Experience the Jimi Hendrix post

Hi,

Today's post is about the great Jimi Hendrix, one of my all time favorites. I'd say that most people know of Hendrix for his innovative guitar playing and showmanship, but in addition to that, I think he was also a fantastic songwriter, arranger, and performer. Despite what others have said, I also think his singing voice was pretty cool.

My first love when it comes to popular music was probably the Beatles, or more generally their kind of pop/rock music. The Beatles and their peers, imitators, and followers, like the Monkees, were the ones that made me want to get a guitar as a teenager and try to play it. A little bit down the road, Jimi Hendrix is the one that made me actually want to learn how to actually play the guitar!

Now, of course, I can't play like him, but between his physical command of the guitar, coupled with the sounds and tones and rhythms he got from it with some help from his innovate use of effects and amplification, is nothing short on inspiring to me. Nobody before him had that mix of technique and equipment, and nobody can do it quite the same way after him. On top of that, the way he took the blues guitar style and added rock and funk to it, is just incredible too. I also should add, that the people he played with were also fantastic players, especially the drummer Mitch Mitchell, and that added to the appeal of his music.

Truth be told, what first piqued my interest in him when I was like 13 or 14, was the story of the ill-conceived and short lived pairing of Hendrix as opening act for the Monkees on their summer 1967 tour. Being a Monkees fan and still in discovery mode of music from the 1960s, my thinking was that if the Monkees were fans of Hendrix, that I might like his music too. I actually soon found out that he and Monkees were from two different worlds, but in a way, his music was a introduction of something more than just pop music for me, and I could appreciate it as well.

Anyway, I think the first time I actually heard some Hendrix was via a music video of clips of him that was compiled together for the song Voodoo Chile when Alan Douglas was in charge of Hendrix's catalog. It aired on some UHF video show in the New York area back in the 1980s. One of clips below is the actual live performance of Voodoo Child that was cut up for that music video clip. It was done for a tv audience in England in late 1968 or early 1969, and Hendrix is definitely in a playful mood.

Before that, the first clip is from the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, which was Hendrix's grand debut back in America after being a new sensation in England. I think his set their was one of his greatest performances ever. His playing was spot on and he pulled out all the stops when it came to showmanship. In this clip I found, he does a a fantastic, sped up version of the old blues song Rock Me Baby

Hope you enjoy.

Rock Me Baby




Voodoo Chile