. . . Bridge? That’s recorded like a huge symphony. Hendrix was by far the greatest expert I’ve ever heard at playing rhythm and blues, the style of playing developed by Bobby Womack, Curtis Mayfield, Eric Gale, and others. I got the feeling there was no guitaring of any kind that he hadn’t heard or studied, including steel guitar, Hawaiian, and dobro. His music was deeply rooted in pre-blues, the oldest musical forms, like field hollers and gospel melodies. From what I can garner, there was no form of black music that he hadn’t listened to or studied, but he especially loved the real old black music forms, and they poured out in his playing. Though I watched Hendrix perform many times, I couldn’t understand his hand positions or the chords he used. He could play left or right-handed with equal facility. Sometimes, he didn’t even restring his guitar - he just played it upside down. I feel Hendrix was one of the most innovative guitar players who ever lived. He was the man that took electric music and defined it. He turned sounds from . . .

Back

More