Everybody is allowed to have their own personal taste in music. Some widely revered acts may not connect with everybody. For example, there are people out there who do not think Pantera is one of the greatest bands of all time. While I greatly disagree with their position, I respect it.
Similarly, as a huge fan of Jimi Hendrix and Marty Friedman, I was surprised to learn Friedman is not a fan of the legendary guitarist. Speaking to Ultimate-Guitar, he said:
"I'd rather chew glass than listen to Hendrix," he said. "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 [Bob] Dylan because things go out of tune and it kills me.
"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."
Of course, since the interview came out, Friedman got a bunch of messages about it, so he decided to clarify on his Facebook:
"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.
"Good interview below: Of course their headline makes me look like an a–hole, but that's how I talk to my friends, and that's how I consider all of you out there, so enjoy."
He also added: "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."
I totally get it, and applaud Friedman for being so up front about this. But I respectfully disagree!
