...but I love you just the same!
There's not much left to say about Hendrix which hasn't already been said. This compilation of live BBC sessions is a terrific introduction to the man's music, including an hilarious Radio One jingle and plenty of cover versions, from Muddy Waters to The Beatles, Howlin' Wolf, and Lieber and Stoller. For someone who took popular music to places it had never been before, Hendrix was not slow to recognise his influences, most famously during this clip from the Lulu show in 1969, with his tribute to the recently disbanded Cream.
Alex B bought this album before me, when we were living in Hull, where there were two Hendrix tribute bands before the whole tribute band thing took off.
Hendrix's guitar appeared to be an extension of his body; music just seemed to drop off him. I don't have any of the origianl albums, just an old cassette of the singles ond B sides, and this CD of BBC sessions, but to me that's the essential Hendrix, and even though I might only hear him once every couple of years, it's always electrifying. No one has come near to redefining the sound of the guitar the way he did.
1 comment:
To me Hendrix has always been a bit of a magician: if you watch a guitarist like Eric Clapton or BB King or Pete Townshend you can see how they do it - you know you'd never be able to do it like they do, but you can see how they do it. With Hendrix it was never clear... there's a combination of feedback and showmanship and changed tunings and left handed playing and pure god-given talent behind the showmanship. Some guitarists can play like him, but I don't know that there will be anyone as innovative as him again.
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