Jimi Hendrix was a phenomenal guitarist. It’s probably safe to say that fact has been fairly well established for the last half century or so. Everyone knows he was a revolutionary figure in music, haven brought a certain swagger, groove, and rawness to rock n ’roll that made practically everything else that came before him seems tame and stiff by comparison. But for this writer, what always made Hendrix truly special was his voice and his penchant for melody. Simply put, the dude had soul, but given his reputation for jaw-dropping feedback-drenched guitar theatrics, that fact often gets overlooked when discussing Hendrix’s legacy. But like all great bluesmen (which Hendrix effectively was at heart), he could channel his inner turmoil and depression into something genuinely real and heartfelt, and that sense of anguish, and again, soul, is more than palpable in this remarkable acoustic performance. It’s so quiet and stripped-down, it’s downright haunting, but mostly, it’s just a beautiful thing to soak in.
