I really thought I was pretty good before I saw Hendrix, and then I thought: Yeah, not so good.
I really thought I was pretty good before I saw Hendrix, and then I thought: Yeah, not so good.
I was impressed by Hendrix. Not so much by his playing, as his attitude - he wasn't a great player, but everything else about him was brilliant.
Since I was seventeen I thought I might be a star. I'd think about all my heroes, Charlie Parker, Jimi Hendrix... I had a romantic feeling about how these people became famous.
I also played with Jimi Hendrix. Jimi would come down and sit in with Retaliation and we would have a ball. He offered me the gig with him at 20 pounds a week, which at that point, was like 60 bucks.
But people are now realising why I was playing bass with Hendrix.
We had no sleep or days off or anything like that and then, when the band became big, Hendrix became a star and looked down at us lot.
And um, when I came back to England I put a very complex soundtrack on it, featuring everyone from Jimi Hendrix, right through to Neil Diamond, you know, everybody that was kind of popular who was kind of popular at that time.
Hendrix was big in England. We all became good friends and I am still in touch with Noel Redding.
I watched Janis one time - we opened for her - and that's the only time I ever saw her. We opened for Jimi Hendrix. I got to stand on the side of the stage and watch him for two hours and then he died. But I got the essence before they left.
But then there was Hendrix, man. Jimi was really the last cat to freak me. Jimi was playing all the stuff I had in my head. I couldn't believe it, when I first heard him. Man, no one can ever do what he did with a guitar. No one can ever take his place.
I am a leader. Leaders always get heat. They're always going against the grain. Jimi Hendrix got heat; Bob Marley got heat; Miles Davis got heat. Every great artist got heat. Heat means you're doing something right.
I was impressed by Hendrix. His attitude was brilliant. Even the way he walked was amazing.
Hendrix rehearsed different drummers, before we met Mitch Mitchell.
I was the first guy to join the band with Hendrix.
I liked the Beatles because there was so much melody. Jimi Hendrix is still one of my heroes.
I've always loved the blues, John Lee Hooker, Janis Joplin, Hendrix.
© 2020 Inspirational Stories
© 2020 Inspirational Stories