35 years ago today...

chas · Post by **chas** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 6:57 pm

jGilder wrote:
dubhlinn wrote: 'Scuse me while I kiss the sky

Slan,
D.
Here in SF there's a bunch of fellas in the Castro District that thought he said, "Scuse me while I kiss this guy."

That was a pretty common thought. And recently there's been renewed speculation that he got out of going to Viet Nam by hinting that he was gay.

I read a recent story about his time in England. Evidently within a week of his having touched down, every guitarist in England wanted to see him. A week to the day after he arrived, he had his first real gig. A guy (maybe someone from the Hollies?) was coming out of the loo, and Charlie Watts said to him, "Watch out, it's getting pretty wet up toward the stage."

"Huh? Is the roof leaking or something?"

"No, all the guitarists are weeping with envy."

The thing about Hendrix was, he had it all. He was amazing technically, a great performer, and a pretty fair songwright. But most of all, he was innovative. I think he changed rock music more than any individual or group (some writer coined the term "heavy metal" describing Hendrix's music -- many attribute it wrongly to the group quoted in my current .sig). Elvis, Chuck Berry, the Beatles, the Bee Gees, the Beach Boys -- all changed rock/pop music, but none ever came close to Hendrix.

Another thing about him -- he LOVED music. He was known to play for 24 hours straight, people coming in, passing/dropping out, leaving, Hendrix just kept going. It showed in his playing.

talasiga · Post by **talasiga** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 8:23 pm

He did with R&B
what has not yet been done
with Irish TM .....

Will O'B · Post by **Will O'B** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 8:48 pm

chas wrote:recently there's been renewed speculation that he got out of going to Viet Nam by hinting that he was gay.

Interesting. Hendrix was discharged from the military, I believe, in 1962. I think he broke his ankle during a routine parachute jump (101st Airborne) and the army let him go. I've heard that by that time they were tired of him sleeping on guard duty, going AWOL and all of the other little things that tend to get your butt chewed out by the folks who take the military life seriously.

But what I still don't get about your speculation is if LBJ started the troop buildup in 1965, how did Hendrix know that he needed to get out in '62 to stay out of 'Nam? If he had even heard of the Republic of Vietnam in 1962, he was more learned than most Americans at that time.

Will O'Ban

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 9:29 pm

Hendrix was before my time. When I started listening to classic rock,
I liked his stuff, but always wondered why people called him a master.
His playing didn't seem that different than everyone else's. Eventually, I
realized that was because everyone else had been copying him for decades.
His playing had become such a part of the music world, it was hard for me
to recognize the greatness. If you listen to enough of the stuff that came
before him, you realize what he added.

Will O'B · Post by **Will O'B** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 9:56 pm

fearfaoin wrote:If you listen to enough of the stuff that came
before him, you realize what he added.

That's it in a nutshell.

Will O'Ban

buddhu · Post by **buddhu** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 2:34 am

Jimi...

A musical big bang. Same as when I try to describe the impact Tom Waits had on me, when it comes to Jimi I have no adequate words.

And he looked so cool too.

jGilder · Post by **jGilder** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 3:14 am

Jimi had a huge impact on my circle of friends and I. We were paying close attention when he first showed up on the scene. I was only a teenager at the time, and to me his music seemed to be coming from another world. It was also hard to believe all that sound came out of one guy's guitar.

Axis Bold as Love was his masterpiece; it was like the flip-side of Sgt. Pepper's and happened to be released the same year. I think it belongs side by side with Sgt. Pepper's for being monumentally influential.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 3:17 am

Fantastic musician. I've have never heard anybody in Australia or Britain speculate about his being gay. (I also know women he picked up and others he tried to pick up who would have found that suggestion surprising.

)

There were other sensational guitarists around at his time and had been for 20 years prior to his arrival on the scene. A lot of those guitarists crying and drooling had a lot to offer. What made him different was that he could play blues as well as anyone, rock as well as anyone, soul as well as anyone and he could also play new stuff that nobody had even thought of and he seemed to have an endless supply of new ideas. I first heard him when I heard 'Hey Joe' on the radio for the first time. I still remember the impact of hearing his guitar for the first time. Other fine guitarists didn't become inconsequential overnight but I don't think he had any serious rival as the best rock guitarist then or now.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 3:23 am

jGilder wrote: It was also hard to believe all that sound came out of one guy's guitar.

There was quite a bit of doubletracking on those records, but he could certainly hold it together on stage brilliantly.

jGilder wrote:Axis Bold as Love was his masterpiece; it was like the flip-side of Sgt. Pepper's and happened to be released the same year. I think it belongs side by side with Sgt. Pepper's for being monumentally influential.

There is a very good case for Axis being the best single Hendrix records. I don't think there is any case for Sgt. Pepper being in the same league as Revolver or Rubber Soul but I know a lot of people won't agree with that call.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 4:20 am

Wombat wrote:
jGilder wrote: It was also hard to believe all that sound came out of one guy's guitar.
There was quite a bit of doubletracking on those records, but he could certainly hold it together on stage brilliantly.

jGilder wrote:Axis Bold as Love was his masterpiece; it was like the flip-side of Sgt. Pepper's and happened to be released the same year. I think it belongs side by side with Sgt. Pepper's for being monumentally influential.

There is a very good case for Axis being the best single Hendrix records. I don't think there is any case for Sgt. Pepper being in the same league as Revolver or Rubber Soul but I know a lot of people won't agree with that call.

I won't disagree. I never knew how to take Sgt. Pepper.

Whistlin'Dixie · Post by **Whistlin'Dixie** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 5:23 am

Rubber Soul was the best Beatles LP, as far as I am concerned.

M

chas · Post by **chas** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 5:53 am

Will O'B wrote:
chas wrote:recently there's been renewed speculation that he got out of going to Viet Nam by hinting that he was gay.
Interesting. Hendrix was discharged from the military, I believe, in 1962. I think he broke his ankle during a routine parachute jump (101st Airborne) and the army let him go. I've heard that by that time they were tired of him sleeping on guard duty, going AWOL and all of the other little things that tend to get your butt chewed out by the folks who take the military life seriously.

But what I still don't get about your speculation is if LBJ started the troop buildup in 1965, how did Hendrix know that he needed to get out in '62 to stay out of 'Nam? If he had even heard of the Republic of Vietnam in 1962, he was more learned than most Americans at that time.

Actually, I misstated; I should've said the army, not Viet Nam. But it's not my speculation (I've read quite a bit about his womanizing), it's in a recent biography. The thing that brought it to mind is, the headline of the article I read about the book said, "'Scuse me while I kiss this guy," same as Jack's post.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 6:02 am

I miss Jimi terribly. I often think of what he might have created if he wasn't taken from us so soon. As it is, what he left behind is monumental. He turned the electric guitar into a whole new instrument.

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 6:43 am

Wombat wrote:I don't think there is any case for Sgt. Pepper being in the same league as Revolver or Rubber Soul but I know a lot of people won't agree with that call.

I am a HUGE Beatles fan, and I agree with you 100% (sorry Jack!). Rubber Soul was their "transition" album, when they went from the candy coated stuff to what they became. It's not my favorite, but I feel that it was far more influential for it changed their own music, and seemed to change the face of Rock in the process.
By far, my favorite Beatles album was Abbey Road. It was brilliant. Although there were a couple of songs on Sgt. Pepper's that I did love as well, like "She's Leaving Home" and I can't help but love "When I'm Sixty-Four".

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 8:21 am

izzarina wrote:
Wombat wrote:I don't think there is any case for Sgt. Pepper being in the same league as Revolver or Rubber Soul but I know a lot of people won't agree with that call.
I am a HUGE Beatles fan, and I agree with you 100% (sorry Jack!). Rubber Soul was their "transition" album, when they went from the candy coated stuff to what they became. It's not my favorite, but I feel that it was far more influential for it changed their own music, and seemed to change the face of Rock in the process.
By far, my favorite Beatles album was Abbey Road. It was brilliant. Although there were a couple of songs on Sgt. Pepper's that I did love as well, like "She's Leaving Home" and I can't help but love "When I'm Sixty-Four".

I love Abbey Road too...some of my favorite pieces by the Beatles are on that album...
on top of that, When I proposed to my wife I was playing Something on the piano, so Abbey Road holds special significance to me.
When I was a wee lad the Beatles were one of my bigger influences; back then I really liked the poppy sugar coated stuff, but as my musical tastes progressed I became more a fan of their oddities and one-off style that came to characterize some of their transitional stuff... I really liked Sgt. Pepper's and some of the other strange stuff...