Soul Mover- Hendrix?

  • I am sitting here listening to Soul Mover for the first time. (Yes we here in States are behind everyone else.) I just wanted to throw out some comments.
    First I have to say that I love GH (Big Daddy) as much as everyone reading this. I am so happy that he is as productive as he is. I am very pleased that he makes a new album every year. Too few artists these days release a new product yearly.

    Anyway, does anyone else hear Hendrix all over this new disc ? I love JJ, he is great, and I love Hendrix, but man the influence is all over the place here, to the point I would use the word blatant. (Did I spell that right ?)

    Last Mistake- is a bluesy tune totally in the vein of Hey Joe/ Wind Cries Mary vein.
    Miss Little Insane, in title only bears similarity to Little Miss Lover, Little Miss Strange.
    Land of The Livin' has a guitar riff that is totally Hendrix...Almost right off of Beginnings
    Dark Star, with the wha wha funky guitar chords has a very Hendrix vibe to it as well.
    So does the opening chord progression on Soul Mover.........total Hendrix stuff..

    Now I acknowledge not all of it is totally Hendrix influenced, just some of the riffs here and there.

    With this much Hendrix all over the disc, why doesn't Glenn just cover something like he did with Freedom on The Way It Is in 1999. Speaking of that album, it features Stevie Salas, who is a huge Hendrix wannabe guitarist..(Again don't get me wrong, I love Stevie...his stuff rocks..but it is strange that Glenn has this Hendrix vibe happening everywhere..

    Does anyone else hear this, or am I alone in my thinking ?

  • Hello,
    funny that you mention this Hendrix-thing right now...I've been listening TWII a lot lately and I have to agree with you. Jimi is there!

    Yes, I hear Hendrix also on SM...just a bits and pieces here and there - but sure he is there too...:)

    ...but hey on the other hand - Jimi did a lot of things that today's guitar players are trying to copy or imitate - I don't know if Dave and JJ did that on purpose or not...but I like that stuff! :bouncer: :bouncer: :bouncer: :bouncer:

    T:)

    :bouncer: :bouncer: :bouncer: :bouncer:

  • As a guitarist myself, I have been learning the Soulmover stuff for some weeks now and there is a Hendrix influence in some of the songs. Dont wanna get too technical here but Jimi used to play alot of chords with the major 3rd as the route note which gives that Hendrix vibe! I have spoken to JJ about the Hendrix influence on the new album and he does acknowlege the fact and is more than happy with such a comparison. He is hevily influenced by Hendrix and if you listen carefully there is also elements of Blackmore in some of the solos (High Road for instance, hes playing in the Harmonic Minor scale). My point is this, if you listen to Dave Navarro's solo in Soulmover and compare it to anything JJ has done on this album then in my opinion Navarro lacks any soul at all, he just sounds so preconcieved.

    All guitarists, if you analyse them, have been influenced by others. Its just that guitarists who are influenced by the greats like Hendrix or Blackmore stand out a lot more.

    JJ doesnt copy or imitate anyone, he is just influenced. And he does things on the guitar that have really blown me away. He IS Glenns sound, and I hope he stays with Glenn for a long time!!!

    Well thats just my opinion

  • i coulnt agree with you more soulmover i think you have it totally right - ask any musician who his favorite musician is or what he used to listen to when he was growing up and i bet y ou can find something in his own music that is similar does it make it wrong? i dont think so i agree i think jj goes great with g lenns work ( watch the dvd i think they blend well together ) jj has an cd coming out - heard the sampler - cant wait to get a copy-like i stated before; this is the type of music i grew up on and enjoy the most :thumbup:

  • Hi,

    Nice thread. The Hendrix factor has been discussed many times before, and the fact that more people make this comparison to me proves the validity of it. The Way It Is and Soul Mover are the two albums where JJ most obvious shows his affection with Jimi's music. Soul Mover (the song) is heavily inspired by the Foxy Lady riff for instance, I don't know if this one was mentioned before. And indeed, Land of the Livin' breaths the vibes of the Band of Gypsies (Power of Soul!).

    I think there's nothing wrong with being influenced by Hendrix and Blackmore, and mix that into your own style (with a bit of Beck and Van Halen thrown in). JJ's has created a really nice and unique style of his own and I thank him for that!

    cheers,

    - Fedor

  • Another thing to bear in mind is that JJ's Hendrixy style lends itself to recording live in the studio,which Soulmover was to a great extent. Its a very percussive style of playing, as Jimi did when there was just him, bass and drums.
    On other more 'produced' albums JJ had the benefit of laying down rythym and lead parts giving a fuller sound, this album was mostly done live so it works much better.

    Anyway as you can tell I'm a huge JJ fan coz he is different, once more, Ive never met a nicer bloke :clapper: :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:

  • jj is his own guitarist...but if your gonna play or be influencd by someone, who better than the innovater of the electric guitar?
    we were playing some hendrix covers in cabo before we recorded.
    maybe foxy lady and stone free crept in, but the songs on SM had already been written by then. i love the way jj plays and sounds on this record.
    he's really come into his own . i too cant wait to hear his planet record.
    long live "the sweede" :)

  • Well said Chad, like i said earlier JJ IS Glenns sound and he needs to keep hold of the guy, he has soul and is heavily influenced by the Britich rock of the 70's!! He is very individualistic in what he does.

    JJ for president!

  • Thanks everyone for the discussion. I agree with some of the comments, such as if you are going to be influenced by any guitarist, who better than Hendrix. The man had the best chops on the guitar ever....

    It also occurred to me, Hendrix is one of the greatest funky, bluesy rock guitarists ever..So if you are a guitarist looking to put the funk to the funkmeister, well...Hendirx would be the place to go......

    Thanks for the dialog everyone........

  • Hendrix-style is totally there...but so what? Who wants to hear Hendrix-song covered here? Hendrix has influenced guitarists so many ways. Glenn's retro rock is a part of Jimi's heritage and I believe that he can admit that. I find Soul Mover a very good piece of music in today's music industry that is way too predictable. Hope we'll get more Glenn's music soon!

    J.

  • two thoughts -

    - have sessions like Cabo been recorded? Material like this would be ideal for Pink Cloud releases (before it is being bootlegged!), except for the fact maybe, that royalties for the cover songs might be too expensive!?


    The Band Of Gypsies has been mentioned - so, Soulmover ;) - what do you think of Buddy Miles?


    Cheers,
    Christian
    :cool:


    MEDUSA

        

  • i have a audience video of the first cabo show last jan. it is pretty good quality. thats all i have heard from those shows....mike from new jersey was there ..he might have something.
    those were fun shows with lots of cover songs glenn has never done.
    Cream,hendrix,stones,neil young, stevie wonder,bowie. fun stuff.
    it would be good to document this in the future.
    As for high road...hmmm, i always thought it was something Prince would like.

  • sorry....oh you know i like me some band of gypsies....buddy miles express too....very underated in my book..great singer too. ;)

  • Thanks for the quick reply!

    yes indeed - great singer!

    he first came to my attention on a Video called "Supershow", a 1968 concert in Staines, UK involving Jack Bruce, Stephen Stills, Jon Hiseman's Colosseum (another great drummer), Roland Kirk, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, and, and ,and.... There's a song called "Love Potions" which Miles and Stills sings (and Miles plays the drums) - I don't know where this is from, but it's great. It is available on DVD in the UK - this song is worth the purchase alone.

    Also love the Them Changes Album, excellent.

    btw. - noticed how Miles plays faster and faster on "Changes" (Side 2 of the Band of Gypsies Album) when he starts singing?

    Cheers,
    Christian


    MEDUSA

        

  • Good evening...it is 10:00 on a rainy Tuesday night in Charleston WV...but the motel has the Internet..and I have wanted to get my two cents in here on this topic...

    It seems thast every so often some guitar magazine prints up a list of "The 100 Most Influential Guitarists Of All Time" or something of that ilk. And the response among those who peruse these lists is usually along the lines of; "Hey....why isn't So-and-So on the list" or "How can they rate Rucka Rucka as being "greater" than Humma Humma?" There was a recent thread here in which the debate raged as to whether Jimi Hendrix was "greater" than Ritchie Blackmore or vice versa....

    Let's set aside all the talk about chops and scales and fretboard gymnastics and define what makes a guitarist "great". Is it the speed with which he plays or the number of hotel rooms he may have wrecked? I think not....And how are these rankings determined? What philosophical slide rule are we using to make these calculations? Saying that one guitarist is "better" than another is like saying that the invention of penicillin was a greater contribution to the human condition than the invention of the wheel.

    From where I am sitting, I think that what is the true mark of a "Great Guitarist" is the influence he or she has on those who follow in their wake. Probably the greatest gift Jimi Hendrix gave to players was his tone and revolutionary use of effects. Other players before him had experimented with feedback and distortion but Jimi took these ideas, infused them with his infinite imagination and changed the vocabulary for rock guitar overnight. You recognize that when a peer of his like Neil Young once said something to the effect of "JImi wasn't even in the same building with the rest of us.."

    Now flash forward to 1977...you buy an album by an unknown band called Van Halen and you listen to "Eruption" for the first time..and your jaw hit the floor as you shake your head and wonder..."How the hell did he just do that?" Eddie Van Halen said that his biggest influence was Eric Clapton...but you don't hear EC when you hear Eddie play.....you hear a young man who listened to his influences, assimilated them, injected his own personality and created something of his very own.

    And lastly..anyone who has the heart and desire to learn to play an instrument and has the stones to get up in front of a crowd and play his heart out will ALWAYS be Number One in my book!:thumbup:

    Yours In The Funk
    Bill "Capt. Midnite" Redford

    :ghcp:

    http://www.facebook.com/bill.redford

    "Cause if you fake the FUNK..your nose got to grow!" Bootsy Collins

  • You could argue every band/artist is influenced by someone else.
    After all, someone had to set fire to their guitar first!
    But so what if its good.
    And in JJ's case its very good.

    To my ear i can hear Michael Schenker influences in JJ's playing.
    Blackmore more so on SITKOR but thats not surprising given that was what was Glenn was going for.
    JJ has grown as an artist and developed his sound over the last few albums just as Glenn has. In fact he changes it to what Glenn seems to be after.
    that is why they must continue together.

    When i spoke to JJ at JB's he said he got into playing music because he loves it, not for the fame and fortune. That to me is why he plays with such feeling in his solos.
    Its from within - not music by numbers or copying anyone else.

    :ghcp: "It's in my blood"

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