On 10/25/2012 01:25 AM, turquoiseb wrote: > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "card" <cardemaister@...> wrote: >> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@> wrote: >>> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "PaliGap" <compost1uk@> wrote: >>>> Thanks for the story Turq. I'm as jealous as f***! I'm >>>> afraid I'm a hopeless case where JH is concerned. Sorry. >>> I understand. Which is why I probably also understand >>> a certain reaction to people talking about him and his >>> relative guitar prowess who in all likelihood never >>> saw him play, and probably never even knew who he was >>> until he died. >>> >>> As a guitar freak, I've been a relatively fortunate one, >>> in that I've managed to be either lucky enough or solvent >>> enough financially to have been able to gain access to >>> first-row seats in front of some of the great guitarists >>> of our age. I've sat an arm's length away from Segovia >>> and John Williams and many of the great guitarists of >>> our lifetime who you could name, and I'd weigh Jimi's >>> sense of "touch" and the guitar being an extension of >>> his self as the equal of any of them. Dude was phenomenal. >> I still can remember when I first heard The Experience play. >> It was Red House (Polydor, European[?] version; Spotify, the >> *sixth* entry). I was climbing up the stairs to the second >> floor of our summer residence, and kinda was almost petrified. >> Thought, who the fvck plays so dirty and simultaneously >> so skillfully? >> >> Only just a couple of minutes ago listened to the US version >> (first entry, Reprise?), *for the first time*. Gots to say, >> IMO Jimi almost ruins the song compared to that European >> version. Stupid echos, and I'd say inaccurate additional bends, >> and "lawds", occasionally poor rhythm, and stuff. >> >> Perhaps the British atmosphere made him somehow play more >> relaxed and thus, better?? > I doubt very seriously that Jimi would have responded > favorably to "relaxed." He was somewhat combative in > person and thrived on challenge. Here's a classic story > told by a rather combative person himself, rock promoter > Bill Graham, who takes credit for...uh...coaxing one of > Jimi's best performance ever out of him by getting in > his face and calling him a slacker: > > Concert promoter extraordinaire BILL GRAHAM takes the > credit for one of JIMI HENDRIX's greatest live performances. > HENDRIX performed two shows on New Year's Eve, 1969, and > two shows on New Year's Day, 1970, at the world famous > FILLMORE EAST in New York City ... in fact, a couple > of the shows were recorded for release as a live album. > According to GRAHAM, JIMI put on an incredible show, > pulling out every trick in the book to razzle dazzle the > audience ... but, "he never really played. He did every one > of his moves. Side. Up. Under. Piercing. Throwing. Kissing. > Fire. Fucking. Humping. He did it all. Picking with his > teeth ... they thought he was the greatest ... and he was > ... but not during that set." The audience sat in awe with > their mouths open ... it appeared to be the show of shows. > Between shows, HENDRIX came back stage to GRAHAM's office > and asked, "What'd you think, Bill?" GRAHAM says, "I > didn't want to answer him, so I asked the others to leave > the office. And I said, 'Jimi, you're the best guitar > player I know and tonight, for an hour and a half, you > were a hack. You were a disgrace to what you are.'" > HENDRIX, typically a quiet and shy man, was blown away. > "Didn't you hear that audience? They went crazy!" "I > know," said GRAHAM. "You know what you did? You made the > same mistake too many of the other great ones make. You > subconsciously play what they want. You sock it to them. > You did an hour and a half of shuck and grind and bullshit > that you can do with your eyes closed lying down somewhere. > But you forgot one thing. You forgot to play. And it's > tragic for you, because you can play better than anyone > I know." HENDRIX reportedly fell apart. "Why are you > telling me that?" he screamed, pushing furniture around. > "Because you asked me," GRAHAM answered. And, according > to GRAHAM, "What followed on the next show, with respect > to Carlos and Eric and all the others, was the most > brilliant, emotional display of virtuoso electric guitar > playing I have ever heard. I don't expect to hear such > sustained brilliance in an hour and fifteen minutes. He > just stood there, did nothing ... just played and played > and played. He comes off the stage afterwards, a wet rag, > and says to me ... 'All Right?' I said, 'Jimi, it was > great.' And I hugged him and got all wet and I asked > him if he would do an encore." "Yeah," JIMI said ... > "and then he goes out and does every conceivable corny > bullshit thing he can do." > > I stick with my guns over the idiocy of anyone claiming > that Stevie Ray Vaughn was better than Jimi Hendrix. > That's akin to having so little discrimination and taste > as to believe that Robin Carlsen was an actual spiritual > teacher. > > Oh. Wait. > > Never mind. > > :-) > > It was an interesting article that WillyWiener pointed > out, though. I agree with very few of David Fricke's > "rankings," but his choice of guitarists is admirable. > His expertise seems limited to rock and to big money > rock at that, but I thought it was admirable that he > included Ry Cooder at #8 (ahead of Keith Richard, who > became famous by ripping off most of Ry's licks). And > it was important to rank Chuck Berry at #6. I thought > that in terms of rock history Bo Diddley should have > been rated higher than #37, but Fricke made up for it > by ranking Jerry Garcia at #13. > > Essentially, as far as I can tell, the subjective > "best" ratings for rock guitarists is about as reliable > as similar ratings for spiritual teachers. Most people > are taken in by flash, and blind (or in this case deaf) > to substance. They also have a tendency to not under- > stand the effect that drugs had on their rankings. With > the rock guitarist assessments, those drugs were mainly > cannabis and LSD; with the spiritual teacher assessments, > mainly cheap, garden-variety occult energy that they > mistook for enlightenment. > > With both guitarists and spiritual teachers, the magic > happens when things get quiet.
Something that as a professional musician I learned over the years: the famous people get there by luck not by skill. They also get there because the company they signed with hypes them. For every "star" there are a 1000 or more equally or more competent as musicians. Most of the famous artists, if they don't let their ego get in the way, acknowledge this. This is why I find discussion among non-musician fans to be quite amusing. Because they are non-musicians or amateurs it is interesting on how they evaluate a player. It can also be very boring or lame for a pro to listen to a non-musician tell them all about the way the pro plays. That's why I made the "crack" yesterday about musicians playing big venues (and I have done so in my life) are often happy to have a wall security between them and the fans. I would think that Barry would understand this as he claims he worked backstage once for Monterey Pop. I've also mentioned that over the years though not so true these days that PR people for record companies often buried the music education that many "stars" had. Many of us grew up in the era of Dave Brubeck and instead of rock played jazz. But the big money in pop and sometime country (yup, there are country artists with a jazz background too) and the fact that it was simpler music made some of us jump in to that scene thinking it would be a "piece of cake." But when there is a lot of money involved there is a lot of politics too which makes "who you know not what you know" more important. Some of the stars even attended music schools and colleges. One particular example of "burying" someone's classical background would be Quincy Jones, known for his work with Michael Jackson. Of course I was familiar with Quincy's work long before Michael Jackson came on the scene. He was known for his arrangements for Count Basie and other orchestras and his work with Ray Charles. When he won Grammies for his work I was perplexed at the press claims that he was unschooled. No, he attended the University of Washington and majored in music. I also knew he attended Berklee School Jazz in Boston which he endorsed for years in their Downbeat magazine ads. But the entertainment business likes to keep their "Horatio Alger" stories going about how "anyone can make it." IOW, more people for them to exploit. ;-)
