HENDRIX RULES

Re Dave Henderson’s attack (Letters (RC331) on my Jimi Hendrix feature. I don’t know where he got the idea I was comparing Hendrix to Clapton from. I was just trying to convey the impact of Jimi’s arrival 40 years ago, speaking as an observer and fan at the time rather than simply regurgitating the myth. The piece was based on my 40 years of collecting, studying and yes, loving, all the records, CDs, press, books and footage I could find relating to Hendrix. I saw him live and all the TV appearances of the time (including that Lulu show). In the piece I was simply trying to show what elements combined to give the world Jimi Hendrix and the seismic effect he had. I fully credited Eric’s talent and Jimi’s admiration for him, including meeting Eric being the major carrot which persuaded Hendrix to come to London. The fact is that the Clapton-Beck-Townsend axis was truly rocked by Jimi’s arrival. They are the first to admit that they were in awe of Jimi’s talent and charisma. I’m sorry to tell Mr Henderson that, in the last three months of 1966, Hendrix did rule London’s clubland. Eric is now one of our venerable elder statesmen who’s never lost his passion for the music which inspired him and manages to mix that with huge, commercial success. I wish that Jimi had had that chance instead of roaring in like a supernova, then coming down quickly because of outside pressures before tragically dying. Inevitably, death does mean that you’re instantly afforded godlike status. Of course Lennon and Hendrix would have detested this but so would most of our dead icons. All I did was call Jimi the greatest guitarist of all time. For better or worse, that is the personal opinion which I am entititled to and expressed, without putting anybody else down. Mr Henderson also misquotes me. I said that Hendrix made the Stones LOOK like Cliff Richard, not SOUND like him. A big difference which makes his comparing classic Stones songs to Cliff absurdly redundant. I was just trying to say that, when Jimi first exploded into our midst, everybody we’d previously thought pretty wild looked quite tame. I used Cliff to represent bland pop (sorry!). The bone of contention here seems to be my unbridled and unashamed enthusiasm for Jimi. Mr Henderson calls me ‘over the top’. When I started writing for Zigzag 30 years ago that was the nickname given to me by editor Pete Frame. But I got stick then for being enthusiastic about the music I loved and can’t believe it’s happened with my first article for RC! Deja vu. The detractors then were usually bored people with nothing better to do than nit-pick and witter. Fair enough, if it brightens up your little world but check first what you’re lambasting. Never mind ‘keep it real’, get it right!

by Kris Needs
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