Billy Cox first met guitarist Jimi Hendrix in the early-1960s, when the two men were in the Army, stationed together at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Both shared an interest in music, and would end up performing together at different Jefferson Avenue blues and R&B clubs in North Nashville. Hendrix would end up going to England and fame and fortune, while Cox would remain based in Nashville, playing with various bands and bringing his bass skills to the studio as an in-demand session player.
When the Jimi Hendrix Experience fell apart in 1969 after bassist Noel Redding left the band, it was his old bandmate that Hendrix turned to for help. Hendrix brought Cox to New York City and made him a band member, taking him to Woodstock as part of his Gypsy Sun and Rainbows ensemble. Cox would perform with Jimi and drummer Buddy Miles on the infamous New Year's Eve/New Year's Day concerts at the Fillmore East that would be documented on the Band of Gypsies and Live At The Fillmore albums.
From early 1969 until Hendrix's death in September 1970, Cox worked with Hendrix constantly both on stage and in the studio, a collaboration that resulted in a lot of the great music that has been released posthumously in Hendrix's name. For much of the last 40 years, Cox has lived quietly in Nashville, recording when asked, performing live on occasions like this year's Experience Hendrix tour. My old buddy Ron Wynn of the Nashville Scene newsweekly has a great interview with Cox in the latest issue (available online). Cox's memories of Hendrix are well worth reading for any fan of the ground-breaking blues-rock guitarist. The Rev says "check it out!"
Buddy Guy & Billy Cox backstage at an Experience Hendrix show, photo by Scott Wintrow, courtesy Getty Images
This record by slide guitar wunderkind Derek Trucks has a lot of down home appeal. In more ways than one.
If there was a guitarist who grew up learning guitar at the knee of Son House while listening to Sun Ra records, who toured with Jimi Hendrix, became a star in his own right in the early Seventies and is now putting the finishing touches to a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career, that guy would probably sound a lot like Derek Trucks. Only thing is,...
Mr. Big, the hard rock supergroup that formed in the 1980s and yielded the hits "To Be With You" and "Green Tinted Sixties Mind" has reunited.
The band is comprised of bassist Billy Sheehan (of Talas and David Lee Roth Band fame), guitarist Paul Gilbert (formerly Racer X), drummer Pat Torpey (formerly of The Knack) and singer Eric Martin.
The group debuted with their eponymous album in 1989. This album laid the groundwork for their distinct sound: crunching, shredding guitars, precision-pounded drums, booming bass, and raspy melodic vocals. Soaring choruses combined with crunch delighted fans of the band the world over.
Wait. This sounds like almost every other band that blossomed out of the 80s under the rock/heavy metal genre.
What differentiated Mr. Big from other bands of their time was the fact that all of the members had previous successful careers in
