Pete Townshend may have had a major impact on Jimi Hendrix’s career
Photo: Getty Images. All rights reserved.
Speaking on the radio show Ultimate Classic Rock Nights, Pete Townshend recalled advice he gave Jimi Hendrix when they first met in 1966. He probably wouldn’t do that anymore today, said the guitarist from The Who, laughing.
Hendrix had just arrived in Britain that year and was still quite disoriented. But within a few months he developed into a pop star on the island and founded the band The Jimi Hendrix Experience, which would soon go down in rock history.
Townshend: “Jimi Hendrix’s manager took him to a recording studio to meet me when he first arrived. Then he asked me what equipment I should buy. Now what I did for Jimi, I guess I regret today: I told him I was using a mix of an amp called Sound City, which was a Marshall replacement, and a Marshall to get that kind of sloppy sound receive.”
Jimi Hendrix also played The Who against the wall
Hendrix obediently followed the advice given to him – and it wasn’t long before Townshend realized what he had done. “And then, a few weeks later, we did a show with him at the Saville Theater that he was supposedly supporting US for,” Townshend said. “I wish I had never tipped him off! I was like, ‘Oh my god, this guy’s brilliant enough without having to be a tad loud!’
Continue reading: