• Peavey T-40 Bass

Fretting about Jimi

Legendary musician Jimi Hendrix was named recently as the greatest guitar player in history by Rolling Stone magazine in a list compiled by a panel of music experts and top guitar players. Seattle’s favorite son is joined by the likes of Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Pete Townsend among the top 10, in a list laden with rock ’n’ roll icons spanning decades.

“Jimi Hendrix exploded our idea of what rock music could be: He manipulated the guitar, the whammy bar, the studio and the stage,” said Grammy-winning guitarist Tom Morello in the magazine, citing Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” as key tracks. The panel of experts recruited to vote included musicians Lenny Kravitz, Eddie Van Halen (who was voted #8), Brian May and Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys, along with a selection of Rolling Stone’s senior writers and editors.

All of which would usually give me a great excuse to show yet another picture from the iconic Jimi Hendrix bronze statue (www.flickr.com/photos/jbhthescots/6258376713/in/photostream) by local artist Daryl Smith, situated outside of Blick Art Materials on bohemian Broadway - but you must have seen enough of those from me, right?

So instead, here’s one from inside Seattle’s Parsons Guitars (www.parsonsguitars.com/) on 520 Westlake Ave N. The store is owned by guitar guru Randy Parsons, who makes handcrafted instruments for the likes of Jimmy Page, Jack White and the bands Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse. He also appeared in the recent rock-doc “It Might Get Loud.”

Leica M7 & 50mm Summilux
Kodak TMax 100