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Why do many consider Jimi Hendrix the best guitarist ever?

Thoughts_ArriveThoughts_Arrive Melbourne, Australia Posts: 15,165
edited February 2010 in Other Music
Not that I am saying he shouldn't be, he was awesome.
It's just that there are so many out there that I can think of that could be #1...
Clapton, Satriani, Hammett, Page, Van Halen......
What makes Jimi stand out as the best?
Adelaide 17/11/2009, Melbourne 20/11/2009, Sydney 22/11/2009, Melbourne (Big Day Out Festival) 24/01/2014
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  • PontikasPontikas Posts: 210
    You should check out Paul Gilbert or George Lynch on youtube.... they are amazing too
    http://youtu.be/cwPgXkNOun4
  • youngsteryoungster Boston Posts: 6,576
    Partly because all the guitarists you mentioned have hailed Jimi as being the best. He opened so many doors musically that it's hard to say he wasn't. Sure there are different styles of playing, but Jimi was just unreal in what he could do. Hard to imagine if he were still around how much more of an influence he would have been.
    He who forgets will be destined to remember.

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  • bsicchieribsicchieri Posts: 1
    I´m pretty sure that if you ask to those guys, Clapton, Satriani, Hammett, Page, Van Halen, Slash, Townsend, etc, who is/ was the best guitarrist in the world, they will probably going to say Jimi.
  • StickmanJamStickmanJam Posts: 425
    In Clapton's biography (which is great and I highly recommend to any Clapton fans) he said that the first time he saw Jimi play he was "terrified" because he saw the bar being raised in front of his eyes, and a guy in Hendrix changing how the instrument was played in what Clapton thought was impossible for him to keep up with.

    High Praise.

    For me, it's just he seems to always hit the right notes at the right time, and they just really hit home and something about his playing is so visceral, the only one I've ever found that could bring out those same emotions was Stevie Ray Vaughan, who was highly inspired by Hendrix. (aren't all guitarists?)

    anyways, my two cents.
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  • boroff89boroff89 Posts: 786
    For me, it's all about the power of the feeling the guitarists create within me when I hear them play. Nobody hits me harder than Jimi. Every note is just perfect. The only other guitarist that comes close is Stevie Ray Vaughn.
    It makes much more sense to live in the present tense.
  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,430
    I don't care what anybody says... Jimmy, not Jimi, is the best
  • musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
    we went through this on a Jimi Hendrix appreciation thread not too long ago. basically, it boils down to this: the 1960's were a scary and turbulent time. I am sure to many it easily felt like we were on the verge of some huge civil war, and quite honestly, we came pretty damn close. a huge part of why jimi remains so essential, is the fact he provided a soundtrack to all the "insaneness" of the decade. Watch the clip of the woodstock star spangled banner. that is indeed, how it sounds in real life. complete with bombs, and sirens. Watch machine gun at 4:19 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV74PsUo1dc to play like that is unreal, its unbelievable.

    ultimately, you get him or you dont. if you can honestly sit there and say what Jimi did was maudlin, or easy or whatever, you may need to check into a mental hospital today.

    jimi distilled the feelings and desires and worries and fears of the 1960's, and played them with him guitar.


    and I would amend the original question. Its not many who say it, its most. He flat out is the greatest guitarist ever, no doubt, no argument, no question. As Neil said, there is no one even in the same building as that guy.

    there has never been nor will there ever be another guitarist like jimi. he was a once in a lifetime, once in our earths lifetime guitarist. he was that good. to talk about him in less glowing terms would be selling him and ourselves short.
  • musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
    Thoughts_Arrive wrote:
    Not that I am saying he shouldn't be, he was awesome.
    It's just that there are so many out there that I can think of that could be #1...
    Clapton, Satriani, Hammett, Page, Van Halen......
    What makes Jimi stand out as the best?


    all those guys are great guitarists, but as I said, if you dont sense a difference between jimi and all those other guys, check your pulse friend. Jimi made you FEEL! How does one describe the horror of seeing friends on the block drafted, and then come home in a body bag? How does one describe the feeling of your entire generation being murdered as a result of that atrocious war in vietnam? The feeling of the race riots? The world being split apart in 1968? All one has to do is listen to jimi. the feeling is there. its in the goddamn notes for gods sake. he doesnt need to say a word, its in the notes!
  • musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
    additionally as someone posted already, all those other "great guitarists" are almost unianimous in their own opinions that jimi is the greatest guitarist in history.

    the question isnt asked in the right way. its not, "what evidence exists to prove jimi is the greatest", the burden of proof should be on the petitioner.

    the question is "WHAT EVIDENCE DO YOU HAVE TO SUGGEST ANOTHER GUITARIST IS BETTER THAN JIMI"?
  • musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
    DewieCox wrote:
    I don't care what anybody says... Jimmy, not Jimi, is the best

    jimmy would disagree. he has said the greatest guitarist ever was jimi.
  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,430
    musicismylife78 wrote:
    additionally as someone posted already, all those other "great guitarists" are almost unianimous in their own opinions that jimi is the greatest guitarist in history.

    the question isnt asked in the right way. its not, "what evidence exists to prove jimi is the greatest", the burden of proof should be on the petitioner.

    the question is "WHAT EVIDENCE DO YOU HAVE TO SUGGEST ANOTHER GUITARIST IS BETTER THAN JIMI"?

    Page can serve a song 100x better than Hendrix, plays in endless styles, plenty of emotion on tap, though in a different way than Hendrix, Led Zeppelin
  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,430
    musicismylife78 wrote:
    DewieCox wrote:
    I don't care what anybody says... Jimmy, not Jimi, is the best

    jimmy would disagree. he has said the greatest guitarist ever was jimi.

    Point me to the interview where he said that. Page isn't the most humble of axe slingers and in the endless list of interviews with him I've seen the only thing I've read him say about Hendrix..."I wish I woulda made it to see him"
  • keeponrockinkeeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    Thoughts_Arrive wrote:
    Not that I am saying he shouldn't be, he was awesome.
    It's just that there are so many out there that I can think of that could be #1...
    Clapton, Satriani, Hammett, Page, Van Halen......
    What makes Jimi stand out as the best?
    This is all IMO
    Clapton has never played with the fire hendrix had.
    Satch, I'm just not into his style of playing.
    EVH was a shredder, never had the feel of Jimi.
    Hammet, different animals, but I don't think he touches Hendrix.
    Jimmy Page, although spectacular, didn't necessarily carry his band. He was a big part of the band, but JPJ, Bonham, and Robert Plant were just as big in that.
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,430
    keeponrockin wrote:
    Thoughts_Arrive wrote:
    Not that I am saying he shouldn't be, he was awesome.
    It's just that there are so many out there that I can think of that could be #1...
    Clapton, Satriani, Hammett, Page, Van Halen......
    What makes Jimi stand out as the best?
    This is all IMO
    Clapton has never played with the fire hendrix had.
    Satch, I'm just not into his style of playing.
    EVH was a shredder, never had the feel of Jimi.
    Hammet, different animals, but I don't think he touches Hendrix.
    Jimmy Page, although spectacular, didn't necessarily carry his band. He was a big part of the band, but JPJ, Bonham, and Robert Plant were just as big in that.

    I agree about Clapton and I never really put him up there with the top guys....
    VH gets a bad rap...probably the most recognizable guitar playing of anybody
    Hammet- tasteless shredding...Hetfield is the one that should be in this convo out of Metallica imo
    Page started the band, wrote the songs, called the shots.
  • musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
    additionally, and I say this having much respect for page. the guy is obviously hugely talented. that said, its common knowledge he was heavily into heroin in the late 1970's, 1976 or so. Anyone can go watch a video of Page at that time, and see his guitar playing suffered as a result. His guitar skills dwindled. hendrix never experienced that drop off. while he too was indulging in drugs, one cant say that his skills in 1970 were dropping off compared to how they were in 1967, in fact one can suggest quite the opposite, that by 1970, just months before his death he was playing guitar better than he ever had.

    the drop off in ability is the problem and elephant in the room here. Had Page never gotten so heavily into heroin in 1976, maybe his skills would have surpassed Hendrix, who knows. But I get the feeling, page's skills dropped off at that time and he has spent the better part of what 35 years now, trying to get himself back to where he was in 1972 or so. Few people are gonna beat the guy in a guitar playing contest in 2010, but he aint playing like he did in the early 70's, that jaw dropping power aint there.
  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,430
    musicismylife78 wrote:
    additionally, and I say this having much respect for page. the guy is obviously hugely talented. that said, its common knowledge he was heavily into heroin in the late 1970's, 1976 or so. Anyone can go watch a video of Page at that time, and see his guitar playing suffered as a result. His guitar skills dwindled. hendrix never experienced that drop off. while he too was indulging in drugs, one cant say that his skills in 1970 were dropping off compared to how they were in 1967, in fact one can suggest quite the opposite, that by 1970, just months before his death he was playing guitar better than he ever had.

    the drop off in ability is the problem and elephant in the room here. Had Page never gotten so heavily into heroin in 1976, maybe his skills would have surpassed Hendrix, who knows. But I get the feeling, page's skills dropped off at that time and he has spent the better part of what 35 years now, trying to get himself back to where he was in 1972 or so. Few people are gonna beat the guy in a guitar playing contest in 2010, but he aint playing like he did in the early 70's, that jaw dropping power aint there.

    I think there are plenty of bootlegs that show how sloppy Hendrix got b/c of the drugs. I've even read that people didn't wanna play with him b/c he would just get so blown on drugs.

    The last Euro tour for Zep, Page was on fire. Age and arthritis has caught up with him now. He did blow a bit in 77 though.
  • 12345AGNST112345AGNST1 Posts: 4,906
    Nobody plays a guitar like Jimi.
    5/28/06, 6/27/08, 10/28/09, 5/18/10, 5/21/10
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  • keeponrockinkeeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    DewieCox wrote:
    keeponrockin wrote:
    Thoughts_Arrive wrote:
    Not that I am saying he shouldn't be, he was awesome.
    It's just that there are so many out there that I can think of that could be #1...
    Clapton, Satriani, Hammett, Page, Van Halen......
    What makes Jimi stand out as the best?
    This is all IMO
    Clapton has never played with the fire hendrix had.
    Satch, I'm just not into his style of playing.
    EVH was a shredder, never had the feel of Jimi.
    Hammet, different animals, but I don't think he touches Hendrix.
    Jimmy Page, although spectacular, didn't necessarily carry his band. He was a big part of the band, but JPJ, Bonham, and Robert Plant were just as big in that.

    I agree about Clapton and I never really put him up there with the top guys....
    VH gets a bad rap...probably the most recognizable guitar playing of anybody
    Hammet- tasteless shredding...Hetfield is the one that should be in this convo out of Metallica imo
    Page started the band, wrote the songs, called the shots.
    I agree with you on Hammet.

    Page was huge, but I don't think Zep would be th e band they are without Bonham, JPJ, and Plant. John Paul Jones is in my mind one of the most underrated musicians of all time.
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • Johnny AbruzzoJohnny Abruzzo Philly Posts: 11,942
    musicismylife78 wrote:
    additionally, and I say this having much respect for page. the guy is obviously hugely talented. that said, its common knowledge he was heavily into heroin in the late 1970's, 1976 or so. Anyone can go watch a video of Page at that time, and see his guitar playing suffered as a result. His guitar skills dwindled. hendrix never experienced that drop off. while he too was indulging in drugs, one cant say that his skills in 1970 were dropping off compared to how they were in 1967, in fact one can suggest quite the opposite, that by 1970, just months before his death he was playing guitar better than he ever had.

    the drop off in ability is the problem and elephant in the room here. Had Page never gotten so heavily into heroin in 1976, maybe his skills would have surpassed Hendrix, who knows. But I get the feeling, page's skills dropped off at that time and he has spent the better part of what 35 years now, trying to get himself back to where he was in 1972 or so. Few people are gonna beat the guy in a guitar playing contest in 2010, but he aint playing like he did in the early 70's, that jaw dropping power aint there.

    Hmmm - Achilles Last Stand was probably as good as Page ever sounded, and that was 1976. And I can feel tons of emotion from Since I've Been Loving You. Of course, Led Zep was never really a protest band.

    Hendrix was clearly the most innovative guitarist ever. That doesn't necessarily mean nobody could ever surpass him.

    I'm not saying Hendrix isn't the greatest; just that it's probably debatable.
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  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,430
    Johnny Abruzzo wrote:
    musicismylife78 wrote:
    additionally, and I say this having much respect for page. the guy is obviously hugely talented. that said, its common knowledge he was heavily into heroin in the late 1970's, 1976 or so. Anyone can go watch a video of Page at that time, and see his guitar playing suffered as a result. His guitar skills dwindled. hendrix never experienced that drop off. while he too was indulging in drugs, one cant say that his skills in 1970 were dropping off compared to how they were in 1967, in fact one can suggest quite the opposite, that by 1970, just months before his death he was playing guitar better than he ever had.

    the drop off in ability is the problem and elephant in the room here. Had Page never gotten so heavily into heroin in 1976, maybe his skills would have surpassed Hendrix, who knows. But I get the feeling, page's skills dropped off at that time and he has spent the better part of what 35 years now, trying to get himself back to where he was in 1972 or so. Few people are gonna beat the guy in a guitar playing contest in 2010, but he aint playing like he did in the early 70's, that jaw dropping power aint there.

    Hmmm - Achilles Last Stand was probably as good as Page ever sounded, and that was 1976. And I can feel tons of emotion from Since I've Been Loving You. Of course, Led Zep was never really a protest band.

    Hendrix was clearly the most innovative guitarist ever. That doesn't necessarily mean nobody could ever surpass him.

    What makes him the most innovative? He, like every guitarist is a product of the stuff they've heard before. He got the feedback from Buddy Guy, the reverse echo(invented by Page)he got from all the early/mid 60s pop albums, his funky/bluesy style from his early nameless touring days . He was able to expand on alotta the ideas he used, but he never really had to put them into a context where they didn't fit before. He made all super loud and messy, but The Who and Cream did that before, too.

    I'm mostly playing devil's advocate here....though Page is/will always be #1 for me. Hendrix is like 1.2 and Gilmour 1.6
  • craigbcraigb Posts: 806
    DewieCox wrote:
    I don't care what anybody says... Jimmy, not Jimi, is the best

    Wise words from Mr. Cox.
    "Speak clearly if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall"

    Los Angeles 10.7.2009
  • musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
    DewieCox wrote:
    musicismylife78 wrote:
    additionally, and I say this having much respect for page. the guy is obviously hugely talented. that said, its common knowledge he was heavily into heroin in the late 1970's, 1976 or so. Anyone can go watch a video of Page at that time, and see his guitar playing suffered as a result. His guitar skills dwindled. hendrix never experienced that drop off. while he too was indulging in drugs, one cant say that his skills in 1970 were dropping off compared to how they were in 1967, in fact one can suggest quite the opposite, that by 1970, just months before his death he was playing guitar better than he ever had.

    the drop off in ability is the problem and elephant in the room here. Had Page never gotten so heavily into heroin in 1976, maybe his skills would have surpassed Hendrix, who knows. But I get the feeling, page's skills dropped off at that time and he has spent the better part of what 35 years now, trying to get himself back to where he was in 1972 or so. Few people are gonna beat the guy in a guitar playing contest in 2010, but he aint playing like he did in the early 70's, that jaw dropping power aint there.

    I think there are plenty of bootlegs that show how sloppy Hendrix got b/c of the drugs. I've even read that people didn't wanna play with him b/c he would just get so blown on drugs.

    The last Euro tour for Zep, Page was on fire. Age and arthritis has caught up with him now. He did blow a bit in 77 though.

    i dont know. i have watched that Led Zeppelin like 3 or 4 disc set that came out a few years back with complete performances from a couple of shows, and the later years page was way different than the page we saw in 1972 or so. Again, he still was an unreal guitarist, but the Jimmy of 75 and 79 was way different, its pretty self evident.

    Hendrix kept it pretty well together until the end there. It was clear he was moving to a more blues oriented sound, evident both in his shows in 1970, and of course from the Blues album, but even those things and shows, he still had amazing prowess on the axe, while still being sort of softer and quieter in many ways. The jimi of 1970, wasnt playing with his teeth anymore, or lighting his axe on fire, but he sure wasnt acting ridiculous on stage or anything either.


    it would be an interesting argument for sure. there is no question about the drug use by page. and there really is no question about the timing of it. how led's last few albums arent as well recieved as their earlier work. one could argue that, in some ways, it was due to jimmy's use.

    What caused Jimmy's playing to be altered from 1975 on, if not drugs? Again, his playing is different, at the legendary madison square garden show in 1973, and then the Knobwerth show in 1979 supporting an album that was poorly recieved. What caused this change in playing? Why was he a better player in 73?
  • musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
    my statements on jimmy page are said with sadness. how unbelieveable was this guy, when you watch that show in 1973. how flawless was he? And then to see how he tapered off? Its sad. the way he was going, like I said, he may have surpassed jimi. something happened to him, and I am inclined to believe its the drugs
  • musicismylife78musicismylife78 Posts: 6,116
    Dewie Cox- RS Cameron Crowe 1975 interview with Page

    Do you have any favorite American Guitarists?

    Page: Well, lets see, we've lost the best guitarist any of us ever had, and thats Hendrix.
  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,430
    musicismylife78 wrote:
    Dewie Cox- RS Cameron Crowe 1975 interview with Page

    Do you have any favorite American Guitarists?

    Page: Well, lets see, we've lost the best guitarist any of us ever had, and thats Hendrix.

    What the hells he know, anyway? Fuckin junkie!!!!!
  • craigbcraigb Posts: 806
    DewieCox wrote:
    musicismylife78 wrote:
    Dewie Cox- RS Cameron Crowe 1975 interview with Page

    Do you have any favorite American Guitarists?

    Page: Well, lets see, we've lost the best guitarist any of us ever had, and thats Hendrix.

    What the hells he know, anyway? Fuckin junkie!!!!!

    :o :( :?
    "Speak clearly if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall"

    Los Angeles 10.7.2009
  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,430
    craigb wrote:
    DewieCox wrote:
    musicismylife78 wrote:
    Dewie Cox- RS Cameron Crowe 1975 interview with Page

    Do you have any favorite American Guitarists?

    Page: Well, lets see, we've lost the best guitarist any of us ever had, and thats Hendrix.

    What the hells he know, anyway? Fuckin junkie!!!!!

    :o :( :?

    Only kidding...

    I dunno how anybody can watch the Earl's Court stuff and say he had lost it. I'd like to see Jimi try on In My Time of Dying, or play lead in multitude of alternate tunings.
  • SomethingCreativeSomethingCreative Kazoo, MI Posts: 3,396
    DewieCox wrote:
    I don't care what anybody says... Jimmy, not Jimi, is the best


    Page was as good, but not better IMO. The two of them together opened all the doors, not just Hendrix.

    also...about Page tapering off. He didn't, but lets pretend for a second that he did. Who's to say Hendrix wouldn't have done the same exact thing? I think if Page had died instead of Hendrix, he'd be held in the same regard that Hendrix is now. Much like Eddie is to Kurt Cobain.
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  • Thoughts_ArriveThoughts_Arrive Melbourne, Australia Posts: 15,165
    Voodoo child has fired me up, want to learn that song bad.
    Adelaide 17/11/2009, Melbourne 20/11/2009, Sydney 22/11/2009, Melbourne (Big Day Out Festival) 24/01/2014
  • HebejebeHebejebe Posts: 108
    Jimi is my favourite but the argument about who is best is a pointless one, though fun to argue :)

    For what it's worth I'd say that Jeff Beck may be the best. It's all in the hands baby and he's getting better and better. The sounds he gets from just a strat and an overdriven amp is all from his hands, he stopped using a pick. He does use a wah wah but that's about it. He is truly a master.

    "Jeff Beck is compelled by his inner artistic drive to keep evolving the instrument. He'll use the whammy bar with the volume knob and the tone control all at the same time - creating harmonics that no human being should be able to hit." - Steve Vai
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