What do you guys think?
was he really that great?

Hendrix wasn't just a guitarist.
He was a sound artist, a mortal antenna,
a performer, a storyteller.
That's what made him so great.
People overlook these other things about Hendrix. It wasn't just guitar playing
anyone can do that. He had a presence and he knew how to use it. Stuff that turns heads. Very rare that people come along that are so naturally gifted.
Only problem is his body could'nt keep up with his soul.

He was a musician 1st and a guitar player 2nd . That's what makes all the greats , " great " . - KL .

what people often forget is that Hendrix was everything! he was an amazing songwriter, performer and player! Hendrix kicked ass and i still don't feel anyone has topped him in all his areas of specialty. granted SRV was probably his technical match, but he was no where near the songwriting leval that Hendrix was at. Hendrix did more with four pedals an amp and a guitar than most can do today with a whole wall of crap. Hendrix rules!

They have to be kidding!! If there's even a question on who was the best, the first, the only man to ever make a guitar sound like it really needed to, JIMI HENDRIX. His tone was absolutely amazing but it didn't come from his amps or strat, it came from what he put into it. Everything he had. It's so nice to hear a musician that gives his music everything, not because of other reasons. Hendix fans.....please post. Stick up for you hero!!!!

OK, I am posting since Hendrix is my hero. But I have many heroes; SRV, Django, Wes, Gilmour, Angus and Malcolm Young, Clapton, Robbie Robertson, Buddy Guy, BB King, Keith Richards, Pete Townsend, Robbie Krieger, Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton, Zappa, Luther Allison, Adrian Legg, Sonny Landreth, Duane Allman, Tomatito...and a whole bunch of others (too many to include here).
They are (were) all great guitar players and musicians.
It is not a question of who is the best or the worst. Music is not a competition or a contest (leave that stuff to Nsync, Christina Agulera,...and a whole bunch of others far too many too mention)

If Hendrix had been a late 18th century white guy, Mozart would have been in trouble........ if he'd been a mid 19th century white guy, Paganini would be forgotten. Fortunately for us, he was born in an age of sound recording and electric guitars.

It' hard for people under 35 or so to realize what Hendrix was like in an era of Hermann's Hermits and the Cowsills......

Dr fuzz all you had to say was the cowsills.. Hendrix is in my own words "absolute expression". Watching his dvd's(not enough of em) and listening to his albums, sometimes bring tears to my eye's(hafta be really stoned). What an ARTIST he was.

The thing people always forget when they talk about the greats of days gone by is that it isn't what they did as much as that they did it first. Hendrix did things with a guitar that noone had ever seen before. It's hard for us to have that same perspective in this post-shred-seen-it-faster-than-that world. It's the idea of coming up with it first that is so incredible.

I remember being 9 years old and hearing Eruption for the first time and thinking "Wow what the hell was that?!?" by the time I was 15 in 1985, everyone and there brother was tapping the neck, and it didn' seem that big a deal, now I cringe when I hear that technique.

Hendrix opened up a new world with his approach to tone, different sounds and techniques. These have all been imitated and dissected over the past 30 years. Just remember, the man did it FIRST.

I think DrFuzz makes a very important point as do most posts here. You have to keep on mind that this all happened 32 years ago and Hendrix did it all by the ripe old age of 27!
When I think of that it just boggles the mind.
If you need to ask if Hendrix "was all that" then you have a lot of homework to do, keep listening.

I always forget his age , 27 , amazing . 27 and for all intents and purposes ... 4 albums, forget all that "previously un-released stuff". I'm not a ,"Hendrix till the ends of the earth guy", but he changed and influenced all modern music,there's no getting around it .

Hendrix is a god and we never heard the best of him.

only started playin when he was 16!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you have any question about what Hendrix did for the guitar this is how you solve it. Get a copy of the best Jeff Beck, Clapton, Townsend,Page or any other player you think was great up untell 1970. Compare Jimi to the rest of his generation and you will know. If that won't do it for you then you have no hope. Good Luck.
Scott

I'm posting because Hendrix is my GOD!
Come on, he started playing with 16 years, and died with 27...11 years! No one living will do what Hendrix did, even in a 100 years!!!! His sound is so amazing, i could freak out!! From the point I downloaded :-))
my first Hendrix song, Purple Haze, I'm addicted...Mike

Clapton is GOD.

Hendrix is beyond even that.

I agree with scotty.

I guess Jimi didn't feel the need to get stoned as often in the studio because to me his studio stuff is alot better than anything I ever saw him do on stage and thats to bad that he felt he needed to get so stoned to perform in public because I would have liked to see him play as good as he did in the studio.Drugs took that chance away forever.

Hendrix was the guitar messiah who has spawned multiple generations of disciple. Just look at SRV and Kenny Wayne Sheppard.

He was without a doubt, the man. We all know his story now, but how many bands put out an album like "Are You Experienced" on the first try? No one. Not even the mighty Beatles did that. He was the total package. Anyone who plays and is not impressed in some manner by Hendrix is dead or just stuck up. The greatest of all time...easily.
I will say that Van Halen came close. But the songwriting was not up to Hendrix-level.
The playing was mind blowing.

Just saw the complete version of Jimi at Woodstock...if there needs to be a "reason" to buy a DVD player this is it.Also highly recommended:Steely Dan,"AJA"-the making of...(you get to hear some of the solos that didn't make the album).