In popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such as swing and jazz fusion. Guitar solos are also used in classical music forms such as chamber music and concertos.
Guitar solos range from unaccompanied works for a single guitar to compositions with accompaniment from other instruments. The accompaniment musicians for a guitar solo can range from a small ensemble such as a jazz quartet or a rock band, to a large ensemble such as an orchestra or big band. Unaccompanied acoustic guitar music is found in folk and classical music dating as far back as the instrument has existed, and the use of an acoustic guitar as a solo voice within an ensemble dates back at least to the Baroque concerto.
Rock bands often have two guitarists, designated 'lead' and 'rhythm', with the 'lead' player performing the solos while the 'rhythm' player accompanies with chords or riffs. Most examples of rock music are based around songs in very traditional forms. The main formal features are therefore verses, choruses, and bridges. The guitar solo is usually the most significant instrumental (that is, non-vocal) section of a mainstream rock song. In| other rock-related genres, such as pop and dance music, the keyboard synthesizer usually plays this melodic role.
This use of a guitar instrumental interlude in rock music has its roots in blues musicians such as John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and T-Bone Walker. Ernest Tubb's 1940 honky tonk classic, "Walking the Floor over You" was the first "hit" recording to feature and highlight a solo by a standard electric guitar–though earlier hits featured electric lap steel guitars. Blues master Lonnie Johnson had also recorded at least once on electric guitar, but his innovation was neither much noted nor influential. These pioneers in turn influenced solos in rhythm and blues (e.g., Bo Diddley), rock and roll (e.g. Chuck Berry) and more recent forms of music.
In most cases, the rock guitar solo is a short instrumental section of the song. In the classic verse-chorus form, it often falls between the second chorus and third verse. As well, extended guitar solos are sometimes used as the outro of a song, such as Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird", Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", Guns N' Roses' "November Rain", Metallica's "Fade to Black", Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog", The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil", Pearl Jam's "Alive", Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California", Cream's "White Room", AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock", Outlaws' "Green Grass and High Tides", The Alan Parsons Project's Eye in the Sky and Eagles' "Hotel California". Solos can take place in the intro of a song, such as in "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" by Jimi Hendrix, "Since I've Been Loving You" by Led Zeppelin, "One" by Metallica, "Lazy" by Deep Purple, "I Want It All" by Queen, "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry, "Don't Take Me Alive" by Steely Dan and "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd.
The use of guitar solos in heavy metal was notable during the 1980s, when rapid-fire "shredding" guitar solos were common; a virtuostic lead guitarist of a band might be as well-known as the singer. During this time the use of techniques such as harmonics became more widely used. Later, guitarists who had developed considerable technical facility began to release albums which consisted only of guitar compositions. Guitar solos in popular music went out of fashion in the mid 1990s, coinciding with the rise in popularity of nu metal and grunge, which do not feature guitar solos prominently. During this period, guitar solos became less prominent in many pop and popular rock music styles; either being trimmed down to a short four-bar transition, or omitted entirely, in a vast departure from the heavy usage of solos in classic rock music from the '60s, '70s, '80s, and early '90s. Classic rock revival music heavily features soloing, along with classic rock bands that are still active, as of 2009.
Occasionally, there will be a two part guitar solo with both the rhythm and lead guitar taking solos. (e.g. "Master of Puppets" by Metallica), or dual solos with both lead and rhythm playing complementary solos such as with Black Sabbath's "War Pigs", Metallica's "Four Horsemen", or Megadeth's "Mechanix".
Bass solos are performed using a range of different techniques, such as plucking or fingerpicking. In the 1960s, The Who's bassist, John Entwistle, performed a bass break on the song "My Generation" using a pick, though he intended to use his fingers. This is considered by many as one of the first bass solos in rock music, and also, one of the most recognizable. Queen's bassist, John Deacon, occasionally played bass solos, notably in "Under Pressure" or "Liar". In the 1970s Aerosmith's bassist, Tom Hamilton played a bass intro on the song "Sweet Emotion" from their groundbreaking album ''Toys in the Attic''. On thrash metal group Metallica's 1983 debut ''Kill Em All'', bassist Cliff Burton's well known solo "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" is featured, and is considered his greatest work by many. John McVie of Fleetwood Mac performed a notable bass solo on "The Chain" from the 1977 record-setting ''Rumours'' album. Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt played a bass solo on the song "No One Knows" from the 1992 album Kerplunk!. U2 includes a bass solo most notably on "Gloria", in which Adam Clayton utilizes several playing techniques.
Heavy metal bass players such as Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath), Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse), Cliff Burton (Metallica), jazz fusion bassist Jaco Pastorius (Weather Report), and Les Claypool (Primus, Blind Illusion) used chime-like harmonics and rapid plucking techniques in their bass solos. Geddy Lee of Rush performed a number of solos, most notably in songs such as "YYZ". Also, in both published Van Halen concert videos, Michael Anthony performs unique maneuvers and actions while performing his solos. Funk bassists, such as Larry Graham, began using slapping and popping techniques for their bass solos, which coupled a percussive thumb-slapping technique of the lower strings with an aggressive finger-snap of the higher strings, often in rhythmic alternation. The slap and pop technique incorporates a large number of muted (or 'ghost' tones) to normal notes to add to the rhythmic effect. Slapping and popping solos were prominent in 1980s pop and R&B;, and they are still used by some 2000s-era funk and Latin bands.
When playing bass solos, hard rock and heavy metal bassists sometimes use bass effects such as distortion or wah-wah pedals to produce a more pronounced sound. Notably, Cliff Burton of Metallica used both distortion and wah-wah. Due to the lower range of the bass, bass guitar solos usually have a much lighter accompaniment than solos for other instruments. In some cases, the bass guitar solo is unaccompanied, or it is accompanied only by the drums.
Category:Music performance Category:Guitar performance techniques
cs:Kytarové sólo fr:Solo de guitare pt:Solo de guitarra ru:Гитарное соло sk:Gitarové sólo fi:Kitarasoolo sv:GitarrsoloThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Name | Yngwie Malmsteen |
---|---|
Background | solo_singer |
Alias | Yngwie J. MalmsteenLars Y. Loudamp |
Birth name | Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck |
Born | June 30, 1963Stockholm, Sweden |
Instrument | Guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals, sitar, cello |
Genre | Heavy metal, neo-classical metal, speed metal, hard rock, power metal |
Occupation | Musician, songwriter, producer |
Years active | 1978–present |
Label | Polydor, Polygram, Elektra, Rising Force Records, Universal Music |
Associated acts | Steeler, Alcatrazz, Rising Force, Hear 'n Aid, G3 |
Website | Official website |
Notable instruments | Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster }} |
Yngwie Johann Malmsteen ( ; born June 30, 1963) is a Swedish virtuoso guitarist, composer, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. Malmsteen became known for his neo-classical playing approach in heavy metal music which became a new musical style in the early 1980s. He is considered by many to be one of the most technically gifted rock guitarists of all time and a pioneer of shred guitar.
''Rising Force'' won the Guitar Player Magazine's award for Best Rock Album and was also nominated for a Grammy for 'Best Rock Instrumental', achieving #60 on the Billboard album chart. Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force (as his band was thereafter known) next released ''Marching Out'' (1985). Jeff Scott Soto filled vocal duties on these initial albums. His third album, ''Trilogy'', featuring the vocals of Mark Boals, was released in 1986. In 1987, another singer, former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner joined his band. That year, Malmsteen was in a serious car accident, smashing his Jaguar E-Type into a tree and putting him in a coma for a week. Nerve damage to his right hand was reported. During his time in the hospital, Malmsteen's mother died from cancer. In the summer of 1988 he released his fourth album, ''Odyssey''. Odyssey would be his biggest hit album, mainly because of its first single "Heaven Tonight". Shows in Russia during the Odyssey tour were recorded, and released in 1989 as his fifth album ''Trial By Fire: Live in Leningrad''.
Malmsteen's "Neo-classical" style of metal became popular among some guitarists during the mid 1980s, with contemporaries such as Jason Becker, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Tony MacAlpine and Vinnie Moore becoming prominent. In late 1988, Malmsteen's signature Fender Stratocaster guitar was released, making him and Eric Clapton the first artists to be honored by Fender.
In 1993, Malmsteen's future mother-in-law, opposed to his engagement to her daughter, had him falsely arrested for holding the woman hostage with a gun. The charges were quickly dropped. Malmsteen continued to record and release albums under the Japanese record label Pony Canyon, and maintained a devoted following from some fans in Europe and Japan, and to a lesser extent in the USA. In 2000, he once again acquired a contract with a US record label, Spitfire, and released his 1990s catalog into the US market for the first time, including what he regards as his masterpiece, ''Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra'', recorded with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague.
In the mid 1990's Malmsteen went on to release the albums Magnum Opus (1995), Inspiration (1996) Facing the Animal (1997), Double LIVE! (1998) and Alchemy (1999). In 1996, Malmsteen joined forces with former band members Jeff Scott Soto and Marcel Jacob on the Human Clay album where he played lead guitar on the track Jealousy
Malmsteen released ''Unleash the Fury'' in 2005. (This title may be a reference to an audio recording that supposedly captured Malmsteen's immoderate response to a flight attendant who spilled a beverage on him. The recording found popularity in filesharing networks as an example of the absurd behavior of celebrities.) He is married to April (Ebru Solmaz, born in Istanbul, Turkey) and has a son named Antonio after Antonio Vivaldi, and they live in Miami, Florida. A noted Ferrari enthusiast, Malmsteen owned a black 1985 308 GTS for 18 years before selling it on eBay, and a red 1962 250 GTO. In 2007, Malmsteen was honored in the Xbox 360 version of ''Guitar Hero II''. Players can receive the "Yngwie Malmsteen" award by hitting 1000 or more notes in succession. February 2008 saw the replacement of singer Doogie White with former Iced Earth and Judas Priest and current Beyond Fear singer Tim "Ripper" Owens, with whom Malmsteen had once recorded a cover of Ozzy Osbourne's song "Mr. Crowley", for the 2000 Osbourne tribute album ''Bat Head Soup: A Tribute to Ozzy''. The first Malmsteen album to feature Owens is titled Perpetual Flame and was released on October 14. On November 25, 2008, Malmsteen had three of his songs ("Caprici Di Diablo", "Damnation Game", and "Red Devil") released as downloadable content for the video games ''Rock Band'' and ''Rock Band 2''. In 2008 Malmsteen was a special guest on the VH1 Classic show "That Metal Show". In the 10th of March 2009, Malmsteen's label Rising Force has launched his new release Angels of Love, an instrumental album which features acoustic arrangements of some of his best-known ballads.
In August 2009, ''Time'' magazine named Malmsteen #9 on its list of the 10 best electric guitar players of all-time. Malmsteen recently released another album compilation entitled High Impact on December 8, 2009.
Yngwie has stated that he prefers Stratocasters from the period of 1968-1972; he claims that the bigger headstock on these generates more sustain. Yngwie customizes his guitars by fitting a brass nut, removing the middle string tree and scalloping the fretboard. Yngwie previously disconnected the tone controls on his guitars but has said that he no longer does this.
Yngwie has previously used DiMarzio pickups - most notably the HS3 and the HS4 (Formerly known as the YJM). Yngwie would use an HS3 in the bridge and the HS4 in the middle and neck positions.
In his earlier recordings, Yngwie used an HS3 in the neck and bridge positions and a disconnected stock fender in the middle. In his earlier years he also used a Ibanez Gio Rg Series
!Date of Release | !Title | !Label | !Chart positions | !US sales |
1983 | Shrapnel |
!Date of Release | !Title | !Label | !Chart positions | !US sales |
''No Parole from Rock N' Roll'' | ||||
''Live Sentence'' | ||||
''Live '83'' | ||||
''No Parole from Rock 'n' Roll Tour Live in Japan 1984.1.28 Audio Tracks'' |
;Solo
Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||
!style="width:2em;font-size:75%" | !style="width:2em;font-size:75%" | |||||
1984 | ''Rising Force'' | * Released: 1984 | Polydor Records>Polydor | * Format: | ||
1985 | ''Marching Out'' | * Released: October 1985 | * Label: Polydor | * Format: | ||
1986 | * Released: 1986 | * Label: Polydor | * Format: | |||
1988 | * Released: March 1988 | * Label: Polydor | * Format: | |||
1989 | * Released: October, 1989 | * Label: Polydor | * Format: | |||
1990 | * Released: 1990 | * Label: Polydor | * Format: | |||
1991 | ''The Yngwie Malmsteen Collection'' | * Released: November, 1991 | * Label: Polydor | * Format: | ||
1992 | * Released: 1992 | Elektra Records>Elektra | * Format: | |||
* Released: February 18, 1994 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | ||||
* Released: September 21, 1994 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | ||||
* Released: October 21, 1994 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | ||||
1995 | * Released: June 6, 1995 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | |||
1996 | * Released: November 5, 1996 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | |||
1997 | ''Facing the Animal'' | * Released: September 3, 1997 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | ||
''Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra'' in E flat minor, Opus 1 | * Released: February 4, 1998 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | |||
''Double LIVE!'' | * Released: September 18, 1998 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | |||
1999 | * Released: September 17, 1999 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | |||
* Released: March 15, 2000 | * Label: | * Format: | ||||
''The young person's guide to the classics.1'' * | * Released: April 25, 2000 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | |||
''The young person's guide to the classics.2'' * | * Released: April 25, 2000 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | |||
* Released: May 9, 2000 | * Label: Dream Catcher | * Format: | ||||
* Released: November 22, 2000 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | ||||
* Released: January 9, 2002 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | ||||
* Released: September 4, 2002 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | ||||
''The Genesis'' | * Released: December 30, 2002 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | |||
* Released: January 1, 2004 | * Label: Pony Canyon | * Format: | ||||
''G3: Rockin' in the Free World'' | * Released: March 10, 2004 | Epic Records>Epic | * Format: | |||
''Unleash the Fury | * Released: February 23, 2005 | * Label: Universal Music | * Format: | |||
''20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Yngwie Malmsteen | * Released: May 24, 2005 | * Label: Polydor | * Format: | |||
2008 | ''Perpetual Flame | * Released: October 14, 2008 | * Label: Rising Force Records/Universal Music Japan | * Format: | ||
''Angels of Love | * Released: March 10, 2009 | * Label: Rising Force Records | * Format: | |||
* Released: December 8, 2009 | * Label: Rising Force Records | * Format: | ||||
2010 | * Released: November 23, 2010 | * Label: Rising Force Records/Universal Music Japan | * Format: |
Category:Swedish expatriates in the United States Category:American people of Swedish descent Category:Swedish heavy metal guitarists Category:Swedish rock guitarists Category:G3 Category:Lead guitarists Category:People from Stockholm Category:1963 births Category:Living people
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Name | Jimi Hendrix |
---|---|
Background | solo_singer |
Birth name | Johnny Allen Hendrix, renamed James Marshall Hendrix |
Born | November 27, 1942Seattle, Washington, US |
Died | September 18, 1970Kensington, London, England |
Instrument | Guitar, vocals, bass, keyboards, percussion, flute |
Genre | Psychedelic rock, hard rock, blues rock, acid rock, funk rock |
Occupation | Singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, recording studio owner |
Years active | 1963–1970 |
Label | RSVP, Track, Barclay, Polydor, Repsrise, Capitol, MCA |
Associated acts | Little Richard, The Isley Brothers, The Blue Flames, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, Band of Gypsys, Curtis Knight |
Website | www.jimihendrix.com |
Notable instruments | Fender StratocasterGibson Flying VGibson SG }} |
After initial success in Europe with his group The Jimi Hendrix Experience, he achieved fame in the United States following his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Later, Hendrix headlined the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. He often favored raw overdriven amplifiers with high gain and treble and helped develop the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback.
Hendrix, as well as his friend Eric Clapton, popularized use of the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock which he often used to deliver an exaggerated sense of pitch in his solos, particularly with high bends, complex guitar playing, and use of legato. As a record producer, Hendrix also broke new ground in using the recording studio as an extension of his musical ideas. He was one of the first to experiment with stereophonic phasing effects for rock recording.
Hendrix was influenced by blues artists such as B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King and Elmore James, rhythm and blues and soul guitarists Curtis Mayfield and Steve Cropper, and the jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. Hendrix (who was then known as 'Maurice James') began dressing and wearing a moustache like Little Richard when he performed and recorded in his band from March 1, 1964 through to the spring of 1965. In 1966, Hendrix stated, "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice".
Hendrix won many of the most prestigious rock music awards in his lifetime, and has been posthumously awarded many more, including being inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. An English Heritage blue plaque was erected in his name on his former residence at Brook Street, London, in September 1997. A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 6627 Hollywood Blvd.) was dedicated in 1994. In 2006, his debut US album, ''Are You Experienced'', was inducted into the United States National Recording Registry, and ''Rolling Stone'' named Hendrix the top guitarist on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all-time in 2003.
Hendrix's ancestry was mostly African American, although he was part Cherokee, his paternal great-great grandmother being a full-blooded Cherokee from Georgia. His parents met at a dance in Seattle in 1941 when Lucille Jeter was 16. When she married Al Hendrix the next year, on March 13, 1942, she was pregnant. Since Al had been drafted into the United States Army due to World War II, he was shipped out three days later. Al Hendrix completed his basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, but was stationed in Alabama when his son was born. Because the commanding officer believed that he would go AWOL to Seattle in order to visit his new son, he was locked up in the stockade as a preventative measure, where he remained to receive the telegram informing him of his son's birth. The baby that would grow up to become the guitarist Jimi Hendrix was born to a father who had six fingers on each hand. Al Hendrix spent the war in the South Pacific Theater mostly in Fiji. During the three years that he was away, Lucille struggled with raising her infant son who was neglected in favor of the nightlife scene. Thus Hendrix was mostly cared for by family members and others during this period.
His father received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army on September 1, 1945, and retrieved his son from a woman who was caring for him in Berkeley. Al legally changed his son’s name to James Marshall Hendrix in memory of his late brother, Leon Marshall Hendrix. He was known as "Buster" to friends and family, from birth. After his return, Al reunited with Lucille. He found it difficult to gain steady employment after the Second World War, and the family was impoverished. Like Lucille, Al also struggled with alcohol and the couple had frequent fights. At one point a pimp named John Page who had a history with Lucille even tried to commandeer her out of a movie theater while she was with Al. Al objected and a fight ensued, spilling out into the street. Al had been an amateur boxer and stunned the pimp with a first punch, eventually winning the brawl and they never saw the pimp again.
During the early years of Hendrix’s life, the turmoil caused by his parent's fighting would sometimes cause him to withdraw and hide in a closet in their home. They moved often, staying in cheap hotels and apartments around Seattle. Throughout his childhood Hendrix would periodically be dropped off to be cared for by relatives. This all left an imprint on him as a small child which would remain with him the rest of his life. In addition to the instability of his home life, Hendrix in later years confided to two different girlfriends that as a youth he had been sexually assaulted by a man, although he never elaborated. In one instance while he was living in Harlem, Hendrix broke down crying as his girlfriend related the sexual abuse she had suffered as a child, telling her that the same thing had happened to him.
Hendrix had two brothers, Leon and Joseph, and two sisters, Kathy and Pamela. Joseph was born with physical difficulties and was placed in foster care at age three. His two sisters were also both placed in foster care at a young age. Kathy was born blind and Pamela suffered lesser physical difficulties.
On December 17, 1951, when Hendrix was nine years old, his parents divorced. His mother developed cirrhosis of the liver and died on February 2, 1958, when the state of her liver caused her spleen to rupture. On occasion, he was placed in the care of his paternal grandmother in Vancouver, British Columbia because of the unstable household, and his brother Leon was placed in foster care temporarily. Hendrix was a shy and sensitive boy, deeply affected by the poverty and family disruption he experienced at a young age. Unusual for his era, Hendrix's high school had a relatively even ethnic mix of African, European, and Asian Americans.
Hendrix was particularly fond of Elvis Presley, whom he saw perform in Seattle, in 1957. Leon Hendrix claimed in an early interview that Little Richard appeared in his Central District neighborhood and shook hands with his brother, Jimi. This is unattested elsewhere and vehemently denied by his father. He also claimed that Richard was visiting his mother there at the time, when Richard's mother actually lived in Los Angeles. Hendrix's early exposure to blues music came from listening to records by Muddy Waters and B.B. King which his father owned. Another early impression came from the 1954 western ''Johnny Guitar'', in which the hero carries no gun but instead wears a guitar slung behind his back.
Hendrix's first gig was with an unnamed band in the basement of a synagogue, Seattle's Temple De Hirsch. After too much wild playing and showing off, he was fired between sets. The first formal band he played in was The Velvetones, who performed regularly at the Yesler Terrace Neighborhood House without pay. He later joined the Rocking Kings, who played professionally at such venues as the Birdland. When his guitar was stolen (after he left it backstage overnight), Al bought him a white Silvertone Danelectro. He painted it red and had "Betty Jean" emblazoned on it—the name of his high school girlfriend.
Hendrix completed junior high at Washington Junior High School with little trouble but did not graduate from Garfield High School. Later he was awarded an honorary diploma, and in the 1990s a bust of him was placed in the school library. After he became famous in the late 1960s, Hendrix told reporters that he had been expelled from Garfield by racist faculty for holding hands with a white girlfriend in study hall. Principal Frank Hanawalt says that it was simply due to poor grades and attendance problems.
At the base recreation center, Hendrix met fellow soldier and bass player Billy Cox, and the two forged a loyal friendship that Hendrix would call upon from April 1969 until Billy's breakdown shortly before Hendrix's death. The two would often perform with other musicians at venues both on and off the base as a loosely organized band there named the Casuals. As a celebrity in the UK, Hendrix mentioned his military service in three published interviews; one in 1967 for the film ''See My Music Talking'' (much later released under the title ''Experience''), which was intended for TV to promote his recently released ''Axis: Bold as Love'' LP, in which he spoke very briefly of his first parachuting experience: "...once you get out there everything is so quiet, all you hear is the breezes-s-s-s..." This comment has later been used to claim that he was saying that this was one of the sources of his "spacy" guitar sound. The second and third mentions of his military experience were in interviews for ''Melody Maker'' in 1967 and 1969, where he spoke of his dislike of the army. In interviews in the US, Hendrix almost never mentioned it, and when Dick Cavett brought it up in his TV interview, Hendrix's only response was to verify that he had been based at Fort Campbell.
In December 1962, Hendrix visited his relatives in Vancouver, Canada, where as a child he had sometimes lived with his grandmother. It has been claimed that while there, he performed with future members of the Motown band Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, including Tommy Chong (of later Cheech & Chong fame). Chong, however, disputes this ever happened and that any such appearance is a product of Taylor's "imagination". In early 1963, Hendrix returned to the South. For the next two years, Hendrix made a living performing on a circuit of venues throughout the South catering to black audiences. These were venues affiliated with the Theater Owners' Booking Association (TOBA), sarcastically known as "Tough on Black Asses" because the audiences were very demanding. The TOBA circuit was also widely known as the Chitlin' Circuit. In addition to performing in his own band, Hendrix performed with Bob Fisher and the Bonnevilles, and in backing bands for various soul, R&B;, and blues musicians, including Chuck Jackson, Slim Harpo, Tommy Tucker, Sam Cooke, and Jackie Wilson. The Chitlin' Circuit was where Hendrix refined his style.
Feeling he had artistically outgrown the circuit and frustrated at following the rules of bandleaders, Hendrix decided to try his luck in New York City and in January 1964 moved into the Hotel Theresa in Harlem, where he soon befriended Lithofayne Pridgeon (known as "Faye", who became his girlfriend) and the Allen twins, Arthur and Albert (now known as Taharqa and Tunde-Ra Aleem). The Allen twins became friends and kept Hendrix out of trouble in New York. The twins also performed as backup singers (under the name Ghetto Fighters) on some of his recordings, most notably the song "Freedom". Pridgeon, a Harlem native with connections throughout the area's music scene, provided Hendrix with shelter, support, and encouragement. In February 1964, Hendrix won first prize in the Apollo Theater amateur contest. Hoping to land a gig, Hendrix made the club circuit and sat in with various bands. Eventually, Hendrix was offered the guitarist position with The Isley Brothers' back-up band and he readily accepted.
On March 1, 1964, Hendrix (then calling himself Maurice James) began recording and performing with Little Richard. Hendrix would later (1966) say, "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice". During a stop in Los Angeles while touring with Little Richard in 1965, Hendrix played a session for Rosa Lee Brooks on her single "My Diary". This was his first recorded involvement with Arthur Lee of the band Love. While in L.A., he also played on the session for Little Richard's final single for Vee-Jay, "I Don't Know What You've Got, But It's Got Me". He later made his first recorded TV appearance on Nashville's Channel 5 ''Night Train'' with "The Royal Company" backing up "Buddy and Stacy" on "Shotgun". Hendrix clashed with Richard, over tardiness, wardrobe, and, above all, Hendrix's stage antics. He then rejoined the Isley Brothers in the summer of 1965 and recorded a second single with them, "Move Over and Let Me Dance" backed with "Have You Ever Been Disappointed" (1965 Atlantic 45-2303).
Later in 1965, Hendrix joined a New York–based R&B; band, Curtis Knight and the Squires, after meeting Knight in the lobby of the Hotel America, off Times Square, where both men were living at the time. He performed on and off with them for eight months. In October 1965, Hendrix recorded a single with Curtis Knight, "How Would You Feel" backed with "Welcome Home" (1966 RSVP 1120) and on October 15 he signed a three-year recording contract with entrepreneur Ed Chalpin, receiving 1% royalty. While the relationship with Chalpin was short-lived, his contract remained in force, which caused considerable problems for Hendrix later on in his career. The legal dispute has continued to the present day. (Several songs (and demos) from the 1965–1966 Curtis Knight recording sessions, deemed not worth releasing at the time, were marketed as "Jimi Hendrix" recordings after he became famous.) Aside from Curtis Knight and the Squires, Hendrix then toured for two months with Joey Dee and the Starliters.
In between performing with Curtis Knight in 1966, Hendrix toured and recorded with King Curtis. Hendrix recorded the two-part single "Help Me (Get the Feeling)" with Ray Sharpe and the King Curtis Orchestra (1966 Atco 45-6402) (the backing track was subsequently overdubbed by other vocalists with different lyrics and released as new songs). Later in 1966, Hendrix also recorded with Lonnie Youngblood, a saxophone player who occasionally performed with Curtis Knight. The sessions produced two singles for Youngblood: "Go Go Shoes"/"Go Go Place" (Fairmount F-1002) and "Soul Food (That's What I Like)"/"Goodbye Bessie Mae" (Fairmount F-1022). Additionally, singles for other artists came out of the sessions: The Icemen's "(My Girl) She's a Fox"/ "(I Wonder) What It Takes" (1966 SAMAR S-111) and Jimmy Norman's "You're Only Hurting Yourself"/"That Little Old Groove Maker" (1966 SAMAR S-112). As with the King Curtis recordings, backing tracks and alternate takes for the Youngblood sessions would be overdubbed and otherwise manipulated to create many "new" tracks. (Many Youngblood tracks without any Hendrix involvement would later be marketed as "Jimi Hendrix" recordings). Also around this time in 1966, Hendrix got his first composer credits for two instrumentals "Hornets Nest" and "Knock Yourself Out", released as a Curtis Knight and the Squires single (1966 RSVP 1124).
Hendrix, now going by the name Jimmy James, formed his own band, The Blue Flame, composed of Randy Palmer (bass), Danny Casey (drums), a 15-year-old guitarist who played slide and rhythm named Randy Wolfe, and the occasional stand in June 1966.
Since there were two musicians named "Randy" in the group, Hendrix dubbed Wolfe "Randy California" (as he had recently moved from there to New York City) and Palmer (a Tejano) "Randy Texas". Randy California would later co-found the band Spirit with his stepfather, drummer Ed Cassidy. It was around this time that Hendrix's only daughter Tamika was conceived with Diana Carpenter (also known as Regina Jackson), a teenage runaway and prostitute that he briefly stayed with. Her claim has not been recognized by the US courts where, after death, she may not have a claim on his estate even if she could legally prove he was her father, unless recognized previously as such by him or the courts.
Hendrix and his new band played at several places in New York, but their primary venue was a residency at the Cafe Wha? on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. The street runs along "Washington (Square) Park" which appeared in at least two of Hendrix's songs. Their last concerts were at the Cafe au Go Go, as John Hammond Jr.'s backing group, billed as "The Blue Flame". Singer-guitarist Ellen McIlwaine and guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter also claim to have briefly worked with Hendrix in this period.
Impressed with Hendrix's version, Chandler brought him to London and signed him to a management and production contract with himself and ex-Animals manager Michael Jeffery. It was Chandler who came up with the spelling change of "Jimmy" to "Jimi". Chandler then helped Hendrix form a new band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, with guitarist-turned-bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, both English musicians. Shortly before the Experience was formed, Chandler introduced Hendrix to Pete Townshend and to Eric Clapton, who had only recently helped put together Cream. At Chandler's request, Cream let Hendrix join them on stage for a jam on the song "Killing Floor". Hendrix and Clapton remained friends up until Hendrix's death. The first night he arrived in London, he began a relationship with Kathy Etchingham that lasted until February 1969. She later wrote an autobiographical book about their relationship and the sixties London scene in general.
Hendrix sometimes had a camp sense of humor, specifically with the song "Purple Haze". A mondegreen had appeared, in which the line "'Scuse me while I kiss the sky" was misheard as "'Scuse me while I kiss this guy". In a few performances, Hendrix humorously used this, deliberately singing "kiss this guy" while pointing to Mitch or Noel, as he did at Monterey. In the Woodstock DVD he deliberately points to the sky at this point, to make it clear. A volume of misheard lyrics has been published, using this mondegreen itself as the title, with Hendrix on the cover.
Hendrix's first single was a cover of "Hey Joe", using Tim Rose's slower arrangement of the song including his addition of a female backing chorus. Backing this first 1966 "Experience" single was Hendrix's first songwriting effort, "Stone Free". Further success came in early 1967 with "Purple Haze" which featured the "Hendrix chord" and "The Wind Cries Mary". The three singles were all UK Top 10 hits and were also popular internationally including Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan (though failed to sell when released later in the US).
Onstage, Hendrix was also making an impression with sped up renderings of the B.B. King hit "Rock Me Baby" and Howlin' Wolf's hit "Killing Floor".
At this time, the Experience extensively toured the United Kingdom and parts of Europe. This allowed Hendrix to develop his stage presence, which reached a high point on March 31, 1967, when, booked to appear as one of the opening acts on the Walker Brothers farewell tour, he set his guitar on fire at the end of his first performance, as a publicity stunt. This guitar has now been identified as the "Zappa guitar" (previously thought to have been from Miami), which has been partly refurbished. Later, as part of this press promotion campaign, there were articles about Rank Theatre management warning him to "tone down" his "suggestive" stage act, with Chandler stating that the group would not compromise regardless. On June 4, 1967, the Experience played their last show in England, at London's Saville Theatre, before heading off to America. The Beatles' ''Sgt. Pepper'' album had just been released on June 1 and two Beatles (Paul McCartney and George Harrison) were in attendance, along with a roll call of other UK rock stardom, including: Brian Epstein, Eric Clapton, Spencer Davis, Jack Bruce, and pop singer Lulu. Hendrix opened the show with his own rendering of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", rehearsed only minutes before taking the stage, much to McCartney's astonishment and delight.
While on tour in Sweden in 1967, Hendrix jammed with the duo ''Hansson & Karlsson'', and later opened several concerts with their song "Tax Free", also recording a cover of it during the Electric Ladyland sessions. He played there frequently throughout his career, and his only son James Daniel Sundquist was born there in 1969 to a Swede, Eva Sundquist, recognized as such by the Swedish courts and paid a settlement by Experience Hendrix LLC. He wrote a poem to a woman there (probably Sundquist). Sundquist had sent Hendrix roses on each of his opening nights in Stockholm, and began – according to the Swedish courts – a sexual relationship from then until conceiving Daniel with him, after his third visit in January 1969. Hendrix also dedicated songs to the Swedish-based Vietnam deserters organization in 1969.
Months later, Reprise Records released the US and Canadian version of ''Are You Experienced'' with a new cover by Karl Ferris, removing "Red House", "Remember" and "Can You See Me" to make room for the first three single A-sides. Where the (Rest of the World) album kicked off with "Foxy Lady", the US and Canadian one started with "Purple Haze". Both versions offered a startling introduction to the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and the album was a blueprint for what had become possible on an electric guitar, basically recorded on four tracks, mixed into mono and only modified at this point by a "fuzz" pedal, reverb and a small bit of the experimental "Octavia" pedal on "Purple Haze", produced by Roger Mayer in consultation with Hendrix. A remix using the mostly mono backing tracks with the guitar and vocal overdubs separated and occasionally panned to create a stereo mix was also released, only in the US and Canada.
Their chance came when Paul McCartney recommended the group to the organizers of the Monterey International Pop Festival. This proved to be a great opportunity for Hendrix, not only because of the large audience present at the event, but also because of the many journalists covering the event who wrote about him. The performances were filmed by D. A. Pennebaker and later shown in some movie theaters around the country in early 1969 as the concert documentary Monterey Pop, which immortalized Hendrix's iconic burning and smashing of his guitar at the finale of his performance.
The opening song was Hendrix's very fast arrangement of Howlin' Wolf's 1965 R&B; hit "Killing Floor". He played this frequently from late 1965 through 1968, usually as the opener to his shows. The Monterey performance included an equally lively rendering of B.B. King's 1964 R&B; hit "Rock Me Baby", Tim Rose's arrangement of "Hey Joe" and Bob Dylan's 1965 pop hit "Like a Rolling Stone". The set ended with The Troggs' "Wild Thing" and Hendrix repeating the act that had boosted his profile in the UK (and internationally) with him burning his guitar on stage, then smashing it to bits and tossing pieces out to the audience. This show finally brought Hendrix to the notice of the US public. A large chunk of this guitar was on display at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, along with the other psychedelically painted Stratocaster that Hendrix smashed (but did not burn) at his farewell concert in England before he left for the US and Monterey.
At the time Hendrix was playing sets in the Scene club in NYC in July 1967, he met Frank Zappa, whose Mothers of Invention were playing the adjacent Garrick Theater, and he was reportedly fascinated by Zappa's recently purchased wah-wah pedal. Hendrix immediately bought one from Manny's and starting using it right away on the sessions for both sides of his new single, and slightly later, on several jams recorded at Ed Chalpin's studio.
Following the festival, the Experience played a series of concerts at Bill Graham's Fillmore replacing the original headliners Jefferson Airplane at the top of the bill. It was at this time that Hendrix became acquainted with future musical collaborator Stephen Stills, and reacquainted himself with Buddy Miles who introduced Hendrix to his future partner, Devon Wilson. She had a turbulent on/off relationship with him, right up to the night of his death, and was the only one of his partners to record with him. She died only six months after Hendrix under mysterious circumstances, apparently falling from an upper window in the Chelsea Hotel.
Following this very successful West Coast introduction, which also included two open air concerts (one of them a free concert in the "panhandle" of Golden Gate Park) and a concert at the Whisky a Go Go, they were booked as one of the opening acts for pop group The Monkees on their first American tour. The Monkees asked for Hendrix because they were fans, but their (mostly early teens) audience sometimes did not warm to their act, and he quit the tour after a few dates. Chas Chandler later admitted that being thrown off the Monkees tour was engineered to gain maximum media impact and publicity for Hendrix, similar to that gained from the manufactured Rank Theatre's indecency dispute on the earlier UK Walker Brothers tour. At the time, a story circulated claiming that Hendrix was removed from the tour because of complaints made by the Daughters of the American Revolution that his stage conduct was "lewd and indecent". This report was concocted by a journalist accompanying the tour, the Australian Lillian Roxon.
Meanwhile in Western Europe, where Hendrix was appreciated for his authentic blues as well as his hit singles and recognized for his avant-garde musical ideas, his wild-man image and musical gimmickry (such as playing the guitar with his teeth and behind his back) had faded; but they later plagued him in the US following Monterey. He became frustrated by the US media and audience when they concentrated on his stage tricks and best known songs.
The album was released in the UK near the end of their first headlining tour there, after which the pace slowed briefly during the Christmas holidays. In January 1968 the group went to Sweden for a short tour, and after the first show Hendrix, reportedly after drinking and according to Hendrix his drink being spiked, went berserk and smashed up his hotel room in a rage, injuring his hand and culminating in his arrest. Then on the 6th in Denmark his famous hat was stolen. The rest of the tour was uneventful, though Hendrix had to spend some time in Sweden waiting for his trial and eventual large fine.
As the album's recording progressed, Chas Chandler became so frustrated with Hendrix's perfectionism and with various friends and guests milling about the studio that he decided to sever his professional relationship with Hendrix. Chandler's departure had a clear impact on the artistic direction that the recording took.
Hendrix began experimenting with different combinations of musicians and instruments, and modern electronic effects. For example, Dave Mason, Chris Wood, and Steve Winwood from the band Traffic, drummer Buddy Miles and former Bob Dylan organist Al Kooper, among others, were involved in the recording sessions. He described how Hendrix went from a disciplined recording regimen to an erratic schedule, which often saw him beginning recording sessions in the middle of the night and with any number of guests.
Chandler also expressed exasperation at the number of times Hendrix would insist on rerecording particular tracks; the song "Gypsy Eyes" was reportedly recorded 43 times. This was also frustrating for bassist Noel Redding, who would often leave the studio to calm himself, only to return and find that Hendrix had recorded the bass parts himself during Redding's absence.
''Electric Ladyland'' includes "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" as well as Hendrix's rendering of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower".
Throughout the four years of his fame, Hendrix often appeared at impromptu jams with various musicians, such as B.B. King. In March 1968, Jim Morrison of The Doors joined Hendrix onstage at New York's Scene Club. Albums of this ''Electric Ladyland''-era bootleg recording were released under various titles, some falsely claiming the presence of Johnny Winter, who has denied, several times, being a participant at that jam session, and to ever having met Morrison.
Noel Redding felt increasingly frustrated by the fact that he was not playing his original and favored instrument, the guitar. In 1968, he decided to form his own band, Fat Mattress, which would sometimes open for the Experience (Hendrix would jokingly refer to them as "Thin Pillow"). Redding and Hendrix would begin seeing less and less of each other, which also had an effect in the studio, with Hendrix playing many of the bass parts on ''Electric Ladyland''.
Fruitless recording sessions at Olympic in London; Olmstead and the Record Plant in New York that ended on April 9, which only produced a remake of "Stone Free" for a possible single release, were the last to feature Redding. Hendrix then flew Billy Cox to New York and started recording and rehearsing with him on April 21 as a replacement for Noel.
In a recorded interview by Nancy Carter on June 15 at his hotel in Los Angeles, Hendrix announced that he had been recording with Cox and that he would be replacing Noel as bass player in The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
The last Experience concert took place on June 29, 1969 at Barry Fey's Denver Pop Festival, a three-day event held at Denver's Mile High Stadium that was marked by police firing tear gas into the audience as they played "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)". The band escaped from the venue in the back of a rental truck which was partly crushed by fans trying to escape the tear gas. The next day, Noel Redding announced that he had quit the Experience.
Before Hendrix even arrived at the festival he started to hear media reports that the crowds of kids showing up for the festival were swelling to biblical proportions, in addition to the emerging logistical problems being reported at the site. This gave Hendrix pause for concern since he did not like performing in front of very large crowds. Since he was considered an important draw for the festival, and because of his manager's negotiations, Hendrix was getting paid more than the other performers, (US$18,000, plus US$12,000 for rights to film him). As the scheduled time slot of Sunday night at midnight drew closer, Hendrix indicated that he would rather wait and close the show. A substantial rainstorm that day had delayed the schedule of performers, so when Hendrix insisted on being the closing headliner, it pushed back the time when they finally hit the stage - which ended up being 8:30am Monday morning. The audience which had peaked at an estimated 400,000 people during the festival, was now reduced to about 30-40,000 by that point; many of whom merely waited to catch a glimpse of Hendrix before leaving during his show. This reflected the reality that by the third day attendees had been sleeping in muddy conditions with limited food.
Hendrix and his band were introduced by the festival MC, Chip Monck, as "The Jimi Hendrix Experience", but once on stage Hendrix clarified saying, "We decided to change the whole thing around and call it 'Gypsy Sun and Rainbows'. For short, it's nothin but a 'Band of Gypsys'" He then launched into a two hour set, the longest of his career. Hendrix started off with a new song, “Message to Love". (His Woodstock set consisting of new material, along with his well-known hits).
Hendrix's psychedelic rendition of the U.S. national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner" occurred about 3/4 into their set (after which he morphed into "Purple Haze"). The song had actually been part of his set for a year and he had already performed it on at least three different occasions. During the number, Hendrix used feedback and sustain on his guitar to recreate the sound of wails and falling rockets. Although pundits quickly branded the song as a political manifesto against the Vietnam War, Hendrix himself never explained its meaning other than to say at a press conference three weeks later, "We're all Americans. . .it was like 'Go America!'. . .We play it the way the air is in America today. The air is slightly static, see". The song would become "part of the sixties Zeitgeist" as it was captured forever in the Woodstock film; Hendrix's image performing this number during the day wearing a blue-beaded white leather jacket with fringe and a red head scarf, has since been regarded as a defining moment of the 1960s.
Hendrix performed "Hey Joe" as the encore to finish off their set which concluded the 3½ day Woodstock Music Festival. Upon leaving the stage, Hendrix collapsed from exhaustion.
After Woodstock, this particular lineup of the band appeared on only two more occasions. The first was a street benefit in Harlem where, in a scenario similar to the festival, most of the audience had left and only a fraction remained by the time Hendrix took the stage. Within seconds of Hendrix arriving at the site two youths had stolen his guitar from the back seat of his car, although it was later recovered. The band's only other appearance was at the Salvation club in Greenwich Village, New York. After some studio recordings, Hendrix disbanded the group. Some of this band's recordings can be heard on the MCA Records box set ''The Jimi Hendrix Experience'' and on ''South Saturn Delta''. Their final work together was a session on September 6. Hendrix's September 9 appearance on TV's ''The Dick Cavett Show'', backed by Cox, Mitchell and Juma Sultan, was credited as the "Jimi Hendrix Experience".
Along with Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles (formerly with Wilson Pickett and The Electric Flag) with whom he had been jamming together since September, Hendrix wrote and rehearsed material which they then performed at a series of four concerts over two nights, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day at Fillmore East. The second night produced the material for the ''Band Of Gypsys'' LP, which was produced by Hendrix (under the name "Heaven Research").
The ''Band of Gypsys'' LP was the only official completely live LP released in Hendrix's lifetime. The band also released a single "Stepping Stone" which failed to sell, and recorded several studio songs slated for Hendrix's future LP. In 1999, the tapes from the four Fillmore concerts were remastered and additional tracks and edits were released as ''Live at the Fillmore East''. Litigation with Chalpin ended in 2007 after the "singularly uncredible witness" was fined nearly US$900,000 for failure to abide by contractual limitations and failure to pay ''Experience Hendrix L.L.C.'' its court ordered royalties.
On January 26 and 27, 1970, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding flew into New York and signed contracts with Jeffery for the upcoming Jimi Hendrix Experience tour. The next day, a second and final Band of Gypsys appearance occurred at a twelve-act show in Madison Square Garden which was a benefit for the anti-Vietnam War Moratorium Committee, titled the "Winter Festival for Peace". Similar to Woodstock, set delays forced Hendrix to take the stage at an inopportune 3 a.m., only this time he was obviously in no shape to play. He played "Who Knows" before snapping a vulgar response at a woman who shouted a request for "Foxy Lady". He played a second song, "Earth Blues", he then told the audience: "That's what happens when earth fucks with space—never forget that". He then sat down on the drum riser for a minute and then walked off stage. Various unverifiable assertions have been proffered to explain this bizarre scene. Buddy Miles claimed that manager Michael Jeffery dosed Hendrix with LSD in an effort to sabotage the current band and bring about the return of the Experience lineup, but none of Hendrix's other close associates verifies his statement.
Two of Hendrix's later recordings were the lead guitar parts on "Old Times Good Times" from Stephen Stills hit eponymous album (1970), and on "The Everlasting First" from Arthur Lee's new incarnation of Love, not so successful and aptly named LP ''False Start'' both tracks were recorded with these old friends on a fleeting and unexplained visit to London in March 1970, following Kathy Etchingham's marriage.
He spent the next four months of 1970 working on his next LP tentatively titled ''First Rays of the New Rising Sun'', recording during the week and playing live on the weekends. The Cry of Love tour, launched that April at the L.A. Forum, was partly undertaken to earn money to repay the Warner Bros. loan for completing his Electric Lady Studios. Performances on this tour featured Hendrix, Cox, and Mitchell playing new material alongside older audience favorites. The American leg of the tour included 30 performances and ended at Honolulu, Hawaii on August 1, 1970. A number of these shows were recorded and produced some of Hendrix's most memorable live performances.
Designed by architect and acoustician John Storyk, the studio was made specifically for Hendrix, with round windows and a machine capable of generating ambient lighting in a myriad of colors. It was designed to have a relaxing feel to encourage Hendrix's creativity, but at the same time provide a professional recording atmosphere. Engineer Eddie Kramer upheld this by refusing to allow any drug use during session work.
Hendrix spent only two and a half months recording in Electric Lady, most of which took place while the final phases of construction were still ongoing. Following a recording/dubbing session on August 26, an opening party was held later that day. He then boarded an Air India flight for London with Billy Cox, joining Mitch Mitchell to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival.
Hendrix returned to London, where he reportedly spoke to Chas Chandler, Eric Burdon, and others about leaving his manager, Michael Jeffery. Hendrix's last public performance was an informal jam at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in Soho with Burdon and his latest band, War. Much of this was recorded on a Sony cassette recorder by Bill Baker, of Shepherds Bush, London, then aged 20, who was present throughout the entire performance. Two Hendrix tracks from this recording, "Mother Earth" and "Tobacco Road", were later included, without permission from Baker, on a bootleg LP, ''Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?'', produced in the mid-to-late 1970s, and on an audio tape of poor quality that went into circulation some years later. It was not until 2009, however, that the entire recording entered general circulation within the collecting community. This was remastered in California in December 2010 and includes tracks from the same night's performance by Eric Burdon's War. This is the last known recording of Jimi Hendrix, who died approximately 24 hours later.
Early on September 18, 1970, Jimi Hendrix died in London. He had spent the latter part of the previous evening at a party and was picked up at close to 3:00 by girlfriend Monika Dannemann and driven to her flat at the Samarkand Hotel, 22 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill. From autopsy data and statements by friends about the evening of September 17, it has been estimated that he died sometime after 3:00, possibly before 4:00, but also possibly later, though no estimate was made at the autopsy, or inquest.
Dannemann claimed in her original testimony that after they returned to her lodgings the evening before, Hendrix, unknown to her, had taken nine of her prescribed Vesparax sleeping pills. The normal medical dose was a half to one tablet as stated in the literature, but Hendrix was unfamiliar with this very strong Belgian brand. According to surgeon John Bannister, the doctor who initially attended to him, Hendrix had asphyxiated in his own vomit, mainly red wine which had filled his airways. Bannister's statement was made in January 1992 to Harry Shapiro, co-author of ''Electric Gypsy'', a book which also featured accusations of malpractice by Monika Dannemann in regards to Bannister's not performing a tracheotomy on Hendrix. He appears to have been using the amount of wine in his system as a reason for not performing a tracheotomy. He was reprimanded for two counts of medical malpractice, and struck off the medical register on 28 April 1992 for fraud. No one else at the time, the other two doctors, the ambulance men, or the police mentioned wine. The only mention of wine was by Monika much earlier, in ''Electric Gypsy'' (which Bannister had read), and that Hendrix had drunk some with food earlier that evening and also by Harvey at his, again, much earlier party, which were both several hours prior to death. The autopsy found very little alcohol in his system. The autopsy never mentioned wine, only vomited matter.
Until her death, Dannemann publicly claimed that she had only discovered that her lover had been sick at 11:00 a.m., but he was breathing, though unconscious and unresponsive (The ambulance was called at 11:18 and arrived 11:27). And that Hendrix was alive when placed in the back of the ambulance at approximately 11:30, and that she rode with him on the way to the hospital.
The ambulance crew later denied she was even there; additionally, Dannemann's comments about the timing of some events that morning often differed in places, varying from interview to interview.
Police and ambulance statements reveal that there was no one but Hendrix in the flat when they arrived at 11:27 a.m., and not only was he dead when they arrived on the scene, but was fully clothed and had been dead for some time.
Later, Dannemen claimed that former road managers Gerry Stickels and Eric Barrett had been present before the ambulance was called. and had removed some of Hendrix's possessions, including some of his most recent messages. Lyrics written by Hendrix, which were found in the apartment, led Eric Burdon to make a premature announcement on the BBC-TV program ''24 Hours'' that he believed Hendrix had committed suicide. Burdon often claimed he had been telephoned by Dannemann after she discovered that Hendrix failed to wake up.
In 1996, Monika Dannemann committed suicide shortly after being found guilty of contempt of court for repeating a libel against Kathy Etchingham, who had been a girlfriend of Hendrix in the 1960s.
"There was a freak storm across Mallorca and all the phone lines were down. Somebody told Mike that Jimi had been trying to phone him. The first call that got through was to say Jimi was dead. Mike was terribly upset at the thought of Jimi not being able to get through to him." – Trixie Sullivan, secretary/assistant for Mike Jeffery
Many photographs of Hendrix show him wearing various scarves, rings, medallions, and brooches, and in the early days occasionally badges (pins or buttons) that professed his support for the hippie movement or his fascination with Bob Dylan. He initially wore a dark suit and plain silk shirts that progressively became "louder" and more psychedelically patterned. He later favored a bright blue velvet suit, then a bright red one, antique military dress jackets, a very broadly striped suit, psychedelically patterned silk jackets, various exotic waistcoats and brightly colored flared trousers. At Monterey, he wore a hand-painted silk jacket by Chris Jagger (Mick Jagger's brother) and a bright pink feather boa. In late 1967 he started to wear a wide-brimmed Western style hat (brand name "The Westerner"). It was adorned with a narrow purple band and various brooches, as shown in the original ''Jimi Plays Monterey'' film. This hat was stolen in 1968, and replaced later with another, crowned variously with a longer purple scarf, a star-like brooch in front and a set of silver bangles, sometimes with an angled feather, though he went hatless for protracted periods after this.
From late 1968 he began tying scarves to one leg and one arm, and in mid-1969 he gave up the hat for bandanas. He started wearing increasingly fantastic custom-made stage costume with long trailing sleeves, culminating in his African-styled "Fire Angel" outfit that he wore throughout most of his final "Cry Of Love" tour, until it began to come apart during the Isle of Wight concert. He appeared in this outfit only once more (in just the jacket) at the disastrous concert in Aarhus, Denmark. His only non-work-related vacation was a two-week trip to Morocco in July 1969 with friends Colette Mimram, Stella Benabou (the then-wife of producer Alan Douglas), and Deering Howe. Upon his return Hendrix decorated his Greenwich Village apartment with Moroccan ''objets d'art'' and fabrics. Mimram and Benabou created some of Hendrix's most memorable later attire, the shortened blue kimono-style jacket that he wore in three TV appearances and the white fringed jacket, ornamented with blue glass beads, he wore at the Woodstock Festival.
On May 3, 1969, while checking through Canadian customs at Toronto Pearson International Airport, Hendrix was arrested when small amounts of heroin and hashish were found in his luggage. After being released on a CAN$10,000 cash bail the same day, only four hours before his show was to begin, (and being required to appear in court at a later date), the Experience were able to play their concert at Maple Leaf Gardens. In his trial defense, Hendrix claimed that the drugs were slipped into his bag by a fan without his knowledge. He was acquitted.
He was by all accounts promiscuous, having casual sex with many women.
The memorial is a granite dome supported by three pillars under which Jimi Hendrix and other family members are interred. Hendrix's autograph is inscribed at the base of each pillar, while two stepped entrances and one ramped entrance provide access to the dome's center where the original Stratocaster adorned headstone has been incorporated into a statue pedestal. A granite sundial complete with brass gnomon adjoins the dome, along with over 50 family plots that surround the central structure, half of which are currently adorned with raised granite headstones.
To date, the memorial remains incomplete: brass accents for the dome and a large brass statue of Hendrix were announced as being under construction in Italy, but since 2002 no information as to the status of the project has been revealed to the public. A memorial statue of Jimi playing a Stratocaster stands near the corner of Broadway and Pine Streets in Seattle.
In May 2006, the city of Seattle honored Hendrix with the re-naming of a park near Seattle's Colman School in the Central District.
In 1994, the Hendrix family prevailed in its long standing legal attempt to gain control of Jimi's music, and subsequently licensed the recordings to MCA Records (later Universal Music) through the family-run company Experience Hendrix. In August 2009, Experience Hendrix announced that it had entered a new licensing agreement with Sony Music Entertainment's Legacy Recordings division which would take effect in 2010.
Hendrix's unfinished album was partly released as the 1971 title ''The Cry of Love''. The album was well received and charted in several countries. However, the album's producers, Mitchell and Kramer, would later complain that they were unable to make use of all the tracks they wanted. This was due to some tracks being used for 1971's ''Rainbow Bridge'' and 1972's ''War Heroes'' for contractual reasons.
Material from ''The Cry of Love'' was rereleased in 1997 as ''First Rays of the New Rising Sun'', along with the rest of the tracks that Mitchell and Kramer wanted to include.
Many of Hendrix's personal items, tapes, and many pages of lyrics and poems are now in the hands of private collectors and have attracted considerable sums at the occasional auctions. These materials surfaced after two employees, under the instructions of Mike Jeffery, removed items from Hendrix's Greenwich Village apartment following his death.
In 2010, Legacy Recordings and Experience Hendrix LLC launched the 2010 Jimi Hendrix Catalog Project, starting with the release of ''Valleys of Neptune'' in March. Legacy has also released deluxe CD/DVD editions of the Hendrix albums ''Are You Experienced'', ''Axis: Bold As Love'', ''Electric Ladyland'' and ''First Rays of the New Rising Sun'', as well as the 1968 compilation album ''Smash Hits''.
His career and death grouped him with Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Brian Jones as one of the 27 Club, a group including iconic 1960s rock stars who suffered drug-related deaths at the age of 27 within a two year period, leaving legacies in death that have eclipsed the popularity and influence they experienced during their lifetimes. Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse were later added to this list, also dying at the age of 27.
Musically, Hendrix did much to further the development of the electric guitar's repertoire, establishing it as a unique sonic source, rather than merely an amplified version of the acoustic guitar. Likewise, his feedback, wah-wah and fuzz-laden soloing moved guitar distortion well beyond mere novelty, incorporating other effects pedals and units specifically designed for him by his sound technician Roger Mayer (such as the Octavia and Uni-Vibe) with dramatic results.
Hendrix affected popular music with similar profundity; along with earlier bands such as The Who and Cream, he established a sonically heavy yet technically proficient bent to rock music as a whole, significantly furthering the development of hard rock and paving the way for heavy metal. He took blues to another level. His music has also had a great influence on funk and the development of funk rock especially through the guitarists Ernie Isley of The Isley Brothers and Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic, Prince, John Frusciante former member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jesse Johnson of The Time. His influence even extends to many hip hop artists, including Questlove, Chuck D of Public Enemy, Ice-T (who covered "Hey Joe" with his heavy metal band Body Count), El-P and Wyclef Jean. Miles Davis was also deeply impressed by Hendrix and compared his improvisational skills with those of saxophonist John Coltrane, and Davis would later want guitarists in his bands to emulate Hendrix. Hendrix was ranked number 3 on VH1's ''100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock'' behind Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.
Hendrix's guitar style also had significant influence upon ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, fellow Texas guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan, and later on Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett and Pearl Jam's Mike McCready, among others.
Hendrix was ranked number 3 on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Rock N' Roll, behind the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. He has been voted by ''Rolling Stone'', ''Guitar World'', and a number of other magazines and polls as the best electric guitarist of all time. Conversely and with some modesty, Hendrix when asked in a Rolling Stone interview, "How does it feel to be the greatest guitarist in the world?", Hendrix replied, "I don't know, go ask Rory Gallagher."
In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked him number 6 on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.
''Guitar World''
In 1992, Hendrix was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Janie and Robert's defense was that the company was not profitable yet, and that their salary and benefits were justified given the work that they put into running the company. Leon charged that Janie bilked Al Hendrix, then old and frail, into signing the revised will, and sought to have the previous will reinstated. The defense argued that Al willingly removed Leon from his will because of Leon's problems with alcohol and gambling. In early 2005, presiding judge Jeffrey Ramsdell handed down a ruling that left the final will intact, but replaced Janie and Robert's role at the financial helm of Experience Hendrix with an independent trustee.
On October 5, 2011 the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case ''Golan v. Holder'' concerning the 1994 U.S. federal law that protected foreign copyrights. At stake in the outcome of this case is whether previously unprotected foreign works could be suddenly copyrighted and withdrawn from public domain. In a hypothetical argument Justice John Roberts asked "what about Jimi Hendrix?" and if Hendrix's rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" at Woodstock violated copyright protection or was protected under public domain. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, who defended the 1994 law, stated "maybe Jimi Hendrix could claim fair use". The music of the "Star Spangled Banner" was composed by an English musician, John Stafford Smith in the mid 1760s. The lyrics of the "Star Spangled Banner" were written by American Francis Scott Key in 1814 and the song became America's National anthem in 1931.
Hendrix bought many Stratocasters and gave some away as gifts. The original sunburst Stratocaster that Hendrix burnt at the Astoria in 1967, and that he kept as a souvenir, was given to Frank Zappa by a Hendrix roadie at the 1968 Miami Pop Festival; Zappa assumed it was the one Hendrix had played there.
Hendrix used right-handed guitars, turned upside down and restrung for left-hand playing. This had an important effect on his guitar sound: because of the slant of the Strat's bridge pickup, his lowest string had a bright sound while his highest string had a mellow sound, the opposite of the Stratocaster's intended design. Heavy use of the tremolo bar necessitated frequent tuning; Hendrix often asked the audience for a "minute to tune up", as heard on many live bootlegs of his performances.
In addition to Stratocasters, Hendrix was also photographed playing Fender Jazzmasters, Duosonics, two different Gibson Flying Vs, a Gibson Les Paul, three Gibson SGs, a Gretsch Corvette he used at the 1967 Curtis Knight sessions and miming with a right-strung Fender Jaguar on the ''Top of the Pops'' TV show, as well as several other brands. Hendrix borrowed a Fender Telecaster from Noel Redding to record "Hey Joe" and "Purple Haze", used a white Gibson SG Custom for his performances on ''The Dick Cavett Show'' in the summer of 1969, and the Isle of Wight film shows him playing his second Gibson Flying V. While Jimi had previously owned a Flying V that he had painted with a psychedelic design, the Flying V used at the Isle of Wight was a unique custom left-handed guitar with gold plated hardware, a bound fingerboard and "split-diamond" fret markers that were not found on other 1960s-era Flying Vs.
On December 4, 2006, one of Hendrix's 1968 Fender Stratocaster guitars with a sunburst design was sold at a Christie's auction for US$168,000.
While his mainstays were the Arbiter Fuzz Face and a Vox wah-wah pedal, Hendrix experimented with guitar effects as well. He had a fruitful association with engineer Roger Mayer who later went on to make the Axis fuzz unit, the Octavia octave doubler and several other devices based on units Mayer had created or tweaked for Hendrix. The Japanese-made Uni-Vibe, designed to simulate the modulation effects of the rotating Leslie speaker, provided a rich phasing sound with a speed control pedal, and is heard on the Band of Gypsys track "Machine Gun", which highlights use of the Uni-Vibe, Octavia and Fuzz Face.
The Hendrix sound combined high volume and high power, feedback manipulation, and a range of cutting-edge guitar effects. He was also known for his trick playing, which included playing with only his right (fretting) hand and using his teeth or playing behind his back and between his legs. Hendrix had large hands and characteristically used his thumb to fret bass notes, leaving his fingers free to play melodic lines on top. A clear demonstration of this thumb technique can be witnessed in the Woodstock video; during the song "Red House" there are closeups of Hendrix's fretting hand.
Category:1942 births Category:1970 deaths Category:African American guitarists Category:African American rock musicians Category:African American rock singers Category:African American singer-songwriters Category:Alcohol-related deaths Category:Alcohol-related deaths in England Category:American baritones Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:American people of Cherokee descent Category:Drug-related deaths Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Lead guitarists Category:Musicians from Seattle, Washington Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:The Jimi Hendrix Experience members Category:United States Army soldiers Category:People from Renton, Washington Category:Psychedelic rock musicians Category:American rock guitarists Category:American record producers Category:American funk guitarists
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name | Eric Clapton |
---|---|
alias | Slowhand |
landscape | Yes |
background | solo_singer |
birth name | Eric Patrick Clapton |
birth date | March 30, 1945 |
Birth place | Ripley, Surrey, England |
instrument | Guitar, vocals |
genre | Rock, blues rock, blues, psychedelic rock, hard rock |
occupation | Musician, songwriter, producer, artist |
years active | 1962–present |
label | Warner Bros., Reprise, Polydor, RSO, Atco, Apple, Deram |
associated acts | The Yardbirds, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Powerhouse, Cream, Free Creek, The Dirty Mac, Blind Faith, J.J. Cale, The Plastic Ono Band, Delaney, Bonnie & Friends, Derek and the Dominos, Sheryl Crow, The Beatles, Phil Collins, The Rolling Stones, Luciano Pavarotti, The Band, Freddie King, B.B. King, Mark Knopfler, Brian Wilson |
website | |
notable instruments | See: Guitars section"Blackie": Fender Stratocaster"Brownie": Fender Stratocaster }} |
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, (born 1945) is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in ''Gibson's'' ''Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.''
In the mid 1960s, Clapton departed from the Yardbirds to play blues with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. In his one-year stay with Mayall, Clapton gained the nickname "Slowhand". Immediately after leaving Mayall, Clapton formed Cream, a power trio with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce in which Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and "arty, blues-based psychedelic pop." For most of the 1970s, Clapton's output bore the influence of the mellow style of J.J. Cale and the reggae of Bob Marley. His version of Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" helped reggae reach a mass market. Two of his most popular recordings were "Layla", recorded by Derek and the Dominos, and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads", recorded by Cream. A recipient of seventeen Grammy Awards, in 2004 Clapton was awarded a CBE for services to music. In 1998, Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for recovering substance abusers.
Clapton received an acoustic Hoyer guitar, made in Germany, for his thirteenth birthday, but the inexpensive steel-stringed instrument was difficult to play and he briefly lost interest. Two years later Clapton picked it up again and started playing consistently. Clapton was influenced by the blues from an early age, and practised long hours to learn the chords of blues music by playing along to the records. He preserved his practice sessions using his portable Grundig reel-to-reel tape recorder, listening to them over and over until he felt he'd got it right.
After leaving Hollyfield School, in Surbiton, in 1961, Clapton studied at the Kingston College of Art but was dismissed at the end of the academic year because his focus remained on music rather than art. His guitar playing was so advanced that by the age of sixteen he was getting noticed. Around this time Clapton began busking around Kingston, Richmond, and the West End of London. In 1962, Clapton started performing as a duo with fellow blues enthusiast David Brock in the pubs around Surrey. When he was seventeen years old Clapton joined his first band, an early British R&B; group, "The Roosters", whose other guitarist was Tom McGuinness. He stayed with this band from January through August 1963. In October of that year, Clapton did a seven-gig stint with Casey Jones & The Engineers.
It was during this time period that Clapton's Yardbirds rhythm guitarist, Chris Dreja, recalled that whenever Clapton broke a guitar string during a concert, he would stay on stage and replace it. The English audiences would wait out the delay by doing what is called a "slow handclap". Clapton told his official biographer, Ray Coleman, that, "My nickname of 'Slowhand' came from Giorgio Gomelsky. He coined it as a good pun. He kept saying I was a fast player, so he put together the slow handclap phrase into Slowhand as a play on words".
In March 1965 the Yardbirds had their first major hit, "For Your Love", on which Clapton played guitar. The Yardbirds elected to move toward a pop-oriented sound, in part because of the success of "For Your Love", written by pop songwriter-for-hire Graham Gouldman, who had also written hit songs for teen pop outfit Herman's Hermits and The Hollies. Still musically devoted to the blues, Clapton was opposed to the move, and left the band. He recommended fellow guitarist Jimmy Page as his replacement, but Page was at that time unwilling to relinquish his lucrative career as a freelance studio musician, so Page in turn recommended Clapton's successor, Jeff Beck. While Beck and Page played together in the Yardbirds, the trio of Beck, Page, and Clapton were never in the group together. However, the trio did appear on the 12-date benefit tour for Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis in 1983, as well as on the album ''Guitar Boogie''.
Clapton joined John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in April 1965, only to quit a few months later. In the summer of 1965 he left for Greece with a band called The Glands, which included his old friend Ben Palmer on piano. In November 1965 he rejoined John Mayall. It was during his second Bluesbreakers stint that his passionate playing established Clapton's name as the best blues guitarist on the club circuit. Although Clapton gained world fame for his playing on the influential album, ''Blues Breakers - John Mayall - With Eric Clapton'', this album was not released until Clapton had left the Bluesbreakers for the last time. Having swapped his Fender Telecaster and Vox AC30 amplifier for a 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar and Marshall amplifier, Clapton's sound and playing inspired a well-publicised graffiti that deified him with the famous slogan "Clapton is God". The phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in an Islington Underground station in the autumn of 1967. The graffiti was captured in a now-famous photograph, in which a dog is urinating on the wall. Clapton is reported to have been embarrassed by the slogan, saying in his ''The South Bank Show'' profile in 1987, "I never accepted that I was the greatest guitar player in the world. I always ''wanted'' to be the greatest guitar player in the world, but that's an ideal, and I accept it as an ideal". The phrase began to appear in other areas of Islington throughout the mid 1960s.
In early 1967 Clapton's status as Britain's top guitarist was rivalled by the emergence of Jimi Hendrix, an acid rock-infused guitarist who used wailing feedback and effects pedals to create new sounds for the instrument. Hendrix attended a performance of the newly-formed Cream at the Central London Polytechnic on 1966, during which Hendrix sat in on a double-timed version of "Killing Floor". Top UK stars including Clapton, Pete Townshend, and members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles avidly attended Hendrix's early club performances. Hendrix's arrival had an immediate and major effect on the next phase of Clapton's career, although Clapton continued to be recognised in UK music polls as the premier guitarist.
Clapton first visited the United States while touring with Cream. In March 1967, Cream performed a nine-show stand at the RKO Theater in New York. They recorded ''Disraeli Gears'' in New York from 1967. Cream's repertoire varied from hard rock ("I Feel Free") to lengthy blues-based instrumental jams ("Spoonful"). ''Disraeli Gears'' featured Clapton's searing guitar lines, Bruce's soaring vocals and prominent, fluid bass playing, and Baker's powerful, polyrhythmic jazz-influenced drumming. Together, Cream's talents secured them as an influential power trio.
In 28 months, Cream had become a commercial success, selling millions of records and playing throughout the U.S. and Europe. They redefined the instrumentalist's role in rock and were one of the first blues-rock bands to emphasise musical virtuosity and lengthy jazz-style improvisation sessions. Their U.S. hit singles include "Sunshine of Your Love" (#5, 1968), "White Room" (#6, 1968) and "Crossroads" (#28, 1969) – a live version of Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues". Though Cream was hailed as one of the greatest groups of its day, and the adulation of Clapton as a guitar hero reached new heights, the supergroup was short-lived. Drug and alcohol use escalated tension between the three members, and conflicts between Bruce and Baker eventually led to Cream's demise. A strongly critical ''Rolling Stone'' review of a concert of the group's second headlining U.S. tour was another significant factor in the trio's demise, and it affected Clapton profoundly.
Cream's farewell album, ''Goodbye'', featuring live performances recorded at The Forum, Los Angeles, 1968, was released shortly after Cream disbanded; it also featured the studio single "Badge", co-written by Clapton and George Harrison. Clapton met Harrison and became friends with him after the Beatles shared a bill with the Clapton-era Yardbirds at the London Palladium. The close friendship between Clapton and Harrison resulted in Clapton's playing on Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" from the Beatles' ''White Album'' (1968). Harrison also released his solo debut album, ''Wonderwall Music'', in 1968. It became the first of many Harrison solo records to feature Clapton on guitar. Clapton would go largely uncredited for his contributions to Harrison's albums due to contractual restraints. The pair would often play live together as each other's guest. A year after Harrison's death in 2001, Clapton helped organise a tribute concert, for which he was musical director.
Cream briefly reunited in 1993 to perform at the ceremony inducting them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; a full reunion took place in May 2005, with Clapton, Bruce, and Baker playing four sold-out concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall, and three shows at New York's Madison Square Garden that October. Recordings from the London shows, ''Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005'', were released on CD, LP, and DVD in September/December 2005.
Clapton subsequently toured as a sideman for an act that had opened for Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie and Friends. He also played two dates as a member of The Plastic Ono Band that fall, including a recorded performance at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival in September 1969 released as the album ''Live Peace in Toronto 1969''. On 15 December 1969 Clapton performed with John Lennon, George Harrison, and others as the Plastic Ono Band at a fundraiser for UNICEF in London.
Delaney Bramlett encouraged Clapton in his singing and writing. During the summer of 1969, Clapton and Bramlett contributed to the ''Music From Free Creek'' "supersession" project. Clapton, appearing as "King Cool" for contractual reasons, played with Dr. John on three songs, joined by Bramlett on two tracks.
Using the Bramletts' backing group and an all-star cast of session players (including Leon Russell and Stephen Stills), Clapton recorded his first solo album during two brief tour hiatuses, fittingly named ''Eric Clapton''. Delaney Bramlett co-wrote six of the songs with Clapton, and Bonnie Bramlett co-wrote "Let It Rain". The album yielded the unexpected U.S. #18 hit, J. J. Cale's "After Midnight". Clapton went with Delaney and Bonnie from the stage to the studio with the Dominos to record George Harrison's ''All Things Must Pass'' in spring 1970. During this busy period, Clapton also recorded with other artists including Dr. John, Leon Russell, Plastic Ono Band, Billy Preston, and Ringo Starr.
Clapton's close friendship with George Harrison brought him into contact with Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd, with whom he became deeply infatuated. When she spurned his advances, Clapton's unrequited affections prompted most of the material for the Dominos' album, ''Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'' (1970). Heavily blues-influenced, the album features the twin lead guitars of Duane Allman and Clapton, with Allman's slide guitar as a key ingredient of the sound. Working at Criteria Studios in Miami with Atlantic Records producer Tom Dowd, who had worked with Clapton on Cream's ''Disraeli Gears'', the band recorded a double album.
The album features the hit love song "Layla", inspired by the classical poet of Persian literature, Nizami Ganjavi's ''The Story of Layla and Majnun'', a copy of which Ian Dallas had given to Clapton. The book moved Clapton profoundly, as it was the tale of a young man who fell hopelessly in love with a beautiful, unavailable woman and who went crazy because he could not marry her. The two parts of "Layla" were recorded in separate sessions: the opening guitar section was recorded first, and for the second section, laid down several months later, drummer Jim Gordon composed and played the piano part.
The ''Layla'' LP was actually recorded by a five-piece version of the group, thanks to the unforeseen inclusion of guitarist Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band. A few days into the Layla sessions, Dowd—who was also producing the Allmans—invited Clapton to an Allman Brothers outdoor concert in Miami. The two guitarists met first on stage, then played all night in the studio, and became friends. Duane first added his slide guitar to "Tell the Truth" and "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out". In four days, the five-piece Dominos recorded "Key to the Highway", "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" (a blues standard popularised by Freddie King and others), and "Why Does Love Got to be So Sad". In September, Duane briefly left the sessions for gigs with his own band, and the four-piece Dominos recorded "I Looked Away", "Bell Bottom Blues", and "Keep on Growing". Duane returned to record "I am Yours", "Anyday", and "It's Too Late". On September 9, they recorded Hendrix's "Little Wing" and the title track. The following day, the final track, "It's Too Late", was recorded.
Tragedy dogged the group throughout its brief career. During the sessions, Clapton was devastated by news of the death of Jimi Hendrix; eight days previously the band had cut a cover of "Little Wing" as a tribute to Hendrix. On 1970, one day before Hendrix's death, Clapton had purchased a left-handed Fender Stratocaster that he had planned to give to Hendrix as a birthday gift. Adding to Clapton's woes, the ''Layla'' album received only lukewarm reviews upon release. The shaken group undertook a U.S. tour without Allman, who had returned to the Allman Brothers Band. Despite Clapton's later admission that the tour took place amidst a veritable blizzard of drugs and alcohol, it resulted in the live double album ''In Concert''. The band had recorded several tracks for a second album in London during the spring of 1971 (five of which were released on the Eric Clapton box-set ''Crossroads''), but the results were mediocre.
A second record was in the works when a clashing of egos took place and Clapton walked, thus disbanding the group. Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident on 1971. Although Radle would remain Clapton's bass player until the summer of 1979 (Radle died in May 1980 from the effects of alcohol and narcotics), it would be 2003 before Clapton and Whitlock appeared together again (Clapton guested on Whitlock's appearance on the ''Later with Jools Holland'' show). Another tragic footnote to the Dominos story was the fate of drummer Jim Gordon, who was an undiagnosed schizophrenic and years later murdered his mother during a psychotic episode. Gordon was confined to 16-years-to-life imprisonment, later being moved to a mental institution, where he remains today.
In 1974, now partnered with Pattie (they would not actually marry until 1979) and no longer using heroin (although starting to drink heavily), Clapton put together a more low-key touring band that included Radle, Miami guitarist George Terry, keyboardist Dick Sims (who died in 2011 ), drummer Jamie Oldaker, and vocalists Yvonne Elliman and Marcy Levy (also known as Marcella Detroit). With this band Clapton recorded ''461 Ocean Boulevard'' (1974), an album with an emphasis on more compact songs and fewer guitar solos; the cover version of "I Shot The Sheriff" was Clapton's first #1 hit and was important in bringing reggae and the music of Bob Marley to a wider audience. The 1975 album ''There's One in Every Crowd'' continued this trend. The album's original title, ''The World's Greatest Guitar Player (There's One In Every Crowd)'', was changed before pressing, as it was felt its ironic intention would be misunderstood. The band toured the world and subsequently released the 1975 live LP, ''E.C. Was Here''. Clapton continued to release albums and toured regularly. Highlights of the period include ''No Reason to Cry'' (a collaboration with Bob Dylan and The Band); ''Slowhand'', which featured "Wonderful Tonight" (another song inspired by Boyd); and a second J.J. Cale cover, "Cocaine". In 1976 he performed, alongside a string of notable guests, to pay tribute to the farewell performance of The Band, filmed in a Martin Scorsese documentary called ''the Last Waltz''.
After an embarrassing fishing incident, Clapton finally called his manager and admitted he was an alcoholic. In January 1982 Roger and Clapton flew to Minneapolis – St. Paul; Clapton would be checked in at Hazelden Treatment Center, located in Center City, Minnesota. On the flight over, Clapton indulged in a large number of drinks, for fear he would never be able to drink again. Clapton is quoted as saying from his autobiography, "In the lowest moments of my life, the only reason I didn't commit suicide was that I knew I wouldn't be able to drink any more if I was dead. It was the only thing I thought was worth living for, and the idea that people were about to try and remove me from alcohol was so terrible that I drank and drank and drank, and they had to practically carry me into the clinic."
After being discharged, it was recommended by doctors of Hazelden that Clapton not partake in any activities that would act as triggers for his alcoholism or stress, until he was fully situated back at Hurtwood. A few months after his discharge, Clapton began working on his next album, against the Hazelden doctors' orders. Working with Tom Dowd, Clapton produced what he thought as his "most forced" album to date, ''Money and Cigarettes''.
In 1984 he performed on Pink Floyd member Roger Waters' solo album, ''The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking'', and went on tour with Waters following the release of the album. Since then Waters and Clapton have had a close relationship. In 2005 they performed together for the Tsunami Relief Fund. In 2006 they performed at the Highclere Castle, in aid of the Countryside Alliance, playing two set pieces of "Wish You Were Here" and "Comfortably Numb". Clapton, now a seasoned charity performer, played at the Live Aid concert on 13 July 1985. When offered a slot close to peak viewing hours, he was apparently flattered. As Clapton recovered from his addictions, his album output continued in the 1980s, including two produced with Phil Collins, 1985's ''Behind the Sun'', which produced the hits "Forever Man" and "She's Waiting", and 1986's ''August''.
''August'' was suffused with Collins's trademark drum and horn sound, and became Clapton's biggest seller in the UK to date, matching his highest chart position, number 3. The album's first track, the hit "It's In The Way That You Use It", was featured in the Tom Cruise – Paul Newman movie ''The Color of Money.'' The horn-peppered "Run" echoed Collins' "Sussudio" and rest of the producer's Genesis/solo output, while "Tearing Us Apart" (with Tina Turner) and the bitter "Miss You" echoed Clapton's angry sound. This rebound kicked off Clapton's two-year period of touring with Collins and their ''August'' collaborates, bassist Nathan East and keyboard player/songwriter Greg Phillinganes. While on tour for ''August'', two concert videos were recorded of the four-man band, ''Eric Clapton Live from Montreux'' and ''Eric Clapton and Friends''. Clapton later remade "After Midnight" as a single and a promotional track for the Michelob beer brand, which had also marketed earlier songs by Collins and Steve Winwood. Clapton won a British Academy Television Award for his collaboration with Michael Kamen on the score for the 1985 BBC Television thriller serial ''Edge of Darkness''. In 1989, Clapton released ''Journeyman'', an album which covered a wide range of styles including blues, jazz, soul and pop. Collaborators included George Harrison, Phil Collins, Daryl Hall, Chaka Khan, Mick Jones, David Sanborn and Robert Cray.
In 1984, while still married to Pattie Boyd, Clapton began a year-long relationship with Yvonne Kelly. The two had a daughter, Ruth, who was born in January 1985, but her existence was kept a secret by her parents. She was not publicly revealed as his child until 1991. Boyd criticised Clapton because he had not revealed the child's existence.
At the 1987 Brit Awards in London, Clapton picked up the prize for Outstanding Contribution to Music. Hurricane Hugo hit Montserrat in 1989, and this resulted in the closure of Sir George Martin and John Burgess's recording studio AIR Montserrat, where Kelly was Managing Director. Kelly and Ruth moved back to England, and stories about Eric's secret daughter began as a result of newspaper articles published at the time. Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1988 following his affair with Italian model Lory Del Santo, who gave birth to their son, Conor, on 1986. Boyd was never able to conceive children, despite attempts at in vitro fertilisation. Their divorce was granted on grounds of "infidelity and unreasonable behaviour."
Clapton was known to date a host of beautiful women, including Krissy Wood (ex-wife of Ron Wood), actress Charlotte Martin, socialite Alice Ormsby-Gore, Paula Boyd (the younger sister of his future wife Pattie), singer Janis Joplin, singer Marianne Faithfull, rock muses Catherine James, Cyrinda Fox, and Geraldine Edwards, the inspiration for Penny Lane in ''Almost Famous'', singer Rosanne Cash, the First Lady of France and former model Carla Bruni, and actresses Patsy Kensit, Sharon Stone, and Alicia Witt.
In October 1992 Clapton was among the dozens of artists performing at Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration. Recorded at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the live two-disk CD/DVD captured a show full of celebrities performing classic Dylan songs, before ending with a few performances from Dylan himself. Despite the presence of 10 other guitarists on stage, including George Harrison, Neil Young, Roger McGuinn, Steve Cropper, Tom Petty, and Dylan, Clapton played the lead on a nearly 7-minute version of Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" as part of the finale.
While ''Unplugged'' featured Clapton playing acoustic guitar, his 1994 album ''From the Cradle'' contained new versions of old blues standards, highlighted by his electric guitar playing. Clapton's 1996 recording of the Wayne Kirkpatrick/Gordon Kennedy/Tommy Sims tune "Change the World" (featured in the soundtrack of the movie ''Phenomenon'') won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1997, the same year he recorded ''Retail Therapy'' (an album of electronic music with Simon Climie under the pseudonym TDF). The following year, Clapton released the album ''Pilgrim'', the first record featuring new material for almost a decade. Clapton finished the twentieth century with collaborations with Carlos Santana and B. B. King.
In 1996 Clapton had a relationship with singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow. They remain friends, and Clapton appeared as a guest on Crow's Central Park Concert. The duo performed a Cream hit single, "White Room". Later, Clapton and Crow performed an alternate version of "Tulsa Time" with other guitar legends at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in June 2007.
In 1998 Clapton, then 53, met 22-year-old administrative assistant Melia McEnery in Columbus, Ohio, at a party given for him after a performance. He quietly dated her for a year, and went public with the relationship in 1999. They married on 2002 at St Mary Magdalene church in Clapton's birthplace, Ripley. As of 2005 they have three daughters, Julie Rose ( 2001), Ella May ( 2003), and Sophie Belle ( 2005).
At the 41st Grammy Awards on 24 February 1999, Clapton received his third Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, for his song "My Father's Eyes". In October 1999, the compilation album, ''Clapton Chronicles: The Best of Eric Clapton'', was released, which contained a new song, "Blue Eyes Blue", that also appears in soundtrack for the film, ''Runaway Bride''.
On 22 January 2005, Clapton performed in the Tsunami Relief Concert held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, in aid of the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. In May 2005 Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker reunited as Cream for a series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Concert recordings were released on CD and DVD. Later, Cream performed in New York at Madison Square Garden. ''Back Home'', Clapton's first album of new original material in nearly five years, was released on Reprise Records on . In 2006 he invited Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II to join his band for his 2006–2007 world tour. Trucks is the third member of the Allman Brothers Band to tour supporting Clapton, the second being pianist/keyboardist Chuck Leavell, who appeared on the ''MTV Unplugged'' album and the ''24 Nights'' performances at the Royal Albert Hall theatre of London in 1990 and 1991, as well as Clapton's 1992 U.S. tour.
On 20 May 2006, Clapton performed with Queen drummer Roger Taylor and former Pink Floyd bassist/songwriter Roger Waters at the Highclere Castle, in support of the Countryside Alliance. On 2006, Clapton made a guest appearance at the Bob Dylan concert in Columbus, Ohio, playing guitar on three songs in Jimmie Vaughan's opening act. A collaboration with guitarist J. J. Cale, titled ''The Road to Escondido'', was released on 2006, featuring Derek Trucks and Billy Preston. The 14-track CD was produced and recorded by the duo in August 2005 in California. The chemistry between Trucks and Clapton convinced him to invite The Derek Trucks Band to open for Clapton's set at his 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival. Trucks remained on set afterward, performed with Clapton's band throughout his performances, and later embarked on a world tour with him.
The rights to Clapton's official memoirs, written by Christopher Simon Sykes and published in 2007, were sold at the 2005 Frankfurt Book Fair for .
On 26 February 2008, it was reported that North Korean officials had invited Clapton to play a concert in the communist state. Clapton's management received the invitation and passed it on to the singer, who agreed in principle and suggested it take place sometime in 2009. Kristen Foster, a spokesperson, said, "Eric Clapton receives numerous offers to play in countries around the world," and "[t]here is no agreement whatsoever for him to play in North Korea."
In 2007 Clapton learned more about his father, a Canadian soldier who left the UK after the war. Although Clapton's grandparents eventually told him the truth about his parentage, he only knew that his father's name was Edward Fryer. This was a source of disquiet for Clapton, as witnessed by his 1998 song "My Father's Eyes". A Montreal journalist named Michael Woloschuk researched Canadian Armed Forces service records and tracked down members of Fryer's family, and finally pieced together the story. He learned that Clapton's father was Edward Walter Fryer, born 1920, in Montreal and died in Newmarket, Ontario. Fryer was a musician (piano and saxophone) and a lifelong drifter who was married several times, had several children, and apparently never knew that he was the father of Eric Clapton. Clapton thanked Woloschuk in an encounter at Macdonald Cartier Airport, in Ottawa, Canada.
In February 2008 Clapton performed with his long-time friend Steve Winwood at Madison Square Garden and guested on his recorded single, "Dirty City", on Winwood's album ''Nine Lives''. The two former Blind Faith bandmates met again for a series of 14 concerts throughout the United States in June 2009.
Clapton's 2008 Summer Tour began on at the Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa Bay, Florida, and then moved to Canada, Ireland, England, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Poland, Germany, and Monaco. On 2008, he headlined Saturday night for Hard Rock Calling 2008 in London's Hyde Park (previously Hyde Park Calling) with support from Sheryl Crow and John Mayer. In September 2008 Clapton performed at a private charity fundraiser for The Countryside Alliance at Floridita in Soho, London, that included such guests as the London Mayor Boris Johnson.
In March 2009, the Allman Brothers Band (amongst many notable guests) celebrated their 40th year, dedicating their string of concerts to the late Duane Allman on their annual run at the Beacon Theatre. Eric Clapton was one of the performers, with drummer Butch Trucks remarking that the performance was not the typical Allman Brothers experience, given the number and musical styles of the guests who were invited to perform. Songs like "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" were punctuated with others, including "The Weight", with Levon Helm; Johnny Winter sitting in on Hendrix's "Red House"; and "Layla". On 2009 Clapton appeared as a featured guest at the Royal Albert Hall, playing "Further on Up the Road" with Joe Bonamassa.
Clapton was scheduled to be one of the performers at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary concert in Madison Square Garden on 2009, but cancelled due to gallstone surgery. Van Morrison (who also cancelled) said in an interview that he and Clapton were to do a "couple of songs", but that they would do something else together at "some other stage of the game".
On 24 June 2011 Clapton was in concert with Pino Daniele in Cava de' Tirreni stadium, Italy, with an audience of 15,000 people before performing a series of concerts in South America from 6 to 16 October 2011. He spent the November and December 2011 touring Japan with Steve Winwood, playing 13 shows in various cities throughout the country.
Clapton co-authored with others the book ''Discovering Robert Johnson'', in which Clapton said Johnson was
"...the most important blues musician who ever lived. He was true, absolutely, to his own vision, and as deep as I have gotten into the music over the last 30 years, I have never found anything more deeply soulful than Robert Johnson. His music remains the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice, really. ... it seemed to echo something I had always felt."
Guitarists influenced by Clapton include Richie Sambora, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore, Duane Allman, Derek Trucks, Eddie Van Halen, Brian May, Tony Iommi, Lenny Kravitz, Slash, Orianthi, Brad Paisley, Jonny Buckland, Joe Don Rooney, Alex Lifeson, Jonny Lang, John Mayer, Joe Satriani, Joe Bonamassa, Davy Knowles, and George Harrison.
Early during his stint in Cream, Clapton's first Les Paul Standard was stolen. He continued to play Les Pauls exclusively with Cream (one bought from Andy Summers was almost identical to the stolen guitar) until 1967, when he acquired his most famous guitar in this period, a 1964 Gibson SG. Just before Cream's first U.S. appearance in 1967, Clapton's SG, Bruce's Fender VI, and Baker's drum head were all repainted in psychedelic designs created by the visual art collective known as The Fool. In 1968 Clapton bought a Gibson Firebird and started using the 1964 Cherry-Red Gibson ES-335 again. The aforementioned 1964 ES-335 had a storied career. Clapton used it at the last Cream show in November 1968 as well as with Blind Faith, played it sparingly for slide pieces in the 1970s, used it on "Hard Times" from ''Journeyman'', the Hyde Park live concert of 1996, and the ''From the Cradle'' sessions and tour of 1994–95. It was sold for $847,500 at a 2004 auction. Gibson produced a limited run of 250 "Crossroads 335" replicas. The 335 was only the second electric guitar Clapton bought.
In July 1968 Clapton gave George Harrison a 1957 'goldtop' Gibson Les Paul that been refinished with a red colour. The following September, Clapton played the guitar on the Beatles' studio recording of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". His SG found its way into the hands of George Harrison's friend Jackie Lomax, who subsequently sold it to musician Todd Rundgren for US$500 in 1972. Rundgren restored the guitar and nicknamed it "Sunny", after "Sunshine of Your Love". He retained it until 2000, when he sold it at an auction for US$150,000. At the 1969 Blind Faith concert in Hyde Park, London Clapton played a Fender Custom Telecaster, which was fitted with "Brownie"s neck.
In late 1969 Clapton made the switch to the Fender Stratocaster. "I had a lot of influences when I took up the Strat. First there was Buddy Holly, and Buddy Guy. Hank Marvin was the first well known person over here in England who was using one, but that wasn't really my kind of music. Steve Winwood had so much credibility, and when he started playing one, I thought, oh, if he can do it, I can do it." The first—used during the recording of ''Eric Clapton''—was "Brownie", which in 1974 became the backup to the most famous of all Clapton's guitars, "Blackie". In November 1970 Eric bought six Fender Stratocasters from the Sho-bud guitar shop in Nashville, Tennessee while on tour with the Dominos. He gave one each to George Harrison, Steve Winwood, and Pete Townshend.
Clapton assembled the best components of the remaining three to create "Blackie", which was his favourite stage guitar until its retirement in 1985. It was first played live 1973 at the Rainbow Concert. Clapton called the 1956/57 Strat a "mongrel". On 2004, Clapton sold "Blackie" at Christie's Auction House, New York, for $959,500 to raise funds for his Crossroads Centre for drug and alcohol addictions. "Brownie" is now on display at the Experience Music Project. The Fender Custom Shop has since produced a limited run of 275 'Blackie' replicas, correct in every detail right down to the 'Duck Brothers' flight case, and artificially aged using Fender's 'Relic' process to simulate years of hard wear. One was presented to Eric upon the model's release and was used for three numbers during a concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 2006.
In 1981 Clapton gave his signed Fender Lead II guitar to the Hard Rock Cafe to designate his favourite bar stool. Pete Townshend also donated his own Gibson Les Paul guitar, with a note attached: "Mine's as good as his! Love, Pete."
In 1988 Fender honoured Clapton with the introduction of his signature Eric Clapton Stratocaster. These were the first two artist models in the Stratocaster range. Since then, the artist series has grown to include models inspired by Clapton's contemporaries such as Rory Gallagher, Mark Knopfler, Jeff Beck, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and by those who have influenced him, such as Buddy Guy. Clapton uses Ernie Ball Slinky and Super Slinky strings. Clapton has been honoured with several signature-model 000-sized acoustic guitars made by the American firm of C.F. Martin & Company. The first, of these, introduced in 1995, was a limited edition 000-42EC Eric Clapton signature model with a production run of 461. As of December 2007, Martin had produced seven EC signature models. His 1939 000-42 Martin that he played on the ''Unplugged'' album sold for $791,500 at auction. Clapton plays a custom 000-ECHF Martin these days.
In 1999, Clapton auctioned off some of his guitar collection to raise more than for continuing support of the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, which he founded in 1997. The Crossroads Centre is a treatment base for addictive disorders such as drugs and alcohol. In 2004 Clapton organised and participated in the Crossroads Guitar Festival to benefit the Centre. A second guitar auction, including the "Cream" of Clapton's collection – as well as guitars donated by famous friends – was held on 2004. His Lowden acoustic guitar sold for $41,825. The revenue garnered by this auction at Christie's was US $7,438,624.
In 2010 Eric Clapton announced that he would be auctioning off over 150 items at a New York auction in 2011. Proceeds will benefit his Crossroads Centre in Antigua. Items include Clapton's guitar from the Cream reunion tour in 2005, speaker cabinets used in the early 1970s from his days with Derek and the Dominoes, and some guitars from Jeff Beck, J.J. Cale, and Joe Bonamassa. In March 2011 Clapton raised more than $2.15 million dollars when he auctioned off key items, including a 1984 Gibson hollow body guitar, a Gianni Versace suit from his 1990 concert at the Royal Albert Hall, and a replica of the famous Fender Stratocaster known as "Blackie", which fetched more than $30,000. All proceeds from the auction were donated to Clapton's Crossroads drug and rehabilitation centre in Antigua.
The "woman tone" is the informal term used by Clapton to refer to his distinctive mid- to late-1960s electric guitar sound, created using his Gibson SG solid body guitar (with Humbucker pick-ups) and a Marshall tube amplifier. It is an overdriven sound that is articulate yet thick. It is characterised by being quite distorted (or even achieved with a fuzz) but muted, in contrast to the bright and twangy distortion that most guitarists were using at the time. Many players have tried to duplicate it, usually without success, in part because Clapton's playing technique had a lot to do with the tone.
Among the techniques used to replicate Clapton's sound is a technique by which the amplifier's volume is turned up to full, while the guitar's tone knob is turned down to zero or one.
Perhaps the best examples of the "woman tone" are Clapton's famous riff and solo from Cream's 1967 hit "Sunshine of Your Love". Clapton has explained that he obtained the tone with his Gibson's tone control rolled all the way down, switching to the neck pick-up (closest to the fretboard) and the volume all the way up, with his distortion turned all the way up. The treble, mids and bass controls on the amplifier were also maxed out. Some versions of the "woman tone" may also have involved strategic positioning of Clapton's wah-wah pedal.
On 12 September 1996 Clapton played a party for Armani at New York City's Lexington Armory with Greg Phillinganes, Nathan East, and Steve Gadd. Sheryl Crow appeared on one number, performing "Tearing Us Apart", a track from ''August'', which was first performed by Tina Turner during the Prince's Trust All-Star Rock show in 1986. It was Clapton's sole US appearance that year, following the open-air concert held at Hyde Park. The concert was taped and the footage was released both on VHS video cassette and later, on DVD.
Clapton was featured in the movie version of ''Tommy'', the first full length rock opera, written by The Who. The movie version gave Clapton a cameo appearance as The Preacher, performing Sonny Boy Williamson's song, "Eyesight to the Blind". He appeared in ''Blues Brothers 2000'' as one of the Louisiana Gator Boys. In addition to being in the band, he had a small speaking role. Clapton has appeared in an advertisement for the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen. In March 2007 Clapton appeared in an advertisement for RealNetwork's Rhapsody online music service. In 2010 Clapton started appearing as a spokesman for T-Mobile, advertising their MyTouch Fender cell phone.
Eric Clapton was compared to God's image in the episode "Holy Crap!" of season two of ''That '70s Show'' when characters Eric Forman and Steven Hyde are asked by their minister to draw a picture of God.
"I used to be into dope, now I’m into racism. It’s much heavier, man. Fucking wogs, man. Fucking Saudis taking over London. Bastard wogs. Britain is becoming overcrowded and Enoch will stop it and send them all back. The black wogs and coons and Arabs and fucking Jamaicans and fucking (indecipherable) don’t belong here, we don’t want them here. This is England, this is a white country, we don’t want any black wogs and coons living here. We need to make clear to them they are not welcome. England is for white people, man. We are a white country. I don’t want fucking wogs living next to me with their standards. This is Great Britain, a white country, what is happening to us, for fuck's sake? We need to vote for Enoch Powell, he’s a great man, speaking truth. Vote for Enoch, he’s our man, he’s on our side, he’ll look after us. I want all of you here to vote for Enoch, support him, he’s on our side. Enoch for Prime Minister! Throw the wogs out! Keep Britain white!"
This incident, along with some explicitly pro-fascism remarks made around the same time by David Bowie as well as uses of Nazi-related imagery by Sid Vicious and Siouxsie Sioux, were the main catalysts for the creation of Rock Against Racism, which occurred on 1978.
In response to the comments, rock photographer Red Saunders and others published an open letter in ''NME'', ''Melody Maker'', ''Sounds'', and the ''Socialist Worker''. It read "Come on Eric... Own up. Half your music is black. You're rock music's biggest colonist". It concluded, "P.S. Who shot the Sheriff, Eric? It sure as hell wasn't you!"
In an interview from October 1976 with ''Sounds'' magazine, Clapton remarked, "I thought it was quite funny actually. I don't know much about politics. I don't even know if it would be good or bad for him to get in. I don't even know who the Prime Minister is now. I just don't know what came over me that night. It must have been something that happened in the day but it came out in this garbled thing... I thought the whole thing was like Monty Python. There's this rock group playing on-stage and the singer starts talking about politics. It's so stupid. Those people who paid their money sittin' listening to this madman dribbling on and the band meanwhile getting fidgety thinking 'oh dear'."
In a 2004 interview with ''Uncut'', Clapton referred to Powell as "outrageously brave", and stated that his "feeling about this has not changed", because the UK is still "... inviting people in as cheap labour and then putting them in ghettos." In 2004 Clapton told an interviewer for ''Scotland on Sunday'', "There's no way I could be a racist. It would make no sense". In his 2007 autobiography, Clapton called himself "deliberately oblivious to it all" and wrote, "I had never really understood or been directly affected by racial conflict ... when I listened to music, I was disinterested in where the players came from or what colour their skin was. Interesting, then, that 10 years later, I would be labelled a racist ... Since then, I have learnt to keep my opinions to myself. Of course, it might also have had something to do with the fact that Pattie had just been leered at by a member of the Saudi royal family." In a December 2007 interview with Melvyn Bragg on ''The South Bank Show'', Clapton reiterated his support for Enoch Powell and again denied that Powell's views were "racist".
In 2008, he donated a song to Aid Still Required's CD to assist with the restoration of the devastation done to Southeast Asia from the 2004 Tsunami.
Year | ! Award / Recognition | |
*Presented the Silver Clef Award from Princess Michael of Kent for outstanding contribution to British music. | ||
*Presented with BAFTA for Best Original Television Music for Score of ''Edge of Darkness'' with Michael Kamen. | ||
*"Tears In Heaven" won three Grammy awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Male Pop Vocal Performance. Clapton also won Album of the Year and Best Rock Vocal Performance for ''Unplugged'' and Best Rock Song for "Layla". | ||
Order of the British Empire>OBE for services to music. | ||
*Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the third time, this time as a solo artist. He was earlier inducted as a member of the bands Cream and The Yardbirds. | ||
CBE, receiving the award from the Anne, Princess Royal>Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace as part of the New Year's Honours list. | ||
*Awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (as a member of Cream) |
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name | Steve Vai |
---|---|
background | solo_singer |
birth name | Steven Siro Vai |
born | June 06, 1960Carle Place, New York, U.S. |
instrument | Guitar, keyboards, vocals |
genre | Instrumental rock, hard rock, heavy metal, progressive rock, progressive metal, experimental rock |
years active | 1980–present |
label | Favored NationsRelativity RecordsUrantia Records Akashic RecordsEpic Records |
associated acts | Joe Satriani, Frank Zappa, John Petrucci, Alcatrazz, Orianthi, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake, Dream Theater, Eddie Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Zappa plays Zappa, Billy Sheehan, G3, Bad4Good, Incubus, Devin Townsend |
website | Official website |
notable instruments | Ibanez JEMIbanez UniverseTom Anderson Drop Top Classic }} |
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai (born June 6, 1960) is a three time Grammy Award-winning American virtuoso rock guitarist, composer and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. After starting his professional career as a music transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, Vai recorded and toured in Zappa's band for two years, from 1980 to 1982. The guitarist began a solo career in 1983 and has released 8 of his own solo albums since. Apart from his work with Frank Zappa, Vai has also recorded and toured with Public Image Ltd., Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake. Vai has been a regular touring member of the G3 Concert Tour which began in 1996. In 1999 Vai started his own record label, Favored Nations, intending to showcase, as Vai describes, ''"...artists that have attained the highest performance level on their chosen instruments."''
Subsequent to being hired as a transcriber, Vai did overdubs on many of the guitar parts for Zappa's album ''You Are What You Is''. Thereafter he became a full-fledged band member, going on his first tour with Zappa in the autumn of 1980. One of those early shows with Vai on guitar, recorded in Buffalo, was released in 2007. While touring with Zappa's band, Vai sometimes asked audience members to bring musical scores and see if he could sight-read them on the spot. Zappa referred to Vai as his "little Italian virtuoso" and listed him in the liner notes as performing "stunt guitar" or "impossible guitar parts." Later, Vai was a featured artist on the 1993 recording ''Zappa's Universe''. In 2006 he returned to Frank Zappa's music as a special guest on Dweezil Zappa's 'Zappa Plays Zappa' tour, alongside friends from his early years with Zappa.
After leaving Zappa in 1982 he moved to California, where he recorded his first album, ''Flex-Able'', in 1983 and performed in a couple of bands. In 1985 he replaced Yngwie Malmsteen as lead guitarist in Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz, with whom he recorded the album ''Disturbing the Peace''. Later in 1985, he joined former Van Halen front man David Lee Roth's group to record the albums ''Eat 'Em and Smile'' and ''Skyscraper''.
In 1986, Vai played with John Lydon's Public Image Ltd on their album ''Album'' (also known as ''Compact Disc'' or ''Cassette''). Then, in 1989, Vai joined Whitesnake, replacing Vivian Campbell. When Adrian Vandenberg injured his wrist shortly before recording was to begin for the album ''Slip of the Tongue'', Vai played all the guitar parts. Vai also played on the Alice Cooper album ''Hey Stoopid'', along with Joe Satriani on the song "Feed my Frankenstein."
The song "For the Love of God" was voted #29 in a readers' poll of the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time in ''Guitar World'' Magazine.
In 1994 Vai began writing and recording with Ozzy Osbourne. Only one track from these sessions, "My Little Man", was released on the ''Ozzmosis'' album. Despite Vai penning the track he does not appear on the album. His guitar parts were replaced by Zakk Wylde. Another track, "Dyin' Day", appeared as an instrumental on Vai's ''Fire Garden'' album. Vai's band members in the 90's included drummer Mike Mangini, guitarist Mike Keneally, and bassist Philip Bynoe. In 1994 Vai received a Grammy Award for his performance on the Frank Zappa song ''Sofa'' from the album ''Zappa's Universe''.
Steve Vai released a DVD of his performance at The Astoria in London in December, 2001. The performance featured Billy Sheehan, guitarist/pianist Tony MacAlpine, guitarist Dave Weiner, and Australian drummer Virgil Donati.
In July 2002, Steve Vai performed with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan, in the world premiere of composer Ichiro Nodaira's ''Fire Strings'', a concerto for electric guitar and 100-piece orchestra.
In 2004, a number of his compositions and orchestral arrangements including some previously recorded pieces, were performed in The Netherlands by the Metropole Orchestra in a concert series entitled ''The Aching Hunger''. In 2003, drummer Jeremy Colson joined Vai's group, replacing Virgil Donati. Vai's latest album, ''Sound Theories'', was released in 2007.
In February 2005, Vai premiered a dual-guitar (electric and classical) piece that he called ''The Blossom Suite'', with classical guitarist Sharon Isbin at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris. In 2006, Vai played as a special guest guitarist alongside additional guest Zappa band members, drummer Terry Bozzio, guitarist-singer Ray White, and saxophonist-singer Napoleon Murphy Brock in the "Zappa Plays Zappa" tour led by Frank's son Dweezil Zappa in Europe and the U.S. in the Spring, as well as a short U.S. tour in October.
On September 21, 2006, Vai made a special appearance at the ''Video Games Live'' concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California. He played two songs with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; ''Halo Theme'', and a second song for the world premier trailer for Halo 3.
Steve Vai made an appearance at the London Guitar Show in 2007 on the April 28, 2007 at the ExCeL Center. In late April 2007, Vai confirmed the release of his most recent record, ''Sound Theories'', on June 26. The release is a two-CD set, mostly of previously released material that Vai rearranged and played with a full orchestra. Vai says the project was a great joy because he considers himself a composer more than a guitarist, and he is happy to see music he has composed played by an orchestra that can play it well. A DVD followed the record later that year. He guested on the Dream Theater album, ''Systematic Chaos'', on the song "Repentance". The appearance was vocal rather than instrumental, as Vai was only one of many musical guests recorded. The song features contributions from many artists, with the aim of apologizing to important people in their lives for wrongdoings committed in their pasts. On August 29, 2009, he appeared on stage with Dream Theater during the final show of their Progressive Nation tour at the Greek Theater, where he performed in an improvised jam with the other musicians on tour. ''Broken Records'' magazine (Volume 1, Issue 3) quotes Vai as saying, "I enjoy challenging myself to come up with new ideas that I believe are unique."
In 2010, Vai released several "VaiTunes" singles of tracks that were previously recorded and later finished. They are available on www.vai.com, iTunes and Amazon.com. On September 14, 2010, Steve released "Where The Wild Things Are" as double vinyl through his label Favored Nations and made a guest appearance with Rickey Minor and The Tonight Show Band on NBC. In October, 2010 Steve completed his first full symphony and performed the compositions at the Steve Vai Festival which featured Vai and the North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra (NNO) on October 20–24, 2010. Immediately after the Holland shows, Steve embarked for the US to headline the "Experience Hendrix Tour" which features Eric Johnson, Kenny Wayne Shephard, Susan Tedeschi, Billy Cox, Vernon Reid, Robert Randolph, Johnny Lang, Brad Whitford and other top-notch guitarists.
On March 3, 2011 the online education division of Boston’s renowned Berklee College of Music and Steve Vai, set the Guinness® World Record for the world’s largest online guitar lesson. This first-of-its-kind initiative, held at streaming media platform Livestream Studios in New York City, brought together thousands of members of the international guitar community in a celebration of online music education.
Berkleemusic and Steve Vai have also co-authored a new twelve-week online course: Steve Vai Guitar Techniques. This online course, presents students with the chance to gain a deep understanding of Vai’s death-defying playing styles, repertoire, techniques, and musical concepts from anywhere in the world, and to incorporate their learnings into their own playing.
In 1998, "Erotic Nightmares" was featured as the menu music in the video game WCW/nWo Revenge for the Nintendo 64.
Steve Vai's guitar-work appeared in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. David Lee Roth's "Yankee Rose" was featured on the game's soundtrack as well as "God Blessed Video" by Alcatrazz as part of the Lazlow-led, 1980s rock/metal radio station "V-Rock."
In 2004, Steve Vai was featured on Xbox's ''Halo 2'' (a game by Bungie Studios) Volume 1 soundtrack, performing a heavy rock-guitar rendition of the ''Halo theme'', known as ''Halo Theme (MJOLNIR Mix)''. He also performed on the track ''Never Surrender''. He later featured in the second volume of the soundtrack, where he performed on the track ''Reclaimer''.
In 2008, Steve Vai's ''For the Love of God'' and ''Halo Theme (MJOLNIR Mix)'' were featured as downloadable tracks for the game ''Guitar Hero 3''. A live version of the song "For the Love of God" was also available at release on the Rock Band Network as well as the song "Get the Hell Out of Here" from his 2002 album "The Elusive Light and Sound, Vol. 1" on March 4, 2010.
A re-recording of "Speeding" is featured in the 2010 video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock for Xbox 360, Wii and Playstation 3.
In 1991's ''Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey'', the introductory riff to KISS' "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II", as performed by the Wyld Stallyns in the Battle of the Bands, was performed by Vai. He also composed and performed the soundtrack to ''PCU'' (1994), and made contributions in 2001 to the score for John Carpenter's ''Ghosts of Mars'', performing on the tracks "Ghosts of Mars" and "Ghost Poppin'". His track, "I'm the Hell Outta Here", can be heard during 1992's ''Encino Man'' in the scene where Brendan Fraser is taking a driving lesson. He plays guitar in the animated short film "Live Music".
Vai's playing style has been characterized as quirky and angular, due in large measure to his technical ability with the guitar instrument and deep knowledge of music theory. He regularly uses odd rhythmic groupings and his melodies often employ the Lydian mode. Perhaps his most readily-identifiable stylistic feature is his creative use of the floating vibrato, using it to add melodic lines that sound odd to the ear. His playing can also be described as lyrical, as if sung by a human voice. During the recording of "Eat 'em and Smile," with David Lee Roth, he employed several guitar techniques that "mimicked" the human voice, as heard in the opening bars of the opening track "Yankee Rose." He often uses exotic guitars: he plays both double and triple neck guitars (including a custom-made heart-shaped triple-neck model built by luthier Joe Despagni). Vai is regarded as the first to use the 7-string guitar in a rock context. Along with Ibanez, he designed a signature 7-string guitar, the Ibanez Universe, in 1989. He is also noted for being physically expressive as he plays his guitar.
On Composing/The "Evo Era"
“I wanted to be a composer ever since I was a young boy. To me written music on paper was (and is) beautiful. It looked like art and I wanted to have a complete understanding of how to speak, read and write that language. I knew that through the little black dots I could get the music that was in my head out into the world. Though the guitar fell into my lap and my fingers were glued to the instrument, I studied composition and musical notation long before I even started playing the guitar. Through high school, college and beyond, I kept up my studies and kept composing through the years as I felt my eventual calling was in the compositional world. Although I have listened to and studied most of the great older and contemporary composers, when I compose my music I take a similar approach as to when I am developing my voice on the guitar and that's to find and cultivate ideas that I have not heard before. That's the exciting part!
Once you understand the written language of music and the possibilities and limitations of various instruments, composing music is pure liberation. It's an art form that allows for deep personal expression. For me composing is the ultimate playground for my imagination. And to have the opportunity to hear your music performed is the greatest gift a composer could hope for, provided it's performed correctly.
I feel that my task is to merge my authentic rock sensibilities with my orchestrational skills to create a brand of contemporary music that is unique and fulfilling on an emotional and melodic level for the listener. Although rock musicians have worked with orchestras and contemporary composers have written for rock band instruments, I believe the catalog of music that I am building in this field is not what would be expected from either. I'm very excited about this brand and hope to inspire other composers to walk their own parallel lines within this movement. I call this movement "Evo", short for evolution. As it has been in the past through all of history, the 21st century will see a whole new wave of orchestral musical awareness develop. We are now entering the "Evo Era." -Steve Vai
Vai helped design his signature Ibanez JEM guitar series. They feature a hand grip (fondly referred to as a "monkey grip") cut into the top of the body of the guitar, a humbucker–single coil-humbucker (H/S/H) DiMarzio pickup configuration with several different types of pickup including Evolution, Breed and EVO 2. He also uses the Ibanez Edge and Lo-Pro Edge double-locking tremolo systems (the current production JEMs have the newer Edge Pro), as well as an elaborate and extensive "Tree of Life" inlay down the neck. Vai also equips many of his guitars with an Ibanez Backstop, a tremolo stabilizer that has been discontinued. Lately Vai has also equipped some of his guitars with True Temperament fretboards to make his chords sound more in tune. Vai also has a 7-string model designed by him named Ibanez Universe, featuring DiMarzio Blaze II pickups in an HSH arrangement. The Universe later influenced the 7-string guitars used by Korn and other bands to create nu metal sounds in the late 1990s. He also has a signature Ibanez acoustic, the Euphoria. Before Ibanez, he briefly endorsed Jackson guitars, but this relationship only lasted two years. His two main guitars are white JEMs dubbed "Evo" and "Flo", each with their own unique modifications.
Steve Vai has also worked with Carvin Guitars and Pro Audio to develop the Carvin Legacy line of guitar amplifiers. Vai wanted to create an affordable amp that was unique, and equal in sound and versatility to any guitar amp he had previously used. Over his long musical career, Steve Vai has used and designed an array of guitars. He even had his blood put into the swirl paint job on one of his signature JEM guitars, the JEM2KDNA. Only 300 of these were made. Currently, he mainly uses his white "Evo", a JEM7V, and his "Flo", which is a customized Floral JEM 77FP painted white. They are both inscribed with their names in two places, mainly so he can distinguish between them onstage. "Flo" is equipped with a Fernandes sustainer system.
He also has a guitar named "Mojo" with dot inlays that are blue LED lights. Additionally, he has a custom-made triple-neck guitar that has the same basic features as his JEM7V guitars. The top neck is a 12-string guitar, the middle is a six-string, and the bottom is a six-string fretless guitar with a Fernandes Sustainer pickup. This guitar was featured on the G3 2003 tour on the piece ''I Know You're Here''. Vai's effects pedals include a modified Boss DS-1, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Morley Bad Horsie, Ibanez Jemini Twin Distortion Pedal, TC Electronics G-System, Morley Little Alligator Volume pedal, DigiTech Whammy, and an MXR Phase 90/Phase 100 on the Passion and Warfare album. His flight cases are labeled "Mr. Vai", or lately, "Dr. Vai." He has used a number of rack effects units controlled via MIDI, but used a floor-based TC electronics G system instead for the Zappa Plays Zappa tour.
Vai was a judge for the 3rd and 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.
Vai is also the founder of the Make A Noise Foundation, which he started with his manager Ruta Sepetys. The foundation's goal is to provide funding for music education and programs for those unable to pursue music-related activities due to limited resources. Vai is also a patron of music education around the world giving master classes in such prestigious music schools as the Fermatta Music Academy.
Vai is also a longtime vegetarian. "It has affected my music in a way I believe that what we put in our bodies has a reflection on the way we think," Vai told Veggies Rock. "And the way we think has a reflection on what we create. So I can’t tell you consciously how being a vegetarian affected my music but I’m sure it has." Many fans have been surprised to learn about his vegetarianism because he does not openly preach about it. "I think everyone has to find what’s right for them. I don’t judge anybody for what they eat. That’s their world and everybody has to find what resonates with them."
"Sex & Religion" Tour:
''This band toured Russia twice, South America and the US (opening for Bon Jovi).''
!Year | !Type | !Album | !Info |
1984 | LP | ''Flex-Able'' | |
1984 | EP | ''Flex-Able Leftovers'' | Leftovers from the Flex-Able session |
1990 | CD | ''Passion and Warfare'' | Gold (USA), #18 on the Billboard 200 on June 30, 1990 |
1993 | CD | ||
1995 | EP | ''Alien Love Secrets'' | |
1996 | CD | ''Fire Garden'' | |
1998 | CD | re-release of the limited edition 10” vinyl "Flex-Able Leftovers" With bonus tracks | |
1999 | CD | ''The Ultra Zone'' | |
2005 | CD | ''Real Illusions: Reflections'' |
!Year | !Album | !Info |
1997 | ''G3: Live in Concert'' | Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson |
2001 | ''Alive in an Ultra World'' | |
2004 | ''G3: Rockin' in the Free World'' | Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen |
2004 | The audio contained on this disc is the same audio contained on the DVD : Live at the Astoria, London | |
2005 | ''G3: Live in Tokyo'' | Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci |
2007 | ''Sound Theories Vol. I & II'' | Orchestral Album from 5 European performances, a studio session and a soundcheck rehearsal recording (between 2004 and 2005) |
2009 | Orchestral DVD & CD recorded and filmed at the State Theatre in Minneapolis, MN as part of Vai’s “Sound Theories” world tour | |
2010 | 12 Tracks Bonus CD from "Where the wild thing are" DVD not included in the 2009 CD released |
!Year | !Album | !Info |
1998 | "Bad Squad" | ''promo 2-tracks CD from Morley to promote the Bad Horsie wah pedal.'' |
2005 | ''"Naked Tracks"'' | This five cd package contains a large selection of tracks from the Vai catalog that have been mixed without the main lead and melody guitar tracks |
!Year | !Album | !Info |
2000 | Compilation of the 7th song of Steve's Albums, and 3 tracks previously unreleased. | |
2001 | ''The Secret Jewel Box'' | ''10 CD Collector Box'' |
2001 | Not Sold Separately / Vol.3 of The Secret Jewel Box | |
2002 | ''The Elusive Light and Sound, volume 1'' | Re-released of the Vol.1 of The Secret Jewel Box''This disc collects Vai’s many contributions to film music'' |
2003 | Compilation of Steve's bonus tracks featured on Japanese releases of his CDs, along with promotional tracks, songs featured on other albums and unreleased/demo tracks / Vol.4 of The Secret Jewel Box | |
2003 | Collection of songs Steve has contributed to other projects and records. / Vol.5 of The Secret Jewel Box | |
2003 | ''The Infinite Steve Vai: An Anthology'' | A career-spanning collection of 32 digitally remastered tracks over 2CDs (including work with other artists such as Alcatrazz and Whitesnake). |
2004 | ''"Vai: Piano Reductions, Vol. 1"'' (by Mike Keneally) | This is an album of 11 solo acoustic piano interpretations of Vai songs by Mike Keneally / Vol.6 of The Secret Jewel Box |
2008 | ''Steve Vai Original Album Classics'' | |
2010 | Playlist: The Very Best of Steve Vai | |
2011 | The Essential Steve Vai |
!Year | !Artist | !Album | !RIAA |
1985 | Alcatrazz | ''Disturbing the Peace'' | |
1985 | Public Image Ltd. | ||
1986 | |||
1986 | David Lee Roth | ''Eat 'Em and Smile'' | Platinum |
1988 | David Lee Roth | Platinum | |
1989 | Whitesnake | ''Slip of the Tongue'' | 3x Platinum |
1994 | Whitesnake | ''Whitesnake's Greatest Hits'' | Platinum |
1997 | David Lee Roth | ||
1999 | |||
2000 | Whitesnake | ''The Back to Black Collection'' | |
2010 | Alcatrazz | ''Disturbing the Peace Tour Live in Japan 1984.10.10 Audio Tracks'' |
!Year | !Album | !Credit |
1981 | ''Tinseltown Rebellion'' | Rhythm guitar, vocals |
1981 | ''Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar'' | Rhythm guitar |
1981 | ''You Are What You Is'' | Guitar |
1982 | ''Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch'' | "Impossible Guitar parts" |
1983 | ''The Man from Utopia'' | Guitar parts |
1984 | ''Them or Us'' | Guitar |
1984 | ''Thing-Fish'' | Guitar, vocals |
1985 | ''Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention'' | Guitar |
1987 | ''Jazz from Hell'' | Guitar |
1988 | Stunt guitar | |
1988 | ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore Sampler'' | Stunt guitar |
1988 | ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1'' | Stunt guitar |
1989 | ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3'' | Stunt guitar |
1991 | ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4'' | Stunt guitar, vocals |
1991 | Stunt guitar | |
1992 | ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 5'' | Stunt guitar |
1992 | ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6'' | Stunt guitar |
1995 | ''Strictly Commercial'' | Guitar |
1997 | ''Have I Offended Someone?'' | Guitar |
1998 | Guitar | |
1999 | ''Son of Cheep Thrills'' | Guitar, vocals |
2001 | ''FZ Original Recordings; Steve Vai Archives, Vol. 2''(Only available as Vol.3 in The Secret Jewel Box) | "strat abuse" and "impossible guitar parts." |
2008 | Guitar |
!Year | !Artist | !Album | !Info | !RIAA |
1983 | Lisa Popeil | ''Lisa Popeil'' | Steve performs on "What You're After", "You Can't Take It Away", "For A Time", "Don't Turn Me Off And On", "I Don't Get It", "The Viper", "Love In My Life", "Perfect Woman" | |
1985 | Heresy | ''At The Door'' | Steve performs on "London : 1941" and "Wasted Moments" | |
1986 | ''The Great Nostalgia'' | Steve performs on the track "Autumn in Nepal" & "There's Still Hope" | ||
1986 | Randy Coven | ''Funk Me Tender'' | Steve performs on the track "Funk Me Tender" | |
1987 | Danny Mendez | ''Death to All Mankind'' | No Information | |
1986 | Western Vacation | ''Western Vacation'' | Steve performs on the track "Western Vacation" (under the name "Reckless Fable") | |
1990 | ''The Best of Dreams'' | Steve performs on "Supergirl" / This is a greatest hits CD | ||
1991 | Alice Cooper | ''Hey Stoopid'' | Steve performs with Joe Satriani on "Feed My Frankenstein" | |
1995 | Ozzy Osbourne | ''Ozzmosis'' | Steve did not play guitar on this album. He Co-Wrote the song ''"My Little Man"'' | 2x Platinum |
1996 | ''Cryin''' | Steve performs on "Let It Go" | ||
1997 | Munetaka Higuchi with Dream Castle | ''Free World'' | Steve plays guitar and bass on the track "Speed" | |
1998 | Gregg Bissonette | ''Gregg Bissonette'' | Steve performs on "Common Road" | |
1998 | Al Di Meola | ''The Infinite Desire'' | Steve performs on "Race with the Devil on Turkish Highway" | |
2000 | Gregg Bissonette | Steve performs on the track "Noah's Ark" | ||
2000 | Thana Harris | ''Thanatopsis'' | Steve performs on the track "Fingers" | |
2000 | Andrew Dice Clay | ''Face Down, Ass Up'' | No information | |
2001 | Robin DiMaggio | Steve performs on the track "Mallorca" with L. Shankar | ||
2001 | Billy Sheehan | Steve Vai appears on the track "Chameleon" | ||
2002 | Tak Matsumoto | ''Hana'' | No information | |
2003 | Surinder Sandhu | ''Saurang Orchestra'' | Steve Vai performs on the tracks "Amirah", The Little Hindu", "Movement One: Twice Born", "Movement Two: Sunday Morning in Calcutta", "Movement Three: Tradition of the New" | |
2002 | Girls Together Outrageously (G.T.O) | "I'll Be Around" (SINGLE) | GTO (Girls Together Outrageously) is a Dutch trio who released a cover version of Steve's song "I'll Be Around". The CD single features a Radio Version (3:28) and an Extended Version (4:40). Steve performs the guitar solo on the Radio Version. | |
2003 | Eric Sardinas | ''Black Pearls'' | Steve Vai performs on the track "Green Tea" | |
2003 | Steve Lukather & Friends | ''Santamental'' | Steve Vai is featured on the track "Carol of the Bells" | |
2003 | Hughes Turner Project | ''HTP 2'' | Steve Vai appears on the track "Losing My Head" | |
2003 | ''One in a Million'' | Steve Vai performs on the track "Out Of My Mind" | ||
2003 | Yardbirds | Steve Vai performs on the track "Shapes of Things" | ||
2004 | Motörhead | Steve appears on the tracks "Terminal Show" and "Down On Me" | ||
2004 | Bob Carpenter | ''The Sun, The Moon, The Stars'' | This CD features a piano interpretation of “Whispering a Prayer”. It also features Steve Vai on acoustic guitar and Pia Vai on harp. | |
2005 | ''Songs for Sanity'' | Steve appears on the song "Perineum" | ||
2006 | The Devin Townsend Band | ''Synchestra'' | Steve performs an extended guitar solo on the third track "Triumph" | |
2006 | Steve performs on the song "Viper" | |||
2006 | Meat Loaf | ''Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose'' | Steve performs on the song "In the Land of the Pig, the Butcher is King" | Gold |
2007 | Dream Theater | ''Systematic Chaos'' | Guest spoken words on "Repentance" | |
2007 | Eros Ramazzotti | Steve performs on, produced and re-recorded the track "Dove C'e' Musica" on this album | ||
2008 | Jason Becker | |||
2009 | Steve performs on the song "Short And Sweet" | |||
2009 | Mike Stern | ''Big Neighborhood'' | Steve performs guitar on "Big Neighborhood" and sitar on "Moroccan Roll" | |
2009 | Orianthi | Steve appears on and co-wrote the song "Highly Strung" | ||
2010 | Meat Loaf | ''Hang Cool Teddy Bear'' | Steve performs on "Love Is Not Real/Next Time You Stab Me in the Back" & "Song of Madness" |
!Year | !Soundtrack | !Type | !Info |
1986 | Motion Picture Soundtrack | All part played by Steve on "The Elusive Light and Sound, Vol. 1" | |
1987 | Motion Picture Soundtrack | Steve performs "Amazing Grace" / This OST is out of printAlso on "The Elusive Light and Sound, Vol. 1" | |
1987 | Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||
1991 | Motion Picture Soundtrack | Steve performs the tracks "The Reaper" and "The Reaper Rap" and a few tracks which are not in the OSTAlso on "The Elusive Light and Sound, Vol. 1" | |
1992 | Motion Picture Soundtrack | Steve performs with Joe Satriani on Alice Cooper's "Feed My Frankenstein" | |
1992 | ''Encino Man'' | Motion Picture Soundtrack | Steve performs the track "Get The Hell Out Of Here" |
1994 | Motion Picture Soundtrack | Steve scored this film, and contributed the track "Now We Run" to this soundtrack | |
1997 | ''Formula 1'' | Video Game Soundtrack | |
2001 | ''Ghosts of Mars'' | Motion Picture Soundtrack | Steve Vai performs on "Ghosts of Mars" and "Ghost Poppin'" |
2004 | Video Game Soundtrack | Steve Vai performs on "Halo Theme Mjolnir Mix" and "Never Surrender" | |
2006 | Video Game Soundtrack | Steve Vai performs on "Reclaimer" | |
2008 | Video Game Soundtrack | Steve Vai song "For The Love Of God" |
!Year | !Artists | !Compilation | !Info |
1989 | Various | ''Guitar's Practicing Musicians'' | Steve plays guitar on the track "Western Vacation" as Reckless Fable |
1993 | Various | ''Zappa's Universe'' (Tribute to Frank Zappa) | Steve plays guitar on "Sofa" & "Dirty Love" |
1995 | Various | ''In From The Storm''(The music of Jimi Hendrix) | Steve appears on "Drifting" and "Bold as Love" |
1996 | Various | ''Songs of West Side Story'' | Steve appears on "The Rumble" (Steve Vai's Monsters vs. Chick Corea's Elektric Band) |
1997 | Various | ''Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas'' | Steve performs on the gorgeous "Christmas Time is Here" (with Joe Satriani, Jeff Beck, Eric Johnson and more...) |
1997 | Various | Steve performs on "Der Holle Rache (Queen of the Night)". This album also features Steve Stevens and Eric Johnson | |
1999 | Various | ''Radio Disney Kid Jams'' | Steve performs the track "Wipe Out" |
2001 | Various | Steve performs the tracks "Cliffs of Insanity" and "Misfits" | |
2002 | Various | ''Guitars For Freedom'' | Steve contributed the track "Amazing Grace" to this benefit CD |
2002 | Various | ''Warmth In The Wilderness Vol. II – A Tribute to Jason Becker'' | Steve Vai performs the track "Feathers" |
2004 | Various | ''The Sounds Of Nascar'' | Steve is featured on the previously unreleased track "Rush" (Only on "iTunes Music Store") |
2006 | Various | ''Monsters of Rock'' (EMI, 3CD compilation) | Steve performs with Whitesnake the song "Fool for Your Loving" |
!Year | !Type | !Album | !Artist | !Info |
1995 | VHS / DVD | Steve Vai | Features full performances of all seven songs from the album Alien Love Secrets. | |
1997 | VHS / DVD | ''"G3: Live in Concert"'' | Joe Satriani / Steve Vai / Eric Johnson | Steve plays on six tracks (three solo and three with Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson.) |
2003 | DVD | Live at the Astoria, London | Steve Vai | Steve's first live solo DVD. Filmed at the Astoria, London UK on December 6 & 7, 2001. |
2004 | DVD | ''"G3: Live in Denver"'' | Joe Satriani / Steve Vai / Yngwie Malmsteen | Steve performs on 3 tracks & 3 jam Tracks |
2005 | DVD | ''"G3: Live in Tokyo"'' | Joe Satriani / Steve Vai / John Petrucci | Steve performs on 6 tracks |
2007 | DVD | ''"Visual Sound Theories"'' | Steve Vai | This DVD features the live performances from the Aching Hunger concerts with the Holland Metropole Orchestra in July 2005. |
!Year | !Type | !Album | !Artist | !Info |
1982 | VHS / DVD | ''"The Dub Room Special"'' | Frank Zappa | Steve appears 58 minutes into this video performing "Stevie's Spanking" (from The Palladium, NYC show on October 31, 1981) |
1985 | VHS | ''"Power Live"'' | Alcatrazz | Live concert recorded at Shinjuku Kousei Nenkin Hall (Japan) on 10/10/84. |
1986 | VHS | ''"David Lee Roth"'' | David Lee Roth | Steve performs on "Yankee Rose" and "Goin' Crazy!". There is also an alternate video take for Steve's guitar solo during the "Goin' Crazy!" video. |
1987 | VHS | ''"Video from Hell"'' | Frank Zappa | Steve appears 11:15 minutes into this video performing "Stevie's Spanking." (Rome, Italy - July 10, 1982) |
1989 | VHS | ''"The True Story of 200 Motels"'' | Frank Zappa | Steve appears 41:33 minutes into this video - in a brief interview shot on July 14, 1982 in Palermo, Sicily. |
1990 | VHS | ''"Metal Head Vol.2"'' | BMG Video Magazine | This hard to find "video magazine" features an interview with Steve. |
1993 | VHS / DVD | ''"Zappa's Universe: A Celebration of 25 Years of Frank Zappa's Music"'' | Various Artists | Steve performs on "Dirty Love" (with Dweezil), and "Sofa", a performance that won a Grammy. |
1997 | VHS / DVD | ''"7th Heaven video by Ibanez"'' | Ibanez Various Artists | Ibanez promotional-only video includes commentary and music from Steve Vai, Head & Munky from Korn, John Petrucci, Dino Cazares, Andy Timmons, Wes Borland, Jerry Sims. |
2003 | DVD | ''"Rockthology"'' | Various Artists | This video compilation features the "I Would Love To" promo video. |
2003 | DVD | ''"The Satch Tapes"''(Originally released on VHS in 1993) | Joe Satriani | This DVD re-release features a brief interview with Steve circa 1992. |
2004 | DVD | ''"Crossroads Guitar Festival"'' | Various Artists | Steve and the band performing “Get The Hell Outta Here. |
!Year | !Type | !Album | !Artist | !Info |
1986 | VHS / DVD | Columbia Tristar (Movie) | Steve appears in this movie as "Jack Butler", a devil guitarist | |
2005 | DVD | "Bill & Ted's Most Excellent Collection" | MGM Video | Bonus Feature : “Score! An Interview With Guitarist Steve Vai.” |
2008 | DVD | FN Crazy Film LLC | Steve appears in this movie as "Hank Williams" | |
2008 | DVD | Steve appears in this movie as himself | ||
2009 | TV | ''"Metalocalypse"'' | Animated TV Series | Steve appears as guest Voice on ep.39 "Renovationklok" & ep.40 "Tributeklok" |
1995 Best Rock Guitarist (Tie with Jimmy Page)
1995 Best Overall Guitarist - 3rd Place
1995 Best Experimental Guitarist (tie with Buckethead)
1995 Best Metal Recording - 3rd Place
1995 Best Overall Guitar Recording - 2nd Place
1995 Best Metal Guitarist - 3rd Place
1990 Best Rock Guitarist
1990 Best Overall Guitarist
1990 Best Guitar Album
1990 Best Metal Guitarist
1989 Best Rock Guitarist
1988 Best Rock Guitarist
1987 Best Rock Guitarist
1987 Best Overall Guitarist
1986 Best Rock Guitarist
1990 Best Album
1990 Best Rock Guitarist
1990 Best Guitar Solo (For the Love of God)
1989 Best Rock Guitarist
1990 Best Musician
1990 Sexiest Male
1990 Reader's Choice – Guitar Album of the Year
1990 Best Instrumental Guitarist of the Year
1988 Rock Guitarist of the Year
1987 Hall of Fame
1986 Guitar in the 90's Award
1990 Guitarist of the Year
1989 Best Rock Guitarist
1997 Best Rock Guitarist
1997 Best Guitarist
1990 Best Selling Promo Video (No. 5, I Would Love To)
1990 Best Selling Promo Video (No. 7, The Audience is Listening)
1990 Best Sex Object (No. 6)
1990 Best RAW Cover (No. 3)
1990 Best Guitarist
1990 Best Musician
Category:1960 births Category:American heavy metal guitarists Category:American rock guitarists Category:American vegetarians Category:Beekeepers Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:G3 Category:Grammy Award winners Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:Lead guitarists Category:Living people Category:Musicians from New York Category:People from Nassau County, New York Category:Seven-string guitarists Category:The Ozzy Osbourne Band members Category:Whitesnake members
bg:Стийв Вай ca:Steve Vai cs:Steve Vai da:Steve Vai de:Steve Vai es:Steve Vai fa:استیو وای fr:Steve Vai hr:Steve Vai id:Steve Vai is:Steve Vai it:Steve Vai he:סטיב ואי ka:სტივ ვაი lb:Steve Vai lt:Steve Vai hu:Steve Vai mk:Стиви Веи nl:Steve Vai ja:スティーヴ・ヴァイ no:Steve Vai pl:Steve Vai pt:Steve Vai ro:Steve Vai ru:Вай, Стив sq:Steve Vai sk:Steve Vai sr:Stiv Vaj sh:Steve Vai fi:Steve Vai sv:Steve Vai tr:Steve Vai uk:Стів Вей zh:史提芬·范This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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