Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Monumental Soundbyte - 19


Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe
This is 1 of 2 Jimi Hendrix songs that will be featured on this series.
Where do i begin? I was turned on to Jimi Hendrix by N who happens to be petty decent with an electric guitar. He would fool around on his guitar so i assumed he was just a beginner. Then one night, he picked up his guitar and did a riff that blew me away. Then he said it was from this song. I had heard of Jimi Hendrix via a VH1 Behind the Music episode but his music was alien to me. That night, N dug up his Jimi Hendrix albums and played a few of his favorites and that's when i fell in love with this song.
I understand that this song doesnt actually belong to Jimi Hendrix but his cover of it is by far the most popular. This is one of those songs that tells a story and it revolves around Joe who's killed his wife and is on the run. The beauty of the song for me is the sheer genius of Jimi Hendrix. His voice is gritty and unconventional but what he does with his guitar sends chills up and down my spine every time.
I dont want to dwell on the tragic and conflicting stories about the way his life ended at 27. I dont even know what to categorize his music as - its just rich. And he taught himself to play and like me, he was ambidextrous (using his left hand more). And Jimi was a performer.....These young cats are just learning. Jimi would spin his guitar and play it upside down, use is teeth to play and even play behind his back. Add the afro and those sultry eyes and he was just beyond compare.
I dare say that no-one can be called a true music lover if knowledge of certain artists and their work is absent and Jimi Hendrix is essential to that list. So enjoy!
*If you would like this song, leave an email address in the comments section*

2 comments:

soul said...

How ironic..
I was listening to planet Rock this morning at work and guess who was on?. Yep Jimi.

There's something dirty about the way Jimi plays, it's adult, and when he adds his vocals to it, I swear I blush because Jimi just does it for me.
I sometimes wonder what he would have been like if he were alive.

nice series soo far Uzo, looking forward to some more...

Anonymous said...

Hendrix, the one and only. Ironically, he was self-conscious about his voice, at least until he exploded onto the American scene at Monterey . . . where he famously set his Strat on fire at the end of his set, in part to try to match the destructive theatrics of the group that preceded him on stage, The Who. Those must have surely been the best days for live music!

I wonder, like Soul, what Hendrix would be like if he were alive. I see his death as a good career move . . . He and others, like Buddy Holly, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain, who died while at their influential and artistic peaks, will forever be legends. Time has stopped for them.