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Rolling Stones Quotes: Keith Richards on Jimi Hendrix
KEITH RICHARDS ON HENDRIX: ONE OF A KIND Keith Richards sums up Jimi Hendrix perfectly: the guy was so wild and talented on guitar that nobody else could pull it off without messing it up. Hendrix wasn’t just wailing for show—he had a magic touch that made chaos sound like genius. As Richards puts it, you’ve got to be a “special cat” to do what Jimi did. Simply put, Hendrix left a mark no one can copy.
“One guy can ruin an instrument. Jimi Hendrix, bless his heart – how I wish he was still around – almost inadvertently ruined guitar. Because he was the only cat who could do it like that. Everybody else just screwed it up, and thought wailing away on the guitar is the answer. But it ain’t; you’ve got to be a Jimi to do that, you’ve got to be one of the special cats.“
Keith Richards once dropped a gem about Jimi Hendrix that captures both awe and warning in one go. He pointed out that Hendrix had this rare gift—so singular that anyone else trying the same wild, experimental guitar antics would just… ruin it. “One guy can ruin an instrument,” Richards mused, highlighting how Hendrix’s style was uniquely his own. He admired the mastery and the chaos Hendrix could conjure, noting that others who tried to mimic his wailing riffs often missed the point. Hendrix wasn’t just playing notes—he was bending reality through his guitar, something only a true original could pull off.
The Special Cats of Guitar
Richards’ take wasn’t just praise; it was a subtle lesson in musical authenticity. He acknowledged Hendrix as a “special cat”. the kind of musician whose brilliance comes from innate talent and fearless experimentation. Everyone else attempting Hendrix-style fireworks ended up screwing it up because they lacked that singular spark. In other words, the power of Hendrix’s playing wasn’t in the volume or the showmanship—it was in the precision, creativity, and identity he brought to each note. Richards’ reflection reminds us that genius can’t be copied. It’s rare, it’s personal, and it reshapes the instrument and the listener alike. Hendrix left an indelible mark, and as Richards laments, the music world feels his absence even decades later, because there’s only ever one Jimi.
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