Fuck the Hendrix comparisons

[Rikk]

Well, obviously to all of your censoring bigots here its quite clear Eddie was the better dude. Why? He was white of course.

You are an angry little woman.

[Rikk]

Hendrix was amazing. Just one listen to the layers of funky guitars on some of the unfinished masters from the FIRST RAYS OF THE NEW RISING SUN sessions proves why.

I see no need to compare. I just know that I can think of no one else in rock 'n' roll when it comes to electric guitar who was more innovative than Hendrix or Van Halen. I will also say that in terms of tone, endless talent, composition and imagination, they are both peerless...yet somehow equal to me. I have listened to 100s of recordings of EVH and 1000s of recordings of Hendrix (in four years, he recorded SO much). They both were an endless supply of greatness. Hendrix was a complete chemical fuck-up, unfortunately...and he died young for it. He was also incredibly taken advantage of by people who were bleeding him dry. If he had, however, lived past that early career, his would have been a bit easier of a professional career...for the simple reason that he was able to sing. He was not the greatest singer in the world, but his voice had charisma...and soul. He didn't have to spend years of his life fighting with an equal partner over musical direction or what professional step to take next. Unfortunately, this also meant that he would not have had perhaps as much of an impetus to keep his career in a commercial direction...but maybe for him, a true bluesman, this would have been a good thing.

The one thing he REALLY did not have was an Alex. Right or wrong, Alex was there to be on Eddie's side and protect him. Jimi had no one like this. He was truly lonely. Hell, we are quite sure he was alone in that girl's apartment when he suffocated on his own vomit.

Both guys were socially-awkward (though Eddie moreso) and both guys lived to just sit and play their guitars. And both guys spent their whole lives heading towards the ultimate goal of building their own laboratories in which they could cook up their own ideas to perfection on their own time. Jimi's was Electric Lady in New York. Eddie's was 5150 in his own backyard. Jimi got to use his for about three months in the summer of 1970. Eddie got to enjoy his for 37 years (though we currently don't know how much time he spent in there during the last 1-2 years, though I wouldn't be surprised if he & Wolf did spend some time out there the last couple of years organizing the archives and making some plans...got a big thread I want to start on this soon).

And now, BOTH geniuses are gone. I have no problem with people saying they prefer one of these geniuses over the other.

Both of them rock my world.

Both of them were absolutely brilliant...with endless amazing music, playing, tone, creativity...and as I said, imagination. And Jimi accomplished so much in four short years. Eddie accomplished so much...but he also WASTED a lot of time. Let's hope his archives are full of so many fucking goodies that we can enjoy the kind of posthumous career Jimi's fans have enjoyed.

Jimi's estate gets made fun of so much for releasing endless studio and live material as if they've been continually scraping the bottom-of-the-barrel. But the truth is, most of the studio (and live) material that has come out has been fucking top notch. The trilogy of full studio albums that have come out in the last decade (2010's VALLEYS OF NEPTUNE, 2013's PEOPLE, HELL & ANGELS and 2018's BOTH SIDES OF THE SKY) presented some of Jimi's most amazing playing and some really creative jams and undiscovered masters or studio outtakes or alternate takes.

I respect people not loving to see one of these two guys lumped in with their preferred player (Eddie or Jimi). I can only say, as a GIANT fan of both, that I am consistently amazed by the work that has been released or continues to be released by both players. In fact, it's kind of mind-blowing that since Eddie released one studio LP, Jimi has had two more (both longer albums) released. And since 1998 (VAN HALEN III), with only one more full studio LP released by Van Halen, multiple albums and two multi-CD box sets of unreleased material have been released by the Jimi estate, full of goodies.

Jimi's greatness goes way beyond ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? (which is, funny enough, possibly not even in the Top 10 of my favorite Jimi releases)...and Eddie's greatness goes way beyond 1978's brilliant album, VAN HALEN.

Both changed music. Both changed the guitar. Both changed people's lives. Both recorded SO MUCH music and wrote SO MUCH material. One had a 4+ year career. The other had a 40+ year career.

I cherish the recordings I have of both geniuses...

Though it is annoying that one of them has a lot of great playing brought a bit down by some cheesehead cunt singing about:
...wanting things to be love.
...calling people up on the spank line.
...putting cherries on a guy's banana
...wanting to know when it happens to be love, which is apparently when you feel it and that you only know that it's forever.
...having sex until one is apparently black and blue, though that sounds like some of the fights I had in school so it actually doesn't really sound that appealing.
...wanting to know when love is not enough, because, remember, love hurts you sometimes and it's not so easy to find...no.
...things that are feelin', and you have to remember that he doesn't like what he's been told he's feelin' (this singer is, I think, allergic to the letter G).
...wanting people to realize that they can't stop lovin' him, no matter what they say or do and that their heart is true...and his poo is blue...and her name is Sue...and Ray said it's true...and ooooh ooooh ooooh ooooh.
...wanting people to stop telling him what love can do, because he knows the damage done and knows the shotgun...and it's fun...to go for a run...and a setting sun...and sometimes it's nice to use puns...and he has the runs...and he is certainly not the one...
...reminding people of that time when love walks in which apparently has something to do with aliens.
...reminding people that they have their dreams which is also apparently when they go higher and higher.
...remembering things that are good enough to UH!!!.
...making sure to remember that time that is so awesome when one...gets up.

SEE? I can't fucking get over Hagar!!! I'm sorry! All those years wasted. All those wasted songs. So much good music. Couldn't those four albums just be instrumental albums? I would have been fine with that.

Sorry...I'm ruining my post.

My point is...I respect people's tastes and preferences. Me and most of my male friends enjoy vaginas. But I have a few male friends who enjoy penises...and I really don't give a shit. Heck, I don't want to see my straight friends having sex. My point is, what people prefer is fine by me.

But BOTH Eddie & Jimi are fucking brilliant. I see no need to say one is better. They both broke so much ground and changed everything for the guitar. I'm glad I can listen to them both whenever I want. It's kinda fucked that there are multiple Jimi concerts that are pro-shot in HD I can enjoy...but not much to watch of Eddie, especially with Dave (though HardRock's recent brilliant HD editing job of the final gig at the Hollywood Bowl is going to be a regular in my projection home-theater...I'm going to be thanking him regularly for years for that).

The only thing I can't believe is that from now on, anytime I hear anything new from Eddie...

IT WILL BE A POSTHUMOUS RELEASE. I saw this coming. I just cannot believe it is true.

EDDIE and JIMI are both absolutely amazing.

[FORD]

Well, obviously to all of your censoring bigots here its quite clear Eddie was the better dude. Why? He was white of course.

Actually he was half Asian.

[Nickdfresh]

I have no musical talent but I have ears. I've never understood why anyone thinks Jimi was anything special. Maybe it is on a technical musical level, but to me it sounds like just incoherent noise.

You sound like every incoherent dad circa 1970-something as the old man you have become. Those with real ears can hear confusion, menace, fear, hatred, etc. It was an affect. Hendrix was painting a canvas with the feedback. Maybe go yell at some clouds or something old boy...

[ZahZoo]

Incoherent noise... ha! Here... spend 7:25 minutes, no feedback, no studio gimmicks, just a jam...

[Seshmeister]

Great post Rikk, reminds me of this scene...

[Rikk]

Incoherent noise... ha! Here... spend 7:25 minutes, no feedback, no studio gimmicks, just a jam...

And can you believe the origin of this amazing piece of music? Literally, he and his power trio (Billy Cox & Mitch) were winding down after cutting the master of the brilliant DOLLY DAGGER (well, they also had Juma on percussion, if my memory is serving me well)...and then Jimi starts playing this simple riff, Billy joins him, Mitch starts playing too, Juma also playing percussion. They jam it for almost 10 minutes. Jimi puts on a bit more guitar...and voila, a completely spontaneous masterpiece. I love PALI GAP. I wish I could say it's been years since I heard this...but I was on a Jimi kick last month and blared this cut while making dinner. (I love that it was posthumously named PALI GAP to make it fit in more with the silly RAINBOW BRIDGE film concept...make it sound Hawaii.)

[Rikk]

Great post Rikk, reminds me of this scene...

Thanks, Sesh!

I still can't believe this brilliant scene was not in the original cut of the film. It was considered too risque.

[78/84 guy]

Their both top of the mountain. If you only get one over the other I guess it's a matter of taste. And some ignorance.

[78/84 guy]

Well, obviously to all of your censoring bigots here its quite clear Eddie was the better dude. Why? He was white of course.

Pathetic. The cunt continues to rule the Roth Army with her cunt mouth. I can only imagine the stink....

[chub_bub]

you're an angry little woman too...

now come over here and suck chub's chub! (like a real woman would) - part of a nutritious breakfast, lunch, AND dinner.

[chub_bub]

What I'm more tired of hearing, is that Gene Simmons "discovered" Van Halen.

gene simmons is just mad because even though his tongue is sizable as fuck, he's never been able to make any woman cum. or man. he's just sexually inadequate.

i mean, so am i... but FUCK GENE SIMMONS that's what we're talking about. can't believe they used call shit by kiss "metal"... seriously? my grandma listens to that shit to go to bed. if anything it belongs in the same genre as the carpenters. it's faggot easy-listening bullshit.

[Terry]

I wouldn't even make a "who is better" case between Ed and Hendrix to begin with. Mostly because musicianship, to me, isn't athletics.

Beyond that, it's along the lines of what ZahZoo said. Hendrix and Eddie were of different times.

And like Hardrock69 said, regardless of if one cares for Hendrix or not, Hendrix revolutionized rock guitar. Sure, people like Beck and Townshend had been messing around with feedback a couple years before Hendrix released his first record. But Hendrix was a game-changer in terms of the totality of his style, technique, showmanship...

Van Halen was, as has been said, a game-changer in terms of rock guitar much like Hendrix had been a decade earlier.

But I listen to Hendrix and Van Halen for different things. Within the rock genre, I don't think there's much by way of comparison between what Hendrix was doing and Van Halen were doing because stylistically they aren't similar. Hendrix and Van Halen were doing different things.

[ppg960]

Hendrix took a rock guitar a step closer to hard edge rock. BUT EVH changed everything about guitar. The LA music scene, Hard rock, riffs, arpeggios, tapping etc.... Just the sound on VH1 is nothing anyone ever heard before. Not even Blackmore, Page, Hendrix etc... made sounds like Eddie did. VH 1 is the best debut album ever-no question / no contest

[Nickdfresh]

As a general comment here, Hendrix was a great artist and player in his own way. But the similarities between Ed and Jimi erode after the obvious that they were both virtuosos that influenced others playing their instrument. I think what pisses people off here is the rather ignorant perception that somehow Ed just usurped Jimi's legacy or something. They were two very different players with different, distinctive styles. Eddie was influenced by Hendrix but then again, Hendrix was heavily influenced by Pete Townsend's style of using feedback and playing an overall blend of lead and rhythm guitar, to the point that Townsend chased him down on a few occasions and chided him for it...