6. Jimi HendrixAxis: Bold As Love
I first saw him on a German TV show called Beat-Club – which I was on a few years later with Kraftwerk, by the way! He came on with ‘Hey Joe’, and he was so different form everything else that was around. I saw him play live in Dusseldorf in 1968, it was a very special experience, although the sound didn’t impress me. It sounds a bit strange, but he had the same problem I had with Neu! a few years later, being only one guitar player. What Jimi Hendrix needed was the studio, to add all these layers with backwards and forwards slides of guitar. That was what impressed me so much about Jimi Hendrix’s music. But playing live with only one guitar he was forced to do the showmanship thing. I didn’t do the showmanship thing with Neu!, but I also experienced the lack of layers in the sound. That’s why Klaus Dinger and I decided to stop playing live in 1972.
Some of his soft melodic tracks show the real beauty of his soul. ‘Castles Made Of Sand’ is sheer beauty I think, with that backwards flying guitar. He was not only the musician who burned his guitar, he was not just a showman. Oh, also, did you know he played guitar for Little Richard? I read that recently. It’s just a nice sideline that he was connected. I would love to play with Little Richard! It would be such a thrill to have that kind of energy!
