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Why is Jimi always ranked first in every poll?


missytootsweet

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Meaning no disrespect, but when an artist is deceased they gain more fame and recognition. Its a fact. As soon as they die the record stores sell out of their albums. Hendrix was way ahead of his time, but does not deserve a number one ranking. To me he is not as good as Jimmy page. Never was and never could have been. Page number one. Easily. Hendrix top ten yes.

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  • 3 months later...

Meaning no disrespect, but when an artist is deceased they gain more fame and recognition. Its a fact. As soon as they die the record stores sell out of their albums. Hendrix was way ahead of his time, but does not deserve a number one ranking. To me he is not as good as Jimmy page. Never was and never could have been. Page number one. Easily. Hendrix top ten yes.

This is a very subjective topic, so there can never be a definite answer.

Throwing in my own two cents, though...and it is my opinion, so feel free to disagree...Hendrix deserves to top any list of "best guitarists" - certainly much higher than Pagey - because you can listen to any one of his songs from any performance and hear him do things with the guitar that no one has been able to do since. They might try to emulate, but they can't produce the same sounds - they're hollow and without soul, or one-dimensional, whereas Hendrix (especially with his later songs) began to experiment with a wide array of musical influences and styles.

Pagey, while definitely my favourite guitarist, did not branch out enough (for me) to be really considered the "best," although I certainly consider him the best of the British guitarists from the '60s/'70s.

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This is a very subjective topic, so there can never be a definite answer.

Throwing in my own two cents, though...and it is my opinion, so feel free to disagree...Hendrix deserves to top any list of "best guitarists" - certainly much higher than Pagey - because you can listen to any one of his songs from any performance and hear him do things with the guitar that no one has been able to do since. They might try to emulate, but they can't produce the same sounds - they're hollow and without soul, or one-dimensional, whereas Hendrix (especially with his later songs) began to experiment with a wide array of musical influences and styles.

Pagey, while definitely my favourite guitarist, did not branch out enough (for me) to be really considered the "best," although I certainly consider him the best of the British guitarists from the '60s/'70s.

I'm feeling free to disagree. IMO, Hendrix's best work was Are You Experienced and Bold as Love, for those two records alone he will and should always be the frontrunner for the greatest guitarist ever. That being said, I don't agree that Hendrix "(especially with his later songs) began to experiment with a wide array of musical influences and styles",

if you have examples of this I'm more than willing to listen.

Jimmy Page "did not branch out enough"? Thats nothing short of crazy talk. I can't think of one rock guitarist that "branched out" or had more diversity than Page, ie: Rock, Blues, Funk. Country, Celtic, Folk, Rockabilly, Indian, Latin, Metal etc...

Just my two cents, carry on.

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Because in the context of what was happening musically at that time, he was so far out of left-field that he instantly rendered all the previous guitar heroes obsolete. To appreciate this, just listen to Fresh Cream or 'Roger the Engineer', and then compare them to Are You Experienced? It's like it's been beamed down by a vastly superior alien race. Stuff like Voodoo Child (Slight Return), Purple Haze, Bold As Love, 1983 etc. might sound fairly tame & trad by today's standards, but back in 67/68, nothing approaching this had ever been heard before. Not even close.

Some, including the particularly mean-spirited Robert Fripp, have accused him of benefiting from & exploiting the new guitar effects available in the mid 60s. Well, so what - they were there to be used, and in most cases he used them first, and to the best effect. But unlike, say, Cream, he didn't need them to disguise mediocre songs. His later work, largely shorn of these effects, was often dismissed by people who just wanted the pyros, but IMO he was moving into more sophisticated & rewarding areas, leaving all the fire & brimstone stuff to the mere mortals.

As for JP: IMO, he was possibly the least original/innovative soloist during the formative years of hard rock. In fact, many would rightly label him a plagiarist. But that's not where his reputation principally lies - his unsurpassed strengths were in song- and riff-writing, and in his mastery of the studio and his ability to sculpt his vision, creating in just over two years the first four LZ albums, which proved to be the foundation of pretty much all the heavy rock that has followed.

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The biggest difference IMO between Page and Hendrix is the way they looked at their guitars. Jimmy's guitar was his guitar. Hendrix's guitar was an extension of his physical being. He played it like it was a part of himself, like it was his soul almost. As good as Page is, he can't play like that.

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The biggest difference IMO between Page and Hendrix is the way they looked at their guitars. Jimmy's guitar was his guitar. Hendrix's guitar was an extension of his physical being. He played it like it was a part of himself, like it was his soul almost. As good as Page is, he can't play like that.

Except maybe on Since I've Been Loving You.

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As much as I love that song, I would say not even then. It's a great solo, and very passionate, but listen to Hendrix doing the Star-Spangled Banner. That's the "something else" I'm talking about when I say he had something that Page doesn't.

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As much as I love that song, I would say not even then. It's a great solo, and very passionate, but listen to Hendrix doing the Star-Spangled Banner. That's the "something else" I'm talking about when I say he had something that Page doesn't.

And that something else is soul.

Having seen both Hendrix and Page live during the sixties, I think they both had that soul on target. Seeing Hendrix play live for the first time then, he seemed to commune with a very strong element of soul. But Page has had some soulful moments along the way as well.They are different.

Hendrix played an expanding wall of sound, like a mushroom cloud filling the arena. Maybe he relied more on distortion than Page did.There was something transformative about the way Hendrix played, and he improvised a lot.Hendrix personified a psychedelic sound.

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  • 2 years later...

Well, I never realized Jimi was the first to do so much with the guitar. But, there were still a lot of other good guitarists out there playing before Jimi went to England. I'm thinking of Page/Clapton/Beck/Townsend/K. Richards. What you're saying (I think) is despite these early players skill/creativity, Jimi Hendrix still rose above what was going on at that time to innovate a whole lot of new stuff. That makes sense. I never realized that and was always curious because I've NEVER seen a poll he is not #1 on lead guitarists.

leddy,

You have me curious about Eddie Van Halen. I'm going to have to head over to you tube and check his playing out. His band was not one I ever listened to, but of course I have heard of him and do remember "Jump"---his song right? If there is one epic Eddie Van Halen piece I should sample his playing style would you please post back what it is?

Thanks everyone for the input. smile.gif missy

Track called "Eruption" off their debut album Van Halen.

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Jimi Hendrix was the original innovator of the instrument first of all; second, few have played with the soul and emotion of Hendrix; third, he always took a chance, most of the time it worked but sometimes it was a train wreck and I admire that fact.

EVH has gotten way to big for his britches IMO as he has called both Page & Hendrix sloppy players. Yes, EVH is an amazing player but he is not in any way an innovator of the instrument, he did not invent two-handed tapping as that honor goes to George Van Eps in the 50's; Steve Hackett & Carlos Santana in 1970. I would not even rank EVH in the top 10 since I believe creativity should trump technique but that is just my opinion. Sure, he did some pretty interesting stuff on the first four albums but again, anything post Women & Children First is just the same old same old repeated with a slightly different structure. Again, I don't hate the man and I think him a great guitarist, I just don't like arrogance and talking shit about other players which seems to be the trademark of EVH. You don't hear Vai or Satriani talking shit and they are FAR better players than EVH could ever hope to be as far as technique is concerned.

Hendrix & Page flew by the seat of their pants regarding the instrument, not giving two shits if the attempt failed because they knew if they pulled it off it would be worth it and that IMO is what makes a great guitarist. That is why Hendrix is #1, he edges out Page for two reasons, he invented so much and every note he played was played as if were ripped directly from his soul. Just listen to Machine Gun once and you will know why Jimi is #1, that was recorded in 69' and released in 70' on the Band of Gypsies live album...at the END of his career!

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EVH has acknowledged that he was indeed influenced by Jimmy Page and saw Jimmy Page at the Forum in '72.

He saw JP use his finger as a nut on the Heartbreaker solo and thought of the possibilities if he used that.

EVH also acknowledges that while Eric Clapton was his ultimate hero his style was far more like JP in a reckless abandon way.

"Falling down the stairs and landing on his feet" is how he described it.

What is always forgotten is quite how much an influence EVH is not just on playing but that actual evolution of the instrument.

Just look at his Frankenstrat....he couldn't buy what he heard in his head so he built it and revolutionised it, Floyd Roses, locking nuts et al.

Also fitting a variac etc in his Marshall when he was playing the clubs...a true innovator who moved the sonic landscape of the guitar on a quantum leap.

We can't blame EVH for what came after him.

Truly a special talent...my own personal favourite.

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A "great" rock guitarist must be:

Influential A "great" guitarist changes the way people look at guitar, and makes folks say "I want to play rock guitar".

Innovative A "great" guitarist does things with his instrument that no one has done before. He opens up new possibilities for other players.

Evocative A "great" guitarist has to "bring it" live. They have to make you "feel" it when you go to their shows

Advantage: Hendrix.

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Whenever I play Hendrix I always think that he's proof of alien life existing.

No one played like him before or after, he did what all great guitar players do, they are influenced by their peers /heroes and give it their own unique twist. Hendrix took it places that no one did before him and no one after.

My point with EVH was exactly that, perhaps I rambled too much but EVH took what was around him and gave it his unique twist on it.

The brilliance of JP was in the use of the instrument for composing rather than any form of guitar Olympics which can leave me cold.

Just listen to the LZII multitracks for Whole Lotta Love for example and that explains it far more eloquently than I can. Awesome.

Someone like Vai can probably play everything EVH and JP can, does it make him the best? No...still great but no.

Do I like Chinese, Indian or Italian best? Answer: I love them all...that's the point.

Sorry for rambling!! I love so many guitarists for so many different reasons.

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  • 3 weeks later...

A lot of what it has to do with is a legacy factor. When someone rather revolutionary dies, they gain a huge and notable historical following. Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy, for instance, both were shot - look how famous they are to this day -- and their rankings. FDR even died as president. Were they bad presidents? Of course not. Was Hendrix a terrible guitar player? Not at all. So it's a combination of skill as well as sympathy and legacy.

But you'll notice - both Hendrix and Zeppelin are ranked pretty darn high on the R&R charts. And who's to say the authors of these charts are necessarily correct? I believe everyone should think as individuals and not follow some cliche posed by some Rolling Stone listing written by a guy trying to please everybody. And keep in mind, a lot of it is from the majority of naive fans who augment these polls. I think they are relatively accurate to most opinions but not what I 100% agree with.

And to be honest, what do you hear more played on the radio? Led Zeppelin or Jimi Hendrix? For me, the choice is obvious.

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I just listened to Hendrix 1st 3 albums in order last night, and listened to Zeppelin's 1st 3 albums in order right after - to my ears, Jimmy Page wins hands down, I find the things Page was doing was more innovative to be honest for the time, the styles that Page plays was far more diverse to my ears, and I found that Page understood feelings and mood the light and shade better. Jimmy Page wins for me!

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  • 4 months later...

.....seriously?

One dude who puts out 3 albums in 1 1/2 years as the primary creative force*. All songs on the his debut are his compositions.

vs

A band that put out 3 albums in 3 years, with jimmy at best being 1/2 the creative force in 4 piece band. 5/9 of the debut album songs are covers.

*mitch mitchell = baddass, but noel redding was an epic black hole.

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