Jimi Hendrix, Guitarist

Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis Collaboration ALBUM

I was a big Clapton fan back in the days of Cream. He was God. I even carved that on my school desk!

I remember the first time I heard Jimi Hendrix. It was in a booth at Rushworth and Drapers in Chester. In those days you could listen to an entire LP (vinyl) before buying it, a great bit of free entertainment for a teenager on a wet Saturday afternoon. I asked them to put on Are you Experienced, the first album by this new black guitarist whose reputation preceded him. By the end of the first track I knew that Clapton was toast! I remember thinking "that’s that then".

Any guitar player will tell you about Hendrix. He really was out of this World, head and shoulders above any other rock guitarist, and probably always will be. How could any new guitarist stand a chance of equalling him? He wrote all the best guitar licks a long time ago.

Jimi had a short career and he spent much of it stoned out of his head. How the guy could even stand up let alone make all that great music with the amount of drugs he had in his bloodstream is the real question!

He might have been the greatest rock guitarist ever but Jimi actually played Jazz. If you define jazz as improvised music that takes the unusual route he’s a jazz musician. Of course he played a mean blues too. Perhaps he was the first ‘crossover’ artiste?

Hendrix as a phenomenon meant something even wider to my generation. A force of nature. Peace and Love Man!

One thing’s for sure. Subsequent generations of guitarists will seek him out and use him as the starting point.

Check out Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis