# Who's the Heir to Jimi Today?



## Wild Bill (May 3, 2006)

Just got home and the last song in my player was "Day of the Eagle".

That got me thinking. If Hendrix had lived would he have been Robin Trower?:tongue: 

In another thread we talked about how music today seems simpler and perhaps even cruder to us old guys. Is it just the inevitable grumpiness that comes with being a geezer or is it really true?

Who today in the music biz is younger than in his 20's and is playing as well as Page, Clapton, Townsend, Travers, Marino or whoever?

I dunno. Then again, I don't get out much anymore. 

Anyone got any examples to share? Vai and Satriani are getting kinda long in the tooth. Who's the new blood?


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## mario (Feb 18, 2006)

I would not call him the heir to Jimi Hendrix, but as far as young guys go, I really dig Derek Trucks of the Allman Brothers. When you watch him live, he make's slide guitar look so easy. One of the best slide players I have ever seen.


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## Lester B. Flat (Feb 21, 2006)

If Jimi had lived he would probably be playing jazz. He died on a saturday and was scheduled to go in the studio with Miles Davis on the following monday. Too bad that never came to be. 

There is a new guy named Joe Bonamassa who is pretty good. He's 29. Blues/rock style player. You might find a sample on youtube.


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## mario (Feb 18, 2006)

Lester B. Flat said:


> If Jimi had lived he would probably be playing jazz. He died on a saturday and was scheduled to go in the studio with Miles Davis on the following monday. Too bad that never came to be.
> 
> There is a new guy named Joe Bonamassa who is pretty good. He's 29. Blues/rock style player. You might find a sample on youtube.


+1 on Joe. I completely forgot about him. Great player!


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## nine (Apr 23, 2006)

Doug Martsch from Built To Spill has been compared to him a lot. He's not always beating you over the head with his guitar playing like most of the "guitar god" guys, but you know he's fantastic.


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## gerald guerrero (Oct 3, 2006)

John Mayer. hahahah  :zzz:


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## SCREEM (Feb 2, 2006)

blues Saracino is dam good in the feel department, guthry govan, dunno if they are in their 20's though


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## Ripper (Jul 1, 2006)

I second the Joe nomination too, great player. John5 is also a super player (listen to his solo stuff, combines tons of styles)


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## Big White Tele (Feb 10, 2007)

gerald guerrero said:


> John Mayer. hahahah  :zzz:


Yikes.....I figured someone would say that. No offense to John Mayer, but a little different....


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## washburned (Oct 13, 2006)

*Jm*

I'm trying to get a handle on the meaning of the question; do you mean who is playing and sounding like Hendrix? or who is doing something uniquely different with rock guitar that players will be emulating for years to come? the answer to the first question is, I think, John Mayer, especially his work with the JM Trio (Pino Paladino and Steve Jordan). He is a huge Hendrix "disciple" and features Hendrix tunes in most of his concerts and on three of his four CDs. Mayer has come a long way from "your body is a wonderland"; Interestingly enough the latest edition of RS has the hot new guitarist line up, and Mayer and Trucks are on the cover with John Frusciante. These guys get the big write ups, but inside are a whole lot more "new" names, including a few more of my favorites, like Luther Dickison of the North Mississippi Allstars. Mayer has certainly got the respect and recognition of a lot of "BIG" names...Clapton, King, Guy, etc...and his list of "guest" credits is getting ridiculous. Now who can answer the second question?


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

gerald guerrero said:


> John Mayer. hahahah  :zzz:


Ah!! You beat me to it!


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

washburned said:


> Mayer has certainly got the respect and recognition of a lot of "BIG" names...Clapton, King, Guy, etc...and his list of "guest" credits is getting ridiculous. Now who can answer the second question?



That is their opinion. Not mine. I listened to his live CD about a dozen or so times did not find it inspiring. I removed it from my playlist.


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## Lester B. Flat (Feb 21, 2006)

Okay, let's look at three of the names mentioned so far. Trucks, Bonamassa, and Mayer. They are all great guitar players carrying on the tradition, but I wouldn't call them innovators. What made Jimi great was more than just his guitar playing. Technically he was no better than many who came before and after him. Jimi's greatness wasn't in his hands but in his musicality. What he _chose_ to play. He was a trendsetter who influenced not only guitarists but musicians of all stripes. He was more concerned with making music than playing the guitar although he did advance the art of guitar playing.

He caught the ear of Gil Evans who thought he was a musical genius. Alot of guitarists can't get past his guitar playing to hear his music the way a sax player or keyboard player could. I don't think every generation will produce a Jimi Hendrix and if his heir does come along they may not necessarily be a guitarist.


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

I agree with you. Out of the three listed I would say Trucks is the most innovative but not to the degree and impact that was Jimi.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

I keep going back in time. Old country-swing-jazz is what I've been listening too. Really, not much new is being done on rock guitar as I think the genre is pretty much defined.

Speaking of Jimi, it's his rhythm playing that does it for me. Such groove, creativity, and great song writing. His solos are good, but get to be a bit redundant after awhile. 

Just my opinion of course,
TG


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...to the best of my knowledge, there is no one who is currently re-inventing the guitar, the way that hendrix, van halen, townsend, clapton, page etc have done in the past.

that said, jeff beck contunues to re-invent the instrument every time he records a new cd.

-dh


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## rippinglickfest (Jan 1, 2006)

*New new guitar players*

Its pretty tough to follow a guy like Hendrix........I dont think its possible for anybody to have the impact he did. Its definitely a lot harder to be original in todays terms. Whats left really?............play guitar telepathically?


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## Ripper (Jul 1, 2006)

rippinglickfest said:


> Its pretty tough to follow a guy like Hendrix........I dont think its possible for anybody to have the impact he did. Its definitely a lot harder to be original in todays terms. Whats left really?............play guitar telepathically?


I am a firm beleiver that there is always some way, some style that will come along and change things. Some one will find something that sets them apart or takes their sound to a new level. 

In all honesty, what set Hendrix and clapton and the rest apart, was the fact that besides being incredible players, they embraced the "new" technology of the day (marshall amps, fuzz pedals, octave pedals etc) and incorporated it into their sound. Think about what a player like Robert Johnson or some of those old blues players could have done had they had that technology. Technology is a double edged sword, what once made it easier to sound different from others, has now made it tougher to stand out in the crowd.


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## keefsdad (Feb 7, 2006)

Philip Sayce is a guy who does a great job of keeping the Jimi flame burning, IMHO. Highly recomended.


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## nine (Apr 23, 2006)

Jimi's brother is doing a bang up job:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=44116271


Hahahaha. That dude is so freakin' brutal. Poor guy. He's got a touch of American Idol Syndrome. Nobody has had the balls yet to tell him he sucks.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Now this is my own opinion here. .......of course.
There has been no one.....no one, that has been able to even tie his boot laces since his untimely demise. 
Just think about how he changed every thing on all levels. 
There is his playing and his sound. There is his compositional talent. There is his showmanship. there is his sonic vision in the studio. He was from another planet, man. 
There is the respect that was given him by his peers while he was alive. I remember reading an article way back that Clapton said...I'm paraphrasing here but it went something like this. "If I've got a lick that's better than Beck's, Beck's got a lick that's better than Page"s and Page has a lick that better than mine. but who cares, Hendrix is the best there is."
His songwriting is still regarded by some as his real, true talent. There are many instances of very talented arrangers (the legendary Gill Evans for one) taking his stuff and making it a whole new experiences. As well as SRV and other guitar greats covering his stuff. 
His showmanship was unparalleled. Just look at the Monterey Pop film for a blinding example of how (as Eric Bourdon put it in "Down In Monterey") "Jimi Hendrix believe me baby set the world on fire" he took those chitlin' circuit moves that go back to T-Bone Walker and slaughtered the white audience with them by ramping them up to a sexual fever. I mean some would have to look away while others were transfixed.
But the studio was where he was undisputed king. His mind was a kaleidoscopic pool. Have you ever heard a trio, essentially Bass, Drums and a lot of guitars have such depth? The mastery of tones is to this day unmatched. Listen to Electric Ladyland (his masterpiece) with headphones. Even his hit (All along the Watchtower) and hear how he would be able to fit all those tones into each other. They never would compete for the same sonic space. Each had it's own place.
While there are some immense talents out there. No one has had the big bang type of affect that Jimi has. I personally love Jeff Beck, he reinvents himself all the time and seems to get better with age. But that is on a song interpretation level and how he is the master of the Stratocaster. He is not writing songs that have staying power. In fact the majority of Jeff's great stuff is by other composers.
I dunno, I haven't heard anyone that approachs all those aspects on that level......yet :wink:


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## mario (Feb 18, 2006)

faracaster said:


> Now this is my own opinion here. .......of course.
> There has been no one.....no one, that has been able to even tie his boot laces since his untimely demise.
> Just think about how he changed every thing on all levels.
> There is his playing and his sound. There is his compositional talent. There is his showmanship. there is his sonic vision in the studio. He was from another planet, man.
> ...


Amen!evilGuitar:I could have not described it better.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Just another quote I remember.....
I went to a workshop with Robert Fripp and in the course of the evening he got into a bit of a Jimi discussion. He said.....
"Technique is a house that each musician builds for himself. Music, true inspiration, comes knocking at the front door and on the way to the door the musician stumbles over objects in the room. These objects are technique. Quite often by the time the musician gets to the door to let music in.....it has left. Jimi Hendrix had none of these objects in his house. He was able to get to the door almost all the time it seems. Imagine a musician with the mind and the talent of Jimi Hendrix, but with my technique. That would be incredible"


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

re: Jimi Hendrix



faracaster said:


> . He was from another planet, man.


Oh yeah!


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## jcayer (Mar 25, 2007)

Someone mentionned Joe Bonamassa on an earlier post...

This kid is something...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxZS4rMdJN0


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...there are precious few guitarists who have almost completely re-invented the instrument. jimi is one, and so is eddie van halen. its difficult to even come up with a third such musician, unless you go back to les paul, chet atkins et al.

-dh


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