Jimi Hendrix 40 Years Later

By Chris JW Adams

Forty years ago the flower power movement was in full swing and nearing its end as we entered the 1970's. Pink Floyd were entertaining crowds with their new breed of LSD inspired rock music with their incredible (even in the early days) light show Britannia Row. Eric Clapton was God and Jimi Hendrix was wowing audiences with his incredible fret board acrobatics.

So what were the ingredients of Hendrix's success. Before becoming an overnight sensation in London, Hendrix played guitar in backing bands where he was hardly allowed to play his axe at all compared to what was about to happen.

Chas Chandler recognized his talent and offered to take him to London where he was teamed up with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell to form The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hendrix revolutionised the way guitar was played and perceived. His 'turn everything up, full-on' blazing technique was his trademark.

Hendrix played left-handed using mostly Fender Stratocaster guitars upside down because he never had a left-handed one made. His techniques involved a big sound and lots of feedback. Many people who have seen Hendrix live more than once will tell you that one night he would be just amazing, that they had never seen anything like it and another night he would be terrible. Like his track Manic Depression, he was very unpredictable. On a good night he was an incredible performer, his guitar could be totally out of tune but he would bend the strings into tune. In doing this, it was like he was totally connected to the music.

Hendrix's favourite make of amplifier was Sun but these had a tendency to burn out when played at full blast for any length of time. So Hendrix used the more robust Marshall's.

Hendrix's father was a brass player. It has been said that much of the swells and turns in Hendrix's technique are mimicking the sounds of brass instruments. So it can be said that a chance meeting, when the time was right by a man with the right connections and an untapped raw talent changed the course of music history.

Chris Adams studied Hendrix every day for many years as a teenager. Now Chris has been playing guitar for over thirty years and you can still hear the Hendrix in his playing. Chris is signed to Tree records. http://chrisadams.tv and http://myspace.com/chrisadams7.

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