Number 9

Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix was so different in HOW he played the guitar that all the guitar gods of the day couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Some were jealous. Some wished they could break out of the conventional way of playing that they felt stuck in. But none, not even Clapton, was Jimi Hendrix.

Like number 10 on our list, Jimi played with so much flash and charisma that it’s easy to overlook his technique. He played behind his back. He played with his teeth. He lit his guitar on fire to outdo The Who, who’s guitarist, Pete Townson, was famous for busting up his guitar and other equipment after the show. Bastard could have given me one of those, but I digress. Hendrix used feedback like no one before him, and very few after him. If he has been copied on a regular basis, it is through everyone using feedback and effects pedals. Hendrix fused multiple forms of music together to get the sound he wanted. Rock, of course, but also blues, funk, jazz, and even folk music. I doubt it was something that he sat down and thought about, he just did it. Plus all the LSD helped him not give a damn if he was “breaking the rules”.

Hendrix is still a staple on the radio. Voodoo Child, Purple Haze, All Along The Watchtower, Foxy Lady, and Little Wing are probably playing on the radio somewhere in the world 27/7.

The two greatest guitarists who get compared to Hendrix are Edward Van Halen and Prince. Eddie always said Hendrix was cool but not his thing. He learned more from listening to Clapton. Prince said his comparison to Hendrix was because they are black, and that he’s more in the vein of Santana. I don’t have any reason to not believe Eddie and His Purpleness, but the fact that they are compared to Jimi Hendrix and not the other way around says everything you need to know about this man’s contribution to the instrument. 

Sadly, Hendrix was a member of the 27 Club, a long list of musicians and celebs that died at age 27. It’s freakishly long. Hendrix died of “asphyxia while intoxicated with barbiturates”. In other words, he choked to death while on downers. A.K.A., a drug overdose. More records have been released with Hendrix’s music since his death than when he was alive.

Don’t do drugs, kids.