i have always had trouble understanding hendrix as a "guitarist". i've heard a hundred guys who can play (way) better than he could. but as someone who could make his musical imagination come directly to life, free of the limitations of technique or electronic machinery, straight out of his upside-down fender strat (he didn't even bother to get a left-handed model)- there's only a handful of musicians that can dream and play great at the same time.
and what a wondrous set of dreamscapes he possessed. it's too bad he couldn't find a set of guys to groove with down the road as he became more and more disallusioned with "just" playing rock and roll. not that R&R is not great music, but imagine Jimi hooking up with groups doing experimental material, like Henry Cow, Soft Machine, Hatfield, etc. Or perhaps he needed to work relatively alone in an electronic studio like Frank Zappa to continue to unravel his Opus.
either way, in one documentary on his career, his exceptional talent and fiery performances were so great, that he literally made guitarists like Clapton and Townsend quite "nervous" having to appear on the same stage after he was through playing.
