The man Jimi Hendrix called the “best guitarist” of all time

Whenever there is a discussion about true guitar heroes we can always find the name, Jimi Hendrix. Certainly, Hendrix’s guitar skills were unmatchable, and mentioning his skills, Medium wrote that Hendrix was the guitar god. Well, it seems fair and deserving because even other greatest guitarists like David Gilmour and Jimmy Page were inspired by Hendrix. In fact, Page even stated that Hendrix was the greatest.

Furthermore, there might not be a single person who would say Hendrix’s ability was mediocre at least we have not met anyone who suggests so. However, call it Hendrix’s humbleness or something else, while the whole world called and referred to him as the greatest guitar player, he did not think that he was the best.

Hendrix once revealed in an interview who he considers the best guitarist of all time. So who was he talking about? Find out below.

The best guitarist of all time according to Jimi Hendrix

Back on September 9th, 1969 Hendrix appeared on The Dick Cavett Show. During the show, Cavett tells him, “you’re considered one of the best guitar players in the world,” and Hendrix humbly answers, “the greatest sitting in this chair, maybe.”

Moreover, when Hendrix went to The Mike Douglas Show, he was asked how it feels to be the world’s greatest guitar player, to which Jimi replies, “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask Rory Gallagher.” It not only shows Hendrix’s humbleness but also shows how much Rory Gallagher meant to him. We can infer from Jimi’s statement that Rory was Hendrix’s favorite guitarist and source of inspiration.

However, no matter what Hendrix thought, people were not buying it because for them Jimi was the greatest and most talented man to ever play the instrument. Furthermore, even after over four decades, Hendrix is still people’s favorite guitarist.

Additionally, there are several other guitarists who Hendrix really loved including Steve Cropper, Eric Clapton, Albert Collins, and a few others. Back in 2014 bassist, Billy Cox who used to perform with Hendrix told that Steve Cropper inspired several of Hendrix’s early tracks.

Furthermore, in 1966 Jimi got a chance to play with his idol, Eric Clapton. In an interview with Planet Rock, Clapton talked about the night he and Hendrix played together. He said, “We got up on stage, and Chas Chandler says ‘I’ve got this friend who would love to jam with you. He [Hendrix] got up and blew everyone’s mind. I just thought ‘ahh, someone that plays the stuff I love in the flesh, on stage with me.’I was actually privileged to be (on stage with him)… it’s something that no one is ever going to beat; that incident, that night, it’s historic in my mind but only a few people are alive that would remember it.”

Hendrix also talked about Albert Collins once. Back in the day, Collins was not as popular as Hendrix or Clapton. He was someone who was underappreciated and underrated, however, Hendrix being a legendary guitarist himself saw how talented Collins was and in 1968, Hendrix even shared his for Collins. He said that Collins is not only good but one of the best guitar players in the world.

Jimi was a great person who loved to appreciate underrated musicians. Billy Gibbons once shared his musical experience with Hendrix in an interview with Express. He said that they played together for 45 minutes and after they were done playing, Hendrix grabbed him [Gibbons] by the hand and said that he likes him. Gibbons further said that they became friends, he said, “we were good friends, very good friends. I still got fond memories of our time together and hope that someday we can ring it out.”