Are You Experienced?

Welll….I aa-a-a-am…at least in small measure. I started playing music at a very young age, and have continued playing to this day. My pivotal experience with music education happened when I was in college, a college not noted especially for its Music Department, after I’d been studying violin at a prominent conservatory for 15 years. I had a chamber music coach who taught me the one thing about music that finally helped me understand music in a much more profound way: music, all music, is a communications medium. He used to dance, and pound the tables with his fists, or stand up on the tables in our rehearsal room, making up lyrics to the Beethoven trio we were learning, all to illustrate what exactly we were trying to do: present an emotional idea or a spiritual truth using music rather than words as the medium.

How does that get us to Hendrix? I recently saw some film footage of him playing, and if you think about the context of what else was happening at the time, Jimi Hendrix must have sounded like a visitor from another planet. No one had ever even thought about playing like he did, with that level of emotional energy, that level of intensity and expression (never mind skill), the sound he had, plus Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell to boot. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to have been confronted with the Jimi Hendrix Experience live in 1967. What can one say except to agree with what most of the prominent pop/rock guitarists of the late 20^th century have already said? Half of them wanted to quit playing when they saw Hendrix at the Bag of Nails in London. How on Earth could you compete with that?

It would have been really interesting to see where he would have ended up musically if he’d been able to keep going. I know someone who insists that there would have been no Prince as we know him if Hendrix hadn’t died. I know that Lawdog really digs Prince, and I can’t confess enough familiarity with most of his work (I liked the triple album a lot though), although I pretty much like everything I’ve heard. And there’s no question that he’s a terrific guitarist. But it seems to me that what I’ve heard speaks to his enormous talent as a producer – his guitar playing is not the central means he uses to communicate.

All this having been said, there really is no shortage of amazing, astounding, emotional, and extremely skilled guitar players out there. The thing I think that really stands out about Prince, or Clapton, Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Santana, Van Halen, Jimmy Page, Steve Vai or Randy Rhodes is that they’re immediately recognizable from the first note they play. You know by the sound, the approach, the feel – on an electric or acoustic instrument – who they are, because they’ve been able to successfully communicate who they are in their playing. That never fails to blow me away. That’s the hallmark of great artists – to create something unique using the same tools everyone else uses, to transcend. Now, when creativity has become an overused word and it’s meaning completely devalued, go back and listen to Are You Experienced? You’ll walk away feeling refreshed.

As with the other polls I’ve been involved with, there are always nominees that I’ve thought about after the fact. Lawdog and I purposefully had to restrain ourselves somewhat with this one – both of us could have gone on all day with nominees. We stayed away from the jazz virtuosi (Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin, Mike Stern, just to name a few) with one exception that did get on the list – I really needed to put Allan Holdsworth on there. I urge you, if you’ve never heard of him, to give him a listen. There’s a case to be made that Holdsworth influenced an entire generation of guitarists because of his technique and fluidity – Holdsworth developed the two-handed tapping technique that’s de rigueur for many guitar players. I personally especially like the album called Metal Fatigue. Holdsworth is another candidate deserving of greater fame, in my opinion.

I really only have two things to add to Flatcat's commentary. I included Prince just because I think he is the damn man. Now that does not necessarily translate to his guitar ability. Hell, I voted for Eric Clapton. I think Prince is more of a musical genius on an all around scale. I do think his best instrument is the guitar but that is only because I think he enjoys it the most. If he decided piano was his favorite, then I think he would belong on a list with Elton, Billy, et al. Prince has said numerous times that the only reason people compare him to Jimi Hendrix is that they are both black. Whatever. Anyone who listens to his guitar solo on "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man", specifically the live version from the concert movie "Sign O' The Times", just has to laugh at that comment. Hell, when I saw that, I started wondering if Prince was Hendrix reincarnated or at least his illegitimate son. It is unbelievable and if you have never seen that movie, you should rent it to see what I am saying.

I also wanted to talk about Mr. Van Halen a bit. I think the thing I like about Eddie moreso than any of those other techno guys (Vai, Satriani, etc.) goes rightalong with Flatcat's thoughts. He makes me experience emotions and his playing has heart while still being technically fantastic. Vai and those guys can play a million miles an hour and never miss a note but there is no emotion coming through, at least not to me. I had never been able to figure out why I could like Van Halen so much and not really care for those other guys. After having read Flatcat's commentary, I now know the "experience" factor explains it all.

Poll Topic: Greatest Rock Guitarist
Jimi Hendrix - The JH Experience	20.5% - (191 Votes)
Eric Clapton - Solo	12.2% - (114 Votes)
Eddie Van Halen - Van Halen	11.7% - (109 Votes)
Stevie Ray Vaughn - Solo	8.6% - (80 Votes)
Jimmy Page - Led Zeppelin	7.7% - (72 Votes)
Carlos Santana - Santana	4.3% - (40 Votes)
Randy Rhodes - Ozzy Osbourne	3.5% - (33 Votes)
Joe Satriani - Solo	3.5% - (33 Votes)
Alex Lifeson - Rush	3.2% - (30 Votes)
Steve Vai - Solo	2.6% - (25 Votes)
Slash - Guns n' Roses	2.5% - (24 Votes)
Brian May - Queen	2.5% - (24 Votes)
Angus Young - AC/DC	1.9% - (18 Votes)
Duane Allman - The Allman Brothers	1.7% - (16 Votes)
Justin Hayward - The Moody Blues	1.7% - (16 Votes)
Jeff Beck - Solo	1.6% - (15 Votes)
Prince - Solo	1.5% - (14 Votes)
Yngwie Malmsteen - Solo	1.3% - (13 Votes)
The Edge - U2	1.3% - (13 Votes)
Jerry Garcia - The Grateful Dead	1.1% - (11 Votes)
George Harrison - The Beatles	0.9% - (9 Votes)
Ritchie Blackmoor - Deep Purple	0.8% - (8 Votes)
Nuno Bettencourt - Extreme	0.6% - (6 Votes)
Keith Richards - The Rolling Stones	0.6% - (6 Votes)
Joe Walsh - The Eagles	0.4% - (4 Votes)
Peter Buck - R.E.M.	0.3% - (3 Votes)
Richie Sambora - Bon Jovi	0.2% - (2 Votes)
Allan Holdsworth - Solo	0.1% - (1 Votes)
Reb Beach - Winger	0% - (0 Votes)
Total Votes: 930