Are You Experienced was the debut album by English/American rock band The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Released in 1967, it was the first LP for Track Records. The album highlighted Jimi Hendrix’s R&B-based, psychedelic, distortion and feedback laden electric guitar playing, and instantly launched him as a major new international rock star. It is considered one of the first heavy metal albums. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #15 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Eddie Kramer was involved in the Are You Experienced album as the lead engineer.

According to Kramer, “Jimi’s backwards guitar was an effect that he rehearsed. Contrary to popular belief, I would say Jimi Hendrix was extremely well prepared. I would give him rough mixes of songs that we’d been working on and he would take them home and experiment on his own tape machine. By the time he came back to the studio the following day, he would have planned out precisely what he was going to play. And we would turn the tape upside down, because obviously the back’s now playing to the front, and he would know precisely where he was by the sound of the tape. So he would stop there, play it from there and record from there to there. And out would come this incredibly beautiful melodic solo that was perfectly structured from the beginning to the end.”

A friend of Michael Bloomfield made mention to me, “Pure and simple Jimi was, as Michael Bloomfield put it “a natural genius” with a huge arsenal of licks and chordal structures he would create “on the fly” so to speak.”

Vernon Reid Is a guitarist, songwriter, composer and music producer. And he was quoted as saying “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Jimi Hendrix.”

It was more, much more than a groundbreaking album at the time. If you’ll excuse the expression, it really rocked the music world. It set it on fire the second he hit the stage, because nobody had ever heard psychedelic rock and roll guitar, soulfully and heavily, heavily influenced by the blues. And here’s a man who is completely at one with his guitar and able to create sounds that nobody had ever heard before. In the Temple of rock and roll guys, Jimi is the King in terms of guitar players. But you already knew that about me!

On Are You Experienced, you know, in the album, is he talking about drugs? Is he talking about sex? Is he talking about all of the above? It’s kind of inferred, but you have to listen to his words and take the real meaning out of them and consider the pre-recorded backwards swirling guitars contributing to this sort of lyrical and musical genius.

It’s still a landmark recording because it started a tradition, a new standard of music and guitar playing skills, rock and roll, R&B, blues, and the twisted mind oj Jimi Hendrix to put it together. But I think it altered the syntax of the music, if you will, you listen to just Crosstown Traffic or Purple Haze, or some heavy blues like Voodoo Child and you start to think, this is the music I have been waiting for my whole life.

I was reading this article recently about a school doing some poetry vibe with some fifth graders, and a young lady student had a Jimi Hendrix t-shirt on, and – of course she was asked about this. And she said, “oh, I just love that music. It just makes me want to go in my room and paint and write things. And you know, he was someone who painted and wrote.” So purely and simply, it’s not just for old school guys, you know, if a fifth grader can just get kind of wide-eyed and excited as this young lady did. I thought, boy, you know, this guy really had something, and still does. apparently Jimi Hendrix does stand the test of time.

In fact, his music is more popular than ever. Like Mozart, he was born a musical genius, changing the face of music, each in their respective types of vibe. Forever, and to emulated by all, being appreciated by strange new audiences. Interesting enough, they both died young. I won’t even bring up the crossroads theory..

Perhaps this story is somewhat self serving, but it proves to me that I was right the first time I heard a bootleg recording of Jimi Hendrix off the BBC recordings in late 1965, and it seems that I’m still correct about standing the test of time and continuing to grow larger as each generation of listeners and guitar players becomes influenced and take what they want from the King.

Are you Experienced?

Michael Jackson commanded a lot of respect. He deserved it. A genius for sure. But, I’ll bet you have no idea what two ultra famous gentlemen played the guitar on “Billie Jean” of the Thriller album, and are still living.

Remember, chronologically, these three men were peers. Believe it or not, if Michael Jackson was 50 at the time of death, that would make Eddie Van Halen 54 years old and Steve Lukather 52 years old. Making these men peers.

Eddie Van Halen was called in by Quincy Jones to play guitar on the song Beat It, from Michael Jackson’s 1982 album, “Thriller”. World class guitar player Steve Lukather of Toto played the main guitar riff and rhythm, with Eddie playing a solo that was allegedly blended from three different takes.

I have seen Steve Lukather and Toto in concert. He more than exceeded my expectations, basically doing anything he wanted to with his guitar. I have not Eddie Van Halen Yet, but I will when he comes to my territory in Florida.

The overwhelming success of the ‘track’ played a key role in getting T.V. videos kick-started into what they are today.. The combination of Jackson’s pop sensibilities, Quincy Jones’ production and Van Halen’s guitar work molded several styles of music, helping each to find new fans. Famously, Eddie refused the money he was offered for playing on the track based on the limited budget the project was allowed.

One more interesting vibe on Michael Jackson. He never wrote even one of his songs down on paper. He used a small recorder to record his thoughts and sang his songs entirely from memory when he performed. Some of his lack of wring down his thoughts may have been due to a lack of having an even somewhat normal childhood, which includes going to school.

That’s it, I was not his biggest fan, obviously having Jimi Hendrix as my Guitar God immediately shows a contrast in music styles, though I do appreciate his talent and enjoyed the heck out of the ‘Thriller T.V. video. Guitar Players Center hopes to have added a small vibe about Michael Jackson, you did not know. RIP Michael..

I just wanted to mention he was 61 years old today. I feel like I have known him personally for almost 40 years. Having listened to my “Little Feat” and “Sneaking Sally Through The Alley” circa 1974, (Robert Palmer with Lowell George) albums so many times.

Congratulations and thanks. Thanks for staying alive to grace our ears with your fabulous guitar playing skills. Enjoy.

After attending Wimbledon Art College in London, Beck backed Lord Sutch before replacing Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds [see entry]. He established his reputation with that band, but he left in late 1966 and after a short sabbatical released a version of “Love Is Blue,” played deliberately out of tune because he loathed the song. In 1967 he founded the Jeff Beck Group with Ron Wood and Rod Stewart; the band’s reworkings of blues-based material laid the groundwork for ’70s heavy metal. Clashing temperaments broke up the group after two acclaimed LPs and several U.S. tours. Stewart and Wood went on to join the Faces [see the Small Faces/the Faces entry], and Stewart continued to use drummer Mickey Waller on his solo albums until 1974. Beck was planning to form a band with Vanilla Fudge members Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice when he was sidelined for 18 months with a fractured skull he sustained in a car crash. (A car aficionado, Beck has been in three crashes and was once sidelined for months after getting his thumb trapped under a car.) When he recovered, Bogert and Appice were busy in Cactus, so Beck assembled a second Jeff Beck Group and put out two albums of Memphis funk laced with heavy metal. When Cactus broke up in late 1972, Beck, Bogert, and Appice returned Beck to a power trio format, but weak vocals hampered the band, and it dissolved in early 1974.

Beck then went into the first of many periods of hibernation. In 1975 he reemerged in an all-instrumental format, playing jazzy tunes. He toured as coheadliner with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and started an on-again, off-again collaboration with former Mahavishnu keyboardist Jan Hammer in 1976 with Wired (#16). During the later ’70s Beck reportedly spent most of his time on his 70-acre estate outside London. He and Hammer worked together on the 1980 album There and Back, but Hammer did not join Beck for his 1980 tour, the guitarist’s first in over four years. In 1981 Beck appeared at Amnesty International’s Secret Policeman’s Ball, and in 1985 he toured Japan. Flash, which includes Beck’s sole charting single, “People Get Ready” (#48, 1985), with Rod Stewart on vocals, and the Grammy-winning “Escape,” written by Hammer, peaked at #39. Four years later Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop With Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas (#49, 1989) garnered the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Crazy Legs, an homage to Gene Vincent’s Blue Caps and rockabilly guitar legend Cliff Gallup, met with mixed reviews.

During the ’80s and ’90s Beck turned up on recordings by artists including Mick Jagger, Malcolm McLaren, Roger Waters, and Jon Bon Jovi. He finally recorded an album of new material (all instrumental) in 1999. On Who Else!, the guitarist got support from longtime collaborators Hammer (on one song) and Hymas and explored a more electronic environment; a tour followed. The same year Beck was nominated for two Grammys: “A Day in the Life,” his contribution to George Martin’s album In My Life, was nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, while the guitarist’s own “What Mama Said” was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Beck spent much of 1999 touring, then returned to the studio with his road band to record You Had It Coming.

From the Third Edition The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. Brought to you by Guitar Players Center.

Do you think that any of the great guitarists or athletes just woke up one day and had these super human skills? Probably not. Talent level aside. Simply put, all elite guitar players, athletes, etc. do have a few things in common even if their abilities differ. Practice. Nose to the grindstone, go to the woodshed and don’t bother me.

They work tirelessly to play the guitar, or to be more precise, practice, practice and more practice. A person grows by increasing knowledge input at a slow pace, while practicing each piece of knowledge until perfect. It is not a competition or race, so no matter how long it takes to master something, keep practicing until it is mastered. Enjoy the experience. It’s not that bad!

Relax your body. That is a fundamental habit to get into. As you make progress relaxation comes easier. Tension in your muscles causes a lack of fluidity in your motions, therefore it makes it difficult to duplicate a song or play with grace. Relaxation and good posture eliminates fatigue and improves the final results of your efforts, sound and tone. Relaxation is hard to accomplish, like changing your posture. It take time, focus and self awareness.

Research tells us to warm up our fingers or little athletes for about fifteen minutes with fingering and strumming exercises. We also know that taking a break every forty-five minutes to an hour and a half for about ten minutes between sessions helps prevent injuries. Be care full not to tear a callus or draw blood from overuse. It really slows you down in terms of progress, and guitar strings can cause infections since they are coated in various nickel compounds.

One of the fortunate things that happened to me when I poked my thumb with a string during a string change is that my very versatile and terrific teacher, Richard Mac, taught me how to tap, a technique Eddie Van Halen is best noted for. Great vibe, even though I’m not much into tapping. However it is another weapon in the arsenal. Ha!

Logically speaking, of course, we recommend starting with easy learn able assignments. Mastering an assignment builds happiness and confidence. These are two essential ingredients to the recipe for success. You must enjoy your chosen discipline, in this case the guitar, and you must build confidence. Early gratification is essential in keeping ones interest level up, or one may get frustrated and lose interest.

Michael Jordan was the greatest talent in basketball, ever. You may not agree with me, but it’s true. He also had a reputation as the most intensely ferocious person on court during practice. He always pushed the other team mates to the limit. It made them better too. Six world titles says it all.

Simply put, the most important part of practicing is having the time and desire to go over certain pieces of musical information until you get it. It is a discipline that requires lots of practice time. It’s comical to even think of practicing during a recital or gig or basketball game. Game-time, recital time or gig time is time when you play by instinct. No practicing at those times. Period. Jam time is a good time to practice.

Jam on.

My point is that a lot of time is going to be consumed practicing the guitar. I read (and saved it, but can’t find it) a reprint of a Stevie Vai practice session in Guitar World about 2 years ago. It was a ten (10) hour/per day practice. Broken down into steps, from warming up through different left and right hand techniques and exercises, to the mental part of transforming it into muscle memory. Muscle memory is explained well in this article at GuitarPlayersCenter.

An example of finger and muscle memory is when a drunk guitarist can get on stage and play a complicated piece of music, that is the memory in their muscles from repetitive practice, not brain function (at least at the time) since being drunk can affect your brain’s memory. Understand? I hope so..

Without complications, I hope to have conveyed to you in this article that in order to be a top-notch guitar player, be prepared to do it the old fashioned way. Lots of practice. There is no magic formula, unless you are a Voodoochild, or went to the Crossroads!

I hope this vibe sinks in, or you will never be the guitar player you want to be or can be. Guitar Players Center is the most ardent promoter of practice, practice and more practice to become the guitar player you want to be..

The Crossroads legend and Robert Johnson. Some people say Robert Johnson met the ‘Devil’ at a lonely crossroads in the Mississippi Delta one night and swapped his soul for his unearthly guitar player talents. He was a drifter and when his time came, the devil completed the deal, Johnson was said to go out on his hands and knees howling like a dog.

Is the crossroads hypothetical? Can we prove that the musicians who went to the crossroads all met the same fate? Was Jimi’s manager, Michael Jeffrey the devil himself? Only to die in a plane crash after he allegedly murdered the greatest and most prolific guitar player ever. Was that his due? It was well deserved if so…

Eric Clapton and Cream did one of the first versions of Robert Johnson’s’ Crossroads Blues. Was his suffering due to being associated with the song?

What about Led Zepplin and “The Lemon Song”? The song borrows strongly from ‘Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor”, which was a song Led Zeppelin often incorporated into their live sets during their early concert tours of the United States. Other lyrics, notably “squeeze (my lemon) ’til the juice runs down my leg,” can be traced to Robert Johnson’s “Travelling Riverside Blues”. Did this have anything to do with the death of ‘Zep’s” drummer, John Bonham in 1980?

After a nice, refreshing video break, lets get back to the point..

One of my favorite songs by Jimi Hendrix is “Hear My Train A Coming“. It makes reference to: ‘I’m gonna leave this town and coming back as a magic man’..He was going to the train station…This phrase suggests heavily where he is going. But Jimi was a Voodoo Child and had the guitar playing abilities and imagination no human had before. Jimi was a great bluesman, his posthumous album “Blues” is the best blues album ever. Several of the songs are direct adaptations of earlier blues guitar players compositions and songs.
Another interpretation of the crossroad hinted at by some blues songs is that point at which a particular road is taken in life.
Excerpt From Wikipedia: Originally the blues “Crossroads” was a literal right-angle crossing of two railroads - “where the Southern cross the Dog” – in Moorhead, Mississippi. The “Southern” was a line of the Southern Railway, sold to the Columbus and Greenville Railway in 1920, and the “Dog” was the “Yellow Dog”, officially the Yazoo and Delta Railroad, part of the Illinois Central Railroad system after 1897. This place is mentioned in a number of blues, including the recorded works of W. C. Handy and Bessie Smith

While Stevie Ray Vaughan comes from a different generation, is it coincidence he died in a helicopter wreck at only 36 years old. What I know is that he died young in an unusual manner for a guy who got his life straightened out..Was it his unreal and unequaled blues guitar playing abilities, or the fact that he played a variety of blues songs written by the artists who allegedly went to or had something to do with an artist who went to the crossroads? He wrote a few of his own blues song too. He made 18 albums in his short career..

I find no definitive answer to these questions. There are so many versions of what “really” happened that night, it is virtually impossible to find any consistent accounts of what really went on at the crossroads. I guess what happened is between the devil and his clients, all the way to the grave.

I wonder how these extra-ordinary, out of this world abilities became them. I don’t disagree with the notion that people with abilities so much greater than the others, at any skill, is not necessarily human/earth like. Meaning, even Michael Jordan had to be born on another planet, like Venus, no other way to explain his unique game changing skills. He did to basketball what Robert Johnson, Jimi Hendrix and a handful of other guitar players can do. Change the way that particular skill may be, forever. Music in this case..

In closing out this article, I wonder if Danny Gatton and Roy Buchanan blues guitarist extraordinaire, went to the crossroads and sold their souls. Both died under suspicious circumstances, both lives ended in their primes. However Danny Gatton made the worse deal, he never got the recognition he deserved..

This is just the opinion of Guitar Players Center. However, it is an opinion, which makes it open for discussion. Please leave a comment or what you think may have happened on the fateful night Robert Johnson started the crossroads legend..Enjoy.

I would like to visit the crossroads. It does not scare me, I’m to old to die young anyway!!

Comment: Hendrix also didn’t get his own earnings. Was his manager the same guy who swindled him out of his money? And if this story is true wasn’t he killing the goose that laid the golden egg? All of this makes me think of the crossroad legend. Maybe Jimi made his best deal, and the devil came to get him when his time was up. Thanks for this article. It’s great food for thought.

Those seeking to put together the loose ends of the alleged government agencies, the Mob and enormous amounts of lost money need look no further than Michael Jeffery. Jeffery served in the British Intelligence Corps in the 50s, and years later boasted of underworld connections. As Hendrix’s manager Jeffery had control of millions of dollars earned by Hendrix, much of which was diverted by Jeffery to offshore bank accounts.

Hendrix became more and more aware that Jeffery was cheating him, and just before his death 38 years ago made arrangements to cancel his contract with Jeffery. According to a recent claim by former Hendrix roadie James “Tappy” Wright, in his new book named Rock Roadie, Jimi Hendrix is now said to have been murdered by his manager Michael Jeffrey. The claim states that Jeffrey had confessed the murder to Wright in 1971, one year after Hendrix was found dead in London at the Samarkand Hotel in a room booked by Monika Dannemann, and two years before Jeffrey would be killed in a plane crash. The icon’s manager allegedly filled him full of pills and booze with plans to kill him and collect his life insurance. Wright recounts Jeffrey’s words to be, “I was in London the night of Jimi’s death and together with some old friends… we went round to Monika’s hotel room, got a handful of pills and stuffed them into his mouth… then poured a few bottles of red wine deep into his windpipe.” This is a most startling turn of events as the final coroner’s report had stated the cause of death to be “barbiturate intoxication and inhalation of vomit” without correlation to murder. With recent information surfacing that Hendrix had taken out a 2 million dollar life insurance policy inking Michael Jeffrey as the beneficiary, and Jeffrey deciding to cash in on that money once catching wind that Hendrix was planning to let him go, motive seems all to present for the logistics to be entirely false. “I had to do it. Jimi was worth much more to me dead than alive. That son of a bitch was going to leave me. If I lost him, I’d lose everything.”

The blood of a legend on the hands of a man he entrusted his life to, does a sadder thought exist?

The crossroads theory will be covered in another post. Actually it is a story in itself. However it seems to be relevant to the entire issue of the great late Jimi Hendrix’s death. Guitar Players Center has yet to find info on where the insurance money went. Surely there must be an answer….

As we hit the highway we were listening to NPR news. After the news, they went back to classical music, which is the brand of music this particular NPR station played. The first piece of music was an orchestra who had a gentleman who is a classical guitar player leading the them. Sorry to say I missed his name and the orchestra’s name.

He was a guest to the orchestra, but seemed to be the leader of the pack on the piece we heard. Anyway it really caught my attention, so much so, that I did not even hear my old lady talking to me. Oops! I mean I became zoned listening to this classical guitar virtuoso vibing out.

By and large, everyone who reads my blogs knows that Mozart and Beethoven don’t vibe like Jimi Hendrix, in my opinion..However in the process of listening I had an epiphany about this whole ‘classical guitar’ playing compared to ‘rock and roll’ or the ‘blues’. You simply cannot compare the two styles in any way, shape or form.

One style is predicated on following and playing by the established rules of musical theory. In fact it is considered a sin to break these rules. I took classical guitar lessons for four years from 11 years old from two of the greatest teachers of classical guitar ever, Aaron Shearer and George Yeatman. Both have passed away.

Classical guitar may not be my favorite type of guitar music, but it captivates me in a different way than the blues or the unorthodox ‘out of box’ playing techniques I use. The music is relaxing and enjoyable, but what kills me is the speed and accuracy with which they use their strumming hand. The way they play a bass line is played at the same time using the thumb and playing the song with the fingers. Unbelievable and disciplined talent and practice time.

BTW: I am also undertaking on my own accord the learning of how to sight read music. FYI, this is one of my greater challenges of all. I’m pretty much a self learner or autodidact, if you will. But I may take the class at our local four year degree college that teaches sight reading music, it is actually a classical guitar and music theory course. So maybe I’ll have to break out and dust off my 1954 Gibson Classical guitar that was bought new for me. Or use my Boss Acoustic guitar effects pedal!!

The ‘blues’ style of guitar playing, (my style) in particular is predicated on breaking all of the rules consistent to music theory. I don’t think ‘rock and roll covers‘ break the rules as much as the blues. Anyway, there are not very many rules I have not broken in the first place, ask my parents or wife. So, realistically, breaking the rules’ out of box’ method of playing the guitar suits me better.

Considering all of the above, even though we can’t really compare the styles of music, as said earlier, we can appreciate them for the discipline it takes to get there. You got to respect these musicians for knowing how to sight read music, perhaps having perfect pitch and playing with perfect form. Perfect form and practice are the ingredients that makes all guitar players special, nothing can replace that. Add some emotion and the recipe is complete.

Playing ‘out of the box’ takes equal discipline and practice time. In fact, since in many cases the music is not formally written down in sight-readable music, we can pick our own notes. When we can pick our own notes, I believe our creativity shows better. Take for example the Stevie Ray Vaughan lick. As you listen, you will hear the instructor say “this is a the only time Stevie Ray was caught in the public playing this part of the song that way”. That tells me he does a lot of his own note picking.

Instinctual and improvisational. Did you know the song Jimi Hendrix made famous “Hey Joe” was written by a country music dude named Billy Roberts? Hendrix made it famous picking his own notes and then playing them using his unorthodox style and techniques.

I guess you get the point. Guitar Players Center wanted to share this thought with you. What do you think? Enjoy

James ‘Tappy’ Wright says Hendrix’s manager Michael Jeffery confessed the crime to him a year later, during a drunken session at the roadie’s house.

According to Wright – whose revelations feature in his upcoming tell-all tome Rock Roadie – Jeffery visited Hendrix at the London hotel he was staying at and plied him with pills and alcohol.

Jeffery had to make sure the death didn’t look like a suicide otherwise the life insurance policy he’d taken out on Hendrix – which named him as the sole beneficiary of a $2million (£1.2million) payout – would have been thrown into jeopardy, claims Wright.

Hendrix died in September 1970 after he’d choked on his own vomit.

The official cause of death was ‘barbiturate intoxication and inhalation of vomit’ – but mystery has always surrounded the 27-year-old’s tragic demise.

John Bannister, the surgeon who tried to revive Hendrix, admitted in 1992 that he was surprised at the lack of red wine – which the rocker had supposedly been drinking – in his bloodstream.

Jeffery died in a plane crash in 1973, two years after making his alleged confession to Wright.

Guess we will never really know. A bit of recent news from GuitarPlayersCenter.com. Enjoy.