Bishop31 said:

The guitar is like Kryptonite to black radio. Prince still gets love because he trancended all genres and got love back in the day, so he is the elder statesman for Black guitar music (when folks need their fix).

Even on Youtube, the most devout Jimi fans seem more inclined to be non black, so it is similar in a sense to your experience at the BB King concert. Some pockets of the community are denying themselves a chance to see the last of the blues greats in BB King. With the internet/youtube, it seems through lack of awareness or just plain ignorance, Jimi doesn't get the props he deserves from the community.

That is why for me the Org is a great meeting of the minds. You can hear Blackguitarist talk about the ins and outs of rock from a POV not commonly heard and we can have educated discussions such as this one

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

You're so right. I have never had such educated disussions about music as I have here on the Org. The Music knowledge here is unbelievable.

BlaqueKnight said:

Over here in North Carolina, "Black radio" hardly plays music by James Brown or Isaac Hayes or any of the so-called "progressive soul" joints unless it was on a special occasion. You have to be a lucky person to find a station that would go out of its way to play great black music of all kinds and even then Jimi only gets played on rock stations. I hardly hear him on oldies stations too.

NDRU said:

I see that you live in the Bay Area You must be referring to KISS 98.1....a station that plays classic R&B and lots of classic Santana,but no Hendrix at all.

Bishop31 said:

At my core, I am a rock & roll man.

I will say, in my 31 years on Earth, Prince is the most electrifying package I have seen in the music world.

My education, however, did not stop with Prince. I wanted to hear who influenced him and who were the peers of his mentor/influence. That is how I "met" Jimi, James, Sly, Carlos Santana, and their influences (Little Richard, BB King, John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry).

Listening to music should be an adventure and a learning experience. The problem now is that the music is disposable and has no soul to it. to electronic, not organic and real in its truest sense.

Jimi and his guitar were one being. Just look at the craftsmanship in his work. I was reading a bio on Jimi ("A Legend Betrayed" )and at the time of his death, the British conducted a poll and was listed as the "third greatest composer of music" of all time, behind Mozart, and Tchaikovsky (sp?). He broke out first in England, so maybe they have a greater appreciation for what he means to "music". Who knows?

hell can anybody even name a blackband that is popular today? it is really sad that all we seem to care about is rap or these r&B cats who all sound alike! went to a living coulor concert it was almost all whitefolks there truly sad..
[Edited 9/7/08 11:08am]

SoulAlive said:

Yes, indeed!

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

America in general, I feel, has never appreciated Jimi the way England did and has over the years. Jimi had to go to the UK to FIND SUCCESS because they understood him better than we ever did.

NDRU said:

I'm in the South Bay

Timmy84 said:

There's a verse in the Bible where it says something like "..a Prophet is never accepted in his own town..". It seems to apply in Jimi's case.

I guess another reason maybe Jimi himself. In the 1960's, he wasn't the most vocal when the civil rights movement was going on. He was supportive of the movement, but did not throw himself at the forefront. Whereas James Brown is revered for what he did during the 1960's, Hendrix was never tight with some of the leaders in the Black Community:

Excerpt from rolling stone bio:



He was an artist and he went whatever way his heart went. He never tried politicizing his music to reach a target market, so he MAY have burned those bridges in the Black community. It is a shame really, because personal demons aside, is the definition of an ICON.

Cinnie said:

Mary surprised me when she did 'One' with U2. Before that I would have been stunned that she knew any Nirvana songs. I would think she would know they were a band, but listen to them?
I think a lot of musicians listen to genres other than the one(s) they are commercially recognized in.

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

That's very odd because Jimi DID have an all-black band, it was only a trio but it was the Band of Gypsys (Jimi, Billy Cox and the late great Buddy Miles). I wondered what would've happened if he had kept that band. But I guess we'll never know.

Timmy84 said:

That B.O.G. album IMHO really is the Grandfather to the Funkadelics 70's sound. If Jimi had lived he would have further shaped & changed the sound of the Guitar. Especially Funk Guitar!

Bishop31 said:

I definitely agree with that!

Bishop31 said:

This is what I am talking about. Listen to some of his later work and the foundation was in place for funk. He may have found greater acceptance, who knows? This is where a daring, younger Prince picked up on and succeeded. He had Jimi & James running through his veins, so he captured the essence of Jimi and garnered the black audience in the process. Of course Prince had his own twist and style, so his work is uniquely Prince in most respects.

Jimi's death created one of the greatest What If's in music history.

Bishop31 said:

I think there's a generational disconnect. I think thats the reason. For instance, just the other day, someone asked me what was I listening to because they wanted to download it.
So one by one, I told him what songs I was listening to and here were the responses:

"Fake Is The New Real" by Alice Smith-"This song is ok but she sings like a country artist. IS there a rapper on the hook?"

"Juicy" by RH Factor-He skimmed through the song and noticed that 2 mins into the song, it slows down and changes from how it initially sounded and he said "They doing way too much in this song"

"Maggot Brain" by Funkadelic-He skimmed through the song and once he realized that there was no singing, he dismissed the song totally

"Pride" by Living Colour-when he heard the opening guitar, he said "Oh Hell No" but I forced him to listen to the first verse and he could appreciate what it was about but then dismissed it and started playing some new song by Monica



I said all that to say that the appreciation for instrumentation and different forms of music is lost. I cant really blame today's music listener 100 percent but with all this internet thats out, there's plenty research that could be done. Think about it, back in the day, there was more merging of different forms of music. For instance, on EWF THATS THE WAY OF THE WORLD album, I am still amazed that a song like "See The Light" is on there. You mean to tell me that on a top selling album(that was played by whites and blacks) , they put a jazz song on there? Or even War's THE WORLD IS A GHETTO album. It was THE top album of 1973 and there are MANY forms of music contained on that one album. We dont have that same type of varied instrumentation on albums. Therefore, a generation has been raised thinking that black music can only sound one way, when thats not the case and historically has never been the case.

I think whats very interesting is that a lot of people on here rail against BET but back in the day, I DISTINCTLY remember BET playing music by Peter Gabriel, Fishbone, Tracy Chapman, Living Colour and songs like "Talking Out The Side Of Your Neck" by Cameo. Once BET began to start making major $$, thats when they began to marginalize themselves, which is so insulting..
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LoveAlive said:

This reminds me of my Mom saying to me that Jimi Hendrix's "Machine Gun" sounds like a Heavy Metal song. The taste of some people disturbs me.

CREEP said:

The Black Kids?

But they're an integrated line-up so they probably don't count. Then again they are an Indie Rock band with the Black siblings as the vocalists. But there are other Black rock groups you can check out like Whole Wheat Bread and Game Rebellion.
[Edited 9/8/08 2:24am]

OK, I didn't wanna do it at first, but now I gotta step in and say something. I am a young, Black guitarist that plays Rock music so I can totally relate. It's not that Blacks don't honor artists like Hendrix, there's just certain sectors of the community that do. There are Black folks that love the man and are inspired by his music and his message. I know many of them. But a lot of them aren't just cats around the way. They're much more in tune with art and music and are true appreciators to understand the power of Jimi's music.

There are organizations like the Black Rock Coalition, Urb Alt, and Afro Punk (I'm surprised no one has mentioned them yet) that acknowledge their roots and proudly honor and continue to keep the legacy of Black Rock going. If you don't know about these organizations then do some internet research. And there are many bands under their banners. Young brothers and sisters that crank it up and rock out like no tomorrow.

The problem is...well somewhere along the way average Black folks abandoned the guitar-driven sounds of Rock in favor of more rhythmic sounds like Funk, Soul, Disco, Hip-Hop, etc. I don't know, for some reason we adapt to more rhythmic types of sounds and beats. It probably dates back to Africa where the rhythms were in the forefront. But at the same time I can't say that guitar-driven rock is like anathema to Black folks since it can be heard in even the funkiest of songs. I'm sure many of you listen to the Isley Brothers for example. But because we got so used to white artists being influenced by Rock and because they ran with it, we pretty much just let them have it. Now it's become a "white boy" thing since they're still into it. But hell, white folks have appropriated many of the sounds that we've created like Blues, Jazz, Ska (which has especially become whitewashed since they fused with Punk and Hardcore), Techno, even Hip-Hop. You should see some of these white kids act like B-boys, it's hilarious. They're, in fact, outbidding the brothers and sistas when it comes to buying Hip-Hop. But you know, that's the way it goes all throughout history: We're always at the forefront of creating new sounds and fashions and every other ethnicity picks up on it.

Look, my point is there are certain types of Blacks that do honor the legacy of Hendrix. But they're the ones that are smart enough to know their history and diversify their tastes and be appreciative of rocking out. Many of these brothers and sisters are young too, some of which I know and have played with. A good friend of mine who's 20 years old goes by the name "Young Jimi" because he's a guitarist that loves his hero as well as Slash, Prince, and Lenny. At the same time he likes Hip-Hop (his stepfather is Melle Mel), which is what the majority of Black folks are digging. I also know many young brothers and sisters that are into Punk, Alternative, New Wave, Goth, Metal, etc. So even though we may be in the minority, we are out there and do honor the Black rockers that paved the way for us. I don't know why no one here has acknowledge the Black Rock Coalition or Afro Punk, but organizations like those can prove my point.

Bishop31 said:

I'm also a young (18), black guitarist. From my experiences, forget jimi, most young kids dont even honor Prince! I'd be surprised if they knew who hendrix was. I was at BB King concert this year in August, there were like 5 black couples, very old, the rest were white. It's kinda sad. I got to go on the tour bus and take a pic with BB, i sent it to my sister and hell, my siblings didnt even know who BB King was I think a lot of it has to do with in hip hop, people refer to something as "hip to the game" or w.e, so basically you have to keep current or bring something new to "the game" or else its "whack." So older acts get no love, let alone different genres. Also, i think it has a lot to do with young black kids just not being diverse. I just started college and I met a lot of white kids who are into jazz, blues, funk, along with all kinds of rock. Young black kids just dont want to venture from current hip-hop and r&b or as vainandy would say "shit hop and rhythmless bullshit"

NWF said:

Great post. And ur right. I have never heard of those organizations you mentioned. But, I will do some research on them. Thanx 4 the lead.

MajesticOne89 said:

That BB King experience seems to be a common thing amongst black fols. I don't understand it. But, it's great to see an 18 year old interested in B.B.

Pure ignorance, that's why. I read a post where someone said that black people don't like rock guitar in music, which I find ridiculous. Jimi was a vital part of the music culture, whether it be black or white.

LoveAlive said:

One word, Viacom.

Thats the devil that they sold their souls to
[Edited 9/8/08 6:58am]

Timmy84 said:

Do you think that would have happened if there hadn't been intolerance, persecution, slavery and so on? If it had been the other way round do you think the white man would have developed the blues?

I don't consider Jimi as the greatest 'black' rock guitarist of all time. I value him as the greatest rock guitarist of all time. There is no colour issue or racial difference when you hear the sound he makes.

Thankfully, my local classic rock station plays Jimi on a regular basis, probably even daily.

IMO - if one has to listen to the radio it might as well be classic rock! The other stations are just top 40 crap over and over again.

Empress said:

So does my local rock station. It's just sad that the "rock crowd" seems to be his only support on the radio.

I think if black kids from an early age were exposed to more music and instruments they might have more interest in music other than rap. If they understood the beauty of the guitar, held one, understood the different types, heard the various sounds it could create, there would be more appreciation not just for rock music but for musicianship in general.

If they’re taking music programs out of school or parents aren't getting their kids private lessons, instruments and the pioneers of rock and jazz are foreign to them. Most kids don’t know who Jimi Hendrix is or aren’t familiar with black guitarists, rock bands, etc. Listening to rock is equated with listening to ‘white music’. So they stick with what they know and what their parents and at this point what their grandparents are listening to, rap and mutated R&B.

There's the excuse that Jimi Hendrix is before their time so there may be obvious disinterest but I bet they don't know who Captain Kirk is either.
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