I actually got to see Hendrix play, though not on electric, and I didn't know at the time who he was. I used to be one of the long-haired masses that huanted the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles in the mid to late 60s. The Strip was/is divided into two sections: the well-known club/bar/restaurant/shopping scene on the west end and the "slums" to the east. At the time, places like the Whisky-A-Go-Go and other like places were/are on the west; lesser venues were on the east. There was a club in the east that opened as a sort of restaurant/coffehouse/general hang during the daytime hours and operated as a rock club at night. The club's building had once been a furniture and antiques store and had outer walls that were removable to easily show the inventory and encourage public access. The club would also remove these walls in the daytime and people would come and go freely. Sometimes, musicians would stop by and jam on acoustic instruments (sort of uplugged before its time). I was in there one day watching some people play and in came this guy with a couple of other people. They sat down, ordered something, and listened. After a liitle while, the guy politely asked in a lowkey voice if he could play along for a bit. Someone lent him a guitar and he played along to a few folk and blues numbers. He was an excellent player and some of the other musicians asked him a few questions about his playing. He answered them politely and after a short while, excused himself because he had an appointment elsewhere. I was impressed with his playing technique and his abilities with tones.
A few months later, I'm in a record store and there, in the new releases bin is a record with the name "Are You Experienced?" by a group called "The JImi Hendrix Experience". I looked at the photo on the cover and recognized the guy from the club a few months back. I remember thinking at the time "Wow, he actually got a contract!", and I bought the record to see what it sounded like. After I played that record, it changed the way I viewed guitars, and guitar playing, forever. I spent hours upon hours trying to get even a bit of the sound Hendrix achieved. Considering the primitive nature of guitars, amps and effects pedals (or the lack of effects pedals), what Hendrix did with what was available to him and with, mainly just his guitar and his hands, is incredible. Today a guitarist plugs into a digital wonderland of effects pedals and racks and, with a flick of a button easily summons sounds that Hendrix had to wrench out with just his talent and genius. I think a good test of the newer "flavor of the moment" guitarists would be to give them a Strat, a couple of old tube amps without effects loops, maybe a couple of old transistor or tube effects pedals with the scratchy controls, and old style patch cables, and ask them to "play like Hendrix". I wonder if they would even know where to start...
Yes, so I did see Hendrix play that day; I wish I knew who he was at the time. I never saw him play live again because something or other would always come up and I would just say "I'll catch him the next time he comes around..."
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