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Posts Tagged ‘Jimi Hendrix’

He was called Johnny Allen Hendrix or James Marshall Hendrix but was most popular known around the world to his fans as Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix was born in Seattle on November 27, 1942 and passed away in Sep 1970 putting him in the “27 Club”. The Club’s creation were the deaths of a seemingly unusual number of prominent 27-year-old musicians within a two-year period of time, exactly. These musicians include Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison.

Jimi Hendrix, even until now is well regarded as one of the most influential guitarist singer in the history of rock and roll music.

Hendrix first became well known in England, and then became famous worldwide after he played at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. He was a self taught guitarist and was usually seen performing with his Fender Stratocaster. As the hendrix was left-handed, he would play the guitar upside down with the strings attached in reverse order. In the year 2003, some three decades after he passed away, the Rolling Stone magazine named him the Greatest Guitarist Of All Time.

Hendrix had a hard childhood life as he grew up in a poor family and saw his parents divorced when he was only nine years of age. His mother passed away when he was only 16.

His love for guitar playing was so passionate that when he was 15, he finally managed to own a proper acoustic guitar for $5 from his father’s friend. His first electric guitar was a white Supro Ozark that his father had bought him. Since Jimi cannot afford to have proper guitar lessons, he picked up his guitar playing skills by watching the legendary greats like of Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley.

The Jimi never got to complete High School education and he told reporters in the late 1960′s that he had failed High School because people were racist there and did not like him because he was an African-American, although some people think that it was just because Jimi did not get good enough grades to continue his education.

The young was a Elvis Presley fan and he. He watched “The King” Elvis played life at Sick’s Stadium in Seattle on September 1, 1957. His admiration for Elvis stayed with him until his adult days. Even as an adult, he still loved Elvis.

Jimi also liked other musicians and bands such as Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and Lightning Hopkins. The young Hendrix even managed to get a gig to play alongside R&B star Little Richard. Unfortunately, Hendrix and Richard couldn’t get along and so, they fell out after onlyu a brief stint.

After being arrested for stealing cars two occasions, Jimi had to choose between going to prison for two years or joining the US Army and he chose the latter and entered military services on May 31, 1961. While in the army, his officers complained that he was often caught sleeping on duty and needed to be watched at all times. But it was his tenure in the army that he met another soldier and bass guitarist called Billy Cox to formed the band The King Kasuals.

Jimi\’s unique style of left handed playing on a guitar made for right-handed people made him a delight to watch. He later joined a band called The Velvetones, who played at the Yesler Terrace.

After leaving the army, Hendrix and Billy Cox moved together to Clarksville in Tennessee where they played in their group, The King Kasuals. They performed in small clubs and bars but they did not make much of an impact and so they moved to on to play in Nashville.

After the Nashville stint, Jimi moved on to Northern New York City to ply his trade. In 1964, he moved to Harlem where he played at bars and clubs there. He eventually won first prize in an amateur guitar contest at The Apollo Theatre.

In 1966, Hendrix formed his own band, Jimmy James and The Blue Flames instead of joining other bands. In 1966, he became friends with the girlfriend of Keith Richards, the lead guitarist for The Rolling Stones, Linda Keith. She liked Hendrix’ music and introduced him to Chas Chandler, the manager for The Animals. Chandler told Hendrix to write a rock version of the song “Hey Joe”. Subsequently, Chandler brought Hendrix to London to sign a contract with him and Jimi’s new band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience was borned.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience made its first album, “Are You Experienced?” in the year 1967. In June 4, 1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played their last concert in London before going to on to perform in America. Jimi has already hit big time and his audience in America included big guns in the music industry such Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Brian Epstein.

Jimi launched his second album “Axis : Bold As Love” in 1967. The album had famous songs in it, most famous being “Little Wing”. There have been several other versions of the song by other musicians like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Henry “Hank” Marrion, Metallica, Eric Clapton, Sting and Pearl Jam. The album reached number 3 in the US charts and number 5 in the UK charts.

In 1969, August 18, Hendrix played at the famous Woodstock concert taking the stage with world famous singers and musicians. Hendrix was supposed to play on Sunday evening, but did not arrive until Monday morning, which was unfortunate because of the half a million people who had paid to see him play, around one third had already left.

Hendrix then went on to play a two-hour concert that was described as awful. His band had not practiced enough and could not keep up with Hendrix’ fast guitar playing. But to make up for all of this, Hendrix played a version of Star Spangled Banner. He played this anthem with heavy distortion and screams from his guitar that people thought that he was being anti-American and was making fun of their anthem and country.

September 18, 1970, Jimi Hendrix was found dead in a basement of the Samarkand Hotel in London on September 18, 1970. It was said that he died after drinking too much and taking too many sleeping pills. He choked on his vomit and did not regain consciousness. He was buried in Renton, Washington in Greenwood Memorial Park on October 1 1970.

Author Bio: More free articles by Chris Chew at How To Play Guitar Lessons and Pro Singing Lesson

Article Source: http://bb-articles.com/the-story-of-legendary-guitarist-jimi-hendrix

Experience Hendrix – The Best of Jimi Hendrix [Import]

Amazon.co.uk Review

Experience Hendrix brings together the major singles with a stack of majestic album tracks and the career-defining live Woodstock version of “The Star Spangled Banner” on a fat 20-tracker. While best used as a sampler to direct new listeners to the immortal Are You Experienced, Electric Ladyland, and so on, the CD (which supplants the short-lived Ultimate Experience collection) does hang together as a listen. Its blend of Hendrix the rocker and Hendrix the und (more…)

Like many people born well after the 60s ended, I love the music of that era. It sounds much fresher to my ears than does most of the music recorded today. These seven bands are my most favorite.

(#1) The Beatles – Surprising pick, right? Sometimes conventional wisdom is on target. Yes, The Beatles really are the greatest band of all time (and thus, obviously, the best band of the 1960s.) Considering they recorded their final album, Abbey Road, in 1969 they are really a “purely 60s” band (unlike most on this list which went on to record more music into the 70s (and in some cases beyond.)

My favorite Beatles album is 1968′s self titled double album which is most well known as The White Album.

(#2) The Rolling Stones – Much of The Stones best music was recorded in the ’70s, not the ’60s but that being said they definitely recorded a huge amount of stone cold classics in the ’60s too.

(#3) The Who – Like The Stones, they recorded a lot of their best stuff in the ’70s. But then again they did recorded Tommy and a lot of their most famous singles (including “My Generation” of course) in the ’60s. The musicianship of this band always blows me away and I think they were the best live band of the decade. I definitely recommend getting the Live at Leeds CD, I think it’s the best live album ever.

(#4) The Jimi Hendrix Experience – They only released three albums (all of them in 1967 and 1968) but all three albums are absolute must have classics. I think my personal favorite is the final of the three: Electric Ladyland which is a real sprawling psychedelic double album that includes many different styles of music.

(#5) The Beach Boys – This selection isn’t entirely on the strength of Pet Sounds. They did release a lot of other great music that sometimes gets overshadowed by Pet Sounds. All of this being stated, this selection was made mostly because of the greatness of Pet Sounds (and the mystical Smile which was finally realized by Brian Wilson almost 40 years later.)

(#6) Pink Floyd – The ’60s Floyd of Syd Barrett was a different beast than the ’70s Floyd lead by David Gilmour & Roger Waters. 1967′s Piper at the Gates of Dawn is one of my all time favorite albums. I also highly recommend Syd Barrett’s two solo albums (they were both released in 1970) if you are into this sort of psychedelic pop music.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the 1970s Pink Floyd too especially Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and Animals but I don’t think the ’60s Barrett lead Floyd should be as overlooked as they are!

(#7) Led Zeppelin – Most people think of Zep as a ’70s band but they did release their first two albums in the ’60s and I actually prefer those ’60s albums over their ’70s work (although of course that was great stuff too.)

Author Bio: Mike Jensy recommends Jamorama Guitar Lessons for anyone who wants to learn how to play guitar like these 60s legends. He also recommends the Beatles Remastered Box Sets for all Beatles fans, they sound fantastic. Beatles Mono Box Set is truly amazing.

A friend of my named, Bob, was staying in Los Angeles in the spring of 1968 when I was seventeen years old. Bob asked me, “Would you drive me to a rock concert at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California? I’ll pay for the gas and buy you a ticket to the concert if you’ll take me.”

“Sure”, I replied, “Who’s playing?”

“It’s a really far out guy named Jimi Hendrix. He’s the most bitchin dude I’ve ever heard. His group is called The Jimi Hendrix Experience.”

“I’ve never heard of him, but that’s okay I always like to see the latest rock-and-roll. I’ll need to get a map to figure out how to drive there. That’s a really long drive and will probably take about two hours. ”

Bob was ecstatic; “Far out, I will score the tickets right away. Later.”

That week I spoke to a friend of mine named Clay and told him, “I’m going to be taking my friend Bob to a concert out in San Bernardino to see some guy named Jimi Hendrix.”

Clay exploded with, “You’ve got to take me with you. I just love Jimi Hendrix’s righteous music. I’ll buy a ticket and help pay for the gas if you will take me?”

“Solid,” I replied, “I always like going to a concert with a lot of people. So get your ticket and meet at my house this Saturday. I’m sure Bob will have no problems about your jamming with us.”

“I’m stoked. Catch you on Saturday,” Clay said.

The three of us gathered at my house early that Saturday afternoon, Bob had brought his 35 mm camera to record the event. We set out for our rock concert journey in my 1967 lime green Ford Mustang. Bob kept stating over and over, “Hendrix has just got to play my favorite song “Purple Haze” it’s the grooviest song I’ve ever heard. I can’t wait for you to be able to hear that song.”

Many hippies with their long hair, beads, feathers, leather and non-conformist attitude of peace and love, were gathered outside the Swing Auditorium, which looked like a high school gymnasium building. The three of us were far from being hippies; we were middle class not willing to live the free lifestyle, usually drug laden, that so many flower children were involved in. It was a typical rock concert to me except it was taking place in a very out of the way location; I was use to concerts taking place in Hollywood. My main concern at that moment was remembering where the car was parked so we could find it quickly after the concert.

The three of us entered the auditorium and were disheartened to see that it was open seating. There were no assigned seats so it was a free-for-all on where you sat. I really hated this type of concert seating because if you got up to go to the bathroom you would lose your seat or your place in the crowd. The auditorium had space for about 1000 people. Bob said, “I want to get as close to the stage as possible. Let’s make a beeline to the front of the stage.” I looked up and noticed a poster hanging next to the stage. It was a picture of a young black man with crazy hair, looking very arrogant and sexy. I only liked rock-and-roll music so I was beginning to think that I was going to hear black soul music.

There were folding chairs surrounding the outer perimeter of the stage. Toward the front of the stage there was no chairs, it was just an open floor for people to stand on. Bob led the two of us to the very front of the stage, pushing and shoving whoever was in his path. I was glad that there were two young men with me so that I would not be beat up or hassled by the fans. I knew that mild hippies could go berserk without too much provocation from my previous experience of being attacked, trampled by fans, and beaten up by police at previous concerts. It was impossible for us to talk because of the loud noise of the crowd. We staked out our positions at the front of the stage.

The fire marshal came out and made an announcement, “This concert is going to be canceled due to the fire hazard of so many people unruly in this auditorium. If you don’t sit down immediately we will close down this concert.”

Suddenly this black man came on to the darkened stage and yelled into the microphone, “Shut the fuck up, I want to play.” The entire auditorium went silent and everyone sat down immediately. “Who was that?” I couldn’t see who it was because of the darkness on the stage; I had never heard anything like this being said to an audience before.

The fire marshal came back and said to the crowd,” OK because you’re all cooperating we will let this concert continue.”

The lights came on the stage; there were already musical instruments set up just waiting for the performers to bring them to life. The crowd started going crazy with excitement. The three of us were being pushed very hard into the wall of the stage. The stage was approximately five feet high and I felt like a tomato being squished against the stage, I couldn’t get any closer unless I was on the stage. I was slightly separated by a few feet from Bob and Clay, but they were still within eye contact, it reassured me to see their faces as any moment I could be pushed down or trampled by the body’s pushing me into the stage.

From offstage came these two white men with crazy Afro’s looking like tendrils reaching into the universe, one sat at the drums, the other picked up a bass guitar to play. The anxiety of the crowd increased when out came the same black man I had seen on the poster. “So this is Jimi Hendrix,” I thought to myself. He was wearing maroon colored velvet pants with an embroidered jacket, beautifully spaced out hair and carrying a white guitar. He was smiling and spoke to the crowd, “Good evening everybody, it’s really cool that you all shut up so I could play. I just want to groove with you this evening. So let me just, ah, get you experienced.” I recognized the voice as the one who had said earlier “Shut the fuck up I want to play”.

The moment Jimi strummed the first note of the guitar the audience went crazy with excitement and I realized I was not going to see a Motown soul artist. I maintained my place next to the stage as the audience was so entranced by the music they were no longer pushing and shoving. Jimi started playing a song called, “Fire”. The sounds emanating from his guitar were like a foreign language to me, mysterious, beautiful, different and dangerous. Jimi contorted his face with each chord movement; it was like seeing the chords even if you didn’t know them. The music was so loud it physically penetrated my body. It was as though I had become the instrument that he was playing. I was moving to each sound he made without any control of my body.

The next song he played changed my life forever; it was called “Purple Haze”, just like Bob had promised it was one of the greatest songs I had ever heard. During this number the time came for his solo, Jimi started playing the guitar with his teeth! Jimi didn’t miss a single chord, the music was perfect. Never had I seen anybody play the guitar with his teeth. I was mesmerized by this performance. Next he flung his guitar behind his back and continued to play, never missing a note, his face was ecstatic. I did not know any of his music so each song was a revelation to me. To my left I saw Bob clicking away on his camera-taking photograph after photograph.

Just when I thought I had seen everything Jimi surprised me further, during the song “Are You Experienced?” Jimi started his solo and went down on his knees with his guitar between his legs, moving it back and forth along his crotch, simulating masturbation. I had never seen anything like this in my life. I couldn’t believe what he was doing in front of the crowd of people. It was as though his own music sexually stimulated him. When Jimi had finished the masturbation simulation he stood up and went over to the large speakers with his guitar in front of him. Jimi started slamming his body and the guitar up against the speakers as though he was having sex with them, never missing a chord of music. The more intense the music became the faster and harder he slammed into the speakers, it was as though the music was both ecstasy and agony for Jimi.

My body continued to vibrate as Jimi played on for the next 45 minutes. I could not consciously think as the music played, every fiber of my brain was filled with music the likes of which it had never experienced before or since. There were moments in the music where I felt like I was falling backwards in time, and then Jimi would propel me forward into outer space. It became evident why the group was called “The Jimi Hendrix Experience”; there was no way you could listen to the music without experiencing your life differently from that point on.

When the concert was over Jimi said to the crowd, “It was really groovy tonight, I’m glad I was able to share my music. I wish you all peace and love.” When he exited the stage the entire auditorium went ballistic begging him to come back, which he did. His encore was the climax of the evening for me, as he played “The Star Spangled Banner” unlike any version I had ever heard before. I could just feel the bombs bursting in air and the bullets flying by, as the sounds emanated from his guitar. How this one man captured the sound of war in his guitar was amazing, the mark of a true genius.

Jimi blew kisses to the audience as he and his band exited for the last time. He left like he entered, smiling. This man seemed to truly love what he was doing at that moment. I was still feeling stunned by this experience when Bob and Clay joined me. They were just delirious about the music. As we were exiting the building there were vendors selling two different albums by Jimi Hendrix. I had to purchase the albums right then and there; I did not want to go home without being able to take a part of that experience with me.

My ears were still ringing from the vibrations of the music. The three of us were very quiet on the drive back home. We were just letting what had happened to us absorb into our beings; we each knew that we had been changed by this experience.

This point was brought home to me the next day. I took my two prized Jimi Hendrix albums to my girlfriend Donna’s house so she could hear the incredible masterful music I had just been enlightened by the night before. “You’re really going to like this musician. He is like nothing you have ever heard before. I can’t get over this concert,” I told her while placing the album on the record player.

She sat quietly through the first two songs before she exclaimed, “Turn that music off. It sounds like Martian music.” She wanted her music to be simple and uncomplicated. I now resonated to a different vibration. I knew I was not the same young girl I had been before. My change was mirrored to me by my girlfriend’s reaction. My consciousness had been altered forever by the magic of Jimi Hendrix’s music.

Author Bio: World renowned Native American Psychic Cherokee Billie has been working as a Clairvoyant advisor for over 25 years. She receives messages that will change your life! She helps her clients to connect with their Soul’s Path, bringing peace and joy into their daily lives Fast – Straightforward Answers! http://www.cherokeebillie.com

Music is magic! Music speaks louder than words and it’s a ‘language’ that the whole world understands. Did you know that people can be mentally conditioned to respond to a set stimulus like a series of tone signals? It works almost like a telephone does: You can dial a certain combination of numbers and that special sequence keys the equipment to connect one instrument with another. You’ve probably noticed at times how if a piece of music hits the right combination of notes for you; it can generate a significant response in your heart and mind. It has a psychological and spiritual effect on you. And if you’re really spiritually tuned, it can sometimes have a profound effect on you akin to sensing an electrical current or to receiving a personal radio signal.

Certain kinds of music will turn you on for certain kinds of things -it’s Spiritual. I listened to music all my life, but when I was twelve years old the Beatles came to America and my whole world opened up. Their music turned me on so much that it was just like I was flipping out into another world. I understood the music and I knew what was going on at deeper levels.

For those of you who were not alive when the Beatles exploded across America you won’t easily understand the significance of their impact upon not only America, but the entire world. They changed the way we dressed, looked, acted, spoke… and even our culture. The Beatles arrived in America just under three months after the assassination of President John Kennedy. This assassination had pulled America into a massive depression and the freshness and lively spirit of the Beatles was exactly what the country needed to revitalize itself.

The power of their music was definitely inspired and I believe that the Divine Spirit was working with them, to deliver the message of love to the world. A world which was in such chaos in the 1960′s.

Music links the heart of the hearer with the heart of the composer. This means that as you listen it blends the spirit of the composer with your spirit. It’s almost like the composer is a spirit guide, with you taking the role of the psychic medium – as the music becomes your crystal ball! When you listen to their music you gaze with them into the crystal ball, and all of a sudden your spirits are united and you both see and feel the same things. It sucks your spirit out of your body and transports you into another world. Suddenly you’re enraptured and revitalized and metaphorically transported into the World of the Spirit in that magical way that music can do. This is definitely the feeling I get when I listen to Jimi Hendrix. He was a brilliant musical guide.

The spiritual realm is far more real then the physical world! Music is like a vehicle to take you into the spirit world. Some people can receive messages from Heaven through the lyrics of songs. In answer to a question for instance ? The Great Spirit can bring an apt verse to mind that provides the answer to the conundrum. It’s a form of clairaudience. Songs that resonate with an individual can be used to send information to an individual. Spirit resonates with the ‘tuning’ that the recipient of the message has and sends the message with ‘the right vibes’, so to speak. This means that it would be difficult for someone who’s tuned in to Chopin to understand the sounds of Jimi Hendrix, although both were inspired by Spirit.

Composers are definitely tuned into the spirit world and inspired! Mozart’s music was completely different and inspires tranquility. Scientific research has even shown that music by Mozart can help to calm hysterical people and settle their minds.

You can tell a lot about music by its effect on you. Is it beautiful or is it ugly? Is it inspiring or is it oppressive? What impression does it have on your spirit?

What inspires so many people about a lot of the music of the Beatles is, I think, that it makes them feel happy. It’s fantastic music and it evokes good feelings. She Loves You! Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band! Hey Jude! Such enjoyable songs that inspire people around the world to join in and sing along with John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

Why is music so prevalent in our lives? Why do we connect so well with music?

According to the American Music Therapy Association:

Music is used in general hospitals to: alleviate pain in conjunction with anesthesia or pain medication: elevate patients’ mood and counteract depression; promote movement for physical rehabilitation; calm or sedate, often to induce sleep; counteract apprehension or fear; and lesson muscle tension for the purpose of relaxation, including the autonomic nervous system.

Music therapy is used in some psychiatric facilities, as well as in hospitals, nursing homes… and schools.

Chances are you’ve unknowingly developed your own form of music therapy. Have you ever felt low and played one of your favorite songs to soothe yourself? What about popping your favorite CD on to calm yourself down when you’re angry?

Music has a great way of touching people. Music can make you laugh, cry, shout and so much more. It’s also a great source of inspiration. Try this sometime and notice what happens: make yourself a cup of tea, sit down in your sofa and turn up your stereo as you play one of your favorite songs. Close your eyes, and soon you’ll find yourself creating mental images – matching the music you’re enjoying. Maybe you’ll even get a sense that the words of the song have a special ‘message’ for you too? And you’ll probably notice that you feel good within no time! Enjoy the Magical Music!

Author Bio: Cherokee Billie World renowned Native American Psychic Cherokee Billie has been working as a Clairvoyant advisor for over 25 years. She receives messages that will change your life! She helps her clients to connect with their Soul’s Path, bringing peace and joy into their daily lives Fast – Straightforward Answers! http://www.cherokeebillie.com

Don’t you just love that movie ‘High Fidelity’ where the hero is constantly making lists of his top 5 all time favorite records, girl friends, meals and whatever. I save all the concert tickets from the concerts that I have been to and I can’t help but make up my top five classic concerts and wish I had the concert tickets to go with the memories.

Classic concert ticket number 5: U2 plays on an L.A. liquor store rooftop, March 27, 1987. They were atop a liquor store rooftop, Los Angeles. It may not have had The Beatles’ originality, but Bono and the guys surely enjoyed their 20 minutes on top of the LA world nevertheless. The Irish super group was about four songs into the gig on an L.A. liquor store rooftop when the city police decided to end their impromptu performance and spoil the fun for the fans that had gathered below. Strictly speaking this wasn’t a concert with proper concert tickets but I love the video “Where The Streets Have No Name”, which was the point of the whole exercise.

Classic concert ticket number 4: George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh, August 1, 1971 at Madison Square Garden, New York City. What had initially been conceived as a small political fundraiser aimed at bringing humanitarian relief to the refugees in breakaway Bangladesh quickly turned into one of the biggest rock fundraisers of the 1970s. Although Lennon and McCartney never ended up signing on to Ravi Shankar’s cause, many other stars did, including George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Billy Preston, and Eric Clapton, who actually collapsed onstage as a result of his protracted bout of heroin addiction but still managed to proceed with the concert. The 40,000 or so fans who crowded New York’s Madison Square Garden witnessed some rare performances, including a 25-minute Indian recital by Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” and Ringo Starr’s “It Don’t Come Easy.”

Classic concert ticket number 3: Pink Floyd break visual barriers with The Wall shows between February 1980 and June 1981. It was a World tour. Pink Floyd’s visual theatrics took a turn for the legendary with their infamous The Wall concerts, which were the last shows Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Dave Gilmour, and Nick Mason performed together before the Live 8 show in July 2005. Each show required timed performances and unprecedented cooperation between the musicians, concert crew, lighting engineers, and computer programmers. In fact, extended instrumentals and Roger Waters’ impromptu introductions often served to cover up stage fires and other technical difficulties, which seemed inevitable when putting together a show that included a 30-foot-high teacher puppet, a scorpion wife and other such animated characters.

Classic concert ticket number 2: Jimi Hendrix wows Woodstock, August 18, 1969 at Woodstock, New York. After plowing through three days worth of rain, mud, minbending drugs, and music, the 30,000 or so diehard fans who chose to brave one more night for Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock closer were not disappointed. In fact, those who stuck around to witness Hendrix’s mind-blowing rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” cannot deny its importance on the festival’s soundtrack; it became the eternal anthem of a generation of civil rights crusaders, anti-war protestors and music lovers everywhere. Now I know this was a ‘free’ concert but it didn’t start out that way and there were actual concert tickets issued for Woddstock.

Classic concert ticket number 1: The Beatles sell out Shea Stadium August 15, 1965 in New York City. After a thundering welcome at JFK airport, the American release of Help! And an electrifying appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles’ success at Shea Stadium, the first-ever stadium concert of its kind, was all but guaranteed. In fact, the sell-out crowd of 55,600 was so deafening that the The ‘Fab Four’ could barely hear themselves play throughout their 30-minute set. Instead, The Beatles’ grand armored van entrance, John Lennon’s ‘Jerry Lee Lewis’ onstage freak-out and the event’s record-setting gross revenues stole the show.

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If you were asked to name the three most influential guitarists of the past 40 years I wonder what names you would come up with?

Perhaps you would think of Frank Zappa, or Chuck Berry, or perhaps Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger, or maybe it would be Chet Atkins or Barney Kessel.

Well, all great guitarists, and worthy of recognition, but they would not quite come into my top three choices.

So who would I vote for? These three, but not necessarily in any particular order ? Eric Clapton, Jimmy Hendrix and Jeff Beck.

Eric and Jeff I am glad to say are still performing, but sadly Jimmy died in 1970.

Right then, let me say a bit about these three guitar hero’s.

First of all, Eric Clapton. Eric was born in 1945, and in 1963 he joined the R&B group, The Yardbirds, but within 2 short years he had left the group as he felt that they were becoming an out and out pop group, and he was right.

He then had a brief spell with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers before coming back to the UK to form the supergroup known as Cream, along with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.

In 1968 Cream broke up, much to the sorrow of so many people, and Eric formed Blind Faith along with his former partner in Cream, Ginger Baker, and Steve Winwood.

Following the demise of Blind Faith Eric went on to form his own band, Derek and the Dominos and it was while he was in this band that he wrote what is, in my opinion, his greatest song ? “Layla”.

Sadly, drink and drugs began to take their toll of Eric, and he felt that he had to pull out of the music business, at least for a while.

Happily Eric is now back in full swing, and we his fans are all expectantly awaiting the next great thing from him.

Well next up comes Jimi Hendrix, born 1942, and died 1970. A brief life of just 28 years, but what a name he made for himself.

He is considered by many people to be the greatest rock guitarist of all time, and I would not argue with that.

For a part of his career he was a sideman for such famous name as Ike & Tina Turner, the Isley Brothers, and Little Richard, but not surprisingly somebody with his talent and stage presence did not stay in the background for long.

Hendrix moved to New York and played in various bars and clubs, and it was whilst he was playing in Greenwich Village one night that he was approached by a member of the British rock group, the Animals.

He persuaded Jimi to pack his bags and head for London in 1966.

He was a most amazing guitarist, and an incredible showman, and he became an almost instant success.

His first debut single was “Hey Joe”, still a great record today, and his debut album in 1967 was “Are you experienced”.

His playing on stage was something which you had to see, to believe. He would play the guitar behind his back, and sometimes he would pluck the strings with his teeth. He oftentimes would smash his guitar against his amplifiers in order to get a certain effect, and sometimes even set light to them.

If you saw him on stage you would never forget the experience.

When he died in 1970 of a drug overdose the world lost a truly unique musician.

This brings me on finally to my last choice, and that is Jeff Beck, a musician not as well known as Eric and Jimi, but a musician of immense talent.

Jeff was born in 1944 in Wallington, England, and he has spent most of his time performing with various bands. He spent some time with the colourful characted Screaming Lord Sutch until in 1965 he joined the Yardbirds to replace Eric Clapton.

He stayed with the yardbirds until late 1966 when he went on to form his own band the Jeff Beck Group.

He spent some time working with Rod Stewart until Rod left to join the Small Faces.

He has played with many people including Mick Jagger on his 1987 album Primitive Cool.

In 1989 Jeff won a grammy for best rock instrumental for his album Guitar Shop.

Jeff is thankfully still performing today, and I heard him not too long ago giving a thrilling live performance and proving himself to be a musician of tremendous ability..

This has been the first of a series of articles on great performers. If you would like to be kept updated as new articles come out then please go to my website and email me, asking to be kept updated.

Author Bio: John Charles is a guitarist, and guitar teacher. To visit his website, and be kept updated, please Click Here