In my humble opinion, hendrix is really overrated.
It's not about technique or soul or whatever, its just about being overrated by people who werent even *there* for real to judge.
I once read a interview with Ritchie Blackmore where he said that back in the 60's vanilla fudge and *not* hendrix used to be the best/most admired band in England.
Of course, i wasnt there back in the 60's BUT Ritchie Blackmore himself was there, Pete touwnsend (spelling?) was there, Jimmy Page was there and even Johnny Winter was there.. So the question is: what was so groundbreaking in Hendrix's work?
He was a really good rock player, incredible sound, etc, etc BUT i really doubt he can be compared to people like Ritchie Blackmore and even if we talk about influence, i dont think there's even one rock/metal song today out there which wasnt somehow influenced by Blackmore rather than Hendrix.