Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

Okay, probably a bad title, but I'm a horror movie fanatic, so cut me some slack.

A little food for thought: If Hendrix had survived, where would his sound have gone? Disco? Jazz? Would he have taken music to another new level, or would he have crapped out?


Here's the challenge: Name a successful recording artist who has passed away, and tell what direction YOU think they would have gone. It's all opinion based, but what the heck...I'm bored!
How about:
Stevie Ray Vaughn?
Kurt Cobain?
Janis Joplin?
John Lennon?

I'm kind of dating myself, but you get the idea. Throw it out there!

Stevie Ray - jazz
Kurt Cobain - burn out and quit
Janis joplin - sanitorium
Hendrix -Jazz and funk. More contribution to guitar effects and studio practices.

I'll agree with these - "

"Janis joplin - sanitorium

Hendrix -Jazz and funk. More contribution to guitar effects and studio practices."

But I think SRV would have gotten old to the world's ear. He would have just faded into obscurity, holding to a small cult following of diehard blues lovers.

Kurt would have surely been killed by someone, if not himself. There IS only so much angst & whining & out of tune sh*t that ppl can take. I might even have done the deed myself...

Lennon would have continued to evolve, though the American public would likely have missed it in its never-ending search for the 'next Beatles.' Thus, he would have faded away, too, only to be 'rediscovered' after his death.

Hendricks would be showing his breast with Janet Jackson.
The coolness of the "revolution" is past time to make some bux.

Then again, he (like many artist) became more famous upon death.
Who knows, possibly total obscurity if he'd lived.

Seems unanimous...it's better to burn out than to fade away.

Hendrix would have evolved, but it would have been more in obscurity. He would have circulated from rock fusion to jazz and just doing his own thing. Jimi never stuck around mentally long, he was always light years ahead of everybody. Unfortunately, all people cared about was his onstage antics, burning guitars and playing with his teeth. I get so bored every time some knucklehead plays behind his back and with his teeth. If he hadn't died, he would have never gotten the props he has today.

SRV - correcto, obscurity with a bunch of hard core blues fans.

Kurt - I think if he hadn't killed himself he would have went the way of most of the grunge bands. However, people love the tortured artist syndrome and train wrecks. Because of his death, he became elevated to "greatness."

Chaeya

Chaeya wrote:
Hendrix

(...)

If he hadn't died, he would have never gotten the props he has today.

Nonsense.

He was a ground-breaking guitarist. And, it doesn't matter what ANYONE does "AFTER" you, your place is secure, when you pave the paths that the greats like Hendrix did. Think of Elvis even, for goodness sake! He lived enough to get older and much fatter, and his legacy is not in question whatsoever, as a result.

Hendrix was a PHENOMENAL guitarist, particularly for his time. He could play guitar right-handed, and left-handed, and could play left handed on a right-handed set-up (playing the guitar upside down). Many people spend a lifetime learning how to play really well, just in ONE position, but Hendrix could play THREE DIFFERENT WAYS!

Whether Hendrix would have continued to be ground-breaking is another question, for me, particularly because of the drug addiction. If he continued down that path, the only ground he would continue breaking, is passing out on the floor!

But to devalue Hendrix, merely because he died young, is a tremendous slight. You won't find many guitarists, worth their salt, who would demean the importance of Jimi Hendrix. Any music publication or organization, consistently lists Jimi as one of the greatest electric guitarists of all time, if not "THE" greatest of all time. It doesn't matter whether more modern guitarists play faster. Hendrix place is secure, because his influence was THAT great! And it is likely that for every great guitarist that followed Hendrix, you will probably find them ALL, listing Hendrix as one of their own influences.

Chaeya wrote:
SRV - correcto, obscurity with a bunch of hard core blues fans.

Wow!


Stevie Ray Vaughan was one of the great blues guitarists of all time. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone ranks Vaughan as #7 on their list of 100 greatest guitarists of all time. He was a phenomenal talent, as an artist and entertainer.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one too!

Craig you totally missed my point.

I did not devalue Hendrix. I have friends who played with Jimi. I met his sister and I even did a cover of "Ezy Rider." You can't meet a greater Hendrix fan than me and my husband. I know what he did, I have like five biographies on Jimi and three on tape. I have a lot of other stories about him to boot from people who knew him. If you look at what I wrote I said: "Jimi was light years ahead of people." He's the greatest guitar player ever known.

However, I think he was more immortalized by his death. Why I said he would have fell into obscurity is because where his music was going wasn't popular to people. If you aren't keeping yourself in the public eye, you become obscure. Right before his death, Jimi was already disillusioned with all the bullshit and I believe Mike Jeffries had him killed. I believe he was murdered because he made phone calls suggesting to people he was scared, he was anxious.

Yeah, I think he might have made some comebacks here and there. He would have gotten into the Hall of Fame, he would have gotten his props, but it would have been different. Unfortunately, people don't seem to remember sh*t until you die. Elvis the same thing. People don't appreciate sh*t until you're gone.

SRV - I'm not disputing that.

If you want me to prove my point, check out Prince. Like him or hate him, he's fading into obscurity. He hasn't had a hit in years and all the new stuff he comes out with is lame. That isn't to devalue him as an artist. I think he's great. But he has a fan base which will keep him living well until he dies. They love him, will go and fight wars for him. He knows it too and works it. He can go and play a casino and charge $350 a head ($1500 if you want to get in early during his sound check), and his fans will fight all over each other to get in.

So when I say obscurity, it isn't a bad word. If an artist works it right, it can be not so bad.

Chaeya

Chaeya wrote:
Craig you totally missed my point.

It's this sentence that I disagree most with:

"If he hadn't died, he would have never gotten the props he has today."


Had he lived, he may not have held the same "mystique", but props? He was a legend already, while still alive. I just believe, that even had he grown old, fat and irrelevant as a performer, he would STILL, get the props he deserved, for the influence he wielded on guitarists and rock music itself!


Maybe it's just a case of semantics, or word selection?

Poor wording then, because we agree.

Chaeya

I think Hendrix would have done some all-star funk thing in the late 70's, become dissillusioned with music in the 80's (only occasionally appearing-and then only with people from his "era" (meaning, Clapton, George Harrison, etc). By the 90's he would still maintain his "mystique", but I believe he would be revered more in the way that some of the old blues guys are: Legend, icon, but not necessarily THE quintessential guitarist. And with that, I am formally disagreeing with ya, Craig. I do, in fact, believe that an early death does tend to build up an artists' credibility. The longer they are around, the more oppurtunities they have to tarnish their reputation-Michael Jackson, for example. It's only my opinion, but had Jacko passed away after the "Bad" album, he would always be remembered solely as a music genius, a true tour de force. While I'm not wishing that he had died earlier (c'mon, I'm not THAT cruel), if he had, then all that freakish behavior would have never happened. As it is, people now remember Michael for alleged child molestation as much as for anything he did in music. Sad.

Thanks, Joseph, you said it much better than I. That's what I meant. I mean, for the most part, there are a lot of people who truly appreciate artists and what they have contributed to their art. However, even Jimi was upset in his ending days because all people wanted out of him was Purple Haze type songs. They didn't want to hear the fusiony direction he was going.

Look at Michael, he was a child molester to most people, but all that seemed to be forgotten when he died. He became the great artist and everyone was fighting about how he was so misunderstood.

John Lennon, he had dropped out of the public eye and being a stay at home dad, no one was even thinking much about him. Then he dies fortunately wrong the time he wrote Imagine and you could feel the record execs jerking off with that happening. Imagine would have been a big hit for him no doubt, but with him dying it became mega. I mean mega.

I think obscurity can work in an artist's favor. Look at Carlos Santana. He had one of the best comebacks I've ever seen. He can go underground for another 10-15 years just from the royalties of that album.

Ah, mailbox money. Now, that's nice.

Chaeya

Joseph, I can agree with you and Chaeya that his early demise, could have ENHANCED even our impressions of his skills. But even so, there is NO WAY that Hendrix, whether he had lived or not, wouldn't still be held in the kind of regard he is now. He did things that had never been done on a guitar before. He blew crowds away, worldwide! He changed the face of rock and roll. He was mythical, EVEN BEFORE he died!

I'm sorry... I just don't believe he is over-rated in the least! And I doubt that many of the myriad guitarists who claim him as one of their greatest influences, would either.

I totally disagree.

How soon they forget is not just a cliche'.
It is a factual statement about any form of " stardom ".

Then, I could be wrong.
We will never know.

We don't disagree, Craig. His contributions to the guitar are irreplacable (although its impossible to say that someone else wouldn't have done it, had he not come along).
Strictly speaking in terms of music, I believe he would be held in much of the same esteem-unless he had done something to undermine that image. Had he survived, there would be the possibility that his choices actually tarnished his icon standing.
Yes, he was mythical. Unfortunately, it takes only a few very HUMAN actions to destroy the myth.
I said earlier that he would still be respected, but more so like some of the blues legends today, rather than the musical icon. I stand by that. People, in general have a tendency to think in terms of "what have you done for me lately?". Unless he continually recreated himself, his 60's contributions to the music world would have kept him in high esteem, but hardly the legend that he is today (IMO).