10 Moments That Changed Rock Music History

EVERYTHING changed after Hendrix.

He had it all: Dressed to the nines, an off stage humility and an explosive knack for ripping sounds out of an instrument that people had only dreamed off.

Eric Clapton's renown as a guitar playing was well established by 1966. He'd made a name for himself performing an electrified version of the the blues in bands such as the Yardbirds and The Blues Breakers, and in 1966 he joined the legendary Cream. Teaming up with bass player Jack Bruce and drumming madmen Ginger Baker, Clapton and Cream soon became the pinnacle of blues infused heavy rock.

So adored was Clapton as a guitarist, his fans raised him up to the status of a deity, imbuing him with the lofty nickname "God".

But one fated night in 1966, everything changed when an unknown young American guitarist audaciously requested to jam with Cream at the London Polytechnic. Of course, that young American was no other than Jimi Hendrix, who took to the stage to play a rendition of Howlin' Wolf's Killin' Floor.

So blown away was Clapton by the performance that he was found backstage, shakily trying to light a cigarette and asking his manager "Is he really that good?"

Guitar music would never be the same from that moment. Clapton had set the bar, but Hendrix took it to space.