Pre-Venetian, Billy Gibbons rocks Hendrix’s Flying V on ‘Kimmel’

Billy F. Gibbons didn’t play the famed Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. Jimi Hendrix did. But Gibbons played Hendrix’s guitar from the festival, Thursday night on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

The appearance was ahead of ZZ Top’s return to The Venetian Theatre from Dec. 3-10. The band is back with its current lineup of Gibbons; co-founder Frank Beard on drums; and Elwood Francis, the veteran guitar tech who has replaced original bassist, Dusty Hill.

Gibbons rocked Kimmel’s show with Hendrix’s Flying V guitar from the Isle of Wight performance, just three weeks before Hendrix’s death. Gibbons joined Kimmel’s house band Cleto and the Cletones.

Near the top of the show, Kimmel asked Gibbons, “Is it true Jimi Hendrix gave you a guitar lesson?” Gibbons said, “Yes, he did,” and played the opening riff of “Foxy Lady.”

Kimmel then said, “Did your mom have to pay him?” Gibbons grinned and said, “Yes!”

The guitar was provided by Hard Rock International, flown in from the U.K. specifically for the occasion. As Kimmel mentioned, Hendrix’s 80th birthday is Nov. 27. He died at age 27 on Sept. 18, 1970.

Gibbons’ participation throughout the broadcast was also to mark the release of “The Jimi Hendrix Experience — Los Angeles Forum, April 26, 1969.”

Gibbons attended that show, and wrote the liner notes for the album, remixed by Hendrix’s longtime engineer, Eddie Kramer. In his pre-ZZ Top days (there was such a time), Gibbons opened for Hendrix on several dates as a member of the band Moving Sidewalks.

Gibbons says the iconic Gibson Flying V sounded just right for Hendrix, but was played upside-down by the left-handed legend. Hendrix also favored an upside-down Fender Stratocaster, which he also played at the Isle of Wight.

“Jimi played a right-handed guitar, strung up for right-handed playing,” Gibbons said in a phone interview last week. “He simply flipped it upside-down. So he was he was playing left handed on a right handed guitar. There is speculation that, of course, that technique led to some of the unorthodox playing style that Jimi became so adept at playing, but is difficult to reproduce.”

Gibbons then said, “This is where it gets really interesting.”

“When Gibson found out that Hendrix had a passion for the Flying V, they made him one for a left-handed player, and all of the controls and strings were repositioned,” Gibbons said. “So the instrument they have volunteered to be played is a left-handed instrument. I’ll be playing it right-handed, upside-down, opposite of what Jimi did, in a way.”

Gibbons did have the strings in proper order during his stint with Kimmel. The 72-year-old rock legend has not yet said if he’ll break out the Flying V at the band’s next dates on the Strip. But “The Flying Venetian” would be a very cool experience.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.