What's the big deal about Hendrix?

I understand Elvis, the Doors, Led Zeppelin or the Deep Purple, Rolling Stones, even the Smiths... but what's so great about Hendrix? He might have been a guitar virtuose but I think his songs are awful. I honestly tried to like Hendrix's music but I couldnt. Can someone explain what I miss or what makes him so great? Why genius but not a normal musician?

 

Its the guitar virtuoso part, most professional guitarist rate him as number one. Guitar magazine did a survey of all famous guitarists that are considered good, and they all picked Jimi as number 1. He blew Claptons mind; Clapton wanted to be him. His recording studio work is strange and weird and amazing, his live shows were awe inspiring.

Its cool if its not your bag man.


To tell you the truth its that Elvis guy I dont understand.

 

I still would like to know what made him a guitar genius? Is it technical or has he created a brand new genre?

I find his music quite amelodic. which songs do you suggest?

 

yeah elvis i don't understand... but i believe it was the way he played his guitar... his style. because none before him (and few after him) had played with the intensity that he did.

 

In his brief four-year reign as a superstar, Jimi Hendrix expanded the vocabulary of the electric rock guitar more than anyone before or since. Hendrix was a master at coaxing all manner of unforeseen sonics from his instrument, often with innovative amplification experiments that produced astral-quality feedback and roaring distortion. His frequent hurricane blasts of noise, and dazzling showmanship -- he could and would play behind his back and with his teeth, and set his guitar on fire -- has sometimes obscured his considerable gifts as a songwriter, singer, and master of a gamut of blues, R&B, and rock styles.

Widely recognized as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix pioneered the explosive popularity of the electric guitar. Hendrix's innovative style of combining fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion created a new musical form.

Because he was unable to read or write music, it is nothing short of remarkable that Jimi Hendrix's meteoric rise in the music took place in just four short years. His unique musical language continues to influence a whole host of modern musicians, from George Clinton to Miles Davis, and Steve Vai to Jonny Lang.

No one has done anything like "The Star Spangled Banner" - to me it's the greatest rock guitar solo of all time because his interpretation of 'The Star Spangled Banner' was completely in line with what was happening to America. He brought it to life and I'd say the same thing about "Machine Gun". You feel the Vietnam war in it - you feel what it is to walk through a rice paddy and have friends shot down around you. He went completely there with total abandon like the way he lived his life. It is as or more significant than coletrane in the be bop era reinterpreting popular songs.

Castles made of Sand
The Wind Cries Mary
Purple Haze

 

I'm not a huge fan of Hendrix, I think he was a great guitarist and everything.....

I mainly responded due to your mention of understanding Deep Purple but not Hendrix thats a first.

 

Do you think he would have got better with age, or because his talent was new at the time .. and he died young ... some people have a over romanticised view of him ?. yep another over rated artist..


Now Elvis , Rolling Stones and the Smiths i understand . The same thought i have for hendrix (and Bob) could be used with these as well i guess. Each to their own.

 

well every artist grows better with time, this is a proven fact. music and musical abilities just get better over time. how i would have loved to go to a modern day hendrix concert (he would've been 62 right?). i mean, his talent was definitely new at the time... how many african american hippie rock stars were present on the music scene at the time? but that's not to say that his popularity or skill would have died off after living... and my view is not over-romanticized, again like i said in the other thread, it's purely my personal opinion, not the opinion of someone else.

 

He was however gearing up to work with Miles Davis more, what a trip that would have been had it gone further.

 

Hendrix was simply the best guitarist that ever lived, but I rather like Hendirx's song, I mean he wasn't the greatest song writer that ever lived, but I think he was rather good, and like the beatles got better as time went on, so god only knows what may have been if he lived.

 

Personally Hendrix is one of my favourite artists, he's hardly ever off my stereo

 

Hendrix was master of his instrument, and the songs and legend he created in the 4 years he was around was huge. Every guitarest wants/wanted to be like hendrix after they heard him play for the first time, and if they deny it, they are a lieing.

 

Hendrix is much better than Jim Morrison in my opinion

 

In singing ability or in general?

 

In general

 

hendrix killed all the bubblegum pop bands of the 60s. the experience was pretty much the nirvana of the late 60s. the beach boys took the greatest hit, but it was bands like the herman hermits that realized that their ride was over once hendrix played monterey.

and actually I like hendrix's stuff, mostly the songs that you dont normally hear on the radio. AOR usually tends to wear out most of the are you experienced album plus a few songs off of electric ladyland. I prefer axis bold as love. you should check that album out and give it a few spins, and see what you think of the band then.

you gotta realize for the time, hendrix was a god.... every guitarist looked up to him from clapton to townshend...... and you gotta realize now that many guitarists look up to him now. kirk hammet is a total hendrix geek.

 

I can't really add much to what has already been so eloquently put by others....listening to Hendrix always gives me goosebumps, no matter how many times I have heard his stuff.

Axis: Bold As Love is also one of my favourites. Band Of Gypsies is an amazing live album too.

It's been said that Jimi would've prefered NOT to sing on his tracks - he was so much more focused on the music and getting his message and vibe across that way. He also didn't like the sound of his voice apparently. Critics have been known to write/say that his voice ruins the tracks. I personally think it all goes together perfectly.

Little Wing
Message To Love
Manic Depression
Machine Gun
Rainy Day Dream Away
1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)
Hey Joe ((a REALLY well known track, and I absolutely LOVE it dammit!))
Highway Chile

.....christ, I could go on forever. Best not though..

 

I cant really put a finger on what made Hendrix so great. He was a great songwriter for a start, thats one thing. He was also an innovator in that he was the first person to make full use of the possibilities of an electric guitar.To me, his music is as good as it gets and i love him to pieces. His gigs,as someone else so elequantly put, were awe inspiring! Nobody else has really done what Jimi Hendrix managed to do at the time , tho many have tried ( eg, Lenny kravitz...having said that tho i dont mind him). In the end tho, its really down to you. If you genuinely dont see what the big deal abt him was then thats your right and nobody here's opinion is going to change ur mind and make you see what the rest of us see.

peace and love
xxxxxx

 

I thought Hendrix was 'ok' until I saw some video of him playing live. That changed everything!

The passion, the intensity, the phrasing and overwhelming command of the instrument just blew me away.

His early departure does leave one wondering what could have been, just as it does with names like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Duane Allman, Janis, and a host of others who met their demise far too early.

Hendrix and Miles?...............if only............

 

yeah seeing live footage of hendrix live is absolutly amaising....if I didn't know better I could swear he invented the guitar himself and then perfected every aspect of it....he owned that thing like no other