Thursday, August 26, 2010

Top Ten Most Influential Bands/Artists #6 - Jimi Hendrix

It has been an extra long time since I tossed out a post on my top 10 list, so I figured it was about time.  So number six is going to be Jimi Hendrix.  It is certainly hard to have a best in rock n' roll list without the inclusion of arguably the greatest guitarist to ever grace the stage.


For Jimi's back story, he was bounced around within his family, moving in with different family members because of divorce and alcohol abuse from his mother.  He started to play guitar when he was 15 and just kept practicing, never stopping.  Jimi was in the army for a brief stint for about a year ans was discharged because he was lazy and couldn't fire a gun.  Luckily for the rock n roll community, he wasn't lazy with the guitar.

So why should Jimi Hendrix be included on this list?  Well, for starters, this man was one of the first people to embrace the now popular sound of feedback.  In only 28 short years of life, he released three albums with the Experience, and another whopping 11 albums posthumously.  His guitar style is so distinctive that most people educated in rock can tell a Hendrix song just by the sound of the guitar.  He was inducted into the rock n' roll hall of fame in 1992 and was the recipient of the lifetime achievement award grammy.  Rolling Stone named him the greatest guitarist of all time, and really, there is little dispute with that claim.  He has influenced countless acts, where most everyone who plays guitar mentions Jimi in some way for his playing style.  Hendrix only really recorded music for about four years, but his legacy will always live on.

Here is Jimi's version of All along the Watchtower,


-d

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