![\"Jimi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Jimi-Hendrix-Musician-1967-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Marjut Valakivi \/ Public Domain)<\/p>\n
Wed 17 December 2025 20:00, UK <\/p>\n
When Jimi Hendrix<\/a> first emerged on the scene, it was like a musical alien had descended upon Earth. His virtuosic guitar style was like nothing that had ever been seen before, and it left masters of the instrument scratching their heads as to where he developed this skill from.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was blues, hard rock and soul all combined into one, while still maintaining that crucial sense of melody that made the actual songs brilliant. Hendrix could descend into mind-bending guitar riffs and solos, but never to the detriment of the wider piece of music.\u00a0<\/p>\n So when he barged his way into the music scene in 1967, with Are You Experienced,<\/a> fans and musicians alike were trying to trace the lineage of his influence. Sure, music fans on the whole were becoming more accustomed to the idea of psychedelic music through the evolution of The Beatles, but nevertheless, Hendrix\u2019s new world of music felt completely alien. <\/p>\n Billy Gibbons was granted a peek behind the curtain when his band, The Moving Sidewalks, was offered support slots on some of Hendrix\u2019s early shows. From the wings, they would watch him and his band rip into classic songs from that debut album, such as \u2018Purple Haze\u2019 and \u2018The Wind Cries Mary\u2019, wondering how their own music could sound that good, and where they could harvest similar ideas.<\/p>\n It was a privilege for Gibbons, who had long admired Hendrix, especially one of the songs from that very debut album. \u201cA buddy said, \u2018There\u2019s a song that you oughta hear.\u2019 He was talking about \u2018Red House\u2019, by Jimi Hendrix. That completely turned us upside down. It was blues taken beyond,\u201d he once explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n But then, within the inner sanctum of the supporting opportunity, Gibbons was treated to a recommendation that would open up his own world of music. He recalled a specific memory where playing one of Hendrix\u2019s own songs resulted in a memorable encounter with the great man himself, and a recommendation that would change it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n He continued, \u201cThen The Sidewalks got hired to join the Experience tour in 1968. We didn\u2019t have enough material for 45 minutes, so we started doing \u2018Purple Haze<\/a>\u2018. I looked over, and Hendrix was in the wings, wide-eyed, grinning. We had seen his showman antics from older blues guitarists. But he had a vision and aura. I remember him tiptoeing across the hall at the hotel: \u2018Come in here. Do you know how this is done?\u2019 He was learning chops off Jeff Beck\u2019s first record, Truth.\u201d<\/p>\n