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Why Jimi Hendrix is so Important
- Thread starter mellowinman
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Since we're citing Wikipedia:
The Experience's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame biography states: "Jimi Hendrix was arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music. Hendrix expanded the range and vocabulary of the electric guitar into areas no musician had ever ventured before. His boundless drive, technical ability and creative application of such effects as wah-wah and distortion forever transformed the sound of rock and roll."[327] Musicologist Andy Aledort described Hendrix as "one of the most creative" and "influential musicians that has ever lived".[328] Music journalist Chuck Philips wrote: "In a field almost exclusively populated by white musicians, Hendrix has served as a role model for a cadre of young black rockers. His achievement was to reclaim title to a musical form pioneered by black innovators like Little Richard and Chuck Berry in the 1950s."[329]
Hendrix favored overdriven amplifiers with high volume and gain.[105] He was instrumental in developing the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback, and helped to popularize use of the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock.[330] He rejected the standard barre chord fretting technique used by most guitarists in favor of fretting the low 6th string root notes with his thumb.[331] He applied this technique during the beginning bars of "Little Wing", which allowed him to sustain the root note of chords while also playing melody. This method has been described as piano style, with the thumb playing what a pianist's left hand would play and the other fingers playing melody as a right hand.[332] Having spent several years fronting a trio, he developed an ability to play rhythm chords and lead lines together, giving the audio impression that more than one guitarist was performing.[333][nb 41] He was the first artist to incorporate stereophonic phasing effects in rock music recordings.[336] Holly George-Warren of Rolling Stone commented: "Hendrix pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. Players before him had experimented with feedback and distortion, but Hendrix turned those effects and others into a controlled, fluid vocabulary every bit as personal as the blues with which he began."[2][nb 42] Aledort wrote: "In rock guitar, there are but two eras—before Hendrix and after Hendrix.
While creating his unique musical voice and guitar style, Hendrix synthesized diverse genres, including blues, R&B, soul, British rock, American folk music, 1950s rock and roll, and jazz.[338] Musicologist David Moskowitz emphasized the importance of blues music in Hendrix's playing style, and according to authors Steven Roby and Brad Schreiber, "[He] explored the outer reaches of psychedelic rock".[339] His influence is evident in a variety of popular music formats, and he has contributed significantly to the development of hard rock, heavy metal, funk, post-punk, and hip hop music.[340] His lasting influence on modern guitar players is difficult to overstate; his techniques and delivery have been abundantly imitated by others.[341] Despite his hectic touring schedule and notorious perfectionism, he was a prolific recording artist who left behind numerous unreleased recordings.[342] More than 40 years after his death, Hendrix remains as popular as ever, with annual album sales exceeding that of any year during his lifetime.[343]
Hendrix has influenced numerous funk and funk rock artists, including Prince, George Clinton, John Frusciante, formerly of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic, and Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers.[344] Hendrix's influence also extends to many hip hop artists, including De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Digital Underground, Beastie Boys, and [Invalid or Expired Link Removed][345] Miles Davis was deeply impressed by Hendrix, and he compared Hendrix's improvisational abilities with those of saxophonist John Coltrane.[346][nb 43] Hendrix influenced blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan, Metallica's Kirk Hammett, instrumental rock guitarist Joe Satriani, and heavy metal virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen, who said: "[Hendrix] created modern electric playing, without question ... He was the first. He started it all. The rest is history."[348]
The Experience's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame biography states: "Jimi Hendrix was arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music. Hendrix expanded the range and vocabulary of the electric guitar into areas no musician had ever ventured before. His boundless drive, technical ability and creative application of such effects as wah-wah and distortion forever transformed the sound of rock and roll."[327] Musicologist Andy Aledort described Hendrix as "one of the most creative" and "influential musicians that has ever lived".[328] Music journalist Chuck Philips wrote: "In a field almost exclusively populated by white musicians, Hendrix has served as a role model for a cadre of young black rockers. His achievement was to reclaim title to a musical form pioneered by black innovators like Little Richard and Chuck Berry in the 1950s."[329]
Hendrix favored overdriven amplifiers with high volume and gain.[105] He was instrumental in developing the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback, and helped to popularize use of the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock.[330] He rejected the standard barre chord fretting technique used by most guitarists in favor of fretting the low 6th string root notes with his thumb.[331] He applied this technique during the beginning bars of "Little Wing", which allowed him to sustain the root note of chords while also playing melody. This method has been described as piano style, with the thumb playing what a pianist's left hand would play and the other fingers playing melody as a right hand.[332] Having spent several years fronting a trio, he developed an ability to play rhythm chords and lead lines together, giving the audio impression that more than one guitarist was performing.[333][nb 41] He was the first artist to incorporate stereophonic phasing effects in rock music recordings.[336] Holly George-Warren of Rolling Stone commented: "Hendrix pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. Players before him had experimented with feedback and distortion, but Hendrix turned those effects and others into a controlled, fluid vocabulary every bit as personal as the blues with which he began."[2][nb 42] Aledort wrote: "In rock guitar, there are but two eras—before Hendrix and after Hendrix.
While creating his unique musical voice and guitar style, Hendrix synthesized diverse genres, including blues, R&B, soul, British rock, American folk music, 1950s rock and roll, and jazz.[338] Musicologist David Moskowitz emphasized the importance of blues music in Hendrix's playing style, and according to authors Steven Roby and Brad Schreiber, "[He] explored the outer reaches of psychedelic rock".[339] His influence is evident in a variety of popular music formats, and he has contributed significantly to the development of hard rock, heavy metal, funk, post-punk, and hip hop music.[340] His lasting influence on modern guitar players is difficult to overstate; his techniques and delivery have been abundantly imitated by others.[341] Despite his hectic touring schedule and notorious perfectionism, he was a prolific recording artist who left behind numerous unreleased recordings.[342] More than 40 years after his death, Hendrix remains as popular as ever, with annual album sales exceeding that of any year during his lifetime.[343]
Hendrix has influenced numerous funk and funk rock artists, including Prince, George Clinton, John Frusciante, formerly of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic, and Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers.[344] Hendrix's influence also extends to many hip hop artists, including De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Digital Underground, Beastie Boys, and [Invalid or Expired Link Removed][345] Miles Davis was deeply impressed by Hendrix, and he compared Hendrix's improvisational abilities with those of saxophonist John Coltrane.[346][nb 43] Hendrix influenced blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan, Metallica's Kirk Hammett, instrumental rock guitarist Joe Satriani, and heavy metal virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen, who said: "[Hendrix] created modern electric playing, without question ... He was the first. He started it all. The rest is history."[348]
I cited Wiki for actual objective facts regarding effect origins not for personal opinions and feelings. Really, Hendrix pioneered the guitar as "an electric sound source?" Joe Maphis and Merl Travis did that in the 50s! But without the paisley, hallucinogenic drugs, and dirty hippies I guess they didn't reach as wide of an audience...
btw, I'd like to see Jimi try his hand at Cannonball Rag, or Pickin and Singin.Too bad there was no crack for Joe to smoke back then; that would have surly improved his bona fides with the counterculture...
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And the fact that you think Charlie Daniels is jazz makes the rest of your posts make sense now
Never said CDB was a jazz band, I said when I saw them live they at times flirted with being a jazz band, but since none of that made youtube, apparently it never happened.
If you are unable to rebut my remarks without twisting them out of context, I'd say we were pretty much done here. Perhaps you should go listen to some Van Halen or Kiss as inspiration for ways to not look so desperate to be right about something for which there is no right (or wrong) answer.
Either way, I enjoyed our little back and forth if for no other reason it brought up some killer memories, like standing about 3 feet from a platform that was maybe a foot off the floor in a room where the only light was directed toward the stage, in a crush of sweating humanity mesmerized as they watched 3 guys in white cowboy shirts and blue jeans burn the effing house down with a rock and roll show that made the first Van Halen show I ever went to look like amateur hour at the local VFW. Van Halen had keyboard riffs coming out of the speakers but no keyboard player. It was all sounded pretty much the same, Eddie looked like he was just phoning in his parts and DLR was trying way too hard to be over the top, and failing miserably. I understand every performance can't be epic, but for a band that was all that, VH looked more like a bunch of bored goofs going through the motions instead of a take no prisoners monster rock band capable of blistering paint off the walls.
I've only read one biography, Electric Gypsy. Enjoyed it immensely, in the early 90s. I remember being staggered by the frenetic flow of those years when he was in the big picture - Light-speed living. And I remember feeling so angry at all those self proclaimed 'friends' who failed him miserably, sacrificing him instead to that crazy subculture and for their own self aggrandizement when what he really needed was some stability and a better balance. Sadly, some of his musical legacy only hints at what he was really capable of.
Jimi Hendrix - Starting at Zero: His Own Story - might be a worth a read. There's a [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
‘Music is a universal language, and if it were respected properly it would have a way to reach people ... there is no white rock or black rock. There are only two kinds of music – good and bad ... My goal is to be one with the music. I just dedicate my whole life to this art.’
jimi quoted in Starting at Zero: His Own Story
Jimi Hendrix - Starting at Zero: His Own Story - might be a worth a read. There's a [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
‘Music is a universal language, and if it were respected properly it would have a way to reach people ... there is no white rock or black rock. There are only two kinds of music – good and bad ... My goal is to be one with the music. I just dedicate my whole life to this art.’
jimi quoted in Starting at Zero: His Own Story
I think that has more to do with genre and no charismatic frontman singer linked to DiMeola or Johnson. Is this generation of little kids actually going to Hendrix because of a yearly cover story on Guitar World or he is just one stopping point from Jack White to SRV all the way back to the electric bluesmen of the 1940s?
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Tape loops: BBC Radio in the 50s. Echoplex in 1959 (Mike Battle).
Fender began SELLING Volume pedals in 1954.
Next, you'll be telling us that Hendrix "invented" the Dominant Seventh Augmented Ninth chord (i.e., E7+9)
How do these ridiculous rumors get started? I have a theory.
+ + +
Ray Butts invented a guitar amp WITH tape echo in the mid 1950s. Scotty Moore purchased one in in 1955:
The Echosonic Guitar Amp
Scroll down to the 3rd to last picture -- it says it all.
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Thank you for sharing this secret world with us where Charlie Daniels plays jazz, and Buddy guy plays in key, tune and in time. I'm sure your memories are cherished, as only you have been privy to these events never captured on video or sound recording!
My most favorite such memory is standing about 3 feet form Jerry Peek and Steve Morse during a show for the Introduction tour! Unfortunately my experience was not unique as there were many others there, and one can find a plethora of representative recordings of Steve and Jerry all over youtube and available on album, cassette, CD, and iTunes...Stick_Player
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I posted the wikipedia blurb to make very clear Jimi's ACTUAL contributions, so I'd appreciate it if we could stay on topic. In review, some of these are:
Some of you are being pedantic, and silly. fhm555 clearly said some of the Charlie Daniels Band's jams bordered on jazz, and as a person who saw them live many times in the seventies, I find that accurate. That does not require a sarcastic response about some secret world where CDB plays jazz. That band was skilled, and had an improvisational quality, and going back and forth about it is off topic, and needs to be put to rest.
As for the side arguments about why Jimi had greater influence than, say Al DiMeola, it's not just because he was a charismatic frontman, (and if it were, that only bolsters my original argument about why he is so important,) it's also because of the MATERIAL. I had Elegant Gypsy, Electric Rendezvous, and some of the Guitar Trio records, and I loved them. However, many of the songs are indulgences; instrumental pieces for musicians, and serious music lovers to listen to. They get a bit redundant, and even boring, after some time, as is the problem with many "serious" musicians.
Jimi Hendrix was doing groundbreaking work on songs that had real songcraft, and appeal to a wider audience. When he covered a song by another artist, he tended to elevate it, to the point where, as on "All Along the Watchtower," the original artist incorporated some of Jimi's changes into his own version. Bob Dylan said, "It overwhelmed me, really. He had such talent, he could find things inside a song and vigorously develop them. He found things that other people wouldn't think of finding in there. He probably improved upon it by the spaces he was using. I took license with the song from his version, actually, and continue to do it to this day."
- Instrumental in developing the technique of guitar amplifier feedback
- Helped popularize the use of wah-wah in mainstream rock
- Rejected barre chord fretting in favor of thumb fretting
- Played rhythm chords and lead lines together
- First artist to incorporate stereophonic phasing
Some of you are being pedantic, and silly. fhm555 clearly said some of the Charlie Daniels Band's jams bordered on jazz, and as a person who saw them live many times in the seventies, I find that accurate. That does not require a sarcastic response about some secret world where CDB plays jazz. That band was skilled, and had an improvisational quality, and going back and forth about it is off topic, and needs to be put to rest.
As for the side arguments about why Jimi had greater influence than, say Al DiMeola, it's not just because he was a charismatic frontman, (and if it were, that only bolsters my original argument about why he is so important,) it's also because of the MATERIAL. I had Elegant Gypsy, Electric Rendezvous, and some of the Guitar Trio records, and I loved them. However, many of the songs are indulgences; instrumental pieces for musicians, and serious music lovers to listen to. They get a bit redundant, and even boring, after some time, as is the problem with many "serious" musicians.
Jimi Hendrix was doing groundbreaking work on songs that had real songcraft, and appeal to a wider audience. When he covered a song by another artist, he tended to elevate it, to the point where, as on "All Along the Watchtower," the original artist incorporated some of Jimi's changes into his own version. Bob Dylan said, "It overwhelmed me, really. He had such talent, he could find things inside a song and vigorously develop them. He found things that other people wouldn't think of finding in there. He probably improved upon it by the spaces he was using. I took license with the song from his version, actually, and continue to do it to this day."
being old I was there
let me say it like this - there was pop music before the Beatles and then there was pop music after the Beatles
there was rock guitar before JH and then there was rock guitar after JH (and there were a lot of good guitarists; Page, Beck, Duane, Clapton etc)
there was EB before Jaco and there is EB post Jaco
these are game changers all
let me say it like this - there was pop music before the Beatles and then there was pop music after the Beatles
there was rock guitar before JH and then there was rock guitar after JH (and there were a lot of good guitarists; Page, Beck, Duane, Clapton etc)
there was EB before Jaco and there is EB post Jaco
these are game changers all
LOL, i give up. Apparently mind altering drugs and time gone by has created/embellished memories to the point of absurdity. In a world where Buddy Guy is a rock idol, and Charlie Daniels fiddles his way through Giant Steps...
What most impresses me is that the guy could play a guitar to the point of being out of tune and still have the faculty and finger strength to coax the strings back far enough to maintain musicality-this skill never ceases to amaze me. Long live Jimi Hendrix through the power of music!
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I'm going to take a lot of heat for this, but I have never understood the attraction to Hendrix. I find his playing to be extremely sloppy and never heard anything from him that I haven't heard from any other guitarist. Maybe I feel this way because I first tried listening to Hendrix in the mid 1970s when I was 15 or 16 and had already been listening to Page, Townsend, Frampton, Clapton, etc. I had heard a lot about Hendrix so one day I decided to buy 2 of his albums. I remember listening to both of them several times and then thinking to myself What's the big deal? I was actually so disappointed that I threw both albums in the trash. I have tried to get into Hendrix again but I can't do it. I just don't care for his playing or singing.
I was 13 years old in 1969, and had been playing guitar for a few years, and took up bass that year. I can remember listening to "Are You Experienced" for hours on end during that time. There was nothing else like it, and nothing like it had come before. Hendrix was an innovator, and a visionary. In my mind, he developed what we now accept as "rock guitar" playing. I can remember reading articles about him, how he'd go to the sound check to find specific places on stage, that would make his guitar feedback in certain ways. I have to imagine him as a scientist of the electric guitar. That he was an artist, is a given.
He was a musician's guitarist, I think. Non-musicians may love him, but it's we, especially those of us who grew up during that time, and saw his development and innovation in the context of that period, that truly understand his importance and genius. I have to believe that without him, the electric guitar would not sound the same today.
Is he the greatest guitarist? It's subjective, and I try to avoid setting rank to the great guitarists I've encountered. He was a great guitarist though, of that I am convinced. And I still listen to his work today.
He was a musician's guitarist, I think. Non-musicians may love him, but it's we, especially those of us who grew up during that time, and saw his development and innovation in the context of that period, that truly understand his importance and genius. I have to believe that without him, the electric guitar would not sound the same today.
Is he the greatest guitarist? It's subjective, and I try to avoid setting rank to the great guitarists I've encountered. He was a great guitarist though, of that I am convinced. And I still listen to his work today.
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Kick a guy while he's down why don't ya.
A little research BEFORE posting (false) information?
Pertaining to Hendrix... There are MANY imagined/created/designed things that were done well before he came onto the scene.
The things I listed were done before Hendrix even picked up a guitar.
This in no way discounts his contributions, albeit less than many believe.
