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By Peter Cross I've been in rock and roll all my life and I admit it's bit difficult to put Jimi Hendrix above Mick Jagger in terms of brilliant rock and roll stardom, but after watching several movies of both Jimi and Mick in concert, here's why I would do it:
1. BEST MUSICIAN
Jimi Hendrix was the only true genius in rock and roll. The word genius is highly overused and it's often applied to people who are extremely talented. I disagree with the dictionary when it equates genius with "exceptional intelligence", and what I think the word genius is supposed to refer to is a person who creates something that's new, and not only new, but significantly new, important, and somewhat of a milestone in human development. I call Albert Einstein the premier genius of the human race because the Theory of Relativity was a giant jump in the understanding of the way our universe operates and to this day, few people actually understand anything other than the bomb part. Jimi Hendrix was the genius of rock and roll because he was the only one who invented something new. It's almost impossible to do anything that's really new in the field of music because there are only eight notes in the Western scale so in a sense, all music is derivative. But Jimi invented guitar feedback and nobody before Jimi even thought about it. And Jimi took his invention one step farther. Until Jimi came along, all music since the time of Mozart and Beethoven has been built on chord structure and rock and roll music uses simple chord structure. Jimi actually used feedback alone to construct song structure in a few, but not all of his songs (i.e. Third Stone From the Sun). To this day, nobody has been able to do what Jimi did. In fact, Jeff Beck bought Jimi's strat at an auction and even the super talented Jeff admitted that he can't get the same sounds out of the very same guitar as Jimi got. With all due respect to Mick, he's a brilliant singer and one of the all time great rock and roll songwriters, but he's not actually a brilliant musician because he only plays rhythm guitar. I believe Mick would agree with me about Jimi being a genius guitar player because Mick was one of the first ones to discover Jimi when The Experience made their debut in the clubs of London. Along with John Lennon, Mick spread the word to the other British musicians about the new nova in the rock and roll sky.
2. BEST PERFORMER
It's a tie between Jimi and Mick. Call it a dead heat with one survivor. If Elvis was still breathing he'd be breathing down both of their necks and I probably will get flack from a whole lot of people for saying that, and even more flack from the know-nothing fans of Madonna, Prince (whoever he is these days) and Michael Jackson (not to mention Roberta FLACK). Certainly Elvis came first and Elvis was The King, but Jimi and Mick both had their own unique styles and neither one were heavily influenced by Elvis in terms of their performances. Mick was influenced by James Brown's dancing and only God knows who influenced Jimi's performance style because he was truly an original. Besides, Elvis moved on to acting and he starred in tons of below average movies - and now I'll really get flack! Unfortunately I won't get Roberta. But seriously, Mick deserves an award for putting on a great show every single time he appears, he did that right from his debut as a young man, and he's continued to do that as an old man. Jimi died as a young man. Both of them were sex stars on stage as well as off stage but watching Jimi on stage is nothing short of breathtaking. He had all the moves, he had the body of a black Adonis, he played his guitar with his teeth, behind his back, under his leg, and when he set fire to it at the end of his shows, he got down on his knees and prayed to the Guitar God who obviously listened to him. He wasn't a dancer like Mick, he was a mover and a shaker of women's "G" spots. People standing in front of his stage all had the same astounded expression on their faces as if to say, "I can't believe this guy! What galaxy did he come from?" Download MP3 Songs & MP3 Albums, Click here! About the author: Peter Cross is a former professional drummer and a singer/songwriter/producer/Web Master. You can find this article at: Jimi Hendrix is the #1 Rock and Roll Star of All Time and his home page at: Rock and Roll with an Immortal Soul. His copyright is at the bottom of the home page. ‘ BiG GooRoo : Knowledge Hub for Online Shopping ’
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