Jimi
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marcus
Sep 18, 2010, 11:31:18 AM9/18/10
to 1960s
Jimi Hendrix died 40 years ago today.
Although, Brian Jones of the Stones had died the year before,
Hendrix's death was the first of the Sixties Rock era that affected
me. I don't remember where I was, or how I heard about Jimi
dying...most likely on the radio...I was listening to FM Rock radio
almost every waking hour back then. Perhaps, it was the murders of
the Kent State Four only a few months earlier that made me start
thinking more about death, and my eventual demise, but Jimi's death,
truly saddened me. I was only 20 years old, and it just didn't seem
possible that someone with so much energy could be dead.
He remains, to me, the greatest guitar player who ever lived. I
realize that there have been other great players, before and since,
but no one has ever been as passionate, and explosive, on that
instrument since his death. I recall reading an article in Guitar
Player magazine about 20 years after Jimi died, in which people were
still trying to figure out how played some of the sounds he squeezed
from his guitar. People have been able to imitate him, but no one has
ever had the soul that Jimi Hendrix put into his licks, riffs, and
power chords.
No doubt about it...he could have lived a lot longer than age 27, if
not for the allure of drugs in his life, but his carelessness with his
life doesn't stop me from missing his presence in the world of music.
Who knows what else he may have been capable of, or what music he may
have created or explored had he lived...that all belongs in the futile
"what if" pursuits that we all engage in every now and then.
What I know is that his body of work is one I never tire of listening
to, and I pop into my CD player every few weeks or months. "Purple
Haze", an anthem, "Bold As Love" pure psychedelia, "Voodoo Child",
what a fantastic beat, and in my opinion, his greatest song on record,
Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower" (I still get goosebumps during the
middle eight).
And who can ever forget his version of the "Star Spangled Banner"?
Jimi, wish you were still here, but thanks for what you gave us.
Marc
Although, Brian Jones of the Stones had died the year before,
Hendrix's death was the first of the Sixties Rock era that affected
me. I don't remember where I was, or how I heard about Jimi
dying...most likely on the radio...I was listening to FM Rock radio
almost every waking hour back then. Perhaps, it was the murders of
the Kent State Four only a few months earlier that made me start
thinking more about death, and my eventual demise, but Jimi's death,
truly saddened me. I was only 20 years old, and it just didn't seem
possible that someone with so much energy could be dead.
He remains, to me, the greatest guitar player who ever lived. I
realize that there have been other great players, before and since,
but no one has ever been as passionate, and explosive, on that
instrument since his death. I recall reading an article in Guitar
Player magazine about 20 years after Jimi died, in which people were
still trying to figure out how played some of the sounds he squeezed
from his guitar. People have been able to imitate him, but no one has
ever had the soul that Jimi Hendrix put into his licks, riffs, and
power chords.
No doubt about it...he could have lived a lot longer than age 27, if
not for the allure of drugs in his life, but his carelessness with his
life doesn't stop me from missing his presence in the world of music.
Who knows what else he may have been capable of, or what music he may
have created or explored had he lived...that all belongs in the futile
"what if" pursuits that we all engage in every now and then.
What I know is that his body of work is one I never tire of listening
to, and I pop into my CD player every few weeks or months. "Purple
Haze", an anthem, "Bold As Love" pure psychedelia, "Voodoo Child",
what a fantastic beat, and in my opinion, his greatest song on record,
Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower" (I still get goosebumps during the
middle eight).
And who can ever forget his version of the "Star Spangled Banner"?
Jimi, wish you were still here, but thanks for what you gave us.
Marc
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