(Credits: Bent Rej)
Thu 27 November 2025 19:48, UK
No guitarist in history can claim to have revitalised the instrument quite like Jimi Hendrix. Much of the modern rock guitar and how we consume its sound is traced back to his tremendous leaps on the fretboard. He tore up the handbook and rewrote it in his countercultural image.
A truly distinctive player, Hendrix fused natural technique with a desire always to push himself to new heights as an artist. After what seemed like an age of him cutting his teeth on the underground scene when he was plucked from the New York circuit and whisked to London by Chas Chandler. There, he was fully primed to take things up a gear and get his music recorded and heard, all with a new backing band in tow, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, who could go toe to toe with his elemental approach.
As far as debut albums go, there aren’t many better than 1967’s psychedelic masterpiece, Are You Experienced? The American version contained classics such as ‘Purple Haze’ and ‘Fire’, and saw Hendrix rise meteorically and become the most exciting musician of his era. The following three years would see him reach untold heights.
Famously, Hendrix taking the world by storm also meant that the established guitar heroes of the era were now paying full attention to his efforts. The Who guitarist Pete Townshend has retrospectively explained that he made all of them up their game with the scintillating and deeply authentic nature of his playing.
However, despite historical innovations, as with every notable guitarist of his generation, Hendrix still looked to a revered set of players for inspiration. Emerging from the blues, R&B and rock ‘n’ roll traditions, he would cite the likes of Otis Rush and Albert Collins among his heroes.
One man who impacted Hendrix more than most was Muddy Waters, the influential Chicago bluesman who instilled the genre with ample swagger. One of the first artists the Seattle pioneer remembers hearing as a child, Hendrix recalled that the pulsating character of Waters’ music was so all-encompassing that it terrified him when he first encountered them.
Recalling how Waters helped change the cultural landscape in the post-war era, Hendrix was fully aware of the veteran musician’s significance to the music timeline. He explained to Rolling Stone in 1968: “The first guitarist I was aware of was Muddy Waters. I heard one of his old records when I was a little boy, and it scared me to death because I heard all of those sounds. Wow, what is that all about? It was great.”
Given his prestige, praise doesn’t come much higher than from Hendrix himself. Some of the guitarists that Hendrix considered idols are musicians who didn’t receive anywhere near as much acclaim as he achieved. Waters is one such guitarist who deserved the credit he simply didn’t receive.
Waters is one of the first-ever artists that Jimi Hendrix remembers listening to as a child. Many have argued that Waters’ music is what first captured Hendrix’s imagination and would inadvertently set him on his path to stardom. The blues legend played a key role in reshaping culture post-war, and without him, who knows how different culture would be today.
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