Originally published at: Jimi Hendrix performed "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" live days after its release | Boing Boing
…
6 Likes
Serious Hendrix fans are aware of this. The song appears on the live “Hendrix in the West” LP but I think it’s from a later show.
2 Likes
He had years as a touring, working musician. He could have heard it that day and played it that night.
You’re practiced up, you’re practiced up.
12 Likes
Yup. He was very experienced.
9 Likes
Yeah, people posted covers of Polyphia’s Playing God on YouTube the day after that song dropped. Granted, in the age of Spotify and YouTube and guitar tabs galore, this sort of thing is easier today, but it wasn’t that hard for someone of Hendrix’s skill even then. Three days or eight days are both perfectly plausible. Impressive, but not “OMG what a savant he must have been” impressive. I’ve watched Rick Beato literally work out chord progressions of songs he’s hearing for the first time. And I love Rick Beato, but he’s no Jimi Hendrix.
ETA: I mean this as no diminishment of Hendrix. He is, in my opinion, the greatest guitar player in history. Well…electric guitar, anyway. I’m sure there were some classical guitarists more skilled at their genre.
5 Likes
Yeah, real working musicians can play anything, really quickly.
Difference with Hendrix is he’d do a great version.
7 Likes
He was astonishing!
1 Like
I read something years ago like: “when you’re a professional musician and you’re told ‘play a walking blues in 5/4 with Brazilian overtones’, you don’t get to say ‘hang on, let me work on that’ and keep the gig.”
2 Likes
Anybody that watched the lukewarm biopic is aware of this.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
