well considering when you posted this i have to assume that your gig as a substitute teacher might be over. but here's what i've learned when trying to tell kids about something like this. if you're lucky one or 2 out of the group will "get it". it's almost impossible to convey what the music world was like before someone as hugely talented and innovative as jimi hit. i tried to explain this same kind of thing to a group of kids who totally take the beatles for granted. the only way i got my point across was to play them a cut of louis armstrong singing "hello dolly" then a cut of "i want to hold your hand". why? because music like armstrong's single was what was on the charts when the beatles first hit in america. the revolution that that song created is in the difference between those 2 songs. one kid kinda got it. the same will go for trying to explain jimi. having the benefit of history doesn't make it easy for an 11th grader. in so many cases, you had to have been there to know why he just blew us all away. but those same kids wil "get it" when they try to explain what it was like to live in a world before cell phones/pcs/ and pre 9/11 to their kids. they'll probably be as frustrated as you are now....