Jimi or Stevie

[Gibbz]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

SRV had more technicality, but no one ever felt the instrument and put their body and soul into their playing like Hendrix.


For that, I take Hendrix by far. I never really could get into SRV.

[ZM Punk]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

SRV.

More people know Hendrix, so he will obviously win. But most people that know music will vote for Stevie Ray.

[ChubbyBanana]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

SRV For me.

[Skerik]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

SRV. Hendrix did things nobody else had seen before, but SRV could do anything he wanted on the guitar.

[Scottdau]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

I would take your Avatar over both of them. But with these two. SRV!

[DickDalewood]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

Gimme SRV any day of the week.

I will echo these sentiments. SRV is unmatched.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

I went with Jimi. Both are obviously talented at what they did, but for me Jimi speaks more from himself and the times and tapped into the blues and soul with more of an artistic and creative flair than SRV did. For me, I would place Jimi not only along with the best rock guitarists, but with the blues crowd as well. After listening to SRV jam with Albert King, I doubt I would put him in there.

[DickDalewood]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

Both of these guys are the reason that I started playing guitar, basically. Hendrix is obviously the creative force behind what modern rock guitar has become and probably the move inventive rock guitarist of all-time. But yeah, Stevie had the benefit of 20 years of listening to Hendrix, being in the superb Austin blues scene, and being a better singer (though both guys absolutely hated their voices). Hendrix is the "greater guitarist" for sure just because of his impact and creativity, but if I had to listen to one of them for the rest of my life, it's definitely SRV.

For me, it comes down to the passion. Hendrix seemed to almost float through the world, blowing up a stage on the way to his next batch of French poontang and windowpane acid, whereas Stevie was just busting his balls for years playing sweaty blues clubs until his fingers bled. For someone to basically rejuvenate the blues as an artform (which SRV certainly did) while coming from that kind of background speaks to his raw ability as a guitarist. The Austin scene is TOUGH, because there are a thousand REALLY talented guitarists there at any one time, so Stevie making it out of that muck and getting picked up by John Hammond was impressive.

So yeah, the stories of Stevie gluing his calluses back on with super-glue so that he could keep playing the set.... that kind of stuff put him above Hendrix in my mind. You can't argue against the foundations of Stevie's playing as coming almost entirely from Hendrix, but he was able to combine that off-the-wall virtuosity with REALLY great blues chops (and jazz later in his career), a better (more passionate-sounding anyway) singing voice, and the heart to overcome his addictions and the dog-eat-dog Austin scene to be the best blues guitarist of all-time (IMO). That's amazing any way you slice it.

And yeah, put on his version of "Little Wing" and drift away... that's the best and most beautiful piece of guitar playing that I can think of, basically... just amazing.

This is probably my favorite live video of his -- he shreds this Buddy Guy song... The little wind-up growls before he starts the solos always make me think he's recharging his reserves of ridiculousness before starting the next sequence:
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The singing on that video and the sound of his guitar... just makes me melt man.. can't explain it. The playing on that one isn't even that impressive compared to some of his other live cuts, but it's just the purest Stevie 'playin' the blues' song I could find. Him getting all charged up during the solo reminds my of Buddy for sure -- he loves those really fast bursts of energy. Great subtle tribute to a master there.

My favorite old SRV cut is "Tin Pan Alley" off of "In the Beginning" -- that's a great glimpse at early SRV busting his balls in the clubs. His singing was just passionate but he didn't develop his voice much until later. Another early one that I love is "Rude Mood", which to this day is the song that I wish I could play flawlessly on the guitar.. always screw something up ("Rude Mood" starts in the later part of the vid.. he's playing Freddie King's classic "Hideaway" at the beginning):

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I LOVE seeing old SRV footage where he's just standing there with a cig hanging out of his mouth. The Swiss didn't know what the hell hit them... they booed him off the stage after his first Montreaux performance only to cheer him relentlessly as the headliner a few years later. His playing cleaned up a bit after he cleaned himself up, but there's something inherently appealing about the self-destructive, whiskey-breath, cig-burned, coke-addled Stevie that just tickles my inner bluesman nerve. He was a complete wreck around '87 though... "Live Alive" is a hard album to listen to for me.

Also, from a guitarist's standpoint, I think his tubey crunch (and that incredible pristine clean sound on "Little Wing" is the sound that basically everyone wants in their head. Something about that big ol' 15" Vibroverb, his big-*** strings, and that beat-up '63 Strat. This pic says it all really:

I'm glad you posted these... "Leave My Little Girl Alone" is one of my all time favorites by him.

[Bornindamecca]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

Hendrix. For me it all comes down to songwriting and predictability. When I hear Hendrix live, I really just hear him singing his way through a solo with his hands, and making a point that goes beyond licks and chops. SRV is a virtuoso blues player, but he's never surprised me with a solo. Hendrix has written so many great songs, and it says a lot that people mention SRV covering Hendrix when discussing him.

Hendrix, and it's not even close.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

Band of Gypsys is the best thing Hendrix ever did... that album is gold.

The thing with Jimi is that it was all so effortless. I guess I can relate to Stevie more because he worked for everything he got and overcame some rough **** only to be snuffed out by something totally out of his control. Jimi was musically insane and on a whole other level from the rest of humanity, basically -- he came from the skies, played his guitar like it was God's giant electric hammer dick, and went out 6 years later in the same haze he came in on. There will never be anyone like that again, and nobody can possibly stretch the limits of guitar quite like he did in his short time.

Really, this question is absurd -- Hendrix, obviously... but like I said, it depends on the criteria. If I had YouTube and all the SRV music I own compared to everything Jimi ever recorded, I'd be happier listening to SRV. Noel Redding's girly Beatle voice ruined many a Handrix song and I'll never forgive the bastard haha... Buddy Miles and Billy Cox FTW.

[Bornindamecca]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

Philosophically, I agree with everything you just said. I don't personally identify with either of them as a man, or as a musicisian, because I'm not a wreck, HAHA. I'm a pretty even temperament type, so I just marvel at all of that troubled energy coming out in the music.

Context does matter, but I thought the question was basically, "who's better", taking every guitar related piece of evidence into it. For all of the reasons you stated, I don't know how you even move forward in the discussion because we can't repeat Jimi. You can repeat SRV with hard work. I don't know the first thing to tell someone about how to be Jimi.

As far as personal choice, I'm against all discussions that give merit to personal choices as being more worthy. If I had to take one guy that I'd listen to, like you said, Youtube and recordings and all...I'd take John Petrucci

[Stumbleweed]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

Haha, Petrucci... I remember when I liked those wanky guitar players... can hardly listen to that stuff anymore. Technically impressive but gets a big meh from me. I like Liquid Tension Experiment though. I cannot stand the Dream Theater singer's voice, so that ruins anything on that front.

Petrucci is the best of that group though (Vai, Satriani, Eric Johnson, Yngwie, etc.)...

[LionsFanNJ]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

I'm picking Jimi for the fact he took blues guitar and balls to the wall rock guitar and mashed it up into something else entirely all its own.

SRV is a great blues guitarist, but personally i think there's a few others i'd put ahead of him on the blues front(B.B. King, Robert Johnson, Clapton), but this whole thing is more personal opinion and choice.

[Bornindamecca]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

I find it funny that people put John in that group, when he does so much more actual song writing than those other guys. More people like Dream Theater's songs than there are people who like John's individual playing. He just happens to do both. I couldn't call him any more wanky than any other PROG player, which is considerably less so than Yngwie and Vai. Funny, SRV does a lot more soloing in songs than Petrucci does these days.

If I were going to put John in a group, I'd have to put him in with the BTBAM, Protest the Hero, Rush, Opeth and Cynic guitar players. Those guys all inhabit the same area, and guys like Gilbert and Vai never go there in terms of song writing, or being a part of a band.

Bottom line, I think calling him a wanky guy illuminates early stuff, and excursions like the G3 tour, but ignores MOST of his work, which is DT and Liquid Tension sounding stuff.

Michael Romeo straddles the fence more than John, IMO.

[savoie2006]

Re: Jimi or Stevie

Jimi was just so raw and so different in his time. As an overall musician I would say Stevie was the better of the two, but Jimi is definately one of the best ever.