Is Jimi Hendrix Underrated?
How the rock musician’s guitar prowess may have been a gift and a curse
Okay, I know what you’re thinking, how on earth is Jimi Hendrix underrated? The rock and roll legend is generally lauded to the level of Bob Dylan and The Beatles and ranks highly on lists of the greatest artists of all time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as “arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music”, and when the average person thinks of guitarists, Jimi’s name is most likely one of the first that gets mentioned.
But if you ask anyone about Jimi Hendrix, what is the first thing they tell you? “Great guitarist”, “Greatest guitarist of all time”, “He’s a left-handed guitar genius”. Notice the pattern here? People mention his talents as a guitar player, which they should mention because that’s what he was, but that’s all they seem to mention. Jimi wasn’t just a rock guitarist, he was a singer-songwriter, and it is this side of his music that gets overlooked to a very large extent. Let's explore the side of Jimi that few rarely discuss.
A broom is drearily sweeping, up the broken pieces of yesterday’s life — Jimi Hendrix
In the mid-1960s, Jimi Hendrix was playing gigs in America’s Chitlin’ Circuit, a series of performance venues aimed at showcasing African-American performers. Here, Jimi played as a backing musician for the likes of Little Richard, The Isley Brothers, and Ike and Tina Turner just to name a few. By May 1966, he was struggling to earn a living playing in the R&B circuit. After being discovered by Linda Keith, then girlfriend of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, she referred him to former Animals bassist Chas Chandler, who had since gone into managing artists. Chandler brought Hendrix to England to start a career as a frontman rather than a sideman. Chandler soon began working with Hendrix to recruit members to form a band that would base their music around showcasing Jimi Hendrix’s guitar talents.
Soon after, drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding were employed, and Jimi’s band was born, The Jimi Hendrix Experience. It is worth mentioning that Jimi could most likely have just stuck to the original idea of the band and focus more on his guitar playing rather than his singing or songwriting, but he didn’t do that. When the band released their debut album Are You Experienced? In 1967, Jimi was credited as a songwriter for all but one song, “Hey Joe”, a cover song copyrighted by Bill Roberts and the band’s first single. Other singles released were “Purple Haze” and “The Wind Cries Mary”.
As this was Jimi’s first time singing and fronting a band, these were most likely the first songs that Jimi Hendrix had ever written up to that point. This is quite remarkable, especially when listening to a track like “The Wind Cries Mary”. After a fight with his then-girlfriend Kathy Etchingham, Kathy left him for a day, causing a sad Hendrix to write the song. Inspired by Curtis Mayfield’s soulful guitar work and vocals, and Bob Dylan’s lyrical imagery, Jimi was able to craft lyrics such as “A broom is drearily sweeping, up the broken pieces of yesterday’s life”. The song is a great example of Jimi’s songwriting skills and shows his melodic side. Something that Jimi is often not remembered for as much as his flashy, explosive guitar music.
The single was also a hit in the UK, charting at number 6. The album's other single “Purple Haze” charted at number 3 on the same chart and became one of his most enduring songs.
The album’s other memorable track “Foxy Lady” (misspelled as “Foxey Lady” in the US) may not be as beautifully written as “Wind Cries Mary”, but his approach to lead and rhythm playing was something not seen up until that point, while the lyrics about Hendrix pursing an attractive woman made for a great rock and roll track. The song’s popularity has also led to numerous features in other forms of media, most notably the 1992 film Wayne’s World.
While a lot of the songs from the Are You Experienced album deal with love in one form or another, there is also the track “I Don’t Live Today”, a song about depression that Jimi dedicated to Native Americans and other minorities. The album's title track, a very psychedelic number in which Jimi takes the listener on a “trip” and asks them the same question in the album's title. As for the music on the same track, Jimi makes guitar music that one could call avant-garde, using studio techniques such as a reverse guitar solo to such an extent, it most likely would have made The Beatles and George Martin’s jaws drop.
I’m the one that’s going to die when it’s time for me to die, So let me live my life, the way I want to — Jimi Hendrix
Jimi would release another album soon after with the Experience, Axis: Bold As Love. On this album, Jimi was able to build on his debut album and bring new musical ideas through his guitar and the recording studio, while showing some real progression as a songwriter. Where his first album was mostly love songs, here Jimi was diving deeper into his history and the then-current climate of the 1960s. In place of the lustful desires of “Foxy Lady” came “Spanish Castle Magic”, a song about Jimi's younger days performing at a similarly named club near his hometown of Seattle.
Jimi would continue to use his Mayfield like vocals and guitar work to even greater effect with the memorable track “Little Wing”, a song about a captivating, guardian angel-like figure that Jimi was inspired to write about after his memorable performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. The track was another example of the very beautiful, melodic side to his music that goes unnoticed by the average person. He would also use Dylan-like imagery with the ballad track “Castles Made Of Sand”, where Jimi speaks on life, using sand sinking into the sea as a metaphor for how time slips away.
Then there’s the track “If 6 Was 9” which is arguably the most psychedelic. Lyrically, the song is something of an individualist anthem and sees Jimi talking about the conflict of the counterculture movement of the late 1960s. Jimi says he doesn’t care if all the hippies cut off their hair, but his powerful line “I’m the one that’s going to die when it’s time for me to die, so let me live my life, the way I want to” would most likely have resonated with a lot of hippies at the time. The track was featured in the 1969 film Easy Rider, and years later in the television series Mad Men.
When Jimi does talk about love on the same album, he does so in a very creative and colorful way. The album’s title track “Bold As Love”, uses colours as metaphors for love’s different emotions. Jimi wants a lasting love, but is honest with himself and the listener when he says “My yellow in this case is not so mellow. In fact, I’m trying to say, it’s frightened like me”. This very honest, and maybe even courageous track was arguably one of the greatest moments in his career, in part due to the track’s memorable guitar solo outro.
In 1968, Jimi recorded what would become his final studio album in his lifetime, Electric Ladyland. Here Jimi uses a wide range of sounds and taps into different genres such as jazz, funk, soul, blues, pop, and even small elements of gospel music. Here Jimi took his songwriting writing in a new direction.
In place of the Dylan-esque imagery came lyrics about fantasies. The track “1983 (A Merman I Should Be)” talks about two lovers who leave life on land to go underwater and become merman and mermaid respectively. These fantasy-like lyrics are a very unique style of songwriting exclusive to Jimi that makes him stand out as a songwriter.
Even his track “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”, arguably his most popular song, which is mostly known for its memorable guitar riff and improvisational guitar playing has unique lyrics that leave a lasting impression. “Well I stand up next to a mountain, and I chop it down with the edge of my hand” is some of the most confident, and coolest lyrics I’ve ever heard.
Then there’s Jimi Hendrix’s singing. Opinions on his vocals are mixed. While some see it as unique, others see it as subpar in comparison to greats like Elvis Presley, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin. Jimi did have a unique voice that in my opinion, worked well in the studio. His vocals were simply beautiful on tracks like “Little Wing” yet direct and confident on “Crosstown Traffic”.
However, his live performances vocal wise were pretty hit and miss. Sometimes, on stage, Jimi would simply half sing the vocals, other times he would skip entire verses. It seemed like Jimi was insecure about his voice, which is a real shame. Had he lived long enough and worked on the craft of singing, he could have taken it to a level of the likes of Madonna or Anthony Kiedis, artists who are not generally considered as great singers, but distinct and consistent.
However, it’s quite clear that long before Jimi ever began to sing or write songs, he learned the craft of guitar, and this would ultimately be his selling point as an artist. Jimi was a pioneering guitar player. Not only could he play lead and rhythm guitar interchangeably, but he mastered the previously undesirable skill of guitar feedback to create some unbelievable sounds with songs like “Machine Gun” and his famous performance at Woodstock of the Star-Spangled Banner.
As a live act, he was known for stage tricks such as playing guitar with his teeth, smashing guitars, and setting guitars on fire. This is what initially led to his success, and inadvertently is one of the sole reasons why the public initially saw him as a wild stage act instead of a musical genius. Jimi was so groundbreaking as a guitarist, that much like his friend and rival Eric Clapton, his singing and songwriting are overlooked.
So, to bring it back to the title of this article, is Jimi Hendrix underrated? The answer is yes due to people mostly recognizing Jimi for his guitar talents only. Jimi did receive a lot of flowers while he could smell them, but virtually none related to his songwriting skills despite the numerous examples of his ability. Even posthumously, Jimi still hasn’t received this praise, only from his fans. I have yet to see Jimi included in any list of the greatest songwriters, but he consistently makes the top 5 of greatest guitarist lists. Jimi is also not included in the Songwriter Hall of Fame.
One thing that is clear to me, is that rock’s arguably greatest and most influential guitarist is also the most underrated songwriter in popular music. Will that narrative ever change? Who knows. I must end by saying that as a musician myself, Jimi Hendrix and The Experience’s music is something that continues to inspire me in terms of guitar playing, and singer-songwriting. Hopefully one day the world acknowledges the later skills.
