Blues Improv

I was hanging out with my best friend Steve Cohen back in 1970, when one of said, "Hey man there's a Hendrix concert tonight... a Jimi Hendrix Concert at the Madison Coliseum. We didn't have any tickets or a car, but we couldn't stop saying, "It's Hendrix man,.. Jimi Hendrix... "We gotaa go, man!"

So we hopped a bus to Madison and made our way to the Coliseum. It was a madhouse, there were thousands of people milling about outside because the cops wouldn't  let them in... then all of a sudden the doors opened and people started streaming in... we walked along the side of the building and motioned to someone to open up a side door ... the door popped open and we flew in and started running down the hallway ... came to a door, went in and found ourselves in the front row!

There was lots of tension and electricity in the hall ... from the anticipation of hearing the Jimi Hendrix concert and the presence of cops all over the place... I remember staring at the wall of amps .... I was about 16 and had never been to rock concert before ... it was awesome to look up from the seats at all that equipment.

After awhile, the house lights went down and up came the stage lights ... the band, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding, filed in and Hendrix grabbed his guitar which I recall was white and plugged in ... he started tuning it up and playing a bunch of licks ... he fiddled around for a while and then tore into the first song.

The volume was beyond belief ... it took me awhile to be able to 'hear' anything ... then I started to recognize the different songs he was playing which included "The Wind Cries Mary", "Purple Haze", "Hey Joe" and "The Star Spangled Banner" which he played as an unaccompanied solo full of passion and fury.

Hendrix didn't say much to the audience ... at one point he broke a string and layed his guitar down on the stage while he went to get a new one ... I remember it just lay there screamin. Also he did lots of tricks .... playing behind his back, with his teeth and setting his guitar on fire ... in the end he smashed his guitar and walked off stage ..."

In the 1960's, attending a Jimi Hendrix concert was a political statement. Jimi Hendrix served as a paratrooper in the US Army for seven months and was discharged due to a broken ankle. Although he wasn't a political activist, Jimi Hendrix became a symbol of the Anti-Vietnam War Movement.

By Johnny Mayer, appeared in Experience Hendrix.

First He was a blues musician.. Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix Guitar Tab

		Jimi Hendrix: Experience Hendrix  Performed by Jimi Hendrix. Complete score songbook for guitar, voice, bass guitar and drum set. With guitar tablature, standard notation, vocal melody, lyrics, chord names, bass tablature, drum notation, guitar notation legend, bass notation legend, drum notation legend and performance notes. Series: Hal Leonard Transcribed Scores. 368 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. Average customer rating:
		Jimi Hendrix: Blues  Performed by Jimi Hendrix. Guitar tablature songbook for guitar and voice. Series: Hal Leonard Guitar Recorded Versions. 142 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. Average customer rating:
		Jimi Hendrix Experience - Smash Hits  Guitar Play-Along Volume 47. Performed by Jimi Hendrix. Guitar Play-Along. Book & CD Package. With notes and tablature. Size 9x12 inches. 120 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.
		Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced?  Performed by Jimi Hendrix. Guitar tablature songbook for guitar and voice. Series: Hal Leonard Guitar Recorded Versions. 196 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. Average customer rating:
		Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland  Performed by Jimi Hendrix. Guitar Recorded Versions (Authentic note-for-note transcriptions). With notes and tablature. Size 9x12 inches. 232 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. Average customer rating:
		Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced - Bass  Performed by Jimi Hendrix. Bass tablature songbook for bass guitar and voice. Series: Hal Leonard Bass Recorded Versions. 100 pages. Published by Hal Leonard.
		Jimi Hendrix: Live At Woodstock  Performed by Jimi Hendrix. Guitar tablature songbook for guitar and voice. Series: Hal Leonard Guitar Recorded Versions. 200 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. Average customer rating:
		Jimi Hendrix: Band Of Gypsys  Performed by Jimi Hendrix. Guitar tablature songbook for guitar and voice. Series: Hal Leonard Guitar Recorded Versions. 104 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. Average customer rating:

Eric Clapton