I reject your notion that Hendrix was the best. There are so many great guitarists out there, but the one for me...the one who could play anything and for whom it was seemingly most effortless, it will always be:
I've heard Flagpole is up there. Maybe I heard it from him?
Nope. I am an average guitarist. Mostly because I hit a level I am happy with and don't practice to get better. I PLAY every day, but I don't PRACTICE. I didn't start playing guitar until age 30, so it's never been my main instrument.
If we were talking about piano/keyboards, then I'm still not in the top 2, but I'm a LOT closer to top 2 there than at guitar.
You are too modest, Flagpole. On the piano, I would definitely put you top 2 with Greg at number 1 by a bunch.
Nope. I am an average guitarist. Mostly because I hit a level I am happy with and don't practice to get better. I PLAY every day, but I don't PRACTICE. I didn't start playing guitar until age 30, so it's never been my main instrument.
If we were talking about piano/keyboards, then I'm still not in the top 2, but I'm a LOT closer to top 2 there than at guitar.
You are too modest, Flagpole. On the piano, I would definitely put you top 2 with Greg at number 1 by a bunch.
Actually, it is not fair to you to be compared to Greg because he is a professional pianist.
Why would you pick Hendrix #1? Are you a guitarist? Or do you just pick him because everyone else does? Why is he #1?
Hendrix was #1 back in the day, but dozens of hs kids can match him today.
You can ask people the best drummer of all time, the best vocalist of all time, the best trumpeter of all time, and you would have no consensus. Many of each would be named number 1. But with Hendrix, it is almost expected to have Hendrix at Number 1.
Here's the opening track off of my weird, moody, west coast jazz-alt album, "Straw Poll"....played in a trio format, obviously I'm playing all the parts. Pu...
Why would you pick Hendrix #1? Are you a guitarist? Or do you just pick him because everyone else does? Why is he #1?
Hendrix was #1 back in the day, but dozens of hs kids can match him today.
That is the problem with these threads. You cannot come up with a GOAT just by judging every guitarist by 2024 standards. That ends up completely minimizing if not dismissing the amount of innovation and ground breaking the guitarist is responsible for. You can knock on the door of any practice room at Berklee and find a guitarist who can play Hendrix better than Hendrix could. But that guy will never do for the guitar what Hendrix did back in his day.
I think the case for Hendrix as the GOAT is pretty solid. He was a musical genius. He picked up a guitar as a teen age and taught himself how to play. After his military service, he jumped around playing in different bands in Tennessee. He would see another guitar player do a trick or play a fancy lick and would just pick it up on the spot and use it in his playing. He rose up the ranks and in just 3 years was playing with the Isley Brothers and Little Richard. He was just 25 when he recorded all of his most famous songs with the Jimi Hendrix Experience. So, he went from a self taught guitar player doing gigs to get money for food and rent to a legend in barely five years.
Hendrix was #1 back in the day, but dozens of hs kids can match him today.
That is the problem with these threads. You cannot come up with a GOAT just by judging every guitarist by 2024 standards. That ends up completely minimizing if not dismissing the amount of innovation and ground breaking the guitarist is responsible for. You can knock on the door of any practice room at Berklee and find a guitarist who can play Hendrix better than Hendrix could. But that guy will never do for the guitar what Hendrix did back in his day.
I think the case for Hendrix as the GOAT is pretty solid. He was a musical genius. He picked up a guitar as a teen age and taught himself how to play. After his military service, he jumped around playing in different bands in Tennessee. He would see another guitar player do a trick or play a fancy lick and would just pick it up on the spot and use it in his playing. He rose up the ranks and in just 3 years was playing with the Isley Brothers and Little Richard. He was just 25 when he recorded all of his most famous songs with the Jimi Hendrix Experience. So, he went from a self taught guitar player doing gigs to get money for food and rent to a legend in barely five years.
Your whole post never said WHY Hendrix should be considered the best of time. You said he was "a musical genius" but give no reasons why. You are spewing just stuff. Why is he the greatest?
I think the problem is the lack of parameters set forth as to what would constitute the "best of all time" designation, and it is too nebulous.
One could approach it from most technically proficient, most innovative, most expressive, most influential, or most popular.
Clearly, Hendrix ranks high in most all of these, and quick surveys would usually find him mentioned most.
The thing is, the more you approach Rock from the perspective of an art form, the less the ranking makes sense. Art is just too diverse in what the artist set out to do, so how can a fair comparison be made?
But it is fun to talk about, nonetheless. And it is easier to compare them if you were to reduce what you are evaluating to technical ability, fwiw.
That is the problem with these threads. You cannot come up with a GOAT just by judging every guitarist by 2024 standards. That ends up completely minimizing if not dismissing the amount of innovation and ground breaking the guitarist is responsible for. You can knock on the door of any practice room at Berklee and find a guitarist who can play Hendrix better than Hendrix could. But that guy will never do for the guitar what Hendrix did back in his day.
I think the case for Hendrix as the GOAT is pretty solid. He was a musical genius. He picked up a guitar as a teen age and taught himself how to play. After his military service, he jumped around playing in different bands in Tennessee. He would see another guitar player do a trick or play a fancy lick and would just pick it up on the spot and use it in his playing. He rose up the ranks and in just 3 years was playing with the Isley Brothers and Little Richard. He was just 25 when he recorded all of his most famous songs with the Jimi Hendrix Experience. So, he went from a self taught guitar player doing gigs to get money for food and rent to a legend in barely five years.
Your whole post never said WHY Hendrix should be considered the best of time. You said he was "a musical genius" but give no reasons why. You are spewing just stuff. Why is he the greatest?
Roy is told Hendrix is #1 so he believes it without question just like everything else he believes.
These lists are entirely subjective. Thinking Hendrix is better than Van Halen or Randy Rhoades or a dozen other virtuosos isn't based on anything other than personal preference.
Your whole post never said WHY Hendrix should be considered the best of time. You said he was "a musical genius" but give no reasons why. You are spewing just stuff. Why is he the greatest?
Roy is told Hendrix is #1 so he believes it without question just like everything else he believes.
These lists are entirely subjective. Thinking Hendrix is better than Van Halen or Randy Rhoades or a dozen other virtuosos isn't based on anything other than personal preference.
Agreed - heck Earnest Scruggs and Lester Platt might just be better guitarists than Hendrix. Did they play the banjo or guitar? LOL>