Tuesday, September 18, 2007

 

This Day in the History of Early, Unnecessary Deaths


On this day in 1970, pioneering guitarist Jimi Hendrix died at the age of 27, following a sleeping pill overdose in London. He was a screaming eagle of the 101st Airborne Division from 1959 to 1961, but an injury ended his military career and loosed the Seattle native on the music world, on which he burst big time in 1967 with two albums. Left handed, he played a right handed Fender Stratocaster upside down. A lot of people call him the greatest rock guitarist ever. I like Jeff Beck a lot but I usually don't disagree.

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Eddie Kramer, the engineer / producer of Jimi's records, has told me that Beck smokes everybody that he has ever worked with.....I found that to be a profound statement.

Of interest...Jimi was actually alive when the ambulance picked him up, and died en route to hospital....negligence on the part of the paramedics is apparent....as they failed to care for him when he aspirated.

For all of the accomplished musicians that have graced the earth, Jimi opened the door and married technology to virtuosity. technically there were and are players that are more adroit than he on the guitar.....but his marrying of sheer volume, feedback, harmonics, effects, and musical sensibility, will never, ever be matched again.

he was the Christopher Columbus of electric rock guitar.
 
Yeah, I read the "failed to support the neck" report. Other accounts have that he was dead a long time when the ambulance arrived. Tough to tell now. I agree about the Christopher Columbus of rock guitar, which is why I used the word pioneering. I don't disagree about Jimi being the greatest because he's dead and Jeff is alive, no other reason.
 
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