Oh, I forgot to mention that I went to see T.I. at Duke Saturday. In commemoration of the event, I started a Facebook group called “T.I. Owes Me $25.”
I was pretty upset that he didn’t do any songs from “I’m Serious.” But you know what? It was fitting, because he wasn’t serious at all. I promise you that dude only did one verse of about seven songs, the full “U Don’t Know Me” and “What You Know” and dipped out. We knew it was a bad sign when he took his shirt off 15 minutes into the show. He hadn’t even had time to get hot, and he was already ready to pull out the card he had to get the sexy young ladies excited.
He didn’t do “Dope Boyz.” He didn’t do “Bring ‘Em Out.” He didn’t do “No More Talk.” For real, it was straight up booty. He almost lost a fan, except I wouldn’t go all out at Duke, either.
Speaking of music, here’s a great piece of mail I just received from one of those courageous types that doesn’t leave a name with his or her e-mail address.
You have no qualifications in saying that Hendrix was the best at what he did. Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, and many others after them are better guitarists than Hendrix. He gets a lot of credit for his style, but many good guitarists can easily play a Hendrix song. Now, playing a song by Cream is another matter. Also, if you want to talk about domination, Roger Federer is a better tennis player than Woods is a golfer, and wins a higher percentage of the time. Tiger is a brat, as evidenced by his smacking his clubs around when he doesn’t make a shot. I think that the real reason that you like him so much is the same reason you think Hendrix is so incredible; because he’s black. Here’s a newsflash: Tiger is a great golfer, but he should NEVER be mentioned near Jordan or Gretzky because he doesn’t compete against people, he competes against the par for the course. Golf is a game, not a sport. That’s why older people can play competitively. Give credit where it’s due, to real athletes who are loved for their skill, not their skin color.
The Federer argument is a fair one, though I happen to disagree. I do laugh at the notion that I just love Tiger Woods because he’s black. You know, black writers can’t form any opinion without it being entirely fueled by blackness. That’s all we know, yanno? Only a black man could think that Tiger Woods and Jimi Hendrix are incredible. Only us. No white people think that Hendrix is great.
Well, except for the folks at Rolling Stone, and we know what militant Negroes they are.
The funniest part, though, is the notion that I’m unqualified to make such a statement. First, pretty much anyone is allowed to make a statement about music. In the Internet era, we’ve all got access to whatever we want to hear.
What’s funnier? I did work as a music critic for five years. Done a bit of TV behind it, too. In fact, I got in with ESPN because of the ability to make pop culture connections with sports, on the basis of my work as a music critic.
Not that it takes a serious critic to make that observation. A St. Bernard can tell you that Hendrix is incredible.
I didn’t know St. Bernard’s were black.
T.I. owes me $25 and some gas money. It was tragic.
I’m looking across to the screen of my media machine (computer solely for playing iTunes, TV and movies, etc.) Its desktop image is the Eddie Van Halen guitar pattern. Red field with white and black stripes. And, yeah, was/am a fan…
I’ve been an E.C. fan since the 70s and the 561 Ocean Boulevard album. I shared five years of design studio with Jamie Oldaker’s little sister (E.C.’s drummer on all of his 70s and early- to mid-80s albums). We listened to demo tapes of songs she had. Huge Eric fan to say the least…
So, having established that… Jimi trumps ’em.
I’d say behind Andres and Django, Jimi is the third most influential and pioneering guitarist of all time.
Tiger is Apples, Federer is Oranges. You can’t compare them. What it takes for each to win in too different from the other. And to say one is slightly better than the other is purely subjective.
I mean really, how do you say one is better than the other? What do you base it on?
Kirk is funny.
Clapton gets my vote ’cause he does it, did it, without ANY stage presence whatsoever. Hendrix was a badass, no doubt, but I say EC all day.
I’d have to say more white people pull against Tiger BECAUSE he is black than black people pull for him. Me? I ain’t watching golf if Tiger ain’t in it on Sunday. I also like how he’s such a big Stanford hoops fan…loved seeing him jump onto the floor a few years back when Stanford won something on a last second shot (my memory doesn’t allow for full recall).
Bo…I think Ashley had it wrong…race is not what I find in your writings and bloggings, however, you seem to rarely skip an opportunity to sideswipe Duke.
Anyone who claims that Hendrix wasn’t incredible, is putting his/her own credibility in question.
As far as tiger being the best, we all know that people have been trying to “Tiger-proof” different courses for awhile now… last time I recall a changing of the parameters of a sport because of one participant, was the creation of the “Alcinder Rule” 1967.
Tiger’s black? I thought he was Thai…
Cablinasian, people. Cablinasian.
So, judging by the email that Twatwaffle sent, the drummer from Iron Butterfly is in the all-time top 3, because that In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida drum solo is such a motherfucker. That is fucktarded.
What made Hendrix good is that a lot of people could play the same stuff he did, and yet not a single one of them did so until after he came up with it first.
For all of you non-conservatives out there, this is why it’s important to take away people’s rights. If you don’t, they say dumb shit like that, and the terrorists win.
I think the only cat that comes close to Hendrix is Santana. I think folk really shit on Santana because of all his cheesy pop records. I saw that cat live last year and he dropped a Forrest Whitaker type speech before totally rippin it.
But then again, my ethnic status taints my vision. It must me being a minority, a Mexican pulling for a Mexican, Bo pulling for Jimi, etc … fuckers
Hey man, I’m Spanish and didn’t even mention Carlos.
Oh, and this whole Clapton thing… He’s never been a guitar wizard, just a great musician and songwriter. He didn’t NEED to play with blurred fingers… Same with Jimi (but a lot more on both counts than Eric). He was a bit “messy” sometimes, but that fit the music and the style. He was a true musician (and genius), not just a guitar player.
Neither of them is the technician Eddie Van Halen is, but you can’t listen to Eddie hours and days on end like you can the other two.
What was the original post about anyways? Oh yeah, T.I. That dude owes me $25 too. I want in on this class-action thing as well!
damn, did everybody hate T.I.? Thanks for the warning lol. These young dudes think spraying the crowd with water bottles (and f***ing up my new hair), taking off their shirt, and letting the audience shout the chorus is a show.
God, I sound old.
As for the guitarists…I like Eddie, but I can listen for about 2.5 songs before I’m bored. I like Eric more then Jimi, but I can’t decide if I like him more simply because I like more of his songs.
I saw a definition of genius that went something like “Being smart means you get from Point A to Point B faster than everybody else. Being a genius means you get somewhere where nobody else would go if they spent a hundred years working on it.” Hendrix fits that. Tiger certainly belongs in that club, although Happy Gilmore might be in there too.
Clapton can play the pants off just about anyone. “Crossroads”, the Blues Breakers songs and the like will testify. But in essence, Rex is right: Clapton did eschew the speed/shredding stuff in favor of melody and the song itself.
The Rolling Stone list is not really all that definitive and has lesser versions of the same flaws that the BET dancers list had. Guitar Magazine released a Top 50 that was pretty much indisputable; Hendrix was still Numbah One though (SRV at 2).
Rolling Stone’s top guitarists of all time:
The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time
1Jimi Hendrix
2 Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band
3 B.B. King
4 Eric Clapton
5 Robert Johnson
6 Chuck Berry
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan
8 Ry Cooder
9 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
Eddie Van Halen? 70th
I didn’t even think of Stevie Ray…man, he was amazing.
Looks like the Dukie consensus was about the same as yours on the TI performance… they’re considering legal action —
http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=9046
Hendrix is amazing because you can listen to him for EVER and he still has so many cords that just stir the soul. The guitar solo on “Bold as Love,” acoustic orgasm. The main riff in “1983 a Merman I Should Be,” mesmerizing. Plus he manages to be both ugly and incredibly sexy at once. Not something most people can handle. Van Halen? I don’t even know what to think about saying about him, boring. Early Clapton is great but his stuff gets progressively easy listening. Then again, maybe Hendrix would have if he had lived. Who knows. TI needs to quit and give you guys back your money.
The funny thing is ppl forget that clapton and hendrix were tight, clapton was even going to give him a guitar for his birthday but Hendrix died while Clapton was enroute to see him… Clapton has always said that fact has always stuck with him. We kinda forget that Jimi had to go to England first to get big, and that Clapton met up with him there… funny how these rock stars work, no?
Anywho, the point of this post is I think even Clapton would agree that Jimi is the better guitarist, tho I would have killed if they would have collaborated on just one song. Damn, now that’d be amazing.
Also, it’d be hard to imagine an old Jimi, what would his music sound like now? Geeze, I don’t wanna even imagine.
Hendrix and Clapton did collaborate, but they never made it to wax. There are rumors out there of drunken jams in bars during pub crawls. Hendrix did play onstage with Cream once; Clapton felt insufficient enough during “Killing Floor” that he left the stage and watched Jimi play.
Frank Zappa did something similar and the mustached dude had chops too.
I feel lucky to be watching Tiger and Roger play. We are watching two men compete at such a high level that they will more than likely go down as “the best to ever play [their games]”.
I’m sorry but I have to end my lurking for a moment and speak up for a second because guitar and great guitarists are one of my passions. Any greatest guitarist discussion that does not mention George Benson is inherently flawed unless, of course, you guys are only referring to rock guitarists (one list up there has blues artists too). I like everyone that was put foward here but very few of these people have both the combination of speed, technical skill and improvisation ability of a Benson. If you have not heard Benson either on record or concert, I suggest you do so because you are missing an important part of your education…I’m through.
mdcase:
I think R.S.’s poll is ONLY rock or mainstream guitarists. Yes, George Benson was absent as well as other great jazz guitarists like Earl Klugh and Stanley Jordan. And to REALLY let you know what a puffed up list it is, there was no Andres Segovia, Django Rinehardt, Leo Kottke nor Michael Hedges. Calling that list the “Greatest Ever” without the disclaimer “…in rock guitar” is like the NBA champs calling themselves the “World Champs,” or any US sports franchise (they all do it, even though we compete only amongst ourselves).
Thaps:
There was a great Rolling Stone article two summers ago, with Jimi on the cover, about his first trip to England. Interesting read… It was all about Clapton, Townshend, and Beck’s reaction to this Yankee coming over there and asking one night at a bar, “hey, can I play with you guys”–before they knew who he was. Based on his manager’s rep, they let him. It was the last time he needed his manager’s rep to get him anything…
I’ve also heard stories about Stephen Stills and Jimi jamming late at night (they were tight) and the cops always being called on them, and then the cops staying to listen while the music got even louder!
Stephen Stills, now THERE’S an underrated guitarist if there ever was one.
the Jimi comparison is fitting.
Jimi is more than Rock music. Jimi is an icon. Hendrix was more Rock and Roll than Rock and Roll ever was or ever will be. He’s the human incarnation of music.
Tiger might not be on that level, but I get it. Tiger is more than Golf. Tiger is a brand. Tiger is an icon that surpasses golf. I’m not sure I’d go so far as to call him the perfect incarnation of the sport, but I aint nitpicking. Tiger is more an icon than Federer. Federer is only dominant in the world of tennis. He’s confined by it. Tiger isnt.
And neither was Jimi.
Only crackers and non-musicians would think Eric – “i tried all my life to play like Robert Johnson but just can’t do it” Clapton is a better guitarist than J.H. In fact, James Patrick Page and Hendrix are THE only two geniuses of their genre and time.
Imagine Clapton trying to play (Have You Ever Been to) Electric Ladyland or any number of Jimi ballads…. Just like imagine Clapton trying to play “Black Mountain Side” (which is stolen from Bert Jansch’s “Black Water Side”) or Bron-Yr-Aur…. It’s Not Happening! Clapton could never, ever play with such soul – not even the folk soul of his own region…..
And if you wanna get really deep, you need to check out Jansch and Django’s cousin on “Dizzy Plays Monaco” because there you’ll find the roots of “Voodoo Child.”
As far as you Bomani, since when did being a music critic make a person an expert in music? I mean, if you said I play or played so-and-so instrument, then okay…. it kind of like the sportwriter trying to relate to readers what goes on in an athlete’s mind without allowing an athlete to attmept to relate the feeling.
As a musician and a sportswriter who has played professional sports I’v’e always found music critics like the ones at Rolling Stone who forever panned Zeppelin and sportswriters who’ve never played sports the worst.
TELL ME if you know what it feels like to hit a not that makes you cry. TELL ME if you what it feels like to be down match point after having missed your first serve…. if you can’t don’t talk for me.
It’s kinda like white people who attempt to write of black experience – they funny, man – funny.
OK OK people, let’s get one thing straight here. We all seem to be missing the point, and that is, the difference between pioneering greatness and playing ability. Hendrix was definitely a rock pioneer, there is no disputing this. The question is, how does he measure up PURELY as a guitar player against the greats before and after him?
Let us compare him with an authentic guitar phenomenon like John McLaughlin, for example. Technically speaking, there is no comparison, McLaughlin by a country mile. Variety, again McLaughlin has covered styles ranging from Jazz, Rock, and all the way to more complex styles such as flamenco etc. McLaughlin’s technique is near perfect. Hendrix on the other hand, had a very simple arsenal in comparison. There are many more examples like McLaughlin, such as Al Di Meola, Steve Lukather etc etc who have an astronomical technical advantage over Hendrix.
It’s funny how this always seems to turn into a Black Vs White issue with everyone on this blog, so here’s a little salt for the wounds of you Afrocentrics out there. I always come across the same old worn out argument that black guitarists feel the instrument where as white guitar players are soulless, and purely methodical. Well, I do agree that white players in general tend to be more methodical and calculating, and this is evident in the fact that the most outstanding, technically impressive guitarists tend to be white.
As far as “feel” is concerned, well, this is another generalisation. Pulling funny faces as you hit a bum note is not “feel” in my books, that’s just a fuck up if you ask me. To this day, the most soulful guitar playing I’ve ever encountered has come from the fingers of white guitarists, so that argument is dead as far as I and many other guitar lovers are concerned. I’ve also noticed a close correlation between “feel” and sloppiness. It seems to me that many players out there have used the term “feel” in an attempt to mask limitations, or laziness.
This is certainly the case with the likes of Hendrix, who in reality was a sloppy guitarist. He was a great composer, songwriter, and incredible performer though, and let us not forget, a great singer. THESE are the qualities that elevated him as a musician as far as I’m concerned, and in turn elevated him into immortality as an instrumentalist. In a way, it complemented his guitar work, and compensated for any limitations in his playing.
HMMM, why was my post removed? A little too provocative huh?
Maaan, I thought we were all living in democracies. I guess not
It is difficult to compare various guitarists, using only one or two different criterias. I am not a musically trained professional, so my opinion is only my opinion. Many of the live recordings of Hendrix were wreck by poor auditorium acoustics, tape recording problems, and equipment failure. When Hendrix was fatiqued or angry, he would sometimes not tune, between songs, or even diliberately. Contrary to the old days bull crap out there, Hendrix was not an alcoholic or a drug addict. If he drank more than two beers or one joint, his playing quality went down a little, and he would blend songs together. He was not concerned about being unsloppy at times. But to say he was a sloppy guitarist or not technically proficent would be a mistake. Watch the Double DVD definitive Woodstock Concert. You will see just how amazing he is. This guy could play with either hand, with the guitar either way or with the strings either way. He used unconventional strings on some of his guitars. Though not a classical guitar, he had to had studied almost every style. Listen to Instrumental Improvisation. Some people claim he was just a lead guitarist, however, I have heard him do rhythm guitar, and I have compared it with Djanjo Rienhardt, and I believe he has surpassed him slightly in that. His innovative work with feedback, wha wha, etc. is also unsurpassed. Though Segovia was the best on Classical guitar and in perfect execution notes and could read the music and trained himself, if you took all that Hendrix could do on the guitar and did, I don’t think that either could beat each other, they would be opposite orange. I believe from some accounts that they were better than Pagainni. Some people are saying that he is not the fastest guitarist, I have heard extensive hours of Hendrix, I have never heard anyone play so fast and at the same play more than one thing. I got songs, I have put along DiMeola, and others and they simply cannot keep up. The emotion, intensity, the power, is incredible. Hendrix thought that Segovia was the greatest guitarist and that B. B. King was the best Blues Guitarist. He called them the real masters. Segovia made a statement one time, according to something I read on the internet where he thought that Hendrix was better than him, after comparing everything. When he plays, like at Woodstock, he uses all the parts of his fingers, almost all of it unconventional. He uses the callouses on the bottom of his fingers, the sides of his fingers. He consolidates notes. He runs his fingers up and the fret board, these big hands, like a hummingbird, and then you notice that he is just looking out at the audience, doing it effortlessly, sometimes like it’s all inside of him. I would defy any guitarist to try to do that. They simply can’t yet. I never forget him. Listen to Drifting, Jam 292, Easy Blues, Berkeley Hear My Train Set 1, Isle of Wight Redhouse, Isle of Wight In From the Storm, Woodstock Purple Haze, Instrumenta Improvisation, Villanova Junction Blues, Villanova Junction Jam, Midnight, Star Spangled Banner (Studio Version), Fillmore East Machine Gun Set 1 01-01-70, Fillmore East Stepping Stone, same set, Fillmore East Burning Desire, same set, L A Forum I Don’t Live Today 04-26-69, Maui Voodoo Chile Set 1, Maui Dolly Dagger, Albert Hall Rehearsal Hound Dog 1 02-24-69. There are many more, but these are some good ones here. Most of these are available at the store, contrary to popular belief.