Jimi Hendrix: “Pink Floyd is the future of rock”
When Jimi Hendrix in 1966 he arrived in Great Britain and the musical scene across the Channel had never seen equal talent. The style and his use of the guitar impressed Eric Clapton and influenced Jeff Beck’s career and playing style.
However, while his abilities amazed his British peers (and beyond), Hendrix looked elsewhere for inspiration. “I thought maybe England didn’t want me anymore. I really thought I was done completely” But these are the statements made to Roy Hollingworth of the English magazine Melody Maker contained in an interview that appeared in the September 5, 1970 issue to offer an idea of what impressed Jimi who in turn impressed everyone else with his music.
When asked what his new music would sound like, Hendrix admitted he didn’t know. But he offered his vision of how rock’s next phase of development would take shape and, more interestingly, who would make it.
“People like it when you make them lose their minds,” he says, “and we’re going to give them the chance to have that happen, and while they’re losing their minds, there’s going to be something that fills the void. It’s going to be a complete form of music. It’s going to be very music. drug addict. It could be something similar to what the Pink Floyd. They don’t know it, but people like Pink Floyd are the mad scientists of these times.”
At the time of the interview, Pink Floyd had established themselves on the prog music scene following the departure of Syd Barrett and the arrival of the guitarist David Gilmour. The group had released two albums with Gilmour – “Blackberries” (the soundtrack) and “Ummagumma” (a double with live and unreleased songs) both from 1969 – and it was a month after the release of “Atom Heart Mother”, the group’s first album to reach number one in the UK and number 55 in the US, Pink Floyd’s highest chart position at the time.
It’s only partially surprising that Hendrix was in tune with Pink Floyd. The common factor between the American guitarist and the English band is that both were groundbreaking innovators, although Jimi and Gilmour’s musical approaches couldn’t be more different. Hendrix took the blues of his predecessors to new heights, eventually paving the way for future generational talents such as Eddie Van Halen, but also Stevie Ray Vaughan, all inspired by his technical skills and evident playing speed.
However, Jimi Hendrix will never be able to listen to Pink Floyd’s upcoming album or even see the developments of their career. 13 days after the Melody Maker interview was published, on September 18, 1970, he was found dead in his London flat.
