Stumbled on this long interview with the guitar players from Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin's band). They had some amazing things to say about Hendrix. This is the part that really blew my freakin' mind:
ames: Yeah. The same week we were there with B.B. King, and Martin Luther King got shot. B.B. King really played his set to him, just really played beautifully. B.B. King played so beautifully and delicately that night for Martin Luther King. He was fantastic. But anyways, Hendrix came in every night that week and jammed. They stayed open all night. After the regular scheduled acts were over, they stayed open all night for jam sessions. And Hendrix came in every night, and he played everything under the sun! He played all the Beatles stuff, he played Bach, Beethoven – on the electric guitar. And not only that, he could play the guitar right-handed and left-handed. Either handed!
You saw him do this?
James: Yeah! Upside-down.
Sam: That’s a fact.
James: He played his guitar [points to Sam].
Did he flip it over to play it?
James: Either way!
Sam: He would flip it over. He could play it both ways, or restrung so it’d be right for a left-hander.
James: Right. He could play right-handed guitar left-handed, left-handed guitar right handed, right-handed guitar right handed, and left-handed guitar left handed.
I mean seriously? It didn't slow the mother down to play right handed? *sighs and considers selling all his guitars*
See more:
http://jasobrecht.com/big-brother-holding-company-1978-sam-andrew-james-gurley-interview-part-2/
Amazing stuff about the anti-technique attitude in the sixties (much like the nineties) and how the world turned to colour after 1965.
