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Remembering Jimi Hendrix, 47 Years On

The late, great Jimi Hendrix died 47 years ago today, but his legacy has never faded.

Jimmy Hendrix

Photo by Freddy Kearney (Unsplash)

Jimi Hendrix was the kind of musician whose love for his craft outshone even his virtuosic skill.

His passion endowed everything he created with a kind of transcendent fire, and even now—nearly half a century after his death—you can still hear that ecstasy coming through each note of every one of his recordings.

James Marshall Hendrix died of asphyxia on September 18, 1970, after a whirlwind four-year career that would imprint him on music's legacy forever. He spoke frequently about the extent of his love for his craft, giving new meaning to musicianship and inspiring artists everywhere to pick up the guitar.

He was a major inspiration to guitarists like Elton John, Santana, Joe Satriani, and Orianthi. Freddie Mercury called Hendrix his idol, saying, "He sort of epitomizes, from his presentation on stage, the whole works of a rock star. There's no way you can compare him. You either have the magic or you don't. There's no way you can work up to it. There's nobody who can take his place."

Hendrix also made waves as a protest musician, giving voice to the rage and optimism that defined the 1970s. Perhaps most famously, his cover of "The Star-Spangled Banner" was powerful Vietnam protest and a cry of rage at the state of the nation, as well as a tribute to an America that never existed.

He had a tremendous amount of wisdom to give, too, and he knew how to bridge the gap between humility and liberation, between sadness and joy, between love and independence. "Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours," he once advised.

His style was iconic, emblematic of the counterculture movement's best aesthetics.

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He was also an incredible lyricist. His songs were about love, but they were also about pain, religion, and the passage of time; they bridged the gap between bone-deep weariness and hope. As he once said, "Imagination is the key to my lyrics. The rest is painted with a little science fiction."

Of course, when he started to play the guitar, nothing else compared.

What Makes Jimi Hendrix Such a Good Guitaristwww.youtube.com

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For Its 50th Anniversary, David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” Has a New Music Video

The new video features never-before-seen footage of the Man Who Fell to Earth.

David Bowie - Time (Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London 1973) [4K Upgrade]

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David Bowie's "Space Oddity" was released on July 12, 1969.

This Saturday, in celebration of the NASA moon landing's 50th anniversary and the bicentennial of the song's release, Bowie's estate posted a new video. It features never-before-seen footage of the Man Who Fell to Earth, portraying him in all his cosmic glory.

According to the video's description, "The video features footage of David Bowie performing 'Space Oddity' at his 50th-birthday concert at Madison Square Garden in 1997 (directed by Tim Pope), married to footage shot and directed by Édouard Lock (the founder and choreographer of the Montreal dance troupe La La La Human Steps), for the onscreen back drop of Bowie's 1990 Sound & Vision tour."

The video was first unveiled at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., where NASA was treated to a special screening. It was then supposed to publicly premier silently in Times Square on Saturday, as part of a moon landing celebration, but the event was cancelled because of the NYC heatwave—meaning we'll all just have to relish in its glory from our computer screens.

The dreamy footage, full of flashing lights and glitchy projections that make it look like a transmission from another dimension, is set to a new mix of the iconic song. "Space Oddity" launched Bowie to stardom and became one of his biggest hits. With its messages of stratospheric ambition and alienation, as well as its innovative three-part structure and call-and-response lyrics, it remains stunningly relevant and ever-popular today.

David Bowie – Space Oddity (Official Video)www.youtube.com

"Space Oddity" was inspired by Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Oddity. "It was the sense of isolation I related to," Bowie said to Classic Rock in 2012, explaining his feelings about the movie. "I found the whole thing amazing. I was out of my gourd, very stoned when I went to see it – several times – and it was really a revelation to me. It got the song flowing."

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Trailerwww.youtube.com

The song's release was timed to coincide with the 1969 moon landing and was even used as background for the television broadcast of the moon landing in Britain. Apparently, Bowie found this decision amusing. "I'm sure they really weren't listening to the lyric at all; it wasn't a pleasant thing to juxtapose against a moon landing. Of course, I was overjoyed that they did," he said. "Obviously, some BBC official said: 'Right, then. That space song, Major Tom…' blah blah blah, 'That'll be great.' Nobody had the heart to tell the producer: 'Um… but he gets stranded in space, sir."

Apollo 11 Moonwalk Montagewww.youtube.com

For a while after, because the song's release coincided with the Apollo 11 event, Bowie was considered a gimmicky act. Today, even after having cemented his legacy as one of the most beloved performers of all time, "Space Oddity" remains Bowie's signature song. And what a song it is—with its dizzying, spectral instrumentation and simple yet profound lyrics, it's a 4 minute and 43 second liftoff into another, more beautiful world.

Watch the new video here:

David Bowie - Space Oddity (2019 Mix) [Official Video]www.youtube.com