Why Jimi Hendrix is Such a Legendary Guitarist

Shots fired.

I was just directed to it today. I offered 'em a healthy rebuttal. Sorta... I only made it 20 seconds into their video.

I read an interesting claim last week(which I forgot about till now) claiming Prince was one of the best guitarists ever but it was shouted down, although everyone agreed he was good. I can't say I've ever paid attention to his guitar playing really to form any sort of opinion myself.

[–] TheBuddha 1 points (+1|-0)

He had some skills and often did the studio work for all the instruments on his studio recordings.

I'm still debating if I'd call him better than Hendrix. In the realm of professional musicians, he's right about average and good all around. But, he's not that fantastic. What does make him special was his skills as a multi-instrumentalist.

If I take that into account, he's better than Hendrix. However, my list is about guitarists and I don't feel that weighting him for being skilled on other instruments is a valid metric.

So, when my list of guitarists greater than Hendrix finally bores me, he'll absolutely be on a new list - a list of guitarists that are pretty damned good. I figure I'll call it "Featured Guitarist of the Week." I'll expose people to guitarists who didn't make the list and many will be guitarists that folks absolutely are unlikely to know about.

We shall see... I'm still debating Prince.

Curiously... When the clock ticked to mark the year 2000, I was playing Prince's song 1999 on stage. We were actually supposed to end it just prior and do Auld Lang Sign at the right second, but we were pretty fucking trashed. It was a great show and we played so many sets that night. We were the only band and we went on at 21:00 and the bar was allowed to serve until 03:00 for that night only - they usually closed at 01:00.

[–] TheBuddha 2 points (+2|-0)

LOL I made it to about the 20 second mark before I realized he had no idea what he was talking about.

The electric guitar was already at the front of rock bands - and had been for a while. Feedback had been used in blues for years prior. The Beatles had a hit with feedback, in 1964 - with "I Feel Fine." Clapton of Cream (at the time) was the first to record (that I know of) with a wah pedal. Distortion was used in the 50s, often by intentionally using damaged equipment.

Jimi was a hack who could not even play the same song twice. His guitar skills are average, at best. His famed originality wasn't actually original and his songs all have a similar sound because, well, that's all he knew how to play. If you want to see how bad Hendrix really was, click this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P701paKEMXs

I have a three-month student that can play better than that. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration - but only slightly. (I'm very pleased with her progress.)

His claim to fame is setting a fucking guitar on fire. Yay! I guess...

Now...

Was he a great artist? Yes.

Was he a great performer? Yes.

Was he a visionary? Yes.

Was he compiling techniques and putting them together well? Yes.

And, importantly, do I like him? Yes. I love to riff on Hendrix tunes - 'cause they're so open to adding and changing. I can take All Along The Watchtower and play that for like an hour. I can turn that into a jam from hell. In fact, I can (and this isn't ego talking) play it better than Hendrix could. Yes, I play Hendrix better than Hendrix played Hendrix.

I don't dislike him. He just wasn't a great guitarist by the definition I prefer to use. I see it as an objective qualification - which he fails miserably. I can, and will and have, pointed out many guitarists far more deserving of the accolades as greatest. I respect what he did for music. I'm grateful that he existed. I'm just not terribly impressed.

;-)

I've got to go pick up some guitars that are getting maintained - but I'll finish watching the video later ONLY if you insist on it. The opening of the video makes me think the person making it has no qualifications with which to opine on this subject.

LOL I made it to about the 20 second mark before I realized he had no idea what he was talking about. The electric guitar was already at the front of rock bands - and had been for a while. Feedback had been used in blues for years prior. The Beatles had a hit with feedback, in 1964 - with "I Feel Fine." Clapton of Cream (at the time) was the first to record (that I know of) with a wah pedal. Distortion was used in the 50s, often by intentionally using damaged equipment. Jimi was a hack who could not even play the same song twice. His guitar skills are average, at best. His famed originality wasn't actually original and his songs all have a similar sound because, well, that's all he knew how to play. If you want to see how bad Hendrix really was, click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P701paKEMXs I have a three-month student that can play better than that. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration - but only slightly. (I'm very pleased with her progress.) His claim to fame is setting a fucking guitar on fire. Yay! I guess... Now... Was he a great artist? Yes. Was he a great performer? Yes. Was he a visionary? Yes. Was he compiling techniques and putting them together well? Yes. And, importantly, do I like him? Yes. I love to riff on Hendrix tunes - 'cause they're so open to adding and changing. I can take All Along The Watchtower and play that for like an hour. I can turn that into a jam from hell. In fact, I can (and this isn't ego talking) play it better than Hendrix could. Yes, I play Hendrix better than Hendrix played Hendrix. I don't dislike him. He just wasn't a great guitarist by the definition I prefer to use. I see it as an objective qualification - which he fails miserably. I can, and will and have, pointed out many guitarists far more deserving of the accolades as greatest. I respect what he did for music. I'm grateful that he existed. I'm just not terribly impressed. ;-) I've got to go pick up some guitars that are getting maintained - but I'll finish watching the video later ONLY if you insist on it. The opening of the video makes me think the person making it has no qualifications with which to opine on this subject.

Why Jimi Hendrix is Such a Legendary Guitarist

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