Psychedelic Watchtower
Blues music was the foundation upon which Jimi Hendrix leaped from. In his early days he would idolize T Bone walker and Buddy Guy. Hendrix developed a natural taste of Chicago Style and 12 bar blues. Red House shows Hendrix’s passion for the old school blues he grew up on, and learned to play guitar with. Although Hendrix would never say the blues were boring or an outdated style, he detached himself from the traditional blues scene and moved to the bohemian, artist-heavy Greenwich Village in New York.
It was there Hendrix started to realize that there was more to blues music that has yet to be untapped. To help him untap, so to speak, Bob Dylan would become a big influence on Hendrix.
As Hendrix moved from a backing guitarist of traditional blues artists to front man of his own band there were transitional hiccups that had to be overcome. For example, Hendrix was always a shy person, and his tendency to recoil into himself was felt in his voice, which he criticized and ridiculed constantly. Bob Dylan, at the time, was already a well-established act and his coarse, drawling voice gave confidence to many musicians, not just Hendrix. Girlfriend Linda Keith “would play him song after song by Bob Dylan, subtly showing him that it was not the actual quality of the voice but the tone and sentiment of the delivery that counted.”
As homage to Dylan, and to acknowledge the breadth of influence he had, Hendrix did a tribute of All Along the Watchtower (from Dylan’s John Wesley Harding 1968). Hendrix didn’t stray too far from the original song (hence a “tribute” song, and not a “cover”) the biggest change was replacing Dylan’s harmonica with electric guitar. To show that Hendrix too, could have influence, a later version of Watchtower played by Dylan live has an obvious Hendrix influence, as Dylan’s guitar has replaced his harmonica.
Jazz music also plays a big part in Hendrix’s catalogue. Songs like Third Stone from the Sun and Up from the Skies have strong freeform jazz sensibilities, alluding to Buddy Rich style drums at the beginning of the tracks.
Manager Chas Chandler also had an impact, perhaps limiting Hendrix’s creative abilities. Chandler did give Hendrix his start and as an ex-member of The Animals his pop sensibilities were apparent throughout Hendrix’s first two albums.
Electric Ladyland was Hendrix’s first true “psychedelic” album. Although Are You Experienced? and Axis: Bold as Love were both saturated in experimental and freeform fusions of rock, blues, and jazz, the tracks were very often also layered with catchy AABA schemes and averaged around four minutes in length, catering to the pop rock radio crowd. Electric Ladyland sees the departure of Chandler and a much more experimental take on the above mentioned fusions, as well as longer songs, such as the almost 14 minute 1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to be).
Hendrix’s influences go beyond the musicians (also worth mentioning are the guitar heroes like Steve Vai and Eric Clapton and the London psychedelic blues scene) and stem from his passion for science fiction (which are obvious in the music of EXP, or the lyrics of Third Stone From the Sun).
Jimi’s upbringing also plays a big part in his lyrics, song like 51st Anniversary offer a biographical slant on his childhood.
