Re: WHO & HENDRIX

[mleaman@sccoast.net (Mark Leaman)]

>     I could not possible argue that The Who didn't have a great influence 
>     on Jimi Hendrix.  It was his love of guitarists like Clapton and 
>     Townshend that helped push him to going to England.  However, I 
>     remember reading (I don't know where; I've read too many Who books!) 
>     that when Townshend first heard Hendrix, he had a meeting with Clapton 
>     and told him, "we're finished."  So apparently, if this story is to be 
>     believed, what Hendrix was doing with guitar was not seen by Townshend 
>     or Clapton as being that much of a copy of their own act.  The point I 
>     was trying to make originally was that the Hendrix/Cream axis was a 
>     much bigger influence on The Who than The Beatles.

I would imagine that Pete said that because Hendrix was a more skilled
performer than Townshend. Too, let's not forget Pete's contrary
nature...which would certainly lead him to say something like this.
But it doesn't mean that Hendrix was doing anything different, really. Just
taken to the next level, which I would certainly agree with.
Imagine this: you created something and were able to make a career out of
it. Then you found someone who had taken what you'd done and made it
cheaper/easier/more marketable. What would your first thought be? "I'm
finished." might spring to mind...

         Cheers                        ML

NP: Smashing Pumpkins, "Bodies"