I hadn't planned on spending an hour either, but I enjoyed it as well. Thanks!

Hendrix was a pioneer of electric lead guitar, but his techniques have been imitated ad nauseum by several subsequent generations of players.

Posted by: Larry Ayers | August 24, 2008 10:26 PM

Thanks for posting this blast from the past. There are few better ways to spend an hour than watching Hendrix shortly before his demise.

I was fortunate to meet Hendrix in a hotel lobby in Houston with a group of my friends before his concert there in April, 1969. Also saw him briefly at the Denver Pop Festival before the cops decide to make us call it a night by rolling up in pickup trucks and macing the crowd for no apparent reason.

I can appreciate those who realize that every guitar god in the 60s owes a debt of gratitude and a sackful of licks to their predecessors. Of course they do, and yet I doubt if Hendrix was heavily influenced by Buddy Guy, who was a Chess session player before his first album wasn't released in 1967, well after Hendrix had achieved his unique style. Hendrix may well have seen Buddy Guy backing up one of the Chess Records stars, but it's doubtful Guy would have had a decisive influence on a guitarist who already was recognized as one of the most innovative on the scene.

To say that Jimi "pilfered" his tone from his friend, Eric Clapton, is likewise incorrect. Prior to their meeting in 1966, Clapton was achieving his fuzz tone by overdriving Gibson guitars (with their "hot" double-coil pickups) through Marshall amps, which had recently been designed by drummer-turned-engineer Jim Marshall to distort when overdriven. Hendrix, in turn, introduced Clapton to the Fuzz Face distortion box, allowing the weaker pickups in Fender guitars to create the same overdriven tone. Hendrix also pioneered such effects as the wah-wah pedal (an old swing band innovation that allowed guitarists to emulate horn players), and the Octavia (which double the tone an octave higher or lower than the note being played -- you'll hear it on the solo to Purple Haze).

Some 30 years before Hendrix played guitar behind his back, or with his teeth, electric guitar pioneer T-Bone Walker was doing both. Yet Hendrix acknowledged that instead of T-Bone, he learned to play with his teeth from Alphonso 'Baby Boo' Young, a member of one of the first bands Hendrix joined to play the Chitlin Circuit after his discharge from the Army. He kept learning similar tricks (and chord voicings) from guitarists in bands he either toured with or played studio sessions with, including Little Richard and the Isley Brothers.

By the time he was signed by Chas Chandler (1966) of the Animals and taken to England to build his material, Hendrix's style was sui generis. Especially his solos. During his early shows in London, his audiences at club dates included everyone from the Beatles to Brian Jones, Pete Townsend, Jeff Beck, and (as mentioned) Eric Clapton. All are on the record as stating their amazement at Hendrix's abilities, showmanship, and innovations.

Every good musician builds on the skills of every good musician who has come before. This progression of influences is like an unbroken chain, connecting genres and allowing musicians to stand on the shoulders of giants. But to try and diminish Jimi's contribution by accusing him of being a ripoff artist is just plain wrongheaded and disrepectful.

He was a great musician for any era -- a central link in the unbroken chain of greats -- and at the same time a nice enough person to spend 15 minutes talking to a handful of his teenaged fans in a hotel lobby in Houston a few hours before he played a concert. Enough said.

Posted by: David Dawson | August 25, 2008 2:06 AM

David, thanks! I was at the Denver thing too, the same year, but earlier in the summer before Woodstock. It was three days at Mile High. Big Mama Thornton was the opening act on Friday, Jimi closed it on Sunday night. As I recall it, the police harassed and gassed us (they had a new "pepper fog" machine they were anxious to try out) for two and a half days. They had given up by the time Jimi played. Do you remember how all the cops in their glossy jackboots, helmets and batons (tapping along) sat in the empty south stands to watch the show? When Jimi struck up his last number, the National Anthem, they stood as one, respectfully. After a bit, they seemed a little confused, and eventually dispersed. When the concert was over, there was only one policeman left in the area, directing traffic, and one smashed up police car. Ah, good times. rb

Posted by: arby | August 26, 2008 11:17 AM

Glad you saw the comment, David, thought it might be a dead thread by now. I've met a number of people over the years who were there, though none recently. I may have my nights confused, but I think I recall Jimi pouring lighter fluid on his guitar and setting it alight. Somebody did one night as a closer. He hadn't shut off the guitar, and it continued to burn and put out a sustained note until a roady came out and unplugged it. We were all mesmerized, and as long as there was sound coming from somewhere, it wasn't over. I may have been a little over a mile high at the time.
Regarding the pepper fog machine, as the gas floated into the stadium that one night, you could hear sneezes drifting closer and closer. The first whiff (CS gas?) causes a sneeze, then come the tears and choking on the second breath. The infield fence got broken down as people tried to escape onto the field. As for the Mothers, Lord, I've never heard a tighter band in my life. I also ate the best peach of my life on one of those days, but as I said, I may have been about 6500 feet at the time. I've never forgotten it though.
Thanks for your earlier comment, I thought there was something fishy about the Clapton thing, but didn't have the knowledge to back up my intuition. You seem to know what you are talking about. Great to hear from you! rb

Posted by: arby | August 26, 2008 8:50 PM

Just watched another bit of history on TV from Mile High Stadium -- Obama's acceptance speech. I think he got a little bit louder ovation than Three Dog Night!

Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were the big surprise for me. I had several of their albums, but had no idea that they were so different in concert. Frank Zappa was an excellent jazz/rock guitarist and front man, while the band was as tight as the Count Basie Orchestra. I never was a huge fan, but that one performance was great.

Luci, I've been thinking about your post in light of two books I read last year "This is Your Brain on Music" (Daniel J. Levitin) and Oliver Sacks' "Musicology." There's so much going on, neurophilosopically, with music that it really is like a language transmitted from person to person, through time -- just as you say. I love the way you express it: "All these years and the chords still hang in the air. And we all get to spark those associative music-triggered embedded memories into life and time travel just by hitting Play."

My feelings exactly. Hence the fondness with which arby and I have been reminiscing over a music festival held almost 40 years ago! (40 years!!!)

I was not familiar with Blaise Lucianaz, but I just listened to a couple of songs on his web site and was very impressed. The influences were right up front, but the overall quality was original. He was a fine example to illustrate your point.

And I definitely like Buddy Guy a lot. Sorry that it came off like I was dissing him. I didn't mean to at all. "Damn Right I've Got the Blues," one of his latest albums, is one of my all-time rainy day favorites. He's been a great ambassador for the blues -- he's on the new Martin Scorcese film about the Rolling Stones, "Shine a Light." Buddy Guy practically steals the show just by sharing one song. (And bless his wrinkled head, Keith Richards hands him his guitar after the song and says "here, it's yours.")

What an interesting sidetrack this has been. Music working its magic once again....

Posted by: David Dawson | August 29, 2008 2:17 AM

David and arby: you've done nothing but add to Mo's gift of music. So, if you could ferret out Blaise, you can find the online afterlife presence of another 'RB' - the late, the great Rock Bottom. One of his discs, King of the Dues, is out there in MP3, and his guitar sidemen are superb.

Happy hunting, enjoy the magic, and maybe we'll get Mo to work on musical meaning, emotional memory and the right temporal lobe and its near neighbors.

Music is not a digression - the neuro links insist on making themselves heard.

Posted by: Luci | August 29, 2008 3:18 PM