The man from Mars | SUN | 27 11 2022 | 17:10

November 27 marks the 80th birthday of guitarist, singer and composer James Marshall Hendrix, who died in 1970. “When I first heard Jimi Hendrix on the radio, I thought the Martians had landed!” said American singer-songwriter Christopher Cross, impressed by these wild and fresh sounds, once in an interview with the long-defunct German music magazine “Fachblatt”.

Due to his experimental and innovative way of playing the electric guitar, especially the confident handling of feedback, Hendrix is ​​considered one of the most influential string artists in rock music. There’s hardly a guitarist who doesn’t have an opinion or an anecdote about the famous Seattle musician. And most of the time people talk about “Black Elvis” with admiration and reverence. At first glance, this term does not seem quite appropriate, because here an Afro-American musician is compared to a white rock ‘n’ roller, who himself had mainly used black musical styles. But Jimi Hendrix was a proven fan of Elvis and had also attended one of his concerts in the 1950s. And Hendrix’s stage show, such as lighting the guitar, caused as much attention in the 1960s as Elvis had a decade earlier.

The Spielräume Spezial present highlights from Hendrix’ short but all the more impressive career.

Design: Klaus Wienerroither

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