Remembering a Legend...

[DanvillRob]

 

I never got SRV,

 

BLASPHEMER!!

[LarryUK]

Gary heard you sayin' that, he'd smack you upside your head for bein' a nincompoop.....

But it's true. Gary Moore was a true great. He was better than he thought he was.

[Thermionik]

But it's true. Gary Moore was a true great. He was better than he thought he was.

Without wishing to sound mean or contrary, I have to say sheesh.....

 

You really do not know of what you speak.

[bonzoboy]

@ Lashurst:Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck,Jeff Healy and many others have stated many times very publically and unequivocally that Jimi Hendrix without a doubt was the greatest guitarist who ever lived but Pete Townshend summed it up best:"Jimi Hendrix was a gift who stayed with us for a while and then went back with the other gods." Them's pretty big accolades from some guitarists of considerable fame and acclaim-including one who has often been refered to as God himself.I'd be more inclined to go along with their appraisal of him after all pray tell-how many millions of your recordings have you sold or are you just Yngwie Malmstein using a nom de plume to flame a much better guitarist that you could ever hope to be???

[kaleb]

Gary Moore would dismiss this Hendrix-bashing as blasphemy if he were here!

 

When people insult my love of KISS I get mad (but I shouldn't).

 

When people insult Rush I get pissed.

 

When people insult The Beatles I get even more pissed.

 

But this Hendrix insulting pisses me off so much that, well, shucks folks I'm speechless. Seriously. Nothing to say. It's beyond comprehension. I don't know about your religious/spiritual beliefs, but Hendrix is, and will always be, my idea of God. He was the best there ever was, best there is, and best there ever will be. My proof? I shouldn't have to show proof! There will never be another Hendrix.

 

Gary Moore agreed with me. Alex Lifeson agrees with me. Ace Frehley agrees with me. Clapton agrees with me. Jeff Beck agrees with me. Paul McCartney agrees with me. Pete Townshend agrees with me. Robin Trower agrees with me. SRV agreed with me. Bruce Kulick and his brother Bob both agree with me. Joe Perry and Brad Whitford of Aerosmith agree with me. Paul Gilbert agrees with me. Satch agrees with me. Steve Vai agrees with me. Michael Landau agrees with me. Steve Lukather agrees with me. And the Emperor Of Rock n' Roll himself, Richie Scarlet, agrees with me.

 

Geez. I think I'm gonna cry.

 

Rest In Peace, James Marshall Hendrix.

[Rabs]

Also the older blues guys also dug him

 

[quapman]

Right........Am I the only one that doesn't think he was that good and it's all hype?

 

 

Yeah,, probly...

But I have Jimi inked on my arm so I'm a little bias.

[Thermionik]

Gary Moore would dismiss this Hendrix-bashing as blasphemy if he were here!

Exactamundo.....

[rct]

The key word is Legend.

 

There were a whole buncha guitar players my generation grew up with, and he was just one. Like a couple others, the worship and legendary status grows with each year we get farther away. The reality is that there were many, plenty, lotsa guitar players back then that didn't really much give a crap what Hendrix did. I was one of them, I found some other guitar players to be much more listenable, more accesible to me, more of what I wanted to do with a guitar than anything Hendrix ever did.

 

Sure, put up the same tired films, and play the re-issue of the digital re-mastering of the once-again-re-released 8 tracks of him. I'll politely listen and hope his family makes more money off this, because to my ears and guitar playing body, there isn't any there there. Worship is like that. Worship is almost always practiced by people that didn't know or experience the worshipped. Quite frankly, the question that I ask most is if he was so great, how come he didn't know what he had? And if he did, why wasn't it enough for him? And don't gimme any crap about that part, anyone alive then knew that you couldn't hit it that hard without something going wrong, him included. Many died for the same senselessness, but man, Jimi was just a tragedy, the rest, I guess, were just ungrateful tools.

 

So sure, he was a great guitar player, he did some pretty cool stuff. I don't participate in blind lovey dovey worship of my favorites, so I sure never participate in the (by now what? 40 years later) pretty boring JimiLove.

 

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just like there isn't anything wrong with not really giving a crap about Jimi.

 

rct

[quapman]

The key word is Legend.

 

There were a whole buncha guitar players my generation grew up with, and he was just one. Like a couple others, the worship and legendary status grows with each year we get farther away. The reality is that there were many, plenty, lotsa guitar players back then that didn't really much give a crap what Hendrix did. I was one of them, I found some other guitar players to be much more listenable, more accesible to me, more of what I wanted to do with a guitar than anything Hendrix ever did.

 

Sure, put up the same tired films, and play the re-issue of the digital re-mastering of the once-again-re-released 8 tracks of him. I'll politely listen and hope his family makes more money off this, because to my ears and guitar playing body, there isn't any there there. Worship is like that. Worship is almost always practiced by people that didn't know or experience the worshipped. Quite frankly, the question that I ask most is if he was so great, how come he didn't know what he had? And if he did, why wasn't it enough for him? And don't gimme any crap about that part, anyone alive then knew that you couldn't hit it that hard without something going wrong, him included. Many died for the same senselessness, but man, Jimi was just a tragedy, the rest, I guess, were just ungrateful tools.

 

So sure, he was a great guitar player, he did some pretty cool stuff. I don't participate in blind lovey dovey worship of my favorites, so I sure never participate in the (by now what? 40 years later) pretty boring JimiLove.

 

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just like there isn't anything wrong with not really giving a crap about Jimi.

 

rct

 

 

Gee thanks for the clarification. I have a much better grasp on "reality" now.

Hey, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

And the "reality is" this thread was nothing more than a tribute to a legendary guitar player on the anniversary of his death on a forum about guitars.

But I guess if chiming in to express your lack of care factor on the topic floats yer boat then I guess you should do it.

 

The rest of us will just blindly oogle iconic images of our hero with lovey dovey eyes.

 

[rct]

Gee thanks for the clarification. I have a much better grasp on "reality" now.

Hey, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

And the "reality is" this thread was nothing more than a tribute to a legendary guitar player on the anniversary of his death on a forum about guitars.

But I guess if chiming in to express your lack of care factor on the topic floats yer boat then I guess you should do it.

 

The rest of us will just blindly oogle iconic images of our hero with lovey dovey eyes.

 

I stayed out of it until a guy came along and expressed even a hint of not quite up on the whole Hendrix thing, and as is the way these days, he is immediately tone deaf or "doesn't get it" or knows nothing about music. I've seen enough people get that crap on the innernetz. Just cause everyone on the internet has a Jimi At Woodstock With White Strat with Tele Neck poster doesn't make him the greatest ever and everybody that doesn't like him is stupid. It just means a lot of people like him is all. A tip to you would be that not everyone is going to like everything you do, not now, not ever.

 

It's all cool for some knucklehead to post computer crap and other useles drivel all over this place but god forbid there be any reasonable reasoned discussion about popular music.

 

rct

[Thermionik]

Worship is like that. Worship is almost always practiced by people that didn't know or experience the worshipped..... I don't participate in blind lovey dovey worship of my favorites, so I sure never participate in the (by now what? 40 years later) pretty boring JimiLove.

rct makes some valid and interesting points. It is a like/indifferent/dislike thing, and thankfully we are all different (how boring if we all agreed on everything). I can NOT (nor would I) speak for others on here, but my take is this:-

 

Sure I didn't know the guy (though he brushed past me once and winked at me) but I did see him a good number of times in London. His stage show in general and his playing specifically opened my eyes and ears to alternative ways of presenting the guitar. I found some of his stuff self indulgent and cacophonous, but equally some of it just swept me away it was so superb. I kept going back for more, and I was not alone. The "faces" in the audiences at Jimi's gigs were quite often stellar (leastways in guitar circles anyway).

 

He was not for everybody, and I would not dream of criticising anyone who doesn't like or enjoy his stuff..... but I do knee jerk react when people say he was not any good, or otherwise put him down. There is a case to be made for certain "limits" to his playing, but within those limits he could be superb, wasn't always, but could be. But he did cause a quantum shift in guitar music - sure, as did many others, though few in as great a way as Hendrix. People who don't "get" his stuff are fine by me, people who bad mouth it..... not so happy with musicians bad mouthing ANY other musicians.

 

Oh yeah - nearly forgot - and I do NOT worship him, or any other player.....

[axuality]

Right........Am I the only one that doesn't think he was that good and it's all hype? Every live performance of him that I've seen is riddled with bum notes galore and just sounds like a 'racket'. He may have been an OK player, but he certainly wasn't the genius or God that people make him out to be. I just think people are gullible and believe what they're told. Just like Kossof. I've never seen him do a good live performance or heard him play anything outstanding on record. Free had a few good songs, but they weren't great. Same goes for Paul Rogers too. Average.

I know I'll be slated for saying it. But we all have our opinions.

You're right and wrong. He got too stoned. He may have missed notes- maybe I haven't listened to the live stuff that had the missed notes (I saw him play live in '69). A lot of his songs were crap because they were just too weird.

 

But when he was playing well (which was most of the time in his solos), NO ONE could touch him. Obviously you don't understand why, and that's not amazing. His good playing was an example of feeling first and THEN, playing what you feel. So much of his playing was not in time at all, just like when you talk. That's genius.

 

He doesn't play fast like the shredders. That's not as much good guitar playing, as it's technical guitar playing.

 

Clapton and BB King are the only two I've heard that do that non-rhythmic playing thing much at all, and they don't even APPROACH how much and how easily Hendrix did it. It's not a thing you TRY, like shredding or embellished chords, it's a thing you ARE. Pat Metheny is the second best famous player at it I've ever seen.

 

Hendrix is #1. I think your favorite guitarist would tell you that. And if he wouldn't, ha ha ha well,... let's just say he should.

[axuality]

I stayed out of it until a guy came along and expressed even a hint of not quite up on the whole Hendrix thing, and as is the way these days, he is immediately tone deaf or "doesn't get it" or knows nothing about music. I've seen enough people get that crap on the innernetz. Just cause everyone on the internet has a Jimi At Woodstock With White Strat with Tele Neck poster doesn't make him the greatest ever and everybody that doesn't like him is stupid. It just means a lot of people like him is all. A tip to you would be that not everyone is going to like everything you do, not now, not ever.

 

It's all cool for some knucklehead to post computer crap and other useles drivel all over this place but god forbid there be any reasonable reasoned discussion about popular music.

 

rct

Wow.

[milod]

I was going to mostly ignore this thread, but I think there are some points to be made.

 

1. Hendrix, regardless of interviews, was so internally turbulent that one has to question anything but the fact he got into some wild sorts of usage of the electric guitar.

 

2. As with Link Wray before, he brought new sounds to rock. He probably had more chops than Link, but even comparing two relatively undisciplined human/players, his lack of personal discipline was his own worst enemy.

 

3. Not all of us liked Hendrix in his heyday; not all of us wanted to play like he did.

 

4. As for "guitar god," I'd suggest a second look at the late Joe Pass who knew music far better than most musicians regardless of style - had a turbulent personal life but without leaving the debris Hendrix and others left in their wake. It likely ain't the "style" most here would prefer, but I'd suggest I'm ignoring "style preference" in favor of musical knowledge, ability and a more craftsmanlike approach to arrangements and performance. What of Segovia for popularizing classical music for guitar or Chet Atkins and Gary Davis for showing generations that they could arrange almost any style for solo guitar? What of Charlie Christian and Django and a whole generation of transitional guitarists who brought the electric into pop music styles of all kinds?

 

5. Peter, Paul and Mary, Flatt and Scruggs, Link Wray, Chuck Berry, the Ventures and in the UK the Shadows, and batches of folkies in the late '50s to late 1960s as a whole likely had far more influence on far more folks to play dozens of styles of music - but with the guitar as their instrument of choice. All, in ways, were "fads," but "fads" that brought increased talent into the universe of guitar players and playing.

 

6. It's also odd that if Hendrix had one thing, it was an expansion of the "find new sounds" started by electric guitarists from Christian through Les Paul, Wray, Berry, etc. - yet instead of following that example for their own creativity, so many figure it's better to copy someone gone for 40 years. Les Paul did even more for recording and performance but... I guess he didn't perform at an iconic anti-establishment rock show in a big pasture. Those who feel Hendrix so special should be emulating the search for their own creativity rather than emulating anyone's style.

 

Frankly I wouldn't have wanted to be within 10 miles of Hendrix when he was alive. Too much like an accident waiting to happen - and it did. That's regardless of any guitar skills and talent. I have had some acquaintances who similarly are exceptionally talented in other arts and crafts I feel the same about, btw, although most didn't live to my age without a major change in behavior - and heaven knows I was hard enough on the now-well-worn bod that still can hold a guitar.

 

m

[quapman]

I worship neither god nor man.

This was a simple tribute, no more, no less.

[RaysEpiphone]

RIP! One hellava talent!

[jdgm]

This is one of the most interesting threads I have ever read on the Gibson forum.

Good stuff and great to read. The point rct makes about him going further away from us in time is a very good one.

Yes, he was human....and yes, I'm biased. Like Thermionik, I was there.

[badbluesplayer]

If you made a "family tree" of the electric blues players showing who learned from whom, Jimi would be right near the bottom with the big boys. Between Albert and SRV.

 

If you made a "family tree" of 'super-duper, alpha stud guitar man, heavy duty, rock and roll supergod' types, he'd be right near the bottom with the big boys too.

 

And was both of those things before either of those 'categories' really existed.

[crowdaddy]

Yeah, I really like the discussion, he is very predominant in my mind (I can only wish in the playing area), but he stood out for me as a little older than our band members, I looked up to him as being way gifted, captivating in the solos and wrangled chords that squeaked, screamed and basically shook the rhythm with that ex jazz drummer(can't remember his name) The trio thing, no real rhythm guitarist, other than himself, also presented a certain type of freedom. Freedom from following other band members that wanted(at the time to do light weight stuff imo).

 

But not everyone, even my closest band friends were not of the same opinion of him. I recognized some of the out of tune, and quirky changes and self indulgent things he was doing. But it didn't matter to me. I couldn't get enough of his voice, guitar amp and clothing. It just worked for me. Rest in peace Jimi, you made a huge impression on my life and my life is better because of you.

[bonzoboy]

I forgot to mention that I was lucky enough to sit down and chat with one of my biggest heroes and influences for about 20 minutes when he played at our Uni,the man was the great Willie Dixon and it was only about a year before he died.While talking about many topics I asked him what he thought of Jimi's cover of his Hoochie Coochie Man and he replied that he loved Jimi's playing and the way he played Hoochie Coochie Man. I then asked his if he had met Jimi and if so,what he thought of him,to which he replied he had and that"Man,he was one strange cat-but he was cool."That's pretty good accolades coming from an old school musical Titan talking about a recent guitar great.

 

BTW after I shook Willie's huge hand,I felt like getting mine bronzed.He was a giant of a man both figuratively and literally.