Marty Friedman Says He’d ‘Rather Chew Glass’ Than Listen to Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix is considered by many to be the best guitarist of all time, and is undoubtedly on the short list of great axemen. Not everybody is a fan of Hendrix's, though, including former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman.
In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Friedman says he'd "rather chew glass than listen to Hendrix." He adds, "I never got Hendrix. When I think of Hendrix, an image comes in my mind about a lot of hippies rolling around in mud tripping on acid and it just doesn't turn me on at all. And all that noise and feedback and I'm like, 'Play in tune.' I'm a big tuning guy and that's probably why I don't like Dylan because things go out of tune and it kills me."
Friedman continues, "But then again, all of my favorite guitarists hail Hendrix: I'm a big Uli Jon Roth fan and he's the most beautiful guitarist. He probably loves Hendrix as much as Hendrix's own mother does. All the guys I respect love Hendrix so I know there's something there. It's just that I never got it because it never fit into my experiences."
After receiving some feedback about his Hendrix comment in the interview, Friedman posted the following clarification on his Facebook page:
When I was a beginning guitarist, all the good players in town would tell me I should listen to this guy or learn from this album, and check out this guitar master or that one. Of course I wanted to impress my friends as well as 'learn from the best' so I diligently checked out all the most respected players.
I soon realized that although the artists that were suggested to me were certainly brilliant masters, I found little joy in analyzing their music, because I just plain didn't understand it or even like much of it. It meant nothing to me, like homework from a teacher in school.
When I dug into the music that I did actually like, even though much of it was a bit obscure and not 'approved by the local big shot guitarists' I really enjoyed the process of learning and as a result, I wound up easily and subliminally able to decide what I want to play in my own music.
In response to a reader comment, Friedman also posted, "I explain this because a lot of kids fall in the trap of peer pressure on this issue and I believe they will enjoy music more if they heard this from me."
Friedman will embark on his first American tour in a decade beginning Sept. 9 in Baltimore. The trek is in support of last year's Inferno album.
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