Are You Experienced?

I feel the same way. I listened to so much Hendrix in college that he kinda became background noise. Fortunately, there's a ton of live material out there, and he's one of those great improvisors that makes every performance different.

I was obsessed with Electric Ladyland (mostly sides 1 and 3) in college. I went through a period where I would begin every day by listening to side 1 and end every day with side 3 playing as I went to sleep.

All about Axis. Castles Made of Sand is my shit.

But yeah, I prefer watching footage of him playing live to his albums. As good as his guitar playing and voice are, you put em together with that level of performing, forget about it!

Ever heard Band of Gypsys? Great stuff.

I'll never love Hendrix like I did in my early teens but I still benefit from emersing myself in his catalogue every few years. Last year I sifted through his posthumous stuff for the first time and found some quality stuff in there - if you haven't already check out the amazing instrumentals 'Pali Gap', 'South Saturn Delta' and 'Midnight'. They're all on Youtube.

Love Hendrix. I'd recommend anyone get the albums "First Rays of the New Rising Sun" and "South Saturn Delta." These are collections of material released after the Hendrix family got the rights to his music (I think.) Anyway, they both contain some great stuff that he was working on around the time of his death; especially First Rays of the New Rising Sun. Apparently this is the album he was working on when he died, and it's pretty close to what a finished fourth album would have been...though it's been a while since I read up on it. As far as his three released albums, I have to go with Ladyland, and I have always loved that 1983 A Merman I Should Be track. As far as him being topped, obviously the world is filled with better guitarists these days, but as far as the ingenuity and ability to create new things with his instrument, I can't really say. He was the archetype for so much that came after.

When I was in high school, and I was really starting to get into Hendrix and The Doors, I found a bootleg that had Jimi jamming with Jim Morrison, and I absolutely flipped out! OMG, the gods of psychedelic rock together! I bought it, took it home and listened to it, and basically Hendrix was playing some blues in some club in L.A., and Jimbo got up on stage beyond drunk and singing "Fuck your baby/Fuck her in the aaaaaaaaaaaasssssssss." It's one of the worst things I've ever heard, but it's still fun to laugh at how badly I got burned on that one.

Seriously... just get everything. You won't be disappointed.

I'm fully convinced, if there is a God and he lives in this wonderful little place called Heaven, One Rainy Wish is playing in his office on a loop.

Hendrix playing Voodoo Chile at Woodstock is one of the most astounding performances I've ever heard.

I have the double disc Live at Winterland set that Rhino put out a long time ago, and it's a great show. They whip out two awesome covers (Like a Rolling Stone, and an instrumental jam version of Sunshine of Your Love), not to mention ripping versions of Red House and Hey Joe. Whenever I think of Hendrix, I think about how a lot of kids would listen to him now and not get how important he was, especially if they lack the knowledge and perspective of what the electric guitar was before Jimi picked one up. And even to those in the know, and those who play guitar, try to play a song like Jimi does. I've been playing guitar for 17 years, and I don't think I'm a slouch, but I popped on a lesson on how to play Little Wing one day, and just started laughing at how ridiculous I felt trying to do what he did. He was on a different planet altogether.

Yeah, I recently re-found my Live at Winterland single-disc (which is apparently OOP), and ripped it into iTunes. Great stuff in there, and I love hearing his patter on stage-- talking about how when they cover a song, it's not because they think they can do it better, it's just because they dig it, man.

Love his stuff. I have Band of Gypsies on cassette, I think, Are You Experienced on vinyl, and the 90s Greatest Hits CD and Blues CD. Oh, and a weird one-sided 45 that plays at 33-- it's a cover of "Gloria." Need to locate that one.

There's a great little part in Winterland where he's kind of assessing the equipment situation that's awesome. I don't remember it word for word, but it's something like "I've blown all but two amps, I think Noel's got two speakers left, and Mitch is on his third pair of arms, but fuck it I don't give a damn."

Thank whatever sacred or secular deity that works for you that we had Jimi amongst us for a time.

Im going through about my 6th Jimi renaissance in my life at the moment actually, with Are You Experienced? probably getting the most play - Third Stone From The Sun would be the breakout track for me this time round.

The version of "Red House' at Winterland is just incredible. All 11 minutes, or whatever it is.

Yes! One of my top Hendrix songs since my teenages. And actually, it's one of my favorite songs by anyone EVER.

All three Jimi Hendrix Experience albums are beyond essential, but Axis: Bold As Love (where "One Rainy Wish" can be found, btw) has been getting the most play for a while now. On some days Electric Ladyland wins, though.

I'm glad so many people here mentioned Live at Winterland, that's a recording I never get tired of. Rykodisc also released Radio One in the late '80s, chronicling Hendrix's BBC appearances. Some raw performances of Experience classics, along with some rare gems like Hoochie Coochie Man and Day Tripper.

Fat Elvis: AGREED 100%. Hendrix owns those guys every single day of the week. I should be honest though - I slightly prefer Jimmy Page most days, but I go back and forth between he and Hendrix as my all-time favorite guitarist.

I've ALWAYS had Hendrix at #1 and Page at #2. Only after that can valid arguments start about who's next. I've never really been able to rank many of the other greats in any particular order, but my top 10 rock guitarists usually also includes Brian May, Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi, Eddie Van Halen, SRV, Clapton, David Gilmour (I know, I know.)

Paul Gilbert is also a big favorite, and ranks in my personal list of the best.

The only guitarist who even comes close to Hendrix is Yngwie Malmsteen.

Fixed for me. Goddamn, I love Doug. But you guys have inspired my own mini-Hendrix revival now. Thanks.

Except Yngwie Malmsteen has never written a song that's worth listening to. Fast fingers though.

1. Yngwie Malmsteen
2. Jimi Hendrix
3. Paul Stanley
4. That guy with the dreadlocks on rollerblades on Venice Beach

What, not the guy from Dragonforce?

5. Ralph Macchio in Crossroads

I mean, he smoked Steve Vai. That says a lot.

Herman lee, or Li??? That dude is super-human...if it's all real, and not just studio tricks. Those guys are fun to listen to in spurts. Fortunately, I am a power metal fan, so I can tolerate it. However, I can see where he, or power metal in general, would not be everyone's cup of tea.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...rm=Studioforce

Enough said.

This kinda goes to my original point. It wasn't just Hendrix's technical prowess, which was revolutionary, but his ability to hone his guitar skills into great tunes. There are many many many guitarists since Hendrix that can outplay him from a technical standpoint, but very few can bring it all together into a catalog of great guitar based songs. Page and EVH, in my mind, are the closest to Hendrix in this regard. Obviously there are others as well; most of the ones that would land in most people's rock guitarists top 10s.

Yngwie has created some great music with his skills, but not many actual songs that stand out as anything more then a vehicle to show off his skills...imo, of course!

I'll go back to my Paul Gilbert recommendation on this point. If you can get the yucky memories of his Mr. big stint out of your heads, and look past his reputation as one of the best ever shredders, he has released several solo albums with nice fun tight songs that aren't just exercises for his virtuoso guitar skills. If interested, check out his albums Burning Organ and Spaceship One. Sure, he shreds like a mofo on them, but he also creates some fun rock and roll tunes as well.

What's not given enough love is Jimi's voice, which is at once completely cool and utterly sexy. His method of delivering lines of songs like he's laughing to himself or making them up as he goes along is brilliant. I actually think his voice is as good if not better than his guitar playing. It's just not revolutionary like his guitar playing was.

That is pretty bad, shit Dimebag Darrell was able to hit every note perfectly, even if he was completely shit faced. Then again he wasn't about speed.

Find me a better lyricist/guitarisict than Hendrix.

Jimi really couldn't stand his singing voice hence his need to always cover it up via his guitar and production on the records.

Hendrix was the best.

Band of Gypsies is the genesis of Rn'B and, by extension, hip-hop. Most people do not know this.

My dad, who actually cries every time he hears Jimi's star spangled banner, told me a story that I hope is true (probably is, pop knows his Hendrix). Apparently when Jimi was recording at Abbey Road, the producers were getting really frustrated with him because he refused to turn his amp down, which was making everything sound muddy because it was overloading the mics. Every time they asked, Jimi just cranked his amps up louder. For me, that story makes a lot of sense, because I've always thought the production on his live tracks sounded a lot better, and less muddy.

He's not a great singer, but he's an incredibly cool personality, and that comes through in his voice. It's like the way he played, sang, composed, spoke, it was all one thing. I think this is also true of all the great jazz musicians (Louie Armstrong, Duke, Bird, Monk, Miles, Coltrane, Billy Holiday) as well as Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, probably a lot of others. To me, this is the mark of a truly great musician. Not technical proficiency (and sorry for temporarily derailing the thread with the Yngwie Malmsteen joke, btw) but being able to express a personality through music.

P.S. - Seriuosly, Zhukov, you need to elaborate a bit on whatever it is you're trying to say, because the statement that R&B was invented by Jimi Hendrix in 1970 is not making you look good.