Johnny Winter: The only guitarist Ritchie Blackmore said came close to Jimi Hendrix
Rock and roll simply wouldn’t exist without the wailing sounds of a six-string to accompany it. From the very beginning, the guitar seemed to be the perfect instrument to soundtrack this rebellious musical style, and, as such, rock history is bursting with iconic and endlessly skilled guitarists. While certain figures tend to rise to the top of the rock guitar pyramid – Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore being one such figure – it is the unforgettable tones of Jimi Hendrix which are placed head and shoulders above everything else.
This fact should not come as much of a shock; after all, Hendrix’s unique blending of blues, R&B, and psychedelia meant he sounded unlike anybody else back in his 1960s heyday. His awe-inspiring skill is evident in virtually every track he ever laid down, with his expansive improvisational solos and endlessly inventive playing style blowing the competition out of the water. Hendrix’s guitar almost seemed like an extension of his body, as though he came out of the womb already playing solos and aiming to redefine the rock and roll landscape.
Hendrix was so talented that, even within the ego-driven world of the music industry, very few artists have ever gone on record downplaying his quality. While similarly skilled guitar players – the likes of Eric Clapton or Jimmy Page – have their sceptics, Hendrix appears to be a universally beloved figure within rock and roll. Among his many admirers is Ritchie Blackmore, who was another figure attempting to redefine rock and roll guitar music back in the late 1960s.
Working as a session guitarist for much of the 1960s, Blackmore gained an extensive education in different musical styles and techniques, all of which he incorporated into Deep Purple upon founding the group in 1968.
Alongside the likes of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, Deep Purple would blaze a trail for the emergence of hard rock and heavy metal, altering the rock landscape indefinitely and inspiring countless future generations of guitarists.
Throughout it all, Blackmore has taken colossal inspiration from Jimi Hendrix, going so far as to base the 1970 track ‘Speed King’ on Hendrix’s compositions, ‘Stone Free’ and ‘Fire’. “When I need some stimulation, ‘Hey Joe’ is the one that does it,” Blackmore once shared in an interview. “Because I think with Jimi, he loved life, he loved to live, and it showed in his playing. I think if there are any comparisons to make, I think he is the rock and roll Errol Flynn.”
Although the connection between Hendrix and the legendary Hollywood actor Errol Flynn was not expanded upon, Blackmore went on to compare the ‘Hey Joe’ guitarist to another beloved musician. “I think it was Jimi’s hands, because they were very big and very strong hands,” Blackmore shared. “He had an amazing neck with the vibrato. There’s only one other person that has a similar vibrato, which is Johnny Winter.”
Winter has never achieved the same mainstream recognition as Hendrix, or indeed Blackmore, but he dedicated himself to the mastery of blues guitar from the late 1950s up until his death in 2014. Along the way, his music found dedicated fans in the form of artists like Billy Corgan, Joe Perry, and, of course, Ritchie Blackmore, and Winter remains perhaps one of the most underrated guitarists to ever grace the airwaves.
