40 Years Ago... James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix

[Tig]

September 18, 1970

But first...
A guy named Elvis came along and opened the world to what was once called "race music". Everything changed.

Later, 4 lads from Liverpool upped the level of rock with their creative songs. Nothing like it ever existed before.
They opened the doors for the Stones, The Who, The Animals, and The Doors (plus so many others).

And then in '67, it all ALL changed after The Monterey Pop Festival and the release of Are You Experienced. Jimi was blues under all the distortion and stage show, but his innovative sound and style shook the rock world deep, and it never looked back.

40 years... It was so long ago, yet it sometimes feels like it was just last year. I'd love to have heard Jimi's music if he were around just a little longer. He was changing, and who knows what we would have been treated with?

The last photo of a very tired man...
http://www.thefret.net/imagehosting/92254c96ff3ec6fdd.jpg

But I like to remember him this way instead...
http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/rockroll_026_jimi_hendrix.jpg

Rest in peace, brother Jimi

[Duffy]

" . . . and the Wind cries Mary . . . . ."

[guitarhack]

It was a shock to hear he had died. We can only imagine what he would be doing today.

[poodlesrule]

Emotional for sure.

Wife got me a couple of used books about JH. One of them has photos of cool-looking song drafts on hotel stationery... Looking at them always brings the odd feeling of peeking into someone's mind.

[Robert]

As far as guitar players go, Jimi will always be number 1 in my book. Always. He inspires me way more than any other guitar player has ever done.

[sumitomo]

I used to live in a room full of mirrors.RIP Jimi Sumi:D

[MAXIFUNK]

Wes Montgomery, Larry Graham, Monk, Chick Corea, Yo-Yo Ma all changed their instruments possibilities George Clinton, Zeppelin, James Brown, Sly, Stones, The Who all influenced major changes or completely change their genre
But only Jimi did both in such a short period of time.

Mr. Hendrix the greatest Musician during my life time genre be damned.
All modern music should be dated pre-Hendrix P.H. post Hendrix A.H..
You can here his influence everywhere but classical music.

If only I could go back in time and see him live.
Full of envy and jealousy to anyone who had the pleasure of doing so.

Blues is easy to play, but hard to feel.
Jimi Hendrix

I've been imitated so well I've heard people copy my mistakes.
Jimi Hendrix

[msteeln]

Jimi - The Man

[Tone2TheBone]

"I've been imitated so well I've heard people copy my mistakes.
Jimi Hendrix".....

I think it would be blasphemous <<? NOT to copy his mistakes if you played his songs.

[6stringdrug]

often imitated, never duplicated, even 40 years later. All we can do is keep playing his music and try not to do it too big an injustice. RIP JMH.

[marnold]

What a waste. All that talent shot to Hades by drugs. Here's something to make you feel ill. If they were alive today . . .
Jimi would be 67
Stevie Ray Vaughan would be about ready to celebrate his 56th birthday
Randy Rhoads would be 53 for another couple of months

Joe Lynn Turner was on That Metal Show, relating a freaky story. When he was on tour with Rainbow, their usual bus driver was going on vacation. Neither he nor Ritchie Blackmore like the replacement. Ritchie even claimed to see his "dark aura." They canned that driver before he drove them an inch and paid their normal driver a fortune to cancel his vacation. Later that driver that they canned was piloting the plane that crashed, killing him and Randy Rhoads.

[Eric]

Joe Lynn Turner was on That Metal Show, relating a freaky story. When he was on tour with Rainbow, their usual bus driver was going on vacation. Neither he nor Ritchie Blackmore like the replacement. Ritchie even claimed to see his "dark aura." They canned that driver before he drove them an inch and paid their normal driver a fortune to cancel his vacation. Later that driver that they canned was piloting the plane that crashed, killing him and Randy Rhoads.
Wow, that's a ridiculous story.

In a way, your post makes me kind of happy that the Stones, Dylan, McCartney, and other oldsters are still around. Be grateful for the ones that don't pass before their time, I suppose.

[bigoldron]

What a waste. All that talent shot to Hades by drugs. Here's something to make you feel ill. If they were alive today . . .
Jimi would be 67
Stevie Ray Vaughan would be about ready to celebrate his 56th birthday
Randy Rhoads would be 53 for another couple of months

Joe Lynn Turner was on That Metal Show, relating a freaky story. When he was on tour with Rainbow, their usual bus driver was going on vacation. Neither he nor Ritchie Blackmore like the replacement. Ritchie even claimed to see his "dark aura." They canned that driver before he drove them an inch and paid their normal driver a fortune to cancel his vacation. Later that driver that they canned was piloting the plane that crashed, killing him and Randy Rhoads.

And Ronnie Van Zant would be 62 and singing up a storm and Steve Gaines would be 61 and picking some hot, Southern-Fried licks too.

[sunvalleylaw]

Stevie conquered his addiction before he passed, and while that does not make his passing any better, it is worth remembering. I never was really aware of Jimi while he was alive. I wish I could have seen what he would have done had he lived. It seems so many artists that put so much feeling in their music, for better or worse, succumb to addiction, and/or the pressures they were under. I hope the good ones out there today learn to express it for us, but also learn to survive.

[DeanEVO_Dude]

It is always sad to think about those who have died before their time (way too young), but, when you think about those who were never actually in your life, like recording artists and actors, and they bring about the same feelings that thinking of someone who was a part of your life, it is truly inspiring and emotional.

I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1984 at William and Marry College, Va., I had no earthly idea who the heck this guy was other than one of the opening acts for the Pretenders, heck, I barely even listened to him play, just biding my time before the Pretender came on. Now, I wish I had listened to him play... I bring this up, because, when I listen to his CDs I hear and am inspired by his playing (tone, style, choice of notes, etc.) and at the same time I have this sadness that comes over me and I think about what music he would have come up with in the 20 years since his death.

Randy Rhoades... Blizzard of Ozz came out at the same time I started high school, and I first heard it a few years later, when I was a junior. I was blown away! In some ways, he was like the space shuttle Challenger, took off with such a firey brightness, then as he started to amaze and inspire so many, in a seeming short instant, it was over. All that was left was shock, two recorded works, a few other tidbit here and there, and nothing else. For me, the memory of him is not so much the music he created as much as the time of my life when I was introduced and awed by him. What would he have created durring the last 30 years?

As for Jimi, I am just a little too young to have seen him (after all, I was only 5 when he left us), but to a lesser degree, I am inspired by him as well. I hear his playing, articulate and raw, and he makes it sound so easy! I see the concert footage and feel (to quote Wayne and Garth) "I'm not worthy!"

I could go on and on, Jim Morrison, John Bonham, John Lennon, etc. but I will stop here. Thanks for the post.

[Bloozcat]

Jimi's passing was one of those "you remember where you were when you heard the news" moments. I was a senior in high school and had just pulled into the driveway at home in my parents' Dodge Dart when the news came on the radio. I sat in stunned silence for about ten minutes before I got out of the car.

When I went into the house my mother said, "What's wrong with you? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Jimi Hendrix just died," is all I said. The significance of that was lost on my mother except in that she could see the profound effect it obviously had on me.

This was about a month or two after I had bought a used 1966 Stratocaster, my first "real" guitar. It was because of Hendrix's influence more than anyone else that I bought that Strat.