Oh damn, still in this dream.

There was always something horribly white and (thatched-) british about DP. I was required to learn Black Night and Speed King 'back in the day'. I had a sneaking admiration for RB, his sound was one of the 'ripest' of all time, and with his hands on the instrument, riffing like a mad thing and playing tightly-scripted solos, there was nothing quite like him. He was not copying Hendrix, and neither was he a blues regurgitator. When I saw him (with DP) at Wolverhampton Civic hall in 1971 I was quite delighted until he did his own solo break. Then he went into this hammering/pull-off thing which was neither rhythmic or melodic. I was appalled. No humour, no fun, no interest. I couldn't believe somebody who had played so excitingly and so faultlessly up until then would offer this as his personal gift. He took his strat off (a very nice black one) and put it atop his Marshall stack and wiggled the trem. I giggled. I'd seen Hendrix do similar stuff - it was funky, musical and ... sexy. RB... I just had no idea what he was after. I know McLaughlin has not much humour either, but at least he was influenced by early RnB, James Brown, and of course Jazz. RB, whilst a formidable player was in another universe, certainly from JH, and even from JM. We know that Miles wanted to collaborate with Jimi, but thought he needed training and discipline. RB didn't really swing. All of Miles' guitarists could at least swing - even Mike Stern. I find it hard to even imagine RB in Miles' band. Miles used to say to his musicians 'I'm not interested in what you know how to play.' RB only played (plays) what he knows. I think Miles would have said 'Either you go beyond that, or you get out of the (motherfuckin') band'.