Jimi Hendrix

40 years after his death, Jimi Hendrix still on 'Fire'

'Oh, move over, Rover! Let Jimi take over!" sings Jimi Hendrix in "Fire," one of his greatest, most incendiary songs.

"Valleys of Neptune," a collection with previously unreleased Hendrix material, debuted at No. 4 on Billboard's album chart. Reissues of four other Hendrix CDs -- "Are You Experienced," "Electric Ladyland," "First Rays of the New Rising Sun" and "Axis: Bold As Love" -- also crashed the chart, giving Hendrix five albums in the Top 70.

Not bad for someone who's been dead for nearly 40 years.

Hendrix also graces the current cover of Rolling Stone, while an all-star Experience Hendrix concert tour rolls across the country.

Guitar greats such as Joe Satriani, Jonny Lang, Vernon Reid, Eric Johnson, Ernie Isley and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, plus former Hendrix bassist Billy Cox, are on the bill for the salute, which includes a show tonight in Akron, Ohio.

If there were one artist I could go back in time to see live, it'd be Hendrix. The man revolutionized guitar playing, was a brilliant songwriter and playful, expressive singer. He was also a showman, whether playing with his teeth or igniting his guitar.

Like the Beatles, he had all phases of artistry covered; unlike them, there was only one of him. Like the Beatles, much of his material sounds as fresh, timeless and thrilling today as the day he recorded it, which explains why new generations continue to discover him.

In an interview with rock-blues guitarist George Thorogood, who will play at the Warner Theatre on Friday, he casually mentioned he saw Hendrix.

"I got the thrill of telling people I saw Hendrix play 'Like a Rolling Stone,'" Thorogood said. "I saw the greatest rock guitarist to ever live play the greatest rock song ever, live. You can't take that away from me."

That night assured Thorogood's future; it was a game-changer.

"It was very hard when I was in high school and saw Jimi Hendrix one night and, the next day, I had to go back to school and do push-ups in gym class and say the Pledge of Allegiance," Thorogood said. "It was hard to go back to that world when the world (was) changing.

"It was dangerous; it was exciting. That was the times. You had to make a decision, once and for all, where you would go. Personally, I would have been thrilled to be the tambourine player in Canned Heat."

Instead, he learned guitar and has played it ever since. We'll never know how many others Hendrix influenced. Heck, just in Erie, look at the ripple effect. Jake Banta of Jake's Blues and Roadhouse Rockers' Rick Magee -- twice a finalist in national Hendrix guitar competitions -- are Jimi devotees.

Look how much great music and how many great nights just those two have given us. Multiply that by thousands of guitarists and songwriters similarly inspired and influenced by Hendrix, and you realize his legacy is incalculable.

So it's especially exciting, all these years later, we can hear "new" Hendrix that was never released. I got goose bumps, lying in bed, listening to the title track of "Valleys of Neptune" on headphones.

Source: Erie Times-News features writer Dave Richards.