After 60 proper legends of pop (OK, you may have thought that some were a bit iffy), it is now time for my Top 20 Leg Ends of pop. These are those groups or artists that have had hits and sold well, but by no means a favourite of mine.
I do know that some of you will really like these, as there is no accounting for taste.
Now, SB does not like the use of profanity in the articles (comments fine, not articles), therefore if I say, for example, “Clut” I mean that well known GP word which is a sign of endearment, and if I say the word “Fluff” it is a well know word beginning with F, four letters, last letter a K, 2nd letter a U and just in case there is doubt, the 3rd letter is a C. The use of the word “Sausage” means that four letter word for when evacuating the bowels.
H/T to Brett of this parish, who very kindly sent me his play list of dire, dreadful, suicidal and basically fluffing songs generally done by right Cluts which are all pretty Sausage.
So, on we go with 5th on my worst list: – Jimi Hendrix. I know some of you will be fans as there is no accounting for taste.
James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – 18th September, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as “arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music”(Author’s note: I would argue about it!).
Born in Seattle, Washington, Hendrix began playing guitar at the age of 15. In 1961, he enlisted in the US Army, but was discharged the following year. Soon afterward, he moved to Clarksville then Nashville, Tennessee, and began playing gigs on the chitlin’ circuit, earning a place in the Isley Brothers‘ backing band and later with Little Richard, with whom he continued to work through mid-1965. He then played with Curtis Knight and the Squires before moving to England in late 1966 after bassist Chas Chandler of the Animals became his manager. Within months, Hendrix had earned three UK top ten hits with the Jimi Hendrix Experience: “Hey Joe“, “Purple Haze“, and “The Wind Cries Mary“. He achieved fame in the US after his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and in 1968 his third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland, reached number one in the US. The double LP was Hendrix’s most commercially successful release and his first and only number one album. The world’s highest-paid performer, he headlined the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 before his accidental death in London from barbiturate-related asphyxia on September 18, 1970.
Hendrix was inspired by American rock and roll and electric blues. He favoured overdriven amplifiers with high volume and gain and was instrumental in popularizing the previously undesirable sounds caused by guitar amplifier feedback. He was also one of the first guitarists to make extensive use of tone-altering effects units in mainstream rock, such as fuzz distortion, Octavia, wah-wah, and Uni-Vibe. He was the first musician to use stereophonic phasing effects in recordings. Holly George-Warren of Rolling Stone commented: “Hendrix pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. Players before him had experimented with feedback and distortion, but Hendrix turned those effects and others into a controlled, fluid vocabulary every bit as personal as the blues with which he began”.
Hendrix was the recipient of several music awards during his lifetime and posthumously. In 1967, readers of Melody Maker voted him the Pop Musician of the Year and in 1968, Billboard named him the Artist of the Year and Rolling Stone declared him the Performer of the Year. Disc and Music Echo honoured him with the World Top Musician of 1969 and in 1970, Guitar Player named him the Rock Guitarist of the Year. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Rolling Stone ranked the band’s three studio albums, Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love, and Electric Ladyland, among the 100 greatest albums of all time, and they ranked Hendrix as the greatest guitarist and the sixth greatest artist of all time.
Personally, I thought his music was a pile of old sausage and when he did all that feedback stuff, it just hurt my ears. The few tracks I have selected are just about bearable. I expect you must be a fan of this sort of music to put up with it. To me it is just noise.
The featured track is probably his most famous, Jimi Hendrix – All Along The Watchtower . I have selected the Official Video version as in live versions he makes every track released sound even worse.
Purple Haze (Live at the Atlanta Pop Festival). Good opening guitar rift, followed by angry shouty man and horrible feedback.
Jimi Hendrix “The Wind Cries Mary” LIVE Monterey 1967. Probably not that well known, but a passable track as not too much feedback and an attempt at singing instead of shouty man syndrome.
Jimi Hendrix Experience – Burning of the Midnight Lamp (Dim Dam Dom, 1967)
The one track which has a tune is this one. The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Hey Joe (1967). Just about bearable, apart from the noise made when he plays the guitar with his teeth.
The best I can say about him was he was The Emperor. The one with new clothes though. People liked his stuff or said so anyway.
Singalong, enjoy and be happy!
Links to previous Legend and Leg End articles:
Featured image: Steve Banks, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
© Phil the ex test manager 2023
