Jimi Hendrix: Fifty Years Gone

The Voodoo Child left our plane of existence fifty years ago. Just 27 years old, he reinvented the electric guitar and released four albums, three being alltime classics and even the fourth still being really freakin’ good.
He was a true one of a kind figure in music, and even for how many imitators he’s had, nobody can even come close to recreating his genius. Genius, a term that’s been reduced to nothing by so many who throw it around willy nilly. But for Jimi Hendrix, it’s completely warranted. Not only a gifted guitarist but also a truly great songwriter, a highly charismatic performer and singer, a very good ear for sonics. A true artist who always looked for that certain something that can’t be so easily explained, he represented what we can truly do when we put our minds to it. Not to mention how radical his mere existence was as a black man in the rock world, especially one fronting and leading a band consisting of otherwise white musicians. He bridged many worlds with his music, just as music should do.
It’s hard to avoid wondering and mourning what could have been, what else he could have given us. And I’m extremely confident that it would have been a rich and rewarding career, certainly an interesting one. But regardless, he left behind a legacy most can barely even dream of.
Thank you Mr. Hendrix for all you gave us, and may he Rest In Peace.

 

damn that's so long ago!

 

Alas, we hardly knew ye.

 

One of the greatest musicians to ever grace this planet.

Long Live Jimi!

 

Indeed!

 

On the night after, September 19, 1970 at the Fillmore East, the Grateful Dead performed what is arguably their best Dark Star ever.

Coincidence?

 

I'll never forget that day. I was in Nashville and saw a sign outside a record store that said "Long Live Jimi Hendrix RIP". Been mourning him and Duane Allman ever since.

 

I well remember this day, because it was also my 13th birthday and this is the day I officially became a record collector. I’d been a fan of Jimi for sometime, going back to when I was between 9 and 10, listening to Hey Joe, Purple Haze and Foxy Lady on the radio during the magnificent Summer of Love. My older brother bought Are You Experienced? so I used to listen to that a lot in our bedroom. Shortly after Jimi died, Voodoo Child became a posthumous No. 1 and truly, I’ve been a fan ever since. Jimi only made it to 27, but today I’m 63 and although my day might be tinged with some bittersweet sadness, I’m also going to celebrate the man who brought so much joy into my life. Here’s to you, Jimi Hendrix!

 

So sad.......tomorrow he wouldn't be by anyone's side!

 

Jimi Hendrix was an early hero, and he served me as such as well as Bob Dylan, who had the advantage of staying alive all this time.

And still some of Jimi's greatest performances remain unreleased. And I'm excited to see and hear them.

I'm 50 now, a second or even third generation fan, and once in while I see teenagers wearing Hendrix T shirts. It thrills me. Maybe just ego because I know I was right, or maybe happiness to know someone who meant so much to me touched so many others in the same deep places. Surely we are one people.

RIP Jimi Hendrix

 

I pulled out my mono track and played it...

I've been a fan since I heard voodoo chile at 14 on in the west....

 

Yeah what a loss.
Besides his fantastic music I also admire his attitude to life, great sense of humor and deep intelligence. He really was a sweet, spiritual man.

 

Nevertheless, Bishop, have a happy birthday! Lots of joy, fun, health and happiness to you. Keep on going to enjoy great music!
Best
Armin

 

Rock In Peace, jamming with Bonzo.

 

Has there been anyone else with such a short career who has been so influential? Maybe Buddy Holly?

RIP Jimi

 

Taken far too young. Many of his generation are still going strong and performing/releasing new material 50 years later (he's younger than Dylan or Paul and Ringo).

A tragic loss of genius, but still a genuine legend.

 

50 years? That set me back on my heals a bit.
Music in general and particularly Jimi Hendrix music was an immeasurable relief from what was frequently a terribly boring, pointless couple of years in high school. Listening to AYE for the first time gave me shot after shot of every positive neurotransmitter my brain could produce. Jimi's music was an elixir, an antidote to despair, a secret doorway out of an world that I just did not fit well within. Finding Jimi's music felt extremely lucky to me, and having the opportunity to see him live twice was beyond luck- more like extreme good fortune.
R.I.P. with your sweet Angels, Jimi Hendrix

 

Really? They never played together.

 

The man also possessed a work ethic nearly unmatched among his peers , tirelessly working on new songs and new sounds and new ways of capturing both —in the studio and on stage.

This is why we’ve enjoyed an endless ,almost uninterrupted stream of “fresh” new music for half a century.

With more yet to come.

 

pop/Rock music in 1970...
I, personally, don't remember much of that period.
I wasn't 12 yet, what did I know about Jimy Hendriks?

In my house rock, jazz, pop, blues ... were almost forbidden: My father didn't allow us to listen to the devil's music.

I remember a friend of mine, 2 years older than me, telling me it was a sad day, because "Jimi is dead".
I asked who this Jimi was.
He told me about a rock guitarist ...
To which, I replied ... but rock music ... my father says it's the devil's music ... to which, he replied "no ... Jimi's playin is not the devil's music ... it's the music of the paradise"
Then, over the next few months, I learned he was right.

 

... and his middle name was Marshall.

 

Seems like an apt moment to share any memories of those two shows?

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you. One of the records I bought on my 13th birthday, was Cat Stevens Moonshadow. So I’ve been listening to that, quite loud, along with Voodoo Child, a posthumous U.K No. 1.

Jimi will be in our hearts forever...well, as long as we’re allowed.

 

Great post. Everybody has been burned.