Besides being one of the most important members of The Beatles and one of the most praised songwriters and bassists of all time, Paul McCartney is actually a multi-instrumentalist. He can play a wide variety of instruments and even recorded three solo albums during his career on which he played every note himself. He was also the guitarist on several Beatles songs and often demonstrates what a great guitar player he is during his live shows. At one point, he praised a legendary guitar player who truly changed the course of Rock and Roll music. However, he also noted that although the guitarist was great, he was not better than Jimi Hendrix. The guitarist Paul McCartney called great but not better than Hendrix In 1978, after Van Halen released their groundbreaking self-titled debut album the Rock and Roll scene was shocked and trying to figure out how Eddie Van Halen played. He showed the world there was a whole new way to play the instrument and that made him be compared with the late legendary Jimi Hendrix, who also caused a real guitar revolution in the late 60s. Paul McCartney was one of those musicians who were impressed and praised Eddie's talent and technique, but he noted that although he was amazing, he was not better than Jimi Hendrix. “I have very fond memories of Jimi. I mean, Van Halen’s great, I love Eddie Van Halen. But I still think Jimi was the best,” Paul McCartney told Rolling Stone magazine in 1986. A couple of years later he praised the Dutch guitarist again, revealing he liked some "Heavy Metal" musicians too. “I like Eddie Van Halen as a player. He gets it right quite often. I like a lot of heavy metal guys because they wind it up. What I usually like in a heavy metal band is the guitar player. But when it’s just miles of scales, I lose interest. I like some of the hot sounds,” Paul McCartney told Guitar Player magazine. Eddie Van Halen passed away in 2020 at the age of 65 after years battling cancer. Bands like The Beatles and Dave Clark Five were a big influence to him and his brother Alex when they were growing up. It was after being inspired by that music made in the 60s that they decided to be Rock musicians and not become classical music players. McCartney's friendship with Jimi Hendrix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRWB_vMi19M&pp=ygUdcGF1bCBtY2NhcnRuZXkgZm94eSBsYWR5IDIwMjQ%3D Paul McCartney was lucky enough to have seen Jimi Hendrix play live multiple times, even discovering him by accident when he happened to be in the same club where the then-unknown Hendrix was performing for practically no one. Hendrix’s first notes immediately caught McCartney’s attention, and he was instantly hooked by the late musician’s performance. They became friends, and Hendrix even paid tribute to The Beatles when they were in the audience, creating a live version of the title track "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band," which had been released only a couple of days before the show. “Jimi Hendrix, it’s gotta be Jimi (The best guitarist of all time). Oh man, great guy. I knew him a little bit because he kind of got discovered over here (In the UK) really. Even though he’d been working a long time in America.” “I think I was possibly at one of his first gigs down a place called The Bag of Nails. (Which) is a club I used to go to. Actually it’s where I met Linda (McCartney). He just sort of shambled on stage one night. We never really used to bother with the live acts. We used to be more interested in the records.” Paul McCartney continued: “The live acts weren’t always that good but he had these very big amps. We were wondering what he was going to do with them. So suddenly this (big noise starts) and we just (were amazed). There were not many people there that night. But a couple of nights later he played again and everyone was there. It was like me, (Pete) Townshend, (Eric) Clapton, all like paying homage already to this man,” Paul McCartney said in a TV interview back in the 80s. (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). Hendrix tragically passed away in 1970 at the age of 27, he was only a few months younger than McCartney. The Beatle often plays an excerpt of "Foxy Lady" during his solo shows. The track is usually played right after The Wings hit "Let Me Roll It".The post The guitarist Paul McCartney called great but not better than Hendrix appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.