• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

What if they survived

#141
Gravedigger Dav said:
Dredge if it pleases you. If you think I said you said that, you must have misread something.
Click to expand...

Yeesh. Okaaay ... I will. Geez, it's like pulling teeth here. Who exactly were you referencing in the following? If not me, then who you were arguing with? (It was my post you were answering, after all.)

Gravedigger Dav said:
You sound like a religious zealot who has just heard someone say their saviour is a faker.
No loss to me. You are missing the part where I said I like him, just don't think he is or was the greatest guitarist.
Your argument about Ernie Isley is laughable. Keep track of the discussion. I said I got the information from the sound guy. It could be wrong. You totally missed my point about the other guitarists. Yes, with the exception of SRV, they are not usually in his genre, but they are all very accomplished musicians. So was Jimi.
Now I am tired of repeating myself, so I will say one more time only. I am only arguing the statement he is "The worlds greatest guitar player." I don't think he was and I don't even know how you can quantify such a thing. They are all different. Let's throw Wes Montgomery into the mix and see how he stacks up.

Are you starting to get it now? Let's recap:
  1. I like Hendrix
  2. He was an excellent guitarist
  3. He was in innovator, especially with effects and feeback. He taught us all that and we should be thankful
  4. He was a great showman and knew how to work a crowd
  5. It is sad he destroyed himself at such a young age
  6. He was not the world's best guitar player
  7. There is no such thing as the world's best guitarist
Hope that clears it up for you. If you opinions differ, that is okay.
Click to expand...

So you most certainly exaggerated what I was saying, engaged in a bit of hyperbole there. And yes, you implied that I was saying Hendrix was "the best in the world", when you said (among other things), and I quote, "I am only arguing the statement he is 'The worlds greatest guitar player.'" That "greatest guitar player" bit is not a statement I ever made, yet you're clearly attributing it to me (as well as comparing me to a religious zealot). If you're not attributing that statement to me, then who are you attributing it too, and who exactly are you arguing with, since that's not a position I ever advocated? Can you see where this would be a little irritating, when it's simply a misrepresentation of what I was saying? Religious zealot? Really? What part of anything I said has even a hint of that?

OK, I think maybe the tooth is pulled now ... ("No it isn't." Yes, it is." "No it isn't ... I came here for an argument" ;))
 
  • Like
Reactions: GregC
#143
Also, what do we mean by "had survived?" Clearly if Cobain had gone on doing exactly what he was doing except for the part with the shotgun, he would not have gone on to be as productive as he had previously been. He seemed to be descending into a pit, which either would or would not have ended in his death, and did. There are very few stories of return from that kind of situation.

It's a more compelling question with guys who dies in accidents, like SRV and Buddy Holly, who probably had years or decades of productivity ahead of them if they had not been taken.
 
#150
Altitude said:
That's probably right. I was just trying to come up with a clever foil against all the "Jaco only needed 4 strings" posts here.

I agree that as revolutionary as Jaco was as a bass player, his immediate influence never really escaped jazz circles. Indirect influence, maybe - but if you were to poll all of the 14 year-old bass players right now as to who had heard of Jaco, then poll the 14 year-old guitarists about Jimi, you'd get different results for sure.
Click to expand...
Which begs the question what if Jimi stopped making rock and started making fusion? Would he be another Jeff Beck a John McLaughlin, an Al DiMeola or would he retain his legacy as a pop star?
 
  • Like
Reactions: DinoRock
#152
neddyrow said:
I always think about, "what if Jerry Garcia never put down the banjo?"

He'd be this cool old guy at all the bluegrass festivals killing it with David Grisman, Sam Bush, Tim O'Brien and the rest of the greats. You know, probably just smokin' weed and never getting caught up in the whole heroin thing. That would be my dream.

But then he wouldn't have done so much for rock n roll and jam band music. But tough to listen to after the '80s. so you can see what their future may have been if the greats that the OP mentioned did live past 27.
Click to expand...
I think this is a brilliant post! I thought about it all day, and day dreamed about the good times my wife and I have had at various bluegrass festivals. Grisman, Bush, Rice, O'Brian, Garcia, Darrell Scott......and neddyrow holding down the bottom, under a sunny Georgia sky. Oh Yeah!
 
  • Like
Reactions: neddyrow
#153
Jhengsman said:
Which begs the question what if Jimi stopped making rock and started making fusion? Would he be another Jeff Beck a John McLaughlin, an Al DiMeola or would he retain his legacy as a pop star?
Click to expand...

I think it was destined to head in that direction at the time of his death, but it probably would have had more of a funk/r&b quality than jazz. Jimi was not classically trained and couldn't read music (which Miles was famously disappointed to find out).

I think Band Of Gypsies gave the best glimpse of what was to come, though I think the pendulum would have eventually swung right back to blues tinged rock. Jimi was ambitious and all about taking it to the next level. Imagine what could have been realized in his time here had Mike Jefferies not essentially held him hostage to his demands. Such a shame.
 
  • Like
Reactions: thabassmon
#154
What about someone like Scott LaFaro? Had he survived the role of the bass melodically, rhythmically and harmonically would of been further developed earlier.

From the original post. Jimi is the only one of those people who would of had more to contribute to the musical landscape. And it would of been funky.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 47th Street
#155
thabassmon said:
What about someone like Scott LaFaro? Had he survived the role of the bass melodically, rhythmically and harmonically would of been further developed earlier.
Click to expand...

Great call. Scott LaFaro was utterly amazing—even if he had not progressed another inch. There would at least be more of him on record.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 47th Street

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back