How did Hendrix come up with his sound?

[CthonicEwes]

Hey kids,

It's really a two-part question:

Who were Hendrix's influences?

How did he come up with his style for AYE?

I mean, c'mon, I've heard he cited influences from the Kings (Albert, BB, and Freddy) to Dylan. And, of course, he had the soul thing going where he copped Curtis Mayfield's chord approach. But none of these influences really explain how he came up with such a revolutionary sound and compositional approach. He certainly wasn't playing straight blues, he was not a soul artist, and he was not a folkie.

It really seems like he burst out of nowhere. Sure, psychedelia was in the air, but Hendrix really made his own sound that nobody has ever come close to, IMHO.

I can't help but think he was an alien who had otherworldly powers, but that's just because I can't really come up with a rational explanation for the evolution of his style.

Anyway, I look forward to your thoughts...

[sahhas]

he played w/ isleys, ike and tina turner, etc...
i thought i had read that he had quite a collection of the "hottest" guitar players at the time (on record), one of them being big jim sullivan from england-and he was interesting in that certain sound.
a lot of it was r&b of time, of course the big blues players (the kings),
but he was also familiar w/ most of the pop music of time (beatles,rolling stones, etc)...
but that is an interesting question...

my main question-the short period of time that he arrives in england, when experience is formed, their early concerts were mostly blues/r&b tunes and "hey joe"...and it seems like a very short time, that he starts writing the great tunes that become the songs on "are you experienced".
i think for an african american who went to school 40s-50s, drops out of school, etc and you look at the songs he wrote that i think are pure poetry (little wing, castles made of sand, etc)...there just seems a leap in his ability to write...i know he was into sci fi novels...but wow, that is amazing i think...
s---
www.myspace.com/scotthansen

[jazzandmetal?]

Buddy Guy was a big influence.

[OldSchool]

The same way Clapton did in 1965.......by plugging into whatever was around back then. The only amp that could go 100watts was Marshall or a Twin. He obviously liked fuzz and sustain and he made it big in England first so.......Power to the EL34!

[GAT]

I know what you're saying. You can hear his influences, but the final product was way beyond those influences.

[Alister]

Originally Posted by jazzandmetal?

Buddy Guy was a big influence.

Yes. And I think bigger than most people realize. At least in the sense of unrestrained performance. You don't nec. get that from the preceding "old blues guys."
He was a thoroughly schooled backup guitarist way before he ever went to England. Playing behind the Isleys and Little Richard, etc. And even before that, guys who knew him in the army, like Bill Cox, said that he was already pretty good -- and pretty compulsed about the electric guitar.
Then, I think that taking him out of Gr. Village and shipping him off to England, as Chad Chandler did, was a way for him to kind of get a whiff of artistic freedom, while being 'sanctified' by the rock elite over there at the time.
"Cast and setting," as the sociologists always say. I believe that place and time have a major influence on each of us. But some times are most exciting than others.

[Ed Reed]

I think he just liked LOUD amps and the Marshall had his middle name.

[Alaskaguitar]

Acid


and Genius

Not sure what order.

[pete692]

It was like an arms race. They were all searching madly for new sounds, throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what stuck. Look at Page with his violin bow (blech!). Lots of experimentation, but none of it would have mattered and endured if the material and the playing weren't so damned good.

[t.hendrix]

Grovin on sounds and drugs.Mainly his spirit,and you CAN'T clone that.

[mojocaster.com]

Originally Posted by jazzandmetal?

Buddy Guy was a big influence.

Bingo.

[karmadave]

Hendrix may have cut his teeth playing in R&B bands on the 'Chitlin Circuit', but his sound definitely changed when he arrived in London. Cream was a big influence, hence the Marshall stacks and wah-wah pedal (he heard Clapton use one first). Psychedelics may have influenced his use of feedback and effects, but I think Jimi was just one of those guys that wasn't afraid to try anything to get new sounds from his rig. I love the way he used the whammy bar, combined with feedback and effects to create unique 'sound sculptures'. He re-invented Rock guitar in the late 60's...

[HHB]

I think he learned a lot sonicly from Yardbirds era Beck

[GAT]

Clapton in Cream was a heavier version of the American blues guys, but Hendrix was way out there in another planet.

[JB Eckl]

THE BEATLES. If you listen to Revolver and then put on Are You Experienced, it makes more sense. He turned the heaviness up a whole lot, but it wasn't completely out of nowhere. If you take 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and combine it with jazz drumming and a blues/funk sensibility, you know why Hendrix and England were the perfect storm.