At 71, His Favorite Artist of His Entire Life is Still Jimi Hendrix - Kenji Fukuoka

I had always thought of Master as a "blues man."

Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture. In this land known as a city of music, Fukuoka-san operated live houses "9th" and "7th" — the person we call "Master." I had heard that he liked the Japanese blues band West Road Blues Band, and the atmosphere of his venue somehow carried the scent of blues.

So I was very surprised by the answer that came back when I asked over the phone, "Who is your favorite artist?"

"It's still Jimi Hendrix."

At 71 years old. A man who had devoted his life to music said this without hesitation.

Discovering Jimi Hendrix in High School

Fukuoka-san says he listened to Hendrix obsessively during his high school years.

Jimi Hendrix — In the late 1960s, the man who fundamentally changed the possibilities of electric guitar. Feedback, wah pedal, distortion. In just four years of activity, he unleashed sounds no one had ever heard before onto the world.

"Of course I could never copy them, but I'd hum along with the main melodies of Voodoo Child, Machine Gun, and others."

Couldn't copy them. But his body responded. Humming the main melodies. That's beyond "listening" — it's becoming one with the music. I can easily imagine young Master thrashing his hair while playing guitar.

Little Wing — The Only Song He Could Copy

"The only ballad Little Wing was something I managed to copy, and I performed it with my band in my first year of college."

Among Hendrix's songs, Little Wing holds a special position. This track from 1967's 'Axis: Bold as Love' is just two and a half minutes long. The intro's chord work is delicate and beautiful, showing a different face from Hendrix's "intensity."

Among all those unplayable songs, this was the one he could play. And he performed it with his band. That must have been the moment when Fukuoka-san felt closest to Hendrix.

Scattered Tastes United by Blues

His first-year college band. The members' tastes were all over the place.

"The bassist liked the Beatles, the other guitarist was into British rock, the drummer loved jazz — we were all scattered, but blues was what unified our direction."

Beatles, British rock, jazz, and Hendrix. Four people with completely different directions found the one place where they could overlap: blues. Come to think of it, maybe it was inevitable. Beatles, British rock, jazz, and Hendrix too — they all came from blues.

Baptism into Kyoto Blues

At that time, Japan's blues scene was making big waves in Kyoto.

"During the big Kyoto blues boom, I learned from West Road Blues Band, Blues House, and others."

West Road Blues Band. A cornerstone of Japanese blues formed in Kyoto in 1971. Featuring Takashi "Hotoke" Nagai and Shinji Shiotsugi, they played Chicago blues on Japanese soil.

"What I think now is that they were contributors who made blues appealing to Japanese tastes. In college, I copied West Road like crazy."

Rather than bringing authentic blues as-is, they digested it through Japanese sensibility and made it their own sound. Fukuoka-san expresses this achievement with the word "contributors." I think that's an accurate assessment from someone who has observed music for many years.

The Real Masters

"I enjoyed many real masters like John Lee Hooker at Shinjuku Kosei Nenkin Hall. When listening alone, I also like Otis Spann and others."

John Lee Hooker — the man who shook the world with boogie rhythms. Otis Spann — Chicago blues' greatest pianist who supported Muddy Waters' band.

"When listening alone, it's Otis Spann" — I love this phrase. Apart from blues that gets crowds excited, there's music that accompanies solitary moments. That being Otis Spann is a quiet luxury that only those who deeply love music possess.

Hendrix in the West — An Album That Never Gets Old

'Hendrix in the West' is a live album released after Hendrix's death. It captures performances from 1969 to 1970.

Johnny B. Goode, Voodoo Chile, Little Wing, Red House — here are living sounds from a different dimension than studio recordings. Especially the live version of Voodoo Chile captures moments when Hendrix's guitar is completely "speaking."

The Voodoo Chile that Fukuoka-san hummed along to in high school. The Little Wing that was the only song he could copy in college. Both are included as live takes on this album.

"The albums that still never get old are Hendrix's In the West and West Road. I never get tired of them~~"

In 71 years of life, he must have listened to thousands of records and CDs. Among all of those, to be able to say definitively that there's one that "never gets old" — that's a blessed thing, and I think Master is still grateful to his high school self for encountering that album.

Editor's Note

I (Namio) worked part-time at Master's live house "7th" when I was in my twenties.

Thanks to that, I made many friends. I got to know musicians. Every day was stimulating, drowning in music. While standing on stage with my clumsy guitar playing, I spent every day with admired artists and lifelong friends. Those were very happy days.

Master welcomed all of this with an incredibly deep embrace.

Actually, he's one of the mentors of my life.

This column was born from a single message that mentor sent me. "At 71, his favorite artist of his entire life is still Jimi Hendrix." — I wanted to carefully convey those words.