Hendrix hype/reality ?

[Tone Slinger]

I often get bad remarks concerning Hendrix when talking to certain peoples (oddly enough other blacks), and certain jazz/classical snobs (his technique and note choice ?) I'm VERY confident in myself (and the influence Hendrix has given me), still it's a very strange feeling I get. I realize that 'surface' aspects (effects, production, amps, etc ) have given certain 'advantages' to the modern player.

I am of the belief that Hendrix was/still is (metaphysically) just about the GREATEST (if not THE) musician (guitar or not) EVER !.

Still,, this fucked up modern world that we live in makes us 'shadow' reality (bad world ) so in that case 'bad' may be good (if so, Hendrix would not belong).

Does anyone get what I'm trying to say ?

[Xplorer]

Totaly ! and i could even go further. it takes years and years to discover hendrix, and you can be amazed even more after 20 years hearing him.
And modern stuffs ... well ...... even the best : something is missing, it's just flat, you forget it quite fast, and you don't even think about hearing it over and over, thousand times, just like you can do with hendrix, without realising that you live with his music in your head, most of each day.
Some rolling stones, jeff beck ,led zep, well, many others actualy, can be considered to be a part of this world, but hendrix is like appart from this unique world.
so many times i just wanna fuck this world, play some high volume amps, with something true, to just kill this fucking vip hype world that's worth nothing and gets me on the nerves. shut up fucking useless false music vip's !!!! ; ) enough now !! so not heroic craps.

And that's the power of this music, that doesn't belong to any hypes. Allways here if needed, to say fuck, and send electricity into your neck , and in your whole body.

such music for example :


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwfy3r3y ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hYBgpZdbKM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

i'd even say that modern technics and flat world ( thought where everything's going so bad ) , political correct, and hypocrit, doesn't help those who try , in the good way.

yeah, it's strange how since the beginning of the rock, the world changed and reduced the power of the guitar music, just like : rock'n roll in a zoo ...

same for some great 80' stuffs, where minds were more free, and funny. now, what do we got ? dj's who think they invented the music, and who take themselves so seriously. fuck them

it's allways alive, and it can escape at anytime. it has to escape, and it musn't fall into the trap everytime...
when the rolling stones did a concert into the streets of new york , well, that wasn't a programmed stuff, a programmed concert, with producers and tickets, security ... and shits that make your life so programmed. that was rock. that was alive. see what i mean ? same for woodstock, especialy.

to fuck all that, rock has to surprise the world at any time, and be spontaneous. creativity in this environment isn't the same.

[shakti]

I'm not gonna get into the whole "best ever" debate, but what knocks me out over and over again, just by listening to his albums, is the absolutelt mind-blowing fountainhead of creativity and innovation that was pouring out over such a short period. There is absolutely nothing going on today (that I'm aware of) that comes anywhere close...

The guy was only in his mid-20s when he was churning out milestone albums at least once a year. AYE, Axis, Electric Ladyland, BOG...all of those in less than 3 years! It's really mind-boggling...how many albums of that quality have come out *at all* in the past 3 years?

[Mars Hall]

I often get bad remarks concerning Hendrix when talking to certain peoples (oddly enough other blacks), and certain jazz/classical snobs (his technique and note choice ?)

This does not suprise me considering yuor audience. "Jazz/classical snobs" says it all, they feel they are above Hendrix' music and any form of rock or popular music. They will lend them selves to the blues on occasion. OTOH, most black people don't like rock-n-roll, it's just their preference.

[elronhoover]

I often get bad remarks concerning Hendrix when talking to certain peoples (oddly enough other blacks), and certain jazz/classical snobs (his technique and note choice ?)

This does not suprise me considering yuor audience. "Jazz/classical snobs" says it all, they feel they are above Hendrix' music and any form of rock or popular music. They will lend them selves to the blues on occasion. OTOH, most black people don't like rock-n-roll, it's just their preference.

Mars speaks the truth here!

Hendrix was never popular or accepted much within the African American community in his time. He was often ridiculed etc. whenever he was up in Harlem both pre and post fame. Most of the A-A radio of the day wouldn't play any of his stuff either. He was viewed kind of an outsider to the A-A culture of the time, and as a white-pandering rock and roll freak by many. If you think of this in the larger pantheon of A-A musical culture (i.e. the jazz vs. R&B vs. rock, etc.) you can kind of see why this was the case at the time.

And, in my opinion, at the top of the "need I say more" list regarding Hendrix's musical validity as it related to the 'jazz community', consider the fact that Miles Davis was both a friend and a big fan of Jimi at the time and in fact influenced Miles' musical direction to a large degree (which is still debatable as to a positive or negative influence!). Somebody once asked Miles (paraphrase) "What is it that somebody like yourself could possibly see in Jimi Hendrix's music?" Miles replied "it's that motherf***ing Machine Gun". Pretty much like the rest of us ;^)

Dave

[Ydna]

Yea. I get a lot of people bashing on Jimi. He just takes the cakes in terms of everything musical for me. I bounced around with modern rock, Alternative rock, mainstream metal, Reggae, Ska, but nothing ever really hit me like the day I bought the Hendrix greatest hits album. All my friends think Jimi is the most overrated guitar player, but I really disagree. Not only is Jimi's stuff where he really got famous amazing, but all the stuff before, in the R&B scene, is fantastic. He recorded more music in his short lifetime then most people record playing for 20+ years.

[spaceace76]

it bothers me a bit when people say he is overrated considering that after his death, all his tricks were picked up by new guitarists, repackaged, sped up, and resold for the next 30 years or so, and continues to be today. overrated? no, but perhaps over-referenced or overused is a better description. kind of like how Shakespeare could be construed as "overrated" by kids in school.

The fact that all those people couldn't hold a candle to him creatively or in many cases technically only serves to reinforce his genius.

[Xplorer]

yeah, in the end, too bad for them, they just don't know what they are missing, and for my part, it won't disturb my pleasure to hear hendrix. they can talk and talk, but nevermind, regarding our pleasure to love what jimi did.
out of this, yes, i can understand that it bothers you when you can't argue with these snobs. yeah, i can understand. they just don't know what they are talking about.

[basile865]

The beauty of Hendrix was his unwavering creativity. The stage antics, mega loud amps, etc we're just bonuses - but they were only cool because his music was fearless. He took it any direction he wanted and it was always powerful, always thoughtfully crafted. His goal was to use everything as an influence right down to waterfalls and birds and I don't mean that lyrically, I mean it musically. Thats the reason why he was so many things to so many different kinds of people.

The modern day Jimi Hendrix for me is Kurt Rosenwinkel right now. If you look through his videos - he's a jazz guy - not going to be wailing blues but you'll find that same fearless creativity using all the colors in the rainbow as his palette. All kinds of chords, crazy lines, etc. Check out zhivago or turns - two of my favorites right now....

You have to use everything on the fretboard - every note, every chord, every string, every pickup selection - they're all pretty if you use them right. Stir in your heart and soul and you've got Hendrix, and for that matter all the great musicians. The sky is the limit for them - fearlessly creative.

[Tone Slinger]

Great perspective !

[yngwie308]

Jimi's last gig at The Ronnie Scott Club in London sitting in with Eric Burdon's War found the crowd (Jazzbos) booing Hendrix at first.
War was the first rock band, sic though they were blue eyed soul/R&B to my ears, to play at the exclusively jazz club.Hendrix came back again and tore it up apparently with great use of Wes Montgomery style chording and won over the crowd.
Hendrix's playing transcended genres and he could play most styles of music brilliantly.
yngwie308

[Tenderfoot]

No hype. I'm black, have almost everything he's recorded and he still inspires me and my music. His music is more than just "everything on 10". I don't sound like him and definitely can not play like him, but he continues to influence me.

[awangotango]

it's the same type of argument against page, when people critique and say he's sloppy.....these people do not understand the point of music. it's not a competition of technical prowess. it's expression, and page speaks his message through that sloppy play, it's part of his sound and feel, it's not a mistake. Plus if his consciousness was focused on his technique he wouldn't come up with or execute all the thousand killer riffs he did. One can only have so much attention and if it's spent on watching ones technique, it can't be spent elsewhere. Hendrix same thing. And neither were ever perfectly in tune either. Another myth of this 'shadow' reality you mentioned. The idea that guitar or music should be in tune is a total fabrication. The beauty of the guitar is that it can never be in tune, so both take adavantage of this fact and use it to create dimension, pulse, space and tension to there sound and not a flat perfect 'acceptable' performance. neither are perfomers, their musicians, who are working on a different plane of existence frankly.

[DaveMcLain]

I've always loved Jimi's music, guitar playing, tones and humor. When I was a kid one of my friends had an older brother who was really into Hendrix. He played the records all the time and I remember that it was YEARS later when I found out that Jimi was a black guy. To me he was sort of purple and green on the poster I saw. I think that the number one weak area when it comes to Hendrix records are Eddie Kramer's production techniques.

[JimiJames]

"...I've always loved Jimi's music, guitar playing, tones... I think that the number one weak area when it comes to Hendrix records are Eddie Kramer's production techniques..."