Simviation Forums

Well 35 years ago today the greatest guitarist ever (as voted by the readers of Rolling Stone) died...

If you remember that, you're lying about your age . I often listen to oldies stations and I've certainly heard him but can't remember anything specific right now.

It was a very sad day indeed.

I was of course aware of Hendrix & admired his guitar playing. To be honest I couldn't remember the date or even the year in which he died. Being older than most musicians here (I suspect anyway) two dates stick in my mind. 3rd Feb, 1959 & 17th April, 1960 when Buddy Holly & Eddie Cochran died in tragic accidents. Holly was 22 & Cochran 21. While comparatively unknown in their own country, these two talented young muscians influenced British rock music far more that anyone else I can think of. Without them there would possibly have been no Sixties Revolution that changed the face of modern music. No Beatles, no Animals & possibly no demand for Jimi Hendrix. Their music is as fresh today as it was  over 40 years ago.

I was of course aware of Hendrix & admired his guitar playing. To be honest I couldn't remember the date or even the year in which he died. Being older than most musicians here (I suspect anyway) two dates stick in my mind. 3rd Feb, 1959 & 17th April, 1960 when Buddy Holly & Eddie Cochran died in tragic accidents. Holly was 22 & Cochran 21. While comparatively unknown in their own country, these two talented young muscians influenced British rock music far more that anyone else I can think of. Without them there would possibly have been no Sixties Revolution that changed the face of modern music. No Beatles, no Animals & possibly no demand for Jimi Hendrix. Their music is as fresh today as it was  over 40 years ago.

Buddy Holly is fairly well-known to me but not Cochran. I've been into collecting stuff back to WW2, etc., but have been limited. In a sense, Hagar, I've responded to a post you made much earlier in the year; we'll see how things go with uploads in the next couple months (the gameplay format is for CFS1 but individual files should be accessible by other means).

Buddy Holly is fairly well-known to me but not Cochran. I've been into collecting stuff back to WW2, etc., but have been limited. In a sense, Hagar, I've responded to a post you made much earlier in the year; we'll see how things go with uploads in the next couple months (the gameplay format is for CFS1 but individual files should be accessible by other means).

I urge anyone interested in this subject to listen to Eddie Cochran. Even if the type of music does not appeal to you, listen to his guitar playing. He was a talented guitarist & songwriter but also played bass & drums. Some of his records are overdubbed with him playing other instruments. Not too many people were doing that at the time & he had only skimmed the surface of his potential. http://www.hotshotdigital.com/tribute/EddieCochran.html

His tour of the UK proved so popular it was extended. Very few US artists were prepared to come over here* & those that did were certain of a rapturous welcome. (To the disappointment of his many UK fans Elvis Presley never even visited Britain during his long career.) Cochran had a great influence on British musicians on the tour - including Joe Brown & Big Jim Sullivan, two prominent session musicians who played guitar on many hit records. (Joe Brown was also house guitarist on several popular national TV rock 'n roll shows.) These in turn influenced many other musicians of that generation & promoted interest in the electric guitar which was still fairly new in this country at that time. Cochran was tragically killed in a car accident during the tour. A very sad loss indeed.

PS. Not sure I understand the reference to CFS1 but expect I'll figure it out.

*PPS. This might have been partly due to a Musicians Union agreement of the time where visiting artists had to use British backing musicians. I think this was a reciprocal agreement with the US Musicians Union & would have applied to British artists touring the US.

Well 35 years ago today the greatest guitarist ever (as voted by the readers of Rolling Stone) died...

Hendrix was a pioneer and an innovator of technique that generations of players based their further development upon.  However, Rolling Stone should have put their poll in Guitar Player, Guitar One, or Guitar World magazines to get an accurate poll.  As a player of almost 30 years, I've been in a number of discussions/debates on some of the pionees of rock guitar, such as Hendrix, Page, and even the Beatles.  

It's really hard to say who is/was the greatest.  Just as the Vai's and Van Halens built their skills on what Hendrix pioneered, Hendrix had his own set of influences that he built his skills on.  I don't think it's possible to identify who's the greatest ever, only the greatest of a generation.

Sorry for the wet blanket.