Jimi Hendrix
purchase [Purple Haze]
purchase [Drifting]
I guess in
all my days of listening to rock/pop, nothing has affected me quite the way
that “Are You Experienced” did. I had been listening to Smokey Robinson, the
Box Tops ..whatever came over the AM band airwaves back in the late 60s - from BBC's Top of the Pops or
Radio Luxembourg. And then
one day, a friend of my younger brother’s showed up with a copy of “Experienced”.
Similar to how a chameleon plays a trick by changing colours to fool his predator,
Hendrix messed with my senses. Like nothing ever before. The sounds coming from
the speakers were so jarring to my ears and brain that I might as well have changed
colours. Now, for today's generation, this may be hard to fathom: we are so used
to all sorts of musical styles, variations, genres and such, that I may not be able to get you to understand how transformational and out-of-this-world was
the sound of Hendrix’s music.
"Are You
Experienced" was cutting/crude and rough. Go back and listen to the guitar
strokes of Purple Haze. Then compare them with the harmonies of anything else on
the late 60s radio airwaves. This sound/noise re-defined music: cacophony that was harmony. This was melodic aural abuse.
Even the cover
artwork of "Axis" continued the chameleon effect: this was cover artwork unlike
anything that came before. The recordings included sounds that no one else was
capable of making: stereo crossover, feedback that sounded good, wah-wah no one
else could produce. This was truly music from another planet. It certainly blew
my mind. Imagine: on one hand you’ve got the Beach Boys' good vibrations … on the other, there’s Jimi.
I’ll claim
that – chameleon theme – Hendrix's progression was relatively smooth. I guess the
chameleon doesn’t change his colours in a flash – there must be a progression
of sorts – and so it appears with Jimi. A rather raw “Experienced” progresses/morphs
into the sounds of “Axis”, then matures to the sounds of “Electric Ladyland”
and then to “Cry of Love”.
See if you
agree with my definition of chameleon:
Early
Hendrix (Purple Haze):
Late
Hendrix (Drifting):
Of course,
any musician worth his “salt” is going to evolve: just look at (among so many
others) the Beatles (masters of chameleon-ship)