Jimi Hendrix
By
Erika Cox
To analyze any of Jimi Hendrix’s songs I will need to
briefly discuss his exceptional musical talent and
influence. According to Rolling Stone and Guitar World
Magazines and a host of other musical artists and critics, Jimi Hendrix is the greatest guitarist in the modern world
and one of the most innovative guitarists that have ever
lived.
No one has
ever matched his skill and talent. Considered to be the
most influential guitarist in modern music, Jimi Hendrix
perfected the deliberate use of distortion and feedback,
using it to complement his natural virtuoso ability. He
had charisma, raw talent, and creativity to excess -
delivering some of the most revolutionary music of the
20th century.
He was not
only a guitar genius but also a brilliant composer and
creative songwriter, he was a trendsetter. Hendrix
perfected the use of different sounds, distortion and
feedback with his guitar creating sounds never duplicated.
More than any other musical artist, his music and guitar
playing influenced artists from every genre of music and
is still strong almost 40 years after his untimely death.
Purple Haze
displayed his enormous talent, guitar playing and
influence. Hendrix wrote and composed all of his songs and
like Bob Dylan he pushed the envelope with his unlimited
creativity and artistic abilities, he definitely thought
outside the box.
A self-taught
left-handed guitarist, Hendrix played with a right-handed
Fender Stratocaster - upside down and re-strung while
performing and recording. His use of the Strat's tremolo
bar was one of the signature elements of his blues
influenced style of rock music, which can be heard in
Purple Haze.
In addition to
his songwriting and guitar playing, Jimi Hendrix was also
a pioneer in using the recording studio as an "instrument"
perfecting his sound all of these things are what made him
such an exceptional musician.
Hendrix grew up listening to the blues because his Father
loved the Blues. Some of his favorite bluesmen were Howlin
Wolf, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Buddy Guy and
their influences are heard in Purple Haze, especially
Muddy Waters’ electric guitar playing.
It’s obvious
Hendrix was a great blues player, taking notes from
electric blues guitarist Muddy Waters, but with Purple
Haze Hendrix expanded the sound of the electric guitar and
the Blues by taking both to another dimension just as
Muddy Waters took blues to another level by being the
first to play the blues with an electric guitar.
Hendrix was
keeping true to his blues roots but in order for him to
become well known he needed to mix it up and give it a
rock sound. He makes Purple Haze sound like the blues on
speed with his spacey sounds, distortion and enormous
feedback.
Hendrix often said his music or what he tried to convey
through his music was freedom; the freedom to enjoy the
sounds, the freedom to listen and let your imagination
take over and the freedom to play the guitar many
different ways.
Hendrix’s
musical technique with his guitar playing conveyed the
meaning of being an individual and expanding one’s
creativity, stretching the envelope and thinking outside
the box; the unusual beginning and ending of the song, the
raunchy sounds and the spacey sounds were all different,
unique and creative.
Hendrix’s
guitar playing, composition, recording, performance and
musical techniques in his songs were and are unmatched.
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