Neil Young on the “greatest electric guitar player that ever lived”
Since his voyage to Los Angeles from Canada in the 1960s, Neil Young has been an ever-present force in the rock landscape. The singer-songwriter has spent a whole lifetime in the music business, and during that period, Young has witnessed many stars burn bright before fading away.
Young’s longevity is extremely rare, and the fact that he can still headline festivals such as Glastonbury is a testament to his enduring appeal. Over this time, he’s always remained committed to his innate musical instincts and stays loyal to his gut instinct. While not everything he has made has resulted in commercial success or critical acclaim, Young can never be accused of selling his soul.
When the ‘Godfather of Grunge’ speaks, hanging onto his every last word is vital. He’s lived through it all, whether it was The Beatles exploding onto the scene when he was a teenager or the rise of contemporary stars and an abundance of fakes and phonies. Therefore, he knows what it takes for an artist to be the real deal.
As both a songwriter and a guitarist, Young is a singular talent who can make his instrument sing like a bird. However, he doesn’t consider himself to be anywhere near the most accomplished guitarist to have ever lived. Like many others, Young instead believes that the title belongs to the late Jimi Hendrix.
The two figures were both on the line-up for Woodstock in 1969, with Hendrix closing out the festival and Young performing with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Before the event, the two of them were on the same chartered plane, but unfortunately, it landed at the wrong airport. The pair were left stranded, which put their respective slots in doubt. As they were stuck at the incorrect airport, their planned method of transportation had fallen through, and for a time, it appeared they would miss out on participating in rock history. Fortunately, celebrity lawyer Melvin Balli was on hand to save the day and stole a pick-up truck that took the musical pairing to Woodstock, ensuring they would make their sets.
Although Young and Hendrix were never close friends, the Canadian always has that special memory from Woodstock to remind him of the guitar great. Sadly, the pair were part of different scenes and didn’t spend as much time together as Young would have liked. However, in 1992, he had the honour of inducting the Jimi Hendrix Experience into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, albeit without their leader who died decades earlier.
During his induction speech, Young spoke from the heart and said of Hendrix’s peerless skillset: “The guitar, you can play it, or you can transcend, and there are no boundaries for as far as you can go with your own body and mind when you’re playing it. I learnt that from Jimi, he was at one with his instrument. Truly one thing was happening, no technique you could take note of, no chords that I could recognise, and I didn’t know what any of it was. I just heard it and felt it.”
Additionally, he said in an interview with the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2005: “Hendrix was the best at being able to do his expression with his guitar. I’d say, out of the 1960s, as far as someone taking the guitar to another place, Hendrix was number one. No other guitar player even came near Hendrix in how he handled playing rock ‘n’ roll in a trio, guitar, bass and drums”. Meanwhile, in his authorised biography, Shakey, Young took his praise even further. The singer-songwriter told author Jimmy McDonough, “He was the greatest electric guitar player who ever lived.”
While guitar playing is subjective and down to taste, the title of “the greatest” is a matter of opinion. However, Young’s opinion on the matter carries more weight than most, and Hendrix’s position on the Mount Rushmore of guitarists is undisputed. It’s been more than 50 years since his tragic passing, and in that time, nobody has come close to capturing people’s imagination in the same way. Although countless technicians can play any note perfectly, Hendrix redefined what it meant to be a guitarist in a way that has never been replicated.
