I The first 30 seconds of Jimi breaking out in Power to Love (with Buddy's "kick off" hits and yell) settles it for me.
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Yes. That has to be the one single most incredible guitar note of all time. Shivers....
I was just a kid when Jimi's stuff showed up, and I have this vivid memory of going to a friend's house, him putting on Are You Experienced on his parent's expensive hifi, and folks, in 1967, there had never been anything ever even remotely like what I was hearing. Jimi flew in from somewhere Other, mystical and sensual both at once. I remember that the sounds were so unique, so wild, so right, that both my friend and I just starting laughing out of sheer surprise and astonishment.
So it was no time at all and every neighborhood garage band had a lead player trying to sound like Hendrix. And a lot of them were pretty good at it, too. But I remember being in Austin back in the mid or late 70's and hearing SRV's playing from some outdoor concert and I just thought, "ok, another Hendrix imitator - a good one, no doubt, but just another one." In particular, I disliked SRV's Voodoo Child at first listen, because it was earthbound, not flying wild in mystical space like Hendrix. All the flamboyance and fluidity was a lot of what made Hendrix so original, and SRV played in a dogged, down-to-earth fashion that just lacked the magic.
But I did change my attitude to SRV when I saw him on Austin City Limits. I was so impressed by his intensity - the way he attacked his guitar strings, just slugging that guitar relentlessly. I got it, SRV's vibe, for the first time, really, watching that. Earth-bound, hell yes - earthy, intense, no-nonsense, he just digs in and deep and keeps going. So I'm an SRV fan.
But if SRV was a star, Hendrix was a supernova, rare indeed.
nat whilk ii
Originally Posted by wedgehed II
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