3. Jimi HendrixAre You Experienced
By the mid-70s it was clear to me that my only chance to escape a lifetime of crap jobs (and I was a bog cleaner at the time) was as a musician, so I set about practicing with a sense of purpose. When I first heard this album I thought, “That’s the way to play guitar!” It’s not just virtuosity with Jimi Hendrix, he makes the guitar speak, taking it into uncharted territory along the way with phenomenal playing. Mitch Mitchell is no slouch on the drums either; the two of them were made for each other. After all, could you imagine Jimi in a band with Ringo? It just wouldn’t have worked. So I played this album over and over – but by the time I’d deciphered a few of the Hendrix moves punk had arrived – and guitar solos were surplus to requirements. The stuffy committee who decides who merits a prestigious blue plaque needed a couple of decades of pressure to begrudgingly award one to Jimi Hendrix – it’s on display outside the flat he shared with girlfriend Kathy Etchingham. Somehow I managed to blag an invite to the unveiling – where I learned from this very pleasant lady that if Jimi had been with her that fateful night in 1970, and not out on a jolly with a bunch of dodgy hangers on, the greatest rock guitarist who ever lived may still be alive today. Jimi wrote ‘The Wind Cries Mary’ for Kathy after a row… possibly about his penchant for partying.
