They’re both wonderful, and I have great respect for them as musicians and groundbreakers.
That being said, in my opinion, Jimi Hendrix is the greater player.
If imitation is any indicator of greatness, then Hendrix wins hands down. His chops have been copied by, and been the inspiration for, countless guitarists. I’ve yet to hear anyone mimic Clapton’s playing.
As others have pointed out, even Clapton himself would give the nod to Hendrix. Clapton has a lot of talent, but Hendrix took the guitar into a whole new universe.
At Monterey Pop, while introducing the song “Like a Rolling Stone” and just generally chatting to the audience, Hendrix casually changed what he was doing about 4 times, although all variations were introductory riffs for “Rolling Stone”. Before he even begins singing the first stanza, I’m blown away by his easy versatility and sheer love of making sound on that thing. And that’s not even his famous showy stuff.
His musical style isn’t dead-center to what I like to listen to, but yeah… Hendrix. Man could play a guitar.
I’ve got most of the output of both on CD, and I usually play Clapton, not Hendrix. That being said, I’ve got to agree with Clapton on the subject that Hendrix was the most talented guitar player of his generation by a long margin. He could do any technique better than anyone else after only hearing it once (shades of Mozart) and was an amazing innovator. The day after the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s, McCartney was at a Hendrix performance when Hendrix performed the whole album note for note.
Now, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Stevie Ray Vaughn was the most amazing guitar virtuoso I have ever heard, topping even Hendrix. He had such exquisite control. Friend of Clapton, so of course, he died tragically young.
Hendrix wins this contest pretty easily.
HOWEVER…
There’s no denying that, after getting off to an astonishing start, Hendrix was petering out pretty quickly. His last few albums were mighty weak stuff. For just about two years, he was inspired and inspiring, but by the time of his death, he seemed to be at a loss. He dabbled in jazz, but wasn’t much good at it. So, he went back to rock, which he now seemed bored with.
So, I’m not at all sure Hendrix had a bright, creative, productive future ahead of him. I think, if Hendrix had lived, he’d have put out a LOT of uninspired, lame albums (just as Clapton has, during many stretches). If he had, he might not win this vote by such a landslide.
??? His last album issued when he was alive was Electric Ladyland - which is brilliant.
Hendrix, no question. I listen to Clapton too, but mostly when I want to mellow out. If I want an emotional charge, it’s Hendrix.
I heard Hendrix live three times, including Woodstock, and those concerts are the fondest musical memories of my life.
I was waiting for someone to bring Stevie Ray into the discussion; strongly influenced by Hendrix, he IS a guitar virtuoso. SRV beats Clapton hands down, IMHO, but Jimi still reigns.
Actually the last album released during his lifetime was Band of Gypsies (not counting the Hendrix/Redding Monterey album, which was only half Jimi and was an older performance anyway).
Oops, I missed Jimi’s preferred spelling: Gypsys.
I don’t think that Clapton would dispute that SRV was better at what he did either. Clapton isn’t given to public immodesty, despite the fact that is so so skilled in an unshowy way that perhaps he should stick up for himself a bit. Hendrix was a musical genius on the order of Mozart when composing (including improvising) and changed the sound of everything everybody did afterwards, and he was the best guitar player of his generation. That being said, If I had to decide whether I could bring him or SRV back to live and mature to a ripe old age, it would be SRV hands down because the detailed control was such that he could make his guitar do exactly what he intended. Had he lived even to middle age and experienced more life there is no telling the clarity with which he could have communicated his emotions through his instrument. I tend to agree that Hendrix was adrift at the end of his life and that had a lot to do with it ending so early.
Stevie Ray Vaughan is my all time favorite bluesman, but his range is a Daisy Air Rifle next to Hendrix’s .50 cal. This is coming from the perspective of a guitarist that has been able to master the nuances of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s playing style having only learned about five of his songs. SRV’s awesome abilities are without question, but if you can play three or four of his songs, you can learn to play them all very quickly. I say this not as a criticism but as an observation. Pride and Joy sounds almost identical to Honey Bee and at least one other song for which the title escapes me.
With Hendrix, it is a struggle to master the inflections and subtleties of each and every one of his songs. the difference is in the range, and as fantastic as Stevie Ray Vaughan is, even he admitted a thousand times that he is really doing nothing much more than rehashing the works of Albert Collins, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, Elmore James, Albert King, B.B. King, Freddie King, Lonnie Mack, Otis Rush, and T-Bone Walker.
Having said all of this, I admit that when I want to listen or play the blues, I almost always go to Stevie Ray Vaughan first. He is by far my favorite blues guitarist.
Hendrix. Pete Townshend likes to tell the story about his reaction when he and Clapton went to see Jimi play: he and Eric might as well give up–there was no way either of them were EVER going to top Hendrix.
I think Neil Young put it best when he said:
All I can add to the knowledgeable input above is: the first time I heard Cream, I thought, “Wow. I really like this!” The first time I heard Jimi, I thought, “Holy shit.”
This is wildly incorrect. Hendrix performed an approximation of the title song. That’s all. It was insufficiently learned, and the band didn’t rehearse it enough to make it sound like they even knew the song. None of the renditions they ever did afterward were any better, which is why they dropped it before long.
To answer the OP: Clapton CDs: 2. Hendrix CDs: 283. Jimi wins!
SRV was not rehashing, he was demonstrating complete mastery of a beloved and traditional genre. Hendrix could and did revolutionize any genre he touched. He was an enormously influential musician in a way that SRV was never going to be because SRV was just a follower. But for my own personal taste, I rarely get Hendrix out and play it anymore. I don’t find his virtuosity as interesting as SRV’s, but I truly love the blues that SRV (and Clapton) favor. At which point I ought to mention Duane Allman. Listen to the original Layla track a few dozen times and hear how beautifully Clapton accompanied Allman’s amazing sour mash guitar.
But, during that time before his death, he was drugged out and depressed. Its hard to be bright and creative when you’re drooling down your shirt.
I don’t agree with that interpretation. He’d moved into more of a funk vein with Band of Gypsys, though he eventually made the smart choice and ditched Buddy Miles. At the time he died, I think he was very frustrated by the way his career was going, and I get the feeling that Mike Jeffrey in particular was keeping Jimi doped up. I don’t know if any of that would have continued. As far as jazz goes, I’ve often heard it said that at the time of his death, he was a couple of weeks away from a session with Miles Davis.
Miles always denied that. Hendrix had booked time with Gil Evans, though.
mm