There is no greater ode to a guitarist than the fact that contemporaries and generations of them that followed, find new ways to cover your songs. But Jimi Hendrix was no ordinary musician with strings attached, was he? He was, in fact, everything from picker-shredder-wah-wah-er to balladist, in a way that changed the genre of rock forever. His Little Wing from Axis: Bold As Love is perhaps one of the most covered songs and one look at the roster of musicians and bands to have performed their version of it is breathtaking: Eric Clapton, Sting, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Pearl Jam, Santana, Def Leppard, Dave Mathews and John Mayer are only some names.
In fact, Hendrix had once said, “I’ve been imitated so well I’ve heard people copy my mistakes.” Rage Against The Machine’s guitarist Tom Morello wrote in a tribute to Hendrix in Rolling Stone last year, “It’s just this gorgeous song that, as a guitar player, you can study your whole life and not get down, never get inside it the way that he does. He seamlessly weaves chords and single-note runs together, and uses chord voicings that don’t appear in any music books.”
He’s not the only one for whom Little Wing is the Holy Grail of chords. “Everything about the song is perfect. Even after all these years, it is inspiring and relevant: His vocals, his songwriting, and most of all his guitar playing. You can’t fault that song and almost every time, it elicits the same warm response. It is layered and yet simple on the ears. No wonder people looked up to him like he was God,” says Girish “Bobby” Talwar, former bassist of Mumbai’s Zero and co-founder of Only Much Louder. Bobby feels Hendrix’s contribution to the sound of the electric guitar and use of distortion made him the legend that he continues to remain.
Bobby’s former bandmate Warren Mendonsa, an iconic face in Mumbai’s rock scene, often teases the crowd with the opening riff of Voodoo Chile, only to swiftly move to a different song. In an earlier interview with this correspondent about the wah-wah pedal, Warren had attributed its wide-usage to the ingenuity of the Afro-sporting guitar southpaw. The definitive wah-wah-heavy guitar solo and the much-rendered opening riff are synonymous with the maestro that Hendrix was. “He literally made it the most reliable equipment on stage for a guitarist. For me, apart from Voodoo Chile, it’s the sheer beauty of Burning of the Midnight Lamp that is exemplary of the way the wah-wah has been utilised,” Warren said.
When you talk about Hendrix, “God” is one word that is liberally used and really, not without reason. Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff was most inspired by Hendrix’s iconic performance at Woodstock. “Seriously, who makes a national anthem even more awe-inspiring? National anthems evoke a lovely fuzzy feeling anyway, but it is tough for a rock musician to not indulge in heart-string-tugging drama and make the guitar do all the talking — in this case, crooning. Nothing will ever compare to his delayed performance of the Star-Spangled Banner. Jimi was just God. His guitar playing in the song is symbolic of the American youth’s arrogance towards the establishment at that time,” says Shroff.
Hendrix on stage was a man possessed. How can you take your eyes off a man who swaggers, makes love to the microphone, mesmerises you with the power of his fingers, makes you love your national anthem even more (if that’s even possible) and then burns his guitar just as you thought the performance couldn’t get more exciting? Bobby says,
“He was a singer, guitarist and a performer par excellence. Burning that guitar during the Isle of Wight concert was iconic. Anyone else who indulged in pyrotechnics after that was only following Hendrix.”
Legend has it that during the recording of All Along The Watchtower, Hendrix was growing increasingly dissatisfied with the proceedings. He is believed to have overdubbed more and more guitar parts and in fact even played the final bass part after Noel Redding, fed up with Hendrix, left. Each time he overdubbed, Hendrix said he heard the song differently. The final product stunned even the original writer-singer of the song Bob Dylan. Hendrix’s ear for perfection and mastery over arranging music has been as much an inspiration as his vocals and guitar playing. Says politician-guitarist Milind Deora, “I think he’s one of the most influential musicians ever. He has influenced me as an arranger, musician and guitarist. My favourite songs are Hey Joe for its intensity in spite of being a ballad and Axis: Bold As Love.”
Forty-two years ago on this day, Hendrix was found dead in his hotel room and he was only 27. “If I had to describe Hendrix in one word, it would be ‘live-wire’. He was that sudden burst of energy with stupendous success from the beginning of his career and his untimely death took him away from his fans before they could even realise it. In such a short span, he achieved so much,” Bobby adds.