The guitarist Jimi Hendrix had to copy to reach greatness: “Jimi was in his infancy”
There has probably never been a more singular guitar play in rock and roll than Jimi Hendrix. While the rest of the 1960s rock scene stepped heavily into the blues, Hendrix brought various colours that no guitarist had seen before, combining blues, R&B, rock, psychedelia and everything in between. If any musician reaches that level of proficiency, though, they would need to have a diverse set of influences.
When talking about Hendrix’s favourite players, it’s easy to rattle off some of the progenitors of rock and roll. Since the rock scene had started in America with acts like Chuck Berry, it’s clear to see where Hendrix may have taken some cues from the ‘Father of Rock and Roll’ when playing on the side of the stage for Little Richard.
For the manic rock and roll from Hendrix’s fretboard, he also had the utmost respect for the blues guitar great BB King. Instead of playing manic solos that felt too fast for their own good, every note that King played had a meaning behind it, which struck a nerve when Hendrix weaved together his first solos. Coming from the blues tradition, King practically taught Hendrix how to create a mood with his music rather than trying to show off his technique.
Then again, any good guitar player is never about playing to be flashy. The name of the game is always about serving the song, and nowhere was this more evident than with Steve Cropper. Coming from the soul music scene in The American South, Cropper was known as one of the primary guitarists behind Booker T and the MG’s, helping launch his own hits while being a consummate session musician.
When talking about Hendrix’s rise to fame, his friend and future bandmate Billy Cox recalled what Hendrix stole from Cropper’s style, remembering, “Jimi was in his infancy at that particular time, Steve and (his band) Booker T and the MGs were (producing many of) the R&B songs being played at that time, and we copied that before we came into our own persona”.
Looking back on a handful of Cropper’s lead breaks, it’s easy to see what Hendrix was cribbing from. Instead of playing the most jaw-dropping music known to man, instrumentals like ‘Green Onions’ showcase Cropper’s knowledge of groove within a song. While he never plays anything too tricky, every note from his guitar is full of taste, making for a song that ebbs and flows in a way that no one else can master.
While Hendrix could rip out impressive solos with the best of them, Cropper’s influence can be heard in his rhythm playing. Given his responsibility for being both the guitar player and the singer, Hendrix’s internal sense of rhythm has been defined by Cropper, working up his body clock to work off of Cox and Mitch Mitchell on songs like ‘Manic Depression’ and ‘Fire’.
Even though Cropper kept everything rooted in the sounds of the south, Hendrix’s strength came from his vast knowledge of all genres, bringing Cropper’s rhythmic framework into the world of fusion rock and jazz. Though there are thousands of avenues Hendrix could have explored before his untimely passing, he still felt indebted to Cropper, recalling, “Steve Cropper turned me on millions of years ago, and I turned him on millions of years ago too — but because of different songs. He turned me on to a lot of things”.
Was he the only inspiration for Hendrix?
Of course, like any real musician, it wasn’t just one guitarist who helped to form the idol known as Jimi Hendrix. The six-string maestro found inspiration in a whole heap of incredible musicians. One such performer was Albert Collins. In 1968, Jimi Hendrix declared his love for the underappreciated stalwart of the Houston blues scene: “There’s one cat I’m still trying to get across to people,” he said: “He is really good, one of the best guitarists in the world.”
Other performers to have had Hendrix’s cap doffed in their direction are Muddy Waters, a guitarist so good it apparently scared Hendrix, his longtime pal Eric Clapton, ZZ Top legend Billy Gibbons, the ethereal Rory Gallagher, Elmore James and a host of other wonderfully gifted six-string stars.
