Are you Experienced? Jimi Hendrix

Easy Money wrote: A lot of you have a very shallow knowledge of what Hendrix was really about and about the amazing prog-rock songs he put out in addition to his more well known blues and pop-hard rock stuff. Hendrix along with Zappa, Fripp, Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, Procol Harum and the Beatles invented prog-rock. One thing Hendrix had over many artists on this site is some very real lyrics.

This is a very unfair thing to say. If many people here don't think Hendrix is prog, it is because their view of what constitutes prog is not the same as yours. We are talking about art, not hard science, and art is a very subjective thing. Many of the members of this site have an incredibly extensive knowledge of music, so I think that calling their knowledge "shallow" is very untrue, as well as slightly rude.


Edited by Ghost Rider - September 13 2007 at 23:29

ghost_of_morphy wrote: Jimi signficantly influenced everybody.  I don't think that you claim that any part of that influence was somehow more relevant to prog than anything else.  Hence, I think he should be excluded.

There are a lot of prog bands with a strong hendrixian influence, such as "Guru guru".

Edited by oliverstoned - August 13 2007 at 05:17

1983 was the closest thing to prog Jimi ever played imo, though that's not a song that a lot of people remember him by. I suspect he might have made full-blown prog, had he lived longer (he almost joined ELP, mind you).

reading the last couple of posts.... remember.... it is a NON prog category he is being considered for.

The question isn't whether he was prog.... but rather if he significantly influenced the development of prog rock.


Edited by micky - August 02 2007 at 23:15

SRV is in no way 80 times better than Jimi! Secondly, Nine to the Universe is Jimi's most progressive album, then perhaps Electric Ladyland.

 Hendrix, although primarily a blues guitarist, started to evolve his sound into free-form jazz rock, like in the sessions which eventually became Nine to the Universe. Add to that the influence of prog bands like ELP, and it was evident that he was headed in that direction. Hendrix was even considering joining ELP (HELP) before he died.

As for the question of whether or not Jimi belongs in the Prog Archives, I still voted no, but it's not because his music was not progressive enough. It certainly was, but he died before "prog Hendrix" could become a reality. It's yet another of those "what ifs" had he lived.

Hendrix definitely deserves to be included in PA - his influence on psyche and prog metal is inestimable - listen to Electric Ladyland, most cite this as a blues album but IMHO an essential blueprint for prog-metal (and Axis..).

Edited by mystic fred - August 02 2007 at 03:28

erik neuteboom wrote: This site is named Prog Archives, an abbreviation of Progressive Archives so I would like to welcome The Jimi Hendrix Experience on this site. I am looking forward to review it among reviews about previous additions like Iron Maiden, Talk  Talk, Osibisa, JM Jarre and Magnum, I think The Jimi Hendrix Experience their progressive ideas on Electric Ladyland will be superior in comparison with those aforementioned 'progressive' bands

"Prog Archives, the ultimate Prog Rock Archives"

there was already a huge topic about this, mr. Erik.

And I don't see how Hendrix relates to Iron Maiden, Talk Talk, Osibisa, Jarre (?!) or Magnum (who, themselves, are between prog and non-prog).


To tell you the truth, I feel that Hendrix has some progressive worth, whilst thinking of other very stretched and inconsistent great bands added under the same "suspicion" that they have influenced progressive rock. But I decided not to go by this way of thinking (that Hendrix deserves what X,Y,Z don't), because I actually criticize it.

Therefore, I'm more thinking that Hendrix is a master of his blues and his psych, but never good for a prog or proto-prog influence.

A number of the responses here say no because he isn't prog.

Edited by NotSoKoolAid - July 25 2007 at 02:50

I voted "Yes", though these polls don't have a fundamental effect for what is included in proto or related or not: Many of the bands added there had been voted "no" in previous polls.