The stories of Jimi Hendrix’s arrival in London in 1966 swiftly took on mythical proportions. In a remarkably short period, Hendrix’s name became ubiquitous in the English capital, fuelled further by the release of his debut single ‘Hey Joe’, which elevated his status even more, captivating audiences nationwide, including an impressionable Brian May.
At this stage in his life, May was yet to form Queen and was just another teenager obsessed with rock music. Before Hendrix found his way into his life, May believed the pinnacle of the art form had already been set by Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, who rose to prominence with The Yardbirds. In his mind, the English duo had set a benchmark that could never be eclipsed technically before Hendrix changed his perspective entirely.
The discovery of Clapton was a landmark moment in May’s life, as he offered a gateway into a whole new world. It opened May’s mind to a string of heroes from the blues scene, such as BB King and Bo Diddley, who informed Clapton’s style.
However, when Hendrix came along, it was unlike anybody else that he’d ever heard. Due to his individualistic sound, it was impossible to trace his influences as he did with Clapton, and it wasn’t until May saw Hendrix perform live that he finally accepted there was no technological wizardry going on with ‘Hey Joe’.
During an interview with Guitar Player in 1983, May said of Clapton and Beck before comparing their talents with Hendrix: “I thought after seeing those two, I’d seen it all. I had been playing all that time, and I could play that style. I was beginning to make the guitar sort of talk. I always wanted the guitar to play for people, to talk the same way a vocal did and have feeling in it. I didn’t want it to be an accompanying instrument. Then, when I saw Hendrix, I thought, ‘Oh, my god. This guy is doing everything that I was trying to do.’ He just made me feel like I couldn’t play.”
May then explained how Hendrix could do “all sorts of things which you hadn’t even thought of, never mind find yourself able to play.”
Reflecting on his first time hearing Hendrix, May said: “I heard him play on a single of ‘Hey Joe‘, and on the flip side, there’s an amazing solo on ‘Stone Free’, where he’s talking to the guitar and it’s talking back to him. I thought, ‘Well, he can’t really be that good. He must have done that with studio technique’.”
Shortly afterwards, in January 1967, Hendrix supported The Who at London’s Savoy Theatre, and May was in attendance. At this point, the American only had one single to his name, yet within the next 12 months, he’d be an internationally renowned figure.
For May, once he’d seen Hendrix in the flesh, he knew he’d witnessed greatness, noting: “He just completely blew me away. I thought, ‘He’s it.’ The Who couldn’t follow him in those days, and they were really hot, big news in England. Anybody in the world would find it hard to follow Hendrix.”
While half of London was speaking in equally favourable terms about Hendrix and May wasn’t the first person to uncover his magnificence, seeing the marvellous talent perform live awoke something inside of the Queen guitarist that has never left him.
