My favorite Hendrix anecdote comes from Jeff, cue up to 13:58, here (
@bluesypicky you'll love this if you haven't seen it before) :
This must have been in the summer of '68 when they were both in town at the same time. Jimi even jammed with the Beck Group, Jimi played Jeff's Les Paul, Jeff played bass while Ronnie Wood looked on:
They jammed more than once, apparently:
https://www.silive.com/news/2021/05...ndrix-and-jeff-beck-held-secret-jam-here.html
So Jeff and Jimi were obviously close, I mean, having mutual artistic respect and jamming is one thing but asking a guy if he wants to go cruising in your new 'Vette is another level.
As well, since about '73 I became convinced that the single biggest influence on Jimi's
London sound was Jeff and the Yardbirds. I say "London sound" because that's when the Octavia and the Marshall-enabled feedback entered his sound palette.
Prior to that he had the ripping blues solos down, I saw a vid of his version of "Drivin' South' " with Curtis Knight ca late '65/early '66 and he already had all those licks down. This is the only thing I've heard pre-London that gives any inkling of what lay in store. (And now I think the Experience version as on
Radio One influenced Page's technique, after having to learn most of Beck's licks in the Yardbirds. Also, suspect this is the style that originally sold Chas Chandler on Jimi)
Anyway, there's that idea that he wanted to meet Clapton when he got to London. He really wanted to meet Beck.
What does an itinerant musician listen to in the early '60's? AM radio. On which many stations, all genres were freely intermixed: Pop, R&B, Soul, and "Rock and Roll". Clapton in late '65-early '66 was known only for the early Yardbirds stuff which was minor top-40 in the US, and Mayall's "Beano" album for his version of "Stormy Weather". I'm sure Hendrix would have been familiar with that even though not a top 40 hit at all, here. But for sure he would have heard the Yardbirds.
The Yardbirds had released a string of top 10's here after Beck came on starting with "Heart Full of Soul" and culminating in "Over Under Sideway Down" about 3 months before Jimi got to London.
Point being that when Jimi got to London Cream was still rehearsing, hadn't cut vinyl yet and were just about to start doing small shows to generate buzz for record sales and airplay.
Revolver and
the Yardbirds were less than 3 months old and all over the BBC (the Beatles getting more US airplay than the Yardbirds). THAT'S what Jimi would have heard before and when arriving in London.
As it happened he met Clapton before he met Beck, but in an interview in '67 he name-dropped "Shapes of Things" as a record he admired. Billy Gibbons has told the story of how, when he was touring with Hendrix, Jimi would constantly play
Truth and ask him "How do you think he did that?"
I've had a pet hypothesis for years that many tunes on
Are You Experienced were directly influenced by the 2 albums mentioned above.
More specifically, "Love or Confusion" is Jimi's reaction to "Shapes of Things". (It's that solo, although it precedes
the Yardbirds by about a year) :
"Manic Confusion" is a reply to "Over Under Sideways Down", you can even medley 'em.
"Are You Experienced" is a reply to "Tomorrow Never Knows" down to the backward guitar solos.
Then there's the curious coincidence that Roger Mayer, who flogged his custom-built fuzzboxes to Beck and Page, showed up at Jimi's first gig to show him a little gizmo called "Octavia". A month later it was on the radio, providing exotic timbral color to "Purple Haze".
Roger became Jimi's equipment tech.
And finally, Jimi even lifted Jeff's licks when it suited the purpose, story here:
http://rockandrollgarage.com/how-jeff-beck-reacted-when-he-first-saw-jimi-hendrix-play/#:~:text=In%20an%20interview%20back%20in,last%20night%2C%20it's%20unbelievable%E2%80%9D. :
' When the two finally met face to face, Jeff Beck recalled that Hendrix even asked him about his music: ‘What is that lick you play in ‘Happening Ten Years Time Ago’ (from the Yardbirds)’, Hendrix asked and then continued saying “I swiped that on this”. Jeff Beck then said he thought at that moment: “‘This is really incredible, this is kind of like we could talk music now’ not instead he is ‘immovable force’. I can actually get some inspiration and he was a great source of inspiration. The fact that he was doing things so upfront and so wild and change.” '
He also copped the intro lick from "Rice Pudding" in a version of "Ezy Rider" on the Maui soundcheck bootleg.
I bet eventually Jeff would have showed Jimi how to keep his 'Vette from boiling over. You know how car guys are. After all, the first thing he bought with his Yardbirds money was a '62:
Another nice article here:
https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music-theatre/2023/01/jeff-beck-interview-tribute-guitar-hero