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There’s always someone who’s better, stronger, faster around the corner but they can’t take away how good of a songwriter you are. J has that special ability to write great beer drinking, partyingmusic, that rocks big time.
In a way, Hendrix isn’t the best comparison to J anyway. More relevant guitarists to compare him to would be melodic-yet-dissonant people like Lee Ranaldo, Bob Mould and Neil Young. I can see a little similarity with Hendrix in that they both use some noise/dissonance, but Hendrix had a much funkier approach and more diverse playing style.
This should be moved to the Guitar Room.
I saw J on Saturday and I’ve really been listening to his stuff. There is no doubt he is awesome. The more I get into – I just get overwhelmed because he is so awesome. He is my favorite.
However, without Hendrix – everything would be different.
I think in structure and the layers of music J creates he’s better…
Everything else belongs to Hendrix.Alright, they are very different in their playing styles, but those of which call hendrix the "best guitarist ever" needs to add a couple new guitar players to their music collection. I think that during his day, hendrix was very unique, and ahead of his times. don’t forget though, his music wasn’t really accepted until years later, The woodstock documentary made him out to be a larger deal then he really was, he wasn’t that well accepted yet. Electric music was taking a while to pick up, Bob Dylan for example, almost lost all his fans when he picked up an electric.
It wasn’t until he died that people really started to notice that what they were hearing wasn’t just noise. But it was too late, just another legacy dead, that soon got picked up by others, who advanced the style to hiigher limits, and so on down the line. I wonder what J would think, I know he got upset when Kenedy said he was better then Neil Young. I think what Hendrix did with blues using a guitar, is the same thing that what J did to the (whatever style the kids are callin it now’a days).
But I agree with J being better then Hendrix. But thats just because of all the years I listened to hendrix, I never saw what was so great about him. If I grew up in the 60’s I guess my opinion would be different, but J was my inspiration for picking up a guitar
"Starlight " wrote:It wasn’t until he died that people really started to notice that what they were hearing wasn’t just noise. But it was too late, just another legacy dead, that soon got picked up by others, who advanced the style to hiigher limits, and so on down the line.In all due respect, ANY Hendrix biography will completely refute the notion that no-one started to appreciate Hendrix until he died. On the contrary, his fellow musicians, especially guitarists, were in absolute awe of him, and this includes people like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Pete Townshend. There are no shortages of articles and reviews from the late 60’s that commented on the fact that Hendrix was taking the electric guitar far farther than anyone had ever done before. He was widely considered to have revolutionized electric guitar playing DURING HIS LIFETIME, and that’s to say nothing of his legacy.
I’m not a huge Hendrix fan–it’s just not what I personally choose to listen to most of the time. Also, I think that the whole concept of the "best" guitarist is highly subjective and completely unprovable (also, as I mentioned above, the very idea that the world’s best guitarists are rock musicians is highly suspect–try jazz and flamenco). I agree that some people are overly dogmatic about Hendrix. But, leaving aside the concept of the "best" player, whatever that is supposed to me, I do think that there are very good reasons why he’s considered to be the most influential guitarist in rock music.
As for J, he’s one of my personal favorite guitarists, and I enjoy listening to him more than Hendrix, but that’s just my personal taste. I put J in the league of a certain kind of guitar player who combines noise and melody well–as I mentioned above–people like Neil Young, Bob Mould, Lee Ranaldo. I might add Tom Verlaine of Television and Adrian Belew of King Crimson/Talking Heads/Laurie Anderson/David Bowie to that list. Some odd choices of heavier guitarists who remind me of J (though definitely less noisy) are the God-like Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult and also Kim Thayil of Soundgarden. Anyway, of those guitarists, Lee compares very favorably, but they all have their moments. I would give J very high marks for his combination of underrated technical skill and control of noise and texture. On the other hand, Buck Dharma definitely has better technical skills, Neil Young and Bob Mould have more seat-of-the-pants spontaneous inspiration, and Lee Ranaldo, Adrian Belew and Tom Verlaine have the edge in terms of sheer ability to combine noise and melody.
J.’s single biggest contribution to rock guitar, to me, is just in the fact that he played a big role in making lead guitar "cool" again in alternative rock. That’s a major contribution… but it’s piddly compared to Hendrix, and I’m sure that J would be the first to acknowledge that fact.
Hendrix was also 28 when he died(I believe). He was getting better. His song Machine Gun with the Band of Gypsy’s changed the way many players looked at what a guitar could be as an instrument. I think Jimi’s approach to recording in teh studio pushed the envelope of music as well, just not the guitar.
After seeing Hendrix, Townsend and Clapton became friends. They were both so blown away that they had decided to go see a movie to talk about Jimi(according to a Pete interview I watched). I also remeber an interview were Ozzy said something to the effect that we think Hendrix is out of this world as a player now, imagine how it felt to see Jimi live in the 60’s. Ozzy said Jimi seemed like an alien.
Hendrix may not have been the most technical player, but as someone mentioned earlier, he could play so many different styles.
I do see some similarities in Jimi and J’s playing though. Some of the same equipment (amps and Roger Mayer efx). They are both feel players, that the technical freaks consider sloppy. My personal favorite thing I think they have in common is that hey both loved to play loud and solo forever.
J is every bit as good guitarist as you want him to be. Hell, I hear some new texture of sound and learn something, hear something new everytime I listen to his stuff especially the new album. Great wall of sound and songwriting.
"Tom " wrote:Hendrix was also 28 when he died(I believe). He was getting better. His song Machine Gun with the Band of Gypsy’s changed the way many players looked at what a guitar could be as an instrument. I think Jimi’s approach to recording in teh studio pushed the envelope of music as well, just not the guitar.im pretty sure he was 27 when he died—In Machine gun Jimi,buddy,and billy recreate sounds of war (like machine guns and bombs) which hadn’t really been done before.
Jimi was 27 just like Joplin, Cobain, and I think Morrison too. Crazy coincidences. That Band of Gypsy’s recording of Machine Gun is effing awesome. Definately one of his best in my opinion.
Yeah, I couldn’t remember if Jimi was 27 or 28 when he died. That is weird that whole age 27 thing. Was Morrison 27 too?
Machine Gun is the most amazing guitar song I’ve ever heard.
"mabewa " wrote:Bob Mould have more seat-of-the-pants spontaneous inspirationMaybe back in the earlier Husker days, but Mould’s playing has been as cut-and-dry as Johnny Ramone’s for ages now. The man hasn’t taken a genuine chance with his guitar playing since Sugar’s Beaster, except for maybe on one track on the Last Dog… album. I don’t why he decided to limit his sound and style the way he has, but Mould’s post-Husker career has pretty much been one long disappointment, creatively speaking. I like a lot of the stuff as guitar-pop, but it’s been so safe for so long. And throwing a little electronic stuff in the mix isn’t necessarily what I consider a genuine jolt of creativity.
As a guitarist who understands the power of SOUND, J surpassed Mould a long time ago. And there a loads of spontaneous moments in J’s live playing, whereas Mould seems determined to replicate the same show, note-for-note, every night. That’s why I’ll go see Dino/The Fog multiple nights in a row, but will only take in one Mould show per tour. No sense seeing the same-old, same-old over and over again.
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned Curt Kirkwood, who I consider perhaps the best guitarist to have emerged from the SST scene. Meat Puppets were another band to catch multiple nights, as they really flew on seat-of-the-pants inspirational energy. Sometime they weren’t so good, but at other times they reached the stratosphere, all because they’d never shy away from taking huge chances when they played.
I thought D Boon was a fine guitarist. While he never really played leads super long, what he did do was killer. Most of the SST bands were solid guitar bands. Greg Ginn of Black Flag was nuts. I can pick out a lot of J’s stuff, but Greg is so off-the-wall that it’s hard sometimes. A lot of it is his fuzzed out tone, but still…
As far as the Hendrix/J comparison, I feel I’ve been influenced by both in my life. Hendrix’s career was so short that it’s hard to know where he would have gone, if anywhere. I think J has been really prolific in his playing. Hendrix and J are both capable of bringing some major chops, but Hendrix had a flamboyancy that pushed it over the top. I’ve stood inches from J as he played, it was killer, but I wasn’t taken back by his manerisms and he didn’t appear to be overly put out playing. Hendrix looks like his whole soul is into everything he played. On video I was moved.
Of course, J’s ability to look so calm and sometimes downright un-interested while tearing off some leads I couldn’t touch could be a sign of his ability. Just like anything, they have weaknesses and strengths in different areas. I’m glad it’s no contest and I can rock out to both at will.
"King Tubby " wrote:Maybe back in the earlier Husker days, but Mould’s playing has been as cut-and-dry as Johnny Ramone’s for ages now. The man hasn’t taken a genuine chance with his guitar playing since Sugar’s Beaster, except for maybe on one track on the Last Dog… album. I don’t why he decided to limit his sound and style the way he has, but Mould’s post-Husker career has pretty much been one long disappointment, creatively speaking. I like a lot of the stuff as guitar-pop, but it’s been so safe for so long. And throwing a little electronic stuff in the mix isn’t necessarily what I consider a genuine jolt of creativity.As a guitarist who understands the power of SOUND, J surpassed Mould a long time ago. And there a loads of spontaneous moments in J’s live playing, whereas Mould seems determined to replicate the same show, note-for-note, every night. That’s why I’ll go see Dino/The Fog multiple nights in a row, but will only take in one Mould show per tour. No sense seeing the same-old, same-old over and over again.
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned Curt Kirkwood, who I consider perhaps the best guitarist to have emerged from the SST scene. Meat Puppets were another band to catch multiple nights, as they really flew on seat-of-the-pants inspirational energy. Sometime they weren’t so good, but at other times they reached the stratosphere, all because they’d never shy away from taking huge chances when they played.
I agree on all of it.Mould seems to riding on cruise control.Good call on Kirkwood.Inconsistent yes but from the live mp3`s I`ve heard at times he could rival J.
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