatles came along, no daytime TV when I was a kid! - I know what I like, and I know what I don't like....and unfortunately, as far as this thread goes, most of JH's music falls in the latter category.

We're going to have to just agree to disagree on this one......

:D :D :D

Vic

I always thought Page gave props to muddy and son house, but Page is a God - but he also had a better band, singer and song writer - in my opinion. Also, Zep had a pretty defined sound and Page some some clear influences where as Hendrix didn't was much more experimental. Bananas and grapefruits.
To be fair, Jimi copped a lot (a lot) from Buddy Guy - listen to the stuff he was doing in the mid sixties and you'll think "Hey, that's Jimi playing quietly!"

Vic, Hendrix was a hell of an Acoustic guitar player and slide as well - most of the playing he did away from the studio and stage was so. Some recording of Jimi playing a 12 string slide in his London flat exist - I think its called the Hendrix Blue Album - he had a real delta feel and it suited his voise nicely. Considering all the things you've mentioned to not enjoy about his playing, you might really enjoy it actually. If I can find it I'll try to get it to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfmbel7xIt4 just an example

Here's the thing with Page, now I love Led Zeppelin (no not as much as Hendrix but there we go) but many of the songs on Led Zeppelin 1 and 2 were direct rips of other songs. However when you read the original credits (I think they have been changed now due to lawsuits) they just said that the writers were "Page/Plant" which they weren't because not only did they steal riffs they also stole melodies and lyrics from the original songs. If you want to see what I am on about type Led Zeppelin Plagiarism into youtube and you will see. I still love Led Zep they were an amazing band and musically there were none finer - everyone was respectively brilliant at what they did and their live shows were so exciting (yes I am only going by DVDs I have seen).

Is it possible there is a little resentment to the fact that Hendrix was an American who suddenly stole the thunder from all the "British Invaders" , as they were called here in the states . Come on , admit that deep down , so long ago you might not even remember it , there was some resentment over the fact that this American upstart came over to your homeland and blew everybody's minds with what he was playing . It's evident from your posts that most of your guitar heroes were from Great Britain and that's probably not too much different than most people of our generation .
It's hard to dispute that Hendrix changed the way rock guitarists played guitar . Up until he came along the 3 minute song with the quick ten second or less solo was the norm . It's true that he didn't invent anything completely new but what he did was do it in an original way and everyone took notice , especially your very own aforementioned British guitar idols .

P.S. I don't mean this as an accusation that you are by nature a nationalist or an America-phobe . I'm just throwing it out there for consideration . There has been some really good music coming from both sides of the pond . You like what you like . That doesn't bother me at all . Rock on !

I am American and also for the most part liked British guitarists, not sure why but at the time they were the ones I wanted to listen too.

Hendrix kind of came out of left field at least in terms of what everone else was doing. maybe nothing new but absolutely done in a different way.

Hendrix was a unique artist growing up in a very different time. He was a black rock guitarist when blacks were still strugging for equal rights, he also was into the whole hippie mind expanding LSD thing too and I'd bet 80% of the time he played live he played high and he did it his way.

I think he was extremely talented but personally I never liked his voice much I think that was the biggest drawback for me.