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The Jimi Hendrix song ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons said is one of his favorites
The ZZ Top co-founder, guitarist and singer Billy Gibbons started his career in the late 60s but before helping to form the power trio, he was part of a band called The Moving Sidewalks. That group was lucky enough to have been Jimi Hendrix‘s opening act on a few dates, and of course, Gibbons had the chance to hang out with the late legendary guitarist and learned a lot with him.
He has always been a huge fan of the guitar player who changed the course of music and once revealed which is one of his favorite Hendrix songs.
The Jimi Hendrix song ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons said is one of his favorites
The song Billy Gibbons mentioned in an interview with Rolling Stone as one of his favorites was “Red House”, featured on Hendrix’s debut album “Are You Experienced” (1967). “A buddy said, ‘There’s a song that you oughta hear.’ He was talking about ‘Red House,’ by Jimi Hendrix. That completely turned us upside down. It was blues taken beyond.”
“Then the Sidewalks got hired to join the Experience tour in 1968. We didn’t have enough material for 45 minutes, so we started doing ‘Purple Haze.’ I looked over and Hendrix was in the wings, wide-eyed, grinning. We had seen his showman antics from older blues guitarists. But he had a vision and aura. I remember him tiptoeing across the hall at the hotel: ‘Come in here. Do you know how this is done?’ He was learning chops off Jeff Beck’s first record, ‘Truth’.”
Gibbons recalled once that he told Hendrix that day that Jeff Beck was probably doing the same thing in England trying to figure out how Hendrix was playing.
“Red House” was inspired by old Blues tracks Hendrix played as a sideman for other artists before he formed his own group. “Are You Experienced” was quite successful for a debut album. It peaked at number 2 on the UK official charts and 5 on the US Billboard Top LPs
Gibbons thinks Jimi Hendrix was a technical wizard
Gibbons described Hendrix once as a “technical wizard”, saying he did things with the Stratocaster that designers of the instrument could have never imagined it was possible.
“He was a real technical wizard. He was inventing things to do with the Stratocaster guitar I am confident the designers had no clue would unfold in later years. Jimi had the talent to make that work for him. His technique was very peculiar in that he was playing a right-handed guitar in a left-handed style, upside down. To look at it and try to figure out what he was doing was very daunting.”
“But we got to share opposing hotel rooms always at the end of the hall. The doors were always open. He had a record player delivered each and every afternoon, and he would motion to me, ‘Come on over here. Let’s see if we can figure this out’,” he told Rolling Stone.
Gibbons also admired Hendrix’s personality, since he recalled a few times the late musician was actually shy. However when he was on stage he would transform into another person.
Jimi tragically passed away back in 1970 at the age of 27 after a short career as a frontman. He was a sideman for many artists before he finally formed his own group Jimi Hendrix Experience. The original power trio was also had Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell.
With that line-up, the band released three praised studio albums. Then in 1970, Hendrix recorded with other artists the album “Band of Gypsys”. Since then many unreleased Hendrix recordings were released by his estate and record companies.
