“He chickened out”: The musicians Jimi Hendrix was too scared to play with, according to Quincy Jones
Boldness was vital to everything Jimi Hendrix did. Being self-assured is crucial to any artist of era-defining essence. It allows them to stick their head above the parapet and experiment, unchained from expectation and tradition. While this tact is not always successful, the trial and error inherent to it is part and parcel of evolving creatively: no broken eggs, no omelette.
From the outset of his career, it was clear that Hendrix had immense self-belief. A chancer who understood the value in putting himself out there, he played with a host of groups before he was eventually spotted by Chas Chandler in New York and whisked to London to kickstart his career as a psychedelic icon.
It says everything about Hendrix’s fearlessness that when he was part of Little Richard’s band, his tendency to upstage the famously flamboyant rock ‘n’ roll pioneer contributed to his dismissal. However, in the expected form, by the time he was fired, he had already taken all he needed from the veteran ‘Tutti Frutti’ singer, contributing greatly to purifying his product in stage presence, dress sense and passionate performances. Hendrix later said: “I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice”.
While fronting The Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Seattlean’s brave aversion to tradition – despite his guitar playing’s deference to blues – saw them take over the world and force every other rock band to up their game. Hendrix threw the rule book out the window, with his searing, complex style and love of distortion and new effects pedals creating a sound unlike anything anyone had ever heard. It takes a lot to be so brazen in stepping off the beaten path, as often, when something so original is first experienced, audiences cannot quite comprehend the innovation and react negatively.
It says all about Hendrix’s significance that one of the era’s established guitarists, The Who’s Pete Townshend, who witnessed him perform his storied headline set at London’s Saville Theatre on June 4th, 1967, said he felt instantly competitive with the kaleidoscopic American. He knew that if he continued on his current path, he would quickly become obsolete. That’s quite an effect to have as a newcomer.
Despite all the history Hendrix made, according to one man who knew him well, the guitar hero wasn’t always so bold. Speaking to Vulture in 2018, legendary producer and songwriter Quincy Jones said Hendrix “chickened out” of working with a collection of prominent musicians on his 1970 solo album Gula Matari.
Hendrix was in line to play on Gula Matari during the period when he was starting to move away from psychedelic rock and develop his concept of a more experimental sound, drawing upon jazz, funk, and other forms. However, this convergence never happened, with Jones claiming that the presence of jazz heroes such as Toots Thielemans, Herbie Hancock, Hubert Laws, and Roland Kirk put the guitarist off.
He said: “He was supposed to play on my album and he chickened out. He was nervous to play with Toots Thielemans, Herbie Hancock, Hubert Laws, Roland Kirk — those are some scary motherfuckers. Toots was one of the greatest soloists that ever fucking lived. The cats on my records were the baddest cats in the world and Hendrix didn’t want to play with them.”
Unfortunately, Hendrix would never get to play with such musical forces, as, in September of that year, he died from barbiturate-related asphyxia, leaving many questions about what could have been.
