Jimi would be 80 today. Hard to believe it was 53 years ago that we lost him. He was at the peak of his powers and will forever be remembered as the greatest rock guitarist. Don't take my word for it. Here is what every other great guitarist had to say about Jimi, including John McLaughlin who had the opportunity to work with Jimi shortly before he died.
They all hailed his virtuoso skills and stage presence, even those who are loathe to give praise to anyone like Keith Richards. While he and Jeff Beck rued Jimi's assault on London in 1966, as making it difficult for anyone to follow in his wake, Eric Clapton went out of his way to make Jimi feel welcome, including jamming with his band Cream.
It was like unleashing the Kraken. Everyone was so wrapped up in being truthful to the Blues and along came Jimi with a style all his own that shook Blues to its core. He could take any classic standard and make it his own, like Killing Floor by Howling Wolf. Add in his wild hair and feathered boas and there was no one else like him on the music scene at the time.
Chas Chandler of The Animals was responsible for bringing Jimi to London. Chas "discovered" him playing in dives in Greenwich Village and wanted to give him a leg up. So, he helped Jimi get a passport and the two were on their way. Hendrix had been playing mostly back up for R&B legends like The Isley Brothers, honing his chops one might say. On his own, he was completely different. Chas was convinced Jimi was the next great thing. It literally took all of one session at the Bag O'Nails to make his mark. In fact, Clapton had heard enough after Jimi's opening riff, leaving him to play on his own with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce behind him. Chas saw Eric fumbling with a cigarette backstage and asked him what he thought. "He just pulled the rug out from under us."
No one was doing anything like what Jimi was doing. The guitar was literally an extension of himself. He would play it with his fingers, with his teeth and behind his head, never seeming to lose the flow of the music. He would use anything to accentuate the power of the guitar. Brian May refused to believe that what he heard on record could be replicated on stage until he saw Jimi at the Saville in 1967. He played Stone Free exactly as he had heard it on vinyl and was gobsmacked. How could he do it?
Jimi's flat in Notting Hill became the epicenter of the rock world in London. When I visited the flat a few years ago, one of the guides told a funny story of how Jimi's neighbor, a well-known photographer, couldn't stand all the music coming out of the apartment and scowled at the musicians who came by. He never took any pictures of Clapton or Townshend or George Harrison, frequent visitors, considering them all rebel rousers.
Even more interesting is that Jimi wanted the flat after his girlfriend Kathy Etchingham told him that George Frederic Handel had lived in the same flat. Hendrix loved it and tried to see if he could incorporate Handel into his music.
Everything that came afterward was due in large part to Jimi. Jack Bruce went back and wrote Sunshine of Your Love as a tribute to Jimi. Everyone was now trying to model themselves after Jimi, even Pete Townshend, who rarely has a good thing to say about anyone, even The Who. Pete was determined to go beyond what he heard on stage. Eric Clapton said he would be happy just to reach the same level.
Jimi outgrew the scene pretty quickly, wanting more out of his music than Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding could give him. He was particularly peeved with Redding who wouldn't go where he wanted him to go on bass. So, Jimi enlisted the talents of Buddy Miles and Billy Cox, creating the nexus of his short-lived Band of Gypsys in 1969. Recently, a new box set has come out that provides the fullest picture yet of this group - Songs for Groovy Children. It greatly expands on the lone album recorded at the Fillmore East, which was released posthumously.
Jimi wanted to play with John McLaughlin, whose work he greatly admired. The two finally got together in March, 1969. I'll let John tell the story. All he had was a Gibson acoustic guitar with an adjustable pick-up. It is very much Jimi's session with Buddy Miles and Dave Holland playing behind them on drums and bass. I really hope someone cleans up this recording and releases it on vinyl.
All that love and jealousy came to a crashing halt on September 18, 1970. Clapton was supposed to see Jimi that night and give him a left-handed guitar, which he had scoured the London shops looking for. Jimi was usually playing guitars upside down. It didn't matter for him. He would light them on fire afterward as if in tribute to some higher power expressing itself through him. Eric felt Jimi had an aura very similar to Robert Johnson. He needed a guitar that fitted him. Sadly, Jimi had died of asphyxia earlier that night and the world lost one of its greatest talents less than four years after he had made his mark on London.
The legend lives on. He continues to inspire in large part because his music sounds as fresh today as it did 50+ years ago. Listening to Rainy Day, Dream Away followed by 1983 and Moon, Turn the Tides on the second album of Electric Ladyland is to be carried away on his music. I can listen to it over and over again and it never grows tiresome. It is like Jimi is still reaching out to us through time.
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