(Credits: Far Out / Bent Rej / Reprise Records)
Sun 7 December 2025 1:00, UK
Jimi Hendrix’s dominance was inevitable, taking over the world the minute the world was ready to hear him. This is a man who has live performing down to a T, and was undeniable from the minute he took to the stage.
“It was probably one of the first shows he did [in London]. It was in a tiny downstairs club in Queensgate. It was a fashion club, mostly girls, 18 to 25, all dolled up, hats and all. Jimi wasn’t known then,” said Jeff Beck when recalling the first time he ever saw Hendrix play live and how much of a huge experience it was, gushing on, “He came on, and I went, ‘Oh, my God’. He had the military outfit on and hair that stuck out all over the place. They kicked off with [Bob Dylan’s] ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, and I thought, ‘Well, I used to be a guitarist’.”
Beck wasn’t the only artist who was moved by Jimi Hendrix; there were plenty of people, musicians and punters, who went to see him live and couldn’t quite believe what they were witnessing. Hendrix’s fame was a direct result of how captivating he was live, and subsequently, his live shows became one of the most sought-after things in all of rock, which would see him play studio songs, improvise, and stuff his sets with guitar-oriented excellence for the masses.
Because of how frequently he played live, the majority of songs he released were performed on stage; however, there are a few tracks which rarely made the cut.
Whether this was because he wasn’t a fan or they were too difficult to take to the stage is unknown, but the fact remains, Hendrix should have played these songs live a lot more.
Songs Hendrix should have played live more:
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