Hendrix Overrated?

The first Jimi I heard was 'Foxy Lady'. I was maybe 12 and thought it was cool, but didn't really 'get it'.

Some years later, I 'got it'. THAT'S when my jaw hit the floor.

Every guitarist - no, every musician - needs a little Jimi in their hands.

 
I don't view hendrix has over-rated or under-rated. I love listening to hendrix but I always wondered what could have been if he cleaned up. A while ago I was listening to the SRV box set and by the time you go into disc three you could tell when he cleaned up off the drugs coz how he played and sounded...

 
There are about 5 or 6 Hendrix songs I really like and I don't like the rest of his stuff. I don't care what anyone else thinks. Little Wing is my favorite and I think it's the best thing he ever did. Great chord progression. As for the rest. If I never hear a feedback covered record called art and style again, I don't care.

And while I like the song, no one will ever persuade me that the solo in Purple Haze is "good".

He did what he did, same as everyone else. There you have it.

 
There are about 5 or 6 Hendrix songs I really like and I don't like the rest of his stuff. I don't care what anyone else thinks. Little Wing is my favorite and I think it's the best thing he ever did.
Click to expand...
I generally agree with this statement. I honesty felt that he "blew his load" with Are You Experienced?

But just to reiterate, Monterery Pop sends chiils up my spine whenever I hear Like A Rolling Stone and Wild Thing. It is vintage Hendrix and an entire generation caught onto that vibe.

 
He did what he did, same as everyone else. There you have it.
Click to expand...
Or, one could say, "He did what he did, BEFORE everyone else."

That's more-or-less the point.
Click to expand...
And others did unique and unrelated things both before and after him. Regardless we all do "something" if it gets noticed or not.

 
Everybody has a bad night, Even Hendrix, plus the fact that he was on acid most of the time...My Uncle saw him in Oklahoma City back in 69 or 70, he told me that Hendrix played for about 20 minutes, that there was a loud annoying buzz, and Hendrix was getting more and more pissed everytime he heard it, finally he thew his strat on the ground and said "fuck it" into the mic and left.

 
OK, here's a different perspective. I understand and respect exactly who Hendrix was and what he did and that he was a revolutionary in the contexts of guitar playing and music in general.

Having said that, his stuff just doesn't "get me there". Yes, I am a self-ackowledged weirdo and I just got something off my chest I have been holding in for years. Hendrix was, I guess, really all this that and the other, but his stuff just doesn't move me.

Now when I picked up that first VanHalen album in early 1978, before they really started catching on, I nearly soiled my pants. Eddie has lost his edge, but DAMN. He was the next revolutionary after Jimi and I "got" his stuff.

RIP, Jimi. I hope you enjoy seeing the fruits of what you started ~40 years ago!

 
Can anyone on this board honestly say that they were not influenced by Hendrix.
Click to expand...
Tons of people can, myself included. It's unlikely that anyone who's around my age would have Jimi as a primary influence. Instead, it would be guys like Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Ynqwie Malmsteen, etc... That's not to say that I can't appreciate Jimi's music and what he meant to guitar players in general (whether or not they know it).

-Austin

 
Tons of people can, myself included. It's unlikely that anyone who's around my age would have Jimi as a primary influence. Instead, it would be guys like Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Ynqwie Malmsteen, etc... That's not to say that I can't appreciate Jimi's music and what he meant to guitar players in general (whether or not they know it).-Austin
Click to expand...
Are you claiming to have been influenced by guys like Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Ynqwie Malmsteen, but not by Jimi?

I don't see how that could be possible, seeing as he was one of their primary influences.

 
Can anyone on this board honestly say that they were not influenced by Hendrix.
Click to expand...
I'm 33 and can honestly say that Hendrix did not influence me directly.

My first influences were 80s alternative bands and players. Robert Smith/The Cure, Johnny Marr/The Smiths/TheThe, Joey Santiago/pixies, and Peter Buck/REM, etc.. So, Hendrix was never in my radar scope. If the players who influence me then and now, were Fans of Hendrix, I don't hear it..

That being said, I own Jimi Hendrix:Blues, which I spin from time to time, but it's not in the forefront of what CD I'm going to take to work with me...

 
Other than the fact that he changed the way the electric guitar is played, wrote some of the most brilliant timeless music of the last Centaury, was able to break down many racial barriers and stereotypes, create an unheard of volume of work in a 3-4 year period that is still being analyzed and studied and even arranged into symphonic pieces, helped the sale of countless Strats, Marshall stacks, fuzz and wah pedals...... and inspired countless people to pick up the guitar.... Yup... just an average Joe
Click to expand...
Absolutely correct! Nice post /emoticons/default_laugh.png

Tonedef

 
Jimmy's stuff ALWAYS sounded over the top when you we're baked off your ass.

He influenced me to love it loud man. That's how I go though life.

 
He influenced me to love it loud man. That's how I go though life.
Click to expand...
Obviously:

sirdan.jpg


 
..

I love Hendrix but prefer the studio recordings.

Mitch Mitchell was a white jazz drummer. That

meant he was banging on everything, as fast

as he could. Not exactly what I call a funky drummer.

His style is not exactly dancable or funky at all.

I find his playing very irritating at times. And personally

think that a better more stable drummer whould have

brought out more of Hendrix music.

The Band of Gypsys had Buddy Miles on drums.

I clearly prefer him as a drummer over Mitch.
Click to expand...
I can't imagine Miles playing on "Fire", or "Axis Bold as Love", or "Angel", or countless other Hendrix tunes where the drumming inter-wove with the guitar to drive the song along. Mitchell propelled the music, Miles underpinned it.

Buddy is like Ringo on steroids, if you like that style of drumming. Too bad he somehow lost his ability to swing after leaving "Electric Flag". I enjoy Miles, but only in small doses. I'd rather hear Mitchell run around the kit.

Now if you wanted to make a case for Cox being a better bassist than Redding, I might be able to handle that...an argument could be made, however....

Love your avatar, btw,--T-Rex rocks!

Tonedef
Click to expand...
 
Jimmy's stuff ALWAYS sounded over the top when you we're baked off your ass.
Click to expand...
"Jimmy"??

Are you f**king kidding me??

Dan, please hand in your guitar players membership card.

 
Tons of people can, myself included. It's unlikely that anyone who's around my age would have Jimi as a primary influence. Instead, it would be guys like Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Ynqwie Malmsteen, etc... That's not to say that I can't appreciate Jimi's music and what he meant to guitar players in general (whether or not they know it).-Austin
Click to expand...
Are you claiming to have been influenced by guys like Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Ynqwie Malmsteen, but not by Jimi?

I don't see how that could be possible, seeing as he was one of their primary influences.
Click to expand...
Read my post again, I said Jimi wasn't a primary influence:lol:. Obviously, it would be impossible for me not to have been influenced by him at all (thus my sentence about how what Jimi means to virtually all guitar players whether or not they know it).

-Austin

 
Hendrix was/is awesome. Anyone that's ever been to my house knows I love him...gotta huge framed picture of him in my living room. He's #1 on my list of all-time people to jam with--dead or alive.

Jimi Hendrix

Dime

Michael McKean

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top