The well-acclaimed heavy metal guitarist Joe Satriani recently spoke about his admiration for the music of Jimi Hendrix and recalled when he first heard his record. He revealed that he studied his music, and it took him years to get into it.
Joe Satriani worked with many iconic names throughout his career, kicking off his adventures by first working with Mick Jagger for his solo album. He is also known for instructing names like Steve Vai, Kirk Hammett, and Alex Skolnick, who received fame and recognition through their music. Vai was also nominated for the Grammys 15 times and is still considered one of the best heavy metal guitarists.
Like many other icons in the guitar world, Satriani also had inspirations before and throughout his career that helped shape his guitar skills. He recently named Jimi Hendrix, who has been the idol of many guitar players in rock and roll. Even if musicians don’t copy his work, they surely grab something he does on the instrument and adapt it to their style. His influence is at least as heavy as his name is in the music world.
According to Satriani, he first heard Hendrix when his sister brought one of his records. He loved listening to the entire record, but a specific song hit him deep, standing out from others. ‘Third Stone From the Sun’ was a song Satriani couldn’t listen to from start to finish without pausing and taking a break. Almost like a student trying to learn a new language, he needed to comprehend what he had heard so far to raise his capacity for the remainder of the song.
Here is what he said about Hendrix’s music:
“It was probably my older sister’s boyfriend who brought over the first Hendrix record. Of course, I just love listening to the whole thing, but when ‘Third Stone From the Sun’ came on, I swear the first time I listened to it, I couldn’t listen to it all the way through. It was so cathartic an event to just sit there, inches from this little record player, and listen to all this music. Before I got to the end, I had to stop, take a few minutes, and then start again.
I had to increase my capacity for this incredibly creative onslaught of musical artistry. It took me years to get into it, and the last time I was on tour in 2019, I got to play this song every night on the Experience Hendrix tour with Doug Pinnick and Kenny Aronoff. It was such a wonderful opportunity to be able to play it as Jimmy would have. Oddly enough, he never played it live. There’s no worrying him ever doing it.”
You can listen to him below.
