Anniversary: I Thought It Was Beautiful

It's that time of the year, kids!  It's WOODSTOCK ANNIVERSARY TIME!

And this time, we're letting Jimi do the talking:

"Unorthodox...?  I thought it was beautiful."

Take a listen.  Hendrix wasn't classically trained, barely could read a sheet a music.  He played completely by ear, by feel.  It's why he re-tunes the guitar as he plays it, because he hears something a bit off and wants it fixed then and there.

Critics tend to think Hendrix played a bombastic version of the song as a commentary on the violence of war in Vietnam, but remember what he said to Dick Cavett: "I thought it was beautiful."  He played it... plays it that because he hears it that way.

And to Jimi it's beautiful.