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Edited on Thu Jun-09-05 01:23 AM by banjosareunderrated
I was born in 76 and didn't hear one Experience song until I was 12 but the inspiration his music provides to this day, for me, is unparalleled. IMHO, he bridged the storytelling of the folk-singers with the immediacy of RnB, the virtuosity of prog-rock and the genius of recording technology. He's the only musician, other than Beethoven, to put the orgasm to music. I have no proof of this, but I think he invented rap with Crosstown Traffic and he pipered in the Chevy of guitars by, mostly, playing strats right out of the box and he never worried that he'd break one by trying something different. That gave a lot of people the confidence in their utilitarian instruments. Imagine Federer winning with a catgut racket and you see why Jimi James was so important to the idea that talent makes the instrument, not the other way around. He combined Charlie Christian with TMonk by playing his chord changes and leads at the same time and he never worried about shaking things up. He inspired a lot of artists that went on to shape our lives, and not only musically. He was the muse to men and women that wanted to take their instrument to their most dizzying heights and also to the men and women that wanted to just have fun making music.
He was the anti-pop star. He crossed and created lines. He had no fear of being righteous and wrong at the same time and if I could've even heard his voice next to me I think I'd be a better person.
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