VOODOO CHILD
JIMI HENDRIX INFORMATION MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE
590 PHEASANT RIDGE DR. LAKE ZURICH, IL 60047
www.facebook.com/groups/251427364936379/
ISSUE 103 SPRING, 2017
IT’S KNIGHT TIME AGAIN …Anyone who knows Hendrix
history knows that when Jimi Hendrix was in New York he played
with Curtis Knight and the Squires in late 1965-early 1966. It was
during that period that Knight introduced him to Ed Chalpin, who
signed Hendrix to a recording contract. After splitting from Knight,
he formed his own band – Jimmy James and the Blue Flames – and
was “discovered” by Chas Chandler. Embarking on a successful
career with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, on a return to New York, he
revisited Knight in the studio and they did another session. That
contract, and those sessions created an embroiled legal battle – one
that gave us the Band Of Gypsys – but also one that gave us a
plethora of low quality, pre-Experience material that Chalpin flooded
the international markets with capitalizing on Hendrix’s success.
After decades of legal entanglements, Chalpin finally relented and
sold all the tapes to Experience Hendrix LLC in 2014. The library is
said to include some 88 tracks.
Now that the Hendrix family has the tapes, they are opting to
piecemeal the material out to the Hendrix fans through their own
Dagger Records. They are choosing to credit the discs to Curtis
Knight, with this one released as Curtis Knight (featuring Jimi
Hendrix). That is causing some confusion to merchandisers who see
the release listings show up as Knight and not Hendrix, and how to
put in their bins, but at least credits appropriately.
Live at George’s Club 20 (Dagger 88985410162) is the second
release (You Can’t Use My Name released in 2015 gave us a taste
with 14 tracks) from that archive of tapes offering 16 tracks from two
shows taped at George’s Club 20 in Hackensack, New Jersey on
December 26, 1965 and January 22, 1966.
The disc does give us one minor historical correction – while it’s
always been reported the band was Curtis Knight and the Squires,
bass player Ace Hall says they were actually called the Lovelights at
that time and included drummer Ditto Edwards and saxophonist
Lonnie Youngblood.
The tapes are raw, recorded on consumer tape decks at the time
(liner notes indicated one show was recorded at 3 ¾ speed, the other
at 7 ½ - while most professional recordings at the time were taped at
15 ips – the ips being “inches per second” – the speed the tape
crossed the recording heads with faster recording times higher sonic
quality). Still, upon listening you can hear some of the evolution of
Hendrix coming through. The band was actually one of the first
where he was allowed a more prominent role in the band.
And, as Hall notes, “Jimi wasn’t someone coming and learning on
the gig. He was very seasoned. He had knowledge of all the hit songs.
He had ‘em down!” Regarding his stage presence Hall continues,
“Jimi was a leader. He would play out. A lot of guitar players are just
card shufflers. Jimi was playing it loud. He made sure that everybody
heard what he was doing. I have to give him that. He did it very
well.” (You can view more of Hall discussing Hendrix at
https://youtu.be/VpaHTX-hwLA).
While the tapes are raw, they represent an important era in
Hendrix musical history. Curtis Knight was one of the first to
recognize Jimi’s talent, and as opposed to being a “chitlin’ circuit”
sideman, Knight allowed Hendrix the opportunity to take the lead
with his guitar prowess and allowed him to front the band for part of
the sets.
With Chalpin having kept these tapes in his possession for some
50 years, he had often licensed the material to various labels
worldwide, flooding bins with inferior releases with erroneous liner
notes, overdubbing and adding effects to some of the material and
changing songs titles to confuse Hendrix collectors even more.
Here, we’re told Eddie Kramer worked from the original tapes
restoring the audio by removing “all of the various overdubs” and
“excess manipulation made previous has been removed,” from those
various incarnations.
But, upon listening and comparing to some of the Chalpin
releases, we’re not totally sure that’s true. While some tracks have
certainly been cleaned up, modern day processing has also allowed
engineer Eddie Kramer to doctor the tapes to modify the tapes
leaving us with the perception we are getting these two performances
as they occurred. This is the furthest from the truth. While the tracks
may be from those two performances, we know from previous
Chalpin releases there were other songs done, and not in order of
performance. It is readily evident that the current release interjects
audience reaction between certain tracks to leave the perception this
is a complete show.
The most complete Knight/Hendrix catalog collection came in
1996-97 collection The Authentic PPX Studio Recordings, Vol. 1-6
from the German SPV label. At that time, Chalpin licensed the tapes
to CBH Records who then released them as Vol. 1: Get That Feeling,
Vol. 2: Flashing, Vol. 3: Ballad of Jimi, Vol. 4: Live at George’s
Club, Vol. 5: Something on Your Mind and Vol. 6: On the Killing
Floor. The label then re-issued as a six disc box set in 2000 as The
Complete PPX Studio Recordings. The label promoted all the releases
as Jimi Hendrix titles, with no mention of Curtis Knight anywhere on
the covers. Live material from the George’s sessions were spread
among the last three volumes.
Over the years, Chalpin had released so many different version of
the same material, it’s difficult to tell what, if any, were the originals.
So we must rely on the Experience Hendrix release to try to set the
record straight. But, giving a listen it’s certainly difficult to tell if
even Experience Hendrix got the original tapes.
Using the SPV release for A/B comparisons, this new release
certainly seems to offer up more “dry” examples, removing the
reverb and echo effects we’ve heard on the Chalpin releases. And
Kramer has done his best to clean up tapes, although you can only do
some much with the distortion of the low generation tapes initially
overmodulated and the inferior quality of the stage equipment used.
We’ve also had some of these tracks previously available in stereo,
while we get mono mixes here. And there’s tracks such as “I’ll Be
Doggone” that sound slower than the SPV release, literally causing a
key change in this rendition. Tracks such as “Drivin’ South” and
“Baby What You Want Me To Do” have had stereo mixes previously
with the tambourine shifting positions in the mix. Here the mono mix
makes the tambourine a dominant instrument that Kramer did not
seem to be able to temper. Other releases have also included a little
stage banter missing here. At the same time, we get a little more as
Hendrix introduces “Travelin’ to California”.
In summation, Kramer has done his best to clean these tapes up
and master them to what he perceives to be the most representative of
the original shows. But in the end, while they certainly are cleaned up
as best as possible, we still cannot be convinced these are the original
performances as they were recorded. And again, we certainly know
these are not the two complete performances but what Experience
Hendrix has selected as a “best of.”
The result: This becomes just another release in the pile of Curtis
Knight releases to store away in the Hendrix library.
With knowledge of the more “complete” catalog in the six
volumes, and knowing of the low-grade quality of the material,
questions continue to rise from Hendrix collectors why the estate
would filter this material out is such a fragmented method. While it is
difficult to justify a six disc set, SPV was able to release selling for
around $30. Now, with Experience Hendrix selling in two formats for
two different purposes, collectors will be spending nearly $40 to pick
up this single release in both formats (CD $8.99 and 2LP $24.99).
The CD Live At George’s Club 20 was released in February with a
double LP version released for Record Store Day on April 22. Track
list:
1) Introduction
2) Killing Floor
3) Last Night
4) Get Out Of My Life Woman
5) Ain’t That Peculiar
6) Mercy, Mercy
7) I’m A Man
8) Driving South
9) Baby What You Want Me To Do
10) I’ll Be Doggone
11) Sweet Little Angel
12) Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go
13) Travelin’ To California
14) What I Say
15) Land Of 1000 Dances
16) Come On (Let The Good Times Roll)
17) Band Outtro
HENDRIX VS. HENDRIX – THE FAMILY FEUD RAGES
ON…Over the past 10 years, Defendants Andrew Pitsicalis and Leon
Hendrix, and a variety of individuals and entities with which they
have been associated, have continued to market various products
using the Hendrix name, with references and images specifically
relating to Jimi Hendrix and his music for their own personal gain.
Federal courts have repeatedly prohibited these activities,
upholding the Experience Hendrix LLC estate noting Piticalis and
Leon Hendrix have improperly exploited intellectual property rights.
Over the past two years, the two have renewed and expanded their
alleged infringments of Plaintiffs’ trademarks and copyrights through
the creation, development, licensing, manufacturing, promotion,
advertsing and sale of cannabis, edibles, food, wine, alcohol,
“medicines,” electronic products, and other goods.
On March 16, the law firm of Shukat Arrow Hafer Weber &
Herbsman filed sut in the U.S. District Court of New York against
Pitsicalis and Leon Hendrx and their companies Purple Haze
Properties and Rockin Artwork based on the defendants attempts to
improperly exploit the intellectual property rights of Jimi Hendrix.
The suit claims, “since their inception, plaintiffs have used federally
registered and common law trademarks, service marks, trade names
and logos to sell Jimi Hendrix related promotional merchandise and
servces to the general consuming public.” (You can read the court
filings here: www.courthousenews.com/wp-
content/uploads/2017/03/hendrix.pdf)
Current marketing by Pitsicalis and Leon Hendrix include
cannibus products called “Purple Haze” marijuana cigarettes with a
picture of Jimi on the package; Jimi’s Meds – a line of items
produced in varying dosages of CBD, THCa, and THC licensed in
the State of California as a “product line designed to help people with
Cancer, AIDS, PTSD, Depression, Alzheimer's and other crippling
ailments; and alcoholic products including Jimi’s wines and cognacs.
Earlier this year, Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. and Authentic
Hendrix, LLC, filed a lawsuit in a Georgia Federal Court charging
Tiger Paw Beverages and its principal, Joe Wallace, with unlawfully
using Jimi Hendrix trademarks in an unauthorized promotion of
Purple Haze Liqueur, which they had licensed through Leon.
The suit goes on to state that “the Pitsicalis defendants’ new
infringing conduct and their multifaceted scheme defrauds
consumers, investors and licensees.”
Attorneys for Experience Hendrix LLC say Pitsicalis has widely
claimed that he has secured the intellectual property of the Jimi
Hendrix estate for licensed products (through Leon having the family
name and therefore use). Their statement to the court – “That claim is
knowingly false.”
To review a little history of the continued legal wranglings
between the parties involved:
In September 2005, Leon Hendrix, Craig Dieffenbach and others,
including Andrew Pitsicalis, began operating Electric Hendrix, LLC
for the primary purpose of marketing vodka and merchandise, and
promoting its goods and services using a Jimi Hendrix “signature”
mark, and Jimi Hendrix “headshot” mark.
In 2007, Plaintiffs commenced an action against Dieffenbach,
Leon, their companies and employees for infringement of their
trademarks
In 2008, the Court concluded that the Electric Hendrix marks
infringed on the Plaintiffs’ marks
In 2008, Pitsicalis created HendrixLicensing.com, LTD, d/b/a
HendrixArtwork.com and began to license and sell Jimi Hendrix
merchandise.
On March 5, 2009, the Plaintiffs commenced a suit against
Pitsicalis and his various Hendrix-related companies. In that case, the
Federal Court found that Pitsicalis, who “was formerly associated
with Dieffenbach and Electric Hendrix, LLC,” was “undisputedly
aware of the prior suit between Experience and Dieffenbach.” On
May 8, 2015, that Court issued an amended permanent injunction
against Pitsicalis, prohibiting him from using the following “guitar
and headshot” logo or any similar mark, brand, or logo and from
using the Jimi Hendrix signature or any similar signature in
connection with the advertising and/or sale of posters, artwork, fine
art prints, apparel, merchandise, memorabilia, and/or novelty items.
In 2014, Leon, Pitsicalis and “Rockin’ Artwork, LLC” formed a
business relationship with Tiger Paw Beverages for the purpose of
creating a line of alcoholic beverages using the Hendrix marks and
other copyrights - the same activity the Federal Court had enjoined in
2008.
On January 27, 2017 the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Georgia issued a Permanent Injunction
prohibiting Tiger Paw Beverages and the other remaining defendants
from using any of the Hendrix marks, copyrights, or name signature
or likeness for any trademark or endorsement purposes whatsoever.
And last year on July 21, 2016 same court entered a preliminary
injunction by falsely suggesting endorsement by Jimi Hendrix, the
Jimi Hendrix estate or Plaintiffs, the Pitsicalis Defendants have
unlawfully promoted, packaged, marketed, advertised, licensed, and
sold their Jimi Hendrix Cannabis, edibles, food, wine, alcohol,
“medicines,” and electronic products (the “Infringing Products”)
using Plaintiffs’ incontestable trademarks in a similar manner -
unlawful actions are intentionally designed to capitalize on the
goodwill, recognition and fame associated with the Plaintiffs’ Jimi
Hendrix marks and rights.
And the battle rages on. But wait! There’s more! It doesn’t end
with this suit.
One week after the current suit filed on behalf of Experience
Hendrix LLC, on March 23, Pitsicalis and Leon Hendrix filed a
countsuit.
“We have filed this suit to show the world, once again, that Leon
and his Family have a right to Jimi’s legacy too. We have built two
great companies that produce amazing products for Jimi’s fans,”
notes Purple Haze Propertes CEO Andrew Pitscalis. “We are an
alternate source to obtain a license granting use of our
proprietary and exclusive images and other assets not available to the
estate since they belong to Rockin Artwork & Purple Haze
Properties.”
The countersuit names as defendants not only original plaintiffs
Experience Hendrix and Authentic Hendrix but also Janie Hendrix,
step-sister of Jimi and sole heir to the estate of their father, Al
Hendrix. Pitsicalis and Leon Hendrix claim that neither Janie Hendrix
nor her companies own any general publicity or personality right that
would give them control over using the likeness of Jimi Hendrix. The
plaintiffs in the countersuit also claim that the defendants have
libeled them and have engaged in defamation. (You can read the
complete legal filing of the countersuit here:
www.dropbox.com/s/dt7ey9gu0ymnj5s/1-17-
000311%20ROCKIN%202017%200323%20PL%20Complaint.pdf?d
l=0)
Pitsicals and Purple Haze Properties have licensed based on their
claim they hold intellectual property rights on to a number of
companies including Cannabis Science, First Harvest, Green Cures
and Botanical Distribution, Nutritional High and Jacksam
Corporation. Additionally, Silver State Trading, which is privately
held and based in Nevada, is a partner of Purple Haze Properties.
And the beat – or is that the beating – goes on.
MONTEREY 1967-2017…The 1967 Monterey International Pop
Festival was more than a festival – it was the birthplace of the 60’s
rock era. A fusion of California folk, the Haight-Ashbury hippie
counterculture, and a coming out party for the likes of Jimi Hendrix.
It was the gateway for the Summer of Love.
50 years later, the iconic images and music are still cornerstones
and foundation of rock. Plans are progressing for a 50th anniversary
celebration.
First and foremost, a three-day concert is being planned – to be
held in the same location on the same dates as the original festival –
June 16-18, 2017. With a goal to memorialize Monterey op’s
importance, legacy and lasting impact on contemporary culture, the
concert will be just one of the events being scheduled.
More than two dozen artists ranging from retro to modern day,
from platinum selling to up-and-coming, have been booked to
perform including the Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh and The Terrapin
Family Band, Eric Burdon and the Animals, Jack Johnson, Norah
Jones, Leon Bridges, Father John Misty, Regina Spektor, Gary Clark
Jr., etal.
Other artists scheduled include The Head and the Heart, Dr. Dog,
G. Love, Langhorne Slim, Jim James, North Mississippi Allstars,
Hiss Golden Messenger, Jacob Banks, Cisco Adler, Jackie Greene,
Sara Watkins, Law, Kurt Vile & The Violators, Charles Bradley &
His Extraordinaires, Jamtown, Niki Bluhm and Booker T. S
Ticket sales will be limited to 10,000. Ticket prices range from
$295 for a three day lawn access pass, $450 for a three day reserved
bleacher seat, and $695 for a three-day premier reserved seat with
VIP lounge. For information:
https://montereypopfestival50.com/tickets/?
Lou Adler, one of the original Monterey International Pop
founders who co-produced the 1967 festival, is involved once again.
Adler said, “The Monterey International Pop Festival cannot be
duplicated but can be celebrated and will be, by the performers and
the attendees at the 50th Anniversary festival.”
The new festival will lead a wave of commemorations for
Monterey Pop’s half-century. The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles
will host an exhibition that includes items from Adler’s personal
collection titled the Monterey International Pop Festival: Music,
Love, and Flowers, 1967 exhibit, starting May 11.
Janus Films will re-release the newly restored D.A. Pennebaker
film, Monterey Pop, on June 14 in New York City, and on June 16 in
Los Angeles and across the country. The Criterion Collection is
preparing a special 50th-anniversary commemorative edition for
release this fall. In addition, an album featuring various artist performances from
the festival is slated for a June release (see story below) that will
include a Hendrix track.
As promised, the original festival distributed money to charities,
and to this day the nonprofit foundation behind it, overseen by Adler,
generates tens of thousands of dollars each year from its intellectual
property. A portion of the proceeds from this year’s show will be
handed over to the foundation for distribution.
AND THE GUITAR HENDRIX PLAYED …For most of the
Hendrix performance at Monterey, he played a black and white
Stratocaster. That was until the final song, when he switched guitars,
ultimately setting fire to the prop used for the final song.
The original Strat has been preserved, currently owned by a private
collector in the U.K. With the buzz of the 50th anniversary of
Monterey coupled with the iconic nature of the instrument itself, it is
time for that individual to cash in on his investment.
An undisputed piece of music history, Heritage Auctions will be
offering the guitar in the special Stratocaster guitar at their special
50th anniversary Summer of Love celebration June 17-18 in Beverly
Hills, California.
“This is one of the most important guitars to ever come to
auction,” said Garry Shrum, Director of Music Memorabilia at
Heritage Auctions. “In the pantheon of guitars, only a few have
changed music history and Jimi’s Black Strat is one of them. The
guitar has been on display for several years in Europe and the United
States and now a collector has the chance to add this historic
instrument to their private collection.”
Fresh off U.S. exhibitions as well as London’s Victoria & Albert
Museum, the guitar makes its auction debut at Heritage following
rigorous authenticity analysis. The Experience Music Project curators
conducted a thorough survey of the instrument before it went on
show in Seattle and Fender’s own experts have also forensically
examined the guitar.
“This is also the guitar he played at all of Bill Graham’s San
Francisco Fillmore West on that short tour,” as well as Golden Gate
Park, Shrum said. “And back in the United Kingdom the week before
he was playing this guitar when he opened his Sunday show at the
Saville Theater.”
The Salt and Pepper Black Fender Stratocaster retains Hendrix’s
upside-down and back-to-front stringing that subtly changed the
voice of the new ‘reversed’ bridge pickup. Perfectly preserved is
Hendrix’s belt wear on the guitar’s back, visible on footage taken at
the Monterey Pop Festival. Hendrix went on to use this instrument on
many additional dates, expanding the area of wear.
“Holding this instrument is tantamount to holding a mirror to the
zenith of 1960s social and cultural revolution,” Shrum said. “The
legendary music of that period would not be possible without
Hendrix’s genius and his love for this guitar.”
The guitar opens with a $500,000 bid, but bids are expected to
reach $750,000 before it’s over.
Heritage Auctions will also be offering eight garments from
Hendrix’s wardrobe in the upcoming auction. Details can be found at
www.ha.com/c/search-
results.zx?N=0+793+794+791+792+1893+1577+2088&Ntk=SI_Titl
es-Desc&Nty=1&Ntt=jimi+hendrix&limitTo=all&ic=homepage-
search-A-071316
MONTEREY POP 50 YEARS
LATER …Celebrating the 50th
anniversary of the iconic
Monterey International Pop
Festival a various artist
compilation Iconic Performances
From The Monterey International
Pop Festival will hit stores on
June 6th. The set will include
previously unreleased
performances from The Grateful
Dead and Laura Nyro along with individual tracks from The Who,
Jefferson Airplane, Simon and Garfunkel, Buffalo Springfield, The
Mamas & The Papas, and of course – Jimi Hendrix.
The new album also features a 16-page booklet, a replica of the
festival's original artist pass, a new essay penned by attendee Keith
Altham (who at the time worked for the UK’s New Musical Express
and actually travelled with Hendrix to the Monterey festival), and
special gold-foil packaging in honor of the 50th anniversary.
The project has been put together by the Monterey International
Pop Festival Foundation, with a portion of the proceeds of the album
to be channeled to charities.
The album track list:
Buffalo Springfield - "For What It's Worth"
Paul Butterfield - "Driftin Blues"
The Grateful Dead - "Out In the Cold, Rain and Snow"
Simon and Garfunkel - "Sounds of Silence"
Laura Nyro - "Poverty Train"
Electric Flag - "Wine"
Jefferson Airplane - "White Rabbit"
Big Brother and the Holding Company (feat. Janis Joplin) - "Ball and
Chain"
The Who - "Substitute"
Hugh Masekela - "Bajabula Bonke (Healing Song)"
Otis Redding - "I've Been Loving You Too Long"
Jimi Hendrix - "Like a Rolling Stone"
The Mamas & The Papas - "California Dreamin'"
IF SIX WAS – 150,000 …That’s what Melinda Merryweather was
hoping to reap - $150,000 from the recorder used on the recording of
“If Six Was Nine” at an auction at Bonham’s on March 27
(www.bonhams.com/auctions/23878/lot/70/)
According to the auction house description the instrument is, “A
Schreiber Sonata wooden recorder, two pieces (missing bell, but as
purchased and used by Hendrix), customized with lacquered green,
yellow, purple, and black string bands, engraved ‘West Germany’ to
head joint, housed in a decorative yellow and red silk cloth within a
brown velvet cloth tied with three embroidered floral ribbons. This
instrument was used by Jimi Hendrix on his song ‘If 6 Was 9’ on
his Axis: Bold as Love album. After Hendrix's death, the recorder was
given by Hendrix's manager, Michael Jeffery, to Merryweather.”
Merryweather had helped pitch the concept that became the
Hendrix film Rainbow Bridge in which she worked as an art director
on the project, as well as appearing
in the film. You can read more of
in a Merryweather interview
published in 1995 in the Jimi
Hendrix fanzine Straight Ahead -
http://newyorkcityhendrix.gobot.co
m/whats_new.html
In a recent interview, Merriweather was asked, “What is your
most prized possession?” Her response, “I do not believe we really possess anything, so my favorite things would be my shell, crystal and stone collection, and my music collection, especially a song written for me by Jimi Hendrix.” That song is “Scorpio Woman” (the track included on the Dagger Records release Morning Symphony Ideas). These days, Merriweather lives in La
Jolla, California where she is active in local
community historical preservation,
environmental issues, preservation of marine
life and protection of the La Jolla Pacific
Ocean coastline as co-founder of the non-
profit Friends of WindanSea, and a member
of California Coastal Access Trust.
Checking on the auction results, apparently the item did not meet
the minimum reserve as it did not sell.
JAMMING WITH HENDRIX & CLAPTON …Hash Howard
calls himself “an aging Hippie Flowerchild,” who was once a “raging
drummer in rock and blues groups.” For a fleeting couple of hours in
his musical history, Howard had the chance to sit in on as drummer
on an informal jam with Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.
As he tells the story, “We had a kick-ass band called The
Observation Balloon. We were blues-rocks, in the late 60s, who
played mostly in Greenwich Village. Robert Kulick played lead
guitar, Marty Davidoff played bass, Ron Umile played rhythm guitar
and was lead singer, and I played drums.”
Kulich went on to work with KISS (although lost the gig to Ace
Frehley although he did play on some studio tracks – and his brother
Bruce did land the gig with KISS for a time), toured with Meatloaf,
and enjoyed a stint with W.A.S.P. in the 90s. Davidoff played in a
few bands in the New York
City area, eventually
moving to California and
owned a construction
company before he was
killed in a motorcycle
accident in 2015. Ron
Umile went on to do some
production work with Dino
Valente and Quicksilver
Messenger Service.
Howard continues, “For
about a year and a half,
during the late Sixties, I
played in a band called
Observation Balloon. We
had been written up in
Billboard, the music
industry magazine,
complete with photo. For
about a year, we played four or five sets a night at the Cafe Wha? in
Greenwich Village. ‘The Wha?’ was a music club and was run by
Manny Roth, David Lee Roth’s (Van Halen) uncle.
“One night, during our continuing engagement there, a new group
came in to play. This group was led by a very tall, thin man, who
played lead guitar, named Jimmy James. His band was Jimmy James
and the Blue Flames. Another guitarist in the band was Randy
California, who later started a West Coast band with his father as
drummer, and called it Spirit.
“Both guitarists were amazingly good, but Jimi was all the more
impressive due to his height and the fact that he played lead guitar
with his teeth! He also held the guitar behind his head, under his legs,
behind his back - in short, in positions in which you would think it
impossible to play. No matter how he played it, no matter in what
position, he was incredible.
“Early in their engagement - possibly the first night they were
sharing the stage with us, Jimi came storming out, furious. It seems
that someone had stolen his guitar. He was raving about how he’d
played uptown in a disco, for a band leader named King Curtis. Jimi
said that he had worked his ass off to be able to buy this beauty of a
guitar, only to have to go crawling back (to the disco band leader) to
earn another one.
“It was a couple of weeks until the Blue Flames came back. And,
it was only for one night.
“That night, while the Blue Flames were playing and we were
taking our break, Jimi broke his E string. He asked around, and our
guitarist, Robert, was the only one with an extra. Jimi replaced his
string, and finished his set. Chas Chandler, a member of the English
band The Animals had been in the audience. He had come
specifically to see this incredible guitar player who made love to his
guitar while playing fantastic leads. The result was that he took Jimi
to England; six months or so later, Jimi Hendrix was a big hit in
England, and came storming back to America.
“A few weeks after Jimi’s triumphant return from England, I was
hanging out at the Greenwich Village club, Salvation. I saw Jimi on
the dance floor. It was like old home week; we greeted each other
like old friends, talking about what’s been going on. Then Jimi asked
if I knew anybody who had a loft, ‘where Eric Clapton and I can
jam.’ My first reaction was to say to Jimi, ‘You’re full of shit!
Clapton?’ Jimi simply pointed across the dance floor. There was
Clapton. Because I had known Jimi, briefly, as a fellow musician
from the Cafe Wha?, it hadn't struck me that he was the famous
person he’d already become. And Jimi wasn't in a hurry to act like a
Big Star; he was still just another rock musician.
“I told Jimi that I had a loft where my band rehearsed. So we all
piled into a Volkswagen microbus driven by one of his friends,
stopped at my apartment to get the keys, and went to the loft. At two
in the morning, Jimi, Eric and I sat down to play. Since they were
borrowing my group's guitars (Eric played Bob Kulick's guitar, one
of the now-valuable Lucille guitars - his was an Epiphone, I think -
from B. B. King; Jimi played Ron Umile's Fender). We waited while
Jimi switched the strings around - he was a lefty. And then the fun
began! For about two hours we jammed. We played anything that
came into their heads. As a drummer, I just went along with it all. I
was in heaven. Jimi was an incredible guitarist; Eric Clapton was
equally brilliant.
“Though we were in a loft on West Nineteenth Street, in an
industrial area of Manhattan, the police broke up the session. Seems
that we were a few doors down from a firehouse, and we had been
keeping the firemen awake. But, for two hours or so, I played with
two of the best rock musicians who ever lived!
Note: In response to a few requests about the kind of music we
played, names of songs, etc., Hash wanted to add this: “When
musicians in the late 60s got together for a jam, they frequently
started off with a traditional blues type of thing, 12 or 16-bar blues
riffs, which were similar to old tracks by B.B. King, and the like, but
really were not actual songs. So, the jam with Jimi and Eric went the
same way, starting off with something like ‘Blue Monday’, and then
taking its own feel from there. We played for a long time, with few
breaks as we didn't really stop. Eric, for example, would take the
lead, and Jimi would follow. Then as something occurred to Jimi,
he'd take the lead, and Eric would follow. It went like this for a long,
wonderful time, with nothing firm, song-wise.” In a follow up on a Hash Howard tribute website it’s noted, “A
man named Steve Paul owned a club called The Scene. Located down
the stairs off Eighth Avenue on 46th Street, it was a club where many
mid-level groups and acts played, but it was also known as a spot
where the top people in the entertainment field, especially rock
musicians, would spend the late nights, getting together often for
jams. “One night (probably June of 1968) Hash had been at the Record
Plant with Jimi Hendrix and his band the Experience: drummer Mitch
Mitchell and their bass player, Noel Redding. It was one of the first
recording studios anywhere that had thirty-two tracks and hooked
together, they could produce a sixty-four track studio. Jimi was really
proud of this toy, and wanted to show it to everyone. Having known
Hash for a while now, he almost dragged Hash along to the studio to
see this new toy while they finished a track.
“Done with the recording for the night, they walked over to The
Scene, only about two blocks away, just up Eighth Avenue from the
Record Plant, which was on 44th street, between Eighth and Ninth
Avenues. When they got there, a jam had already been going on for a
while. Larry Coryell was playing with Jack Casady - the bass player
from the Jefferson Airplane, and a few others. So, Mitch Mitchell
went up and waited for an opening and sat down to play drums.
“About 20 minutes later, they stopped for a change of personnel,
and Hash decided to jump in behind the drums. It never occurred to
him that he was going to follow the great Mitch Mitchell, in an open
jam, and probably make a complete fool of himself. But the biggest
surprise to Hash, and others, who didn’t know him, was that he fit
right in, did not make an ass of himself, and came off after the set to a
nice round of applause. To the audience, Hash was just one more top
rocker of the day, having fun with the rest of them.”
You can check him out at www.hashhoward.com
R.I.P. GUITAR LEGEND LARRY CORYELL … Larry Coryell
is considered one of the pioneers of jazz-rock. His career spanned
over five decades. Words such as inspiration, innovation and integrity
sum up his influence his playing has had on the jazz-rock movement.
Larry Coryell, the jazz guitarist known as the "Godfather of Fusion,"
passed away February 19, found in his hotel room after a gig in New
York City, according to his publicist Jim Eigo. He was 73.
Coryell, who passed away in his sleep from natural causes, had
performed his last two shows over this weekend at the city's Iridium
Jazz Club.
Coryell was still performing more than 50 years after his first
recordings. He played at New York jazz club Iridium on Friday and
Saturday night, and had plans for a summer tour with his fusion
group The Eleventh House.
Coryell's recordings in the late 1960s, first with his band the Free
Spirits, then with the Gary Burton Quartet and finally as a
bandleader, predicted the rise of jazz-rock fusion and contributed to
the sonic evolution the genre.
Known as the "Godfather of Fusion," Coryell was a pioneer of jazz-
rock. He made his mark in the music world with his highly acclaimed
solo work, releasing more than 60 solo albums in his lifetime.
Coryell performed with mid-'70s powerhouse fusion band The
Eleventh House and collaborated with jazz greats including Miles
Davis, Gary Burton, Alphonse Mouzon, Ron Carter and Chet Baker.
Though his commercial fame didn't match some of his '60s-'70s
guitar contemporaries,
Coryell continued to tour
the world and had planned
an extensive 2017
summer tour with a
reformed The Eleventh
House.
Coryell’s career crossed
paths with Jimi Hendrix
in the mid-60s, when they
were both playing the
Greenwich Village scene
in New York City.
Coryell was actually in
the studio with Jimi when
Hendrix recorded “House
Burning Down”. Coryell
jammed with Hendrix
August 6, 1968 at the
Scene Club in New York City (pictured here).
Coryell talked about the jazz presence of Hendrix on the Creative
Arts Cultural Exchange program you can watch here:
https://youtu.be/WQbN-hFz2EA
Over the last few years of Coryell’s career, he shared through
clinics his knowledge and history. Here’s a video of one of those
events, again talking about Hendrix along with Paco De Lucia, John
McLaughlin, Bill Evans and Scott Lafaro among others at the Players
School of Music Master Class Series - https://youtu.be/-yKjDhgQpig
Having been in the studio and watched Hendrix record “House
Burning Down”, Coryell offered up his own interpretation on the
2003 various artist compilation Voodoo Crossing: A Tribute To Jimi
Hendrix (Horizons HZ 017). With his son Murali providing vocals,
Coryell felt it essential to cover the song here.
“After so many years it was fitting that my son would sing a
Hendrix lyric,” he says. “When Murali was just a few weeks old, his
mother and I brought him in his little basket to the Fillmore East
(January 30-31, 1970) for my gig with Jack Bruce and Mitch Mitchell
(billed as Jack Bruce & Friends in a dual bill with Mountain), and
Jimi showed up in the dressing room and looked down on my infant
son. There was a mystic connection there.”
Coryell amended Hendrix’s arrangement with the help of
bassist/electronic percussionist Paul Santa Maria, injecting his own
electrifying jazz passages and phrasings on what we feel is the
strongest cut included in this project. Coryell’s fingers fly over the
neck of the guitar faster than the uptempo version included here.
“Jimi was a great guitar player,” says Coryell. “Clapton referred to
his ‘strong fingers.” I agreed. Jimi’s string-bending ability and his
patented Strat sound will never be matched or equaled. This is a great
honor to participate in a project involving one of the greatest
musicians of the 20th century.”
He included “Purple Haze” on the follow up tribute Gypsy Blood: A
Tribute To Jimi Hendrix, Vol. 2 (Horizons HZ023). The track was a
highlight of that various artist compilation.
In a review published in Voodoo Child, “Coryell reminds us that
the song was one of Jimi’s ‘flag wavers, replete with loudness and
distortion.’ Purposefully, Coryell turns the song completely around,
opening with acoustic guitars before sliding effortlessly into a
mélange that combines Hendrix’s original chords with his own self-
composed ‘Toy Soldiers’.”
Coryell also did a version of “Manic Depression” on his
2006 release Traffic (Chesky 322). In 2011, Larry Coryell
participated in a Jimi Hendrix 69th birthday party tribute concert at
B.B. King’s in New York City. Producer Larry Blumenthal captured
some of the pre-party warm up which we found on YouTube -
https://youtu.be/PH0XVEG-kGE doing “Blue Monk” and Hendrix’s
“Jam 292”. Coryell returned to perform at the annual event in 2015.
BOOKS (Vol. 103) …The Hendrix library continues to grow. But
remember, “As you well know you just can’t believe everything you
see and hear, can you?” We must say that because some of the
material that has come out is questionable regarding historical
accuracy. At the same time, another volume brings to light that Jimi
Hendrix played a Telecaster on the recording of “Purple Haze”.
Brokenlight: Jimi’s Last Joint
By Colin Betts
Amazon Digital Services
80 pages Kindle Digital
2016 $1.99
The first thing we have to say is please take anything in this book
with a grain of salt. While author Betts has continued to say all the
stories in his books are true, it is nearly impossible to believe he was
there. Brokenlight is the third in a trilogy of autobiographical books
of his journeys through life. This time around, he claims to have been
partying with Hendrix the night of his death. For someone who states
he no longer has his diaries and notes, it is amazing how he can
provide quoted transcripts of the conversations at the party and
unearthing another account regarding Hendrix’s death. This book
does nothing more than make the truth about how Hendrix died more
murkier as there are those who will accept his statements of “fact.” If
it was something of substance, I’m sure it would be a published work,
as opposed to a $1.99 Kindle download.
Dr. Colin Betts says he now lives quietly in rural Scotland after a
life which has taken in everything from lecturing and musical
performance to robbery and drug smuggling.
His initial memoir Frozenlight is a trip through the 1960s - how he
ran away with The Rolling Stones at age 15; was propositioned by
the Manson family in California; smuggled drugs worldwide; became
embroiled in the Paris riots of 1968 and busked with the legendary
Nick Drake in the South of France. Its sequel Burninglight delves
into his time in India and Afghanistan, setting up a smuggling route
for top quality hashish all the way to London
In Brokenlight, Betts claims he was at the party that Hendrix
attended at Philip Harvey’s house the night of his death. He claims
his name has never been brought up in any previous historical
investigation into the last hours of Jimi’s life saying he was an
international drug runner at the time and needed to stay under the
radar. He goes on to say living abroad, he was unaware of the myriad
of accounts and convoluted stories of Jimi’s death, noting it was only
recently it was brought to his attention and the time had come to set
the record straight.
Betts starts by saying that it was only recently when a friend
showed him a story of Jimi’s last hours that he “realized how
shabbily recorded history has treated the great man. Instead of truth
we are mostly offered the dubious recollections and unreliable
revisions of various witnesses with their own reasons to spin the
story.”
But that’s exactly what Betts does. He offers no corroboration of
his presence at the party. Betts says while he kept notebooks over the
years those have been lost and, “So I’ve written this account off the
top of my head…” Amazing how he could transcribe conversations
from that night over 40 years ago from memory – when he was
heavily involved in the drug trade.
And while Betts does appear to have done his research and does
paint a somewhat accurate picture of him being there from the
Hendrix information readily available, unfortunately, now that this
story is published, it will be fact. It is very disconcerting to have
stories like this come out without proof of their accounting and
accuracy, without any other individual substantiating the information.
Hendrix at Home: A Bluesman in
Mayfair
By Christian Lloyd
Handel House Trusy
ISBN 978-0-9541670-1-1
Paperback 96 pages
2016 £9.99
In February of 2016, the London flat
that became “home” for Jimi Hendrix at
23 Brook Street was restored as part of a
permanent exhibit by the Handel House
Trust
Hendrix at Home: A Bluesman in
Mayfair serves as a narrative for the
exhibit, encapsulating the time from when Kathy Etchingham took
lease on the premises in 1967 through 1969 when she realized she
could no longer live within the parameters of Jimi’s lifestyle and they
parted ways.
At one time, Jimi did call it “home,” and it was the longest period
of a permanent address for him.
As author Chrstian Lloyd outlines in the preface regarding what
we know about Jimi Hendrix, “From now on, we must rely on
successive generations of fans, musicians, historians, curators and
musicologists to make his meanings. What is today close to half a
century of documentaries, fanzines, websites, museum exhibitions,
and biographies, has settled into a detailed, but incomplete and
inevitably repetitive account of a very short life. Paradoxically, this
sedimentation of secondary material takes us both closer and further
away from the man and his music.”
Yet, as this book is a memoir of that time in Jimi’s life serving as
a momento of a visit to the Brook Street flat, ironically Lloyd poses
the question himself of the exhibit – “Memory” or “History”? He
even says of the exhibit, it is a “suggestive re-imagining rather than a
replica.”
Hendrix at Home gives us a detailed insight into that period. How
Jimi and Kathy detailed and decorated the flat. How they spent their
time. We get a view of the neighborhood, the stores and the social
environment. We find out where the couple ate, as well as what they
ate. We explore what was happening in Jimi’s career that impacted
his time at the flat, and his relationship with Kathy.
Lloyd gives us a well-constructed, adeptly written, concise time
capsule of the life and times of Jimi Hendrix at 23 Brook Street. But
even as he noted in the book’s preface, he must act as a historian
compiling information for the myriad of sources and the few
remaining souls on this earth who had touched Jimi at that moment in
time.
The book is only available by ordering through the Handel House
Trust - https://handelhendrix.org/shop/
Jimi Hendrix – All Jazzed Up!
Hal Leonard HL00174441
ISBN 978-1-4950-6992-5
Paperback 40 pages
$12.99 2017
With the All Jazzed Up! Series from Hal Leonard, “pop hits receive
unexpected fresh treatments…Uniquely reimagined and crafted for
intermediate piano solo.”
Over the years, we’ve heard various pianists serve up their
classical and jazz interpretations proving Hendrix can fit the genre.
From the jazz interpretations of Andy Cowan, Reed Robbins, Jamie
Cullen, Ken Elkinson to the classical renditions of Hendrix material
from Dietmar Bonnen, Alexandre DaCosta and Canadian Paul
Plimley; we’ve been exposed to the Hendrix guitar licks being
interpolated to the piano. And as piano bars are enjoying a
resurgence, the ability to provide charts for Hendrix to fit is ideal.
Ten songs are explored here: Castles Made of Sand, Fire, Hey Joe,
Little Wing, Purple Haze, Spanish Castle Magic, The Wind Cries
Mary, Crosstown Traffic, Foxey Lady and Manic Depression.
A photo of Hendrix by Cal Bernstein adorns the cover.
Jimi Hendrix Bass Tab Collection
Hal Leonard HL00160506
ISBN 978-1-4950-6490-6
Paperback 216 pages
2017 $22.99
Hal Leonard continues their tablature detailing of Hendrix material
with this Bass Tab Collection, exploring the recorded versions of 27
Hendrix songs. The transcriptions pull material from both the
Experience and Band Of Gypsys periods as the volume, “features the
bass lines of Noel Redding and Billy Cox.” Yet, only Redding is
featured on the cover, a photo of Noel with Jimi backstage at the
Saville Theater in London from June 4, 1967.
Songs included are: All Along The Watchtower, Bold As Love,
Castles Made Of Sand, Changes, Crosstown Traffic, Ezy Ryder, Fire,
Foxey Lady, Freedom, Gypsy Eyes, Hey Joe, I Don't Live Today, If
Six Was Nine, Izabella, Little Miss Lover, Little Wing, Machine
Gun, Manic Depression, Power Of Soul (Power To Love), Purple
Haze, Red House, Remember, Spanish Castle Magic, Stone Free,
Voodoo Child (Slight Return), Who Knows and The Wind Cries
Mary.
Unlike most other Hal Leonard tab books, there is no introduction
and packed with 214 of the 216 pages tab.
Jimi, Sly & Me
By Steve Banks
Studio 6 Art Press
ISBN: 978-0982208915
Paperback 80 pages
2010 $34.50
His name is not a renowned as the likes of Baron Wolman, Henry
Diltz or Jim Marshall, but independent photographer Steve Banks
was one of the many semi-professional photographers of the era to
have been able to gain access to press credentials and be up close to
capture some stellar pictures of Jimi Hendrix live in concert.
Jimi, Sly & Me is his photo journal of the concert May 10, 1968 at
the Fillmore East in New York. In his summary of the performances
of the two acts, it was an electric evening with Sly & the Family
Stone, who at the time were enjoying Top 10 success with “Dance to
the Music” and mesmerizing audiences with their dynamic
performances, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, who had become
one of rock music’s major concert draws and a favorite of Fillmore
fans, were teamed up for this double bill.
Describing the Experience performance, Banks says, “It felt like a
small sonic boom resounding around the Fillmore walls. Jimi was
twisting and mixing the melody into his blender; his Stratocaster
pouring out distorted, overdriven, fuzz-toned reverberations of wah-
wahs, flanging, and pitch shifting. This guy was channeling his
melodies just like Mozart did centuries before him,” going on to note,
“Hendrix had the whole place under his spell with volley after volley
of candy colored rainbows and never before heard harmonics pouring
over us.”
But, it’s not about his brief two-page description of the concert
that is the key to this book. It’s the stellar 14 images of Hendrix that
the volume contains. Art quality reproductions that capture the pure
essence of Hendrix live.
Unlike many other photo books, this is not a coffee table edition.
The paperback book format size is only 8”x8” – with the photos
measuring 6”x4 ½” (for the eight vertical images published) and 5”x6
½” (for the six horizontal images published).
Banks notes in his final coda, “I’ve photographed a lot of music
since that concert and I can tell you nobody before or since has come
close to what I heard and saw this Friday evening.”
We’re glad he’s decided to share it with us.
London Live
By Tony Bacon
Miller Freeman / Balafon Books
ISBN 0-87930-572-X
Paperback 192 pages
$19.95 1999
What was the London club scene like? Author Tony Bacon traces the
history of the London music scene and the clubs that existed.
Subtitled “the inside story of live bands in the capital’s trail-blazing
music clubs,” the book takes us from the early 1900’s dance halls and
jazz clubs through the skiffle era, evolution of rock in the 1960’s to
the pub-rock and punk scene of the 70’s.
While this is not a Hendrix-specific book, a portion of it does give
us insight to the music scene that was evolving when Jimi landed in
London, and gives us some of the vibe of the clubs and atmosphere of
the era to better understand the emergence of the Jimi Hendrix
Experience.
The scene at the time had recently seen the progression of the folk
music clubs, heading in a new direction when “(Bob) Dylan’s visit to
Britain with The Hawks and a selection of amplifiers in May 1966
had alerted British folk musicians to the possibilities of electric
instruments.” And the progression of British R&B musicians and
venues with the recognition of the need for the post-war youth for
musical outlets coupled with their newly found freedoms that evolved
into the artistic creativity of psychedelia.
Then Jimi Hendrix emerged on the scene. And suddenly R&B,
psychedelia and rock were all fused into one explosive new genre.
Hendrix actually only passes through the
book in a few brief pages, but maintains an
important position in the progression of musical
styles.
The book touches on his landing in London
and first appearance at the Scotch of St. James, a
review of the Experience’s appearance at Blaises
on December 21 and gigs at the Marquee.
More importantly in the theme of this volume
we get to sense more of the vibe of the scene and
the clubs. The Marquee, Roundhouse, UFO,
Saville, Speakeasy and others. We get to
understand better the importance of The Beatles, Pink Floyd and even
Geno Washington on the scene. We find out a little more about the
happenings of the era including events at the Roundhouse and the
Experience’s performance at the Christmas on Earth event December
22 (1967).
The Guitar Grail
by Chris Adams
Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 978-1-4422-4679-9
208 pages Hardcover
2016 $35
Chris Adams was guitarist with the Scottish folk-rock band String
Driven Thing. Sometime around 1973 Adams visited the Sound City
music store in London in search of a new guitar. He took a liking to a
used Fender Telecaster. The guitar was well worn with scratches and
dents, Fender logo missing from the headstock, along with pickups
and machineheads changed – the latter modifying the guitar for a left-
handed player. Still, to Adams, it felt right. Then he asked the store
salesman why the left-handed tuners. The response, “One of
Hendrix’s roadies brought the guitar in.”
Some 40 years later, Adams was prompted to go on a historical
search to find out if this guitar was really owned and played by Jimi
Hendrix.
Sleuthing, internet searching, interviewing, questioning,
documenting.
Adams tracks down surviving musicians (some who actually died
during the years of the book’s research) and people who worked with
the Experience members to shed light on the fate of the guitar. He
follows a trail that found the guitar was in Noel Redding’s possession
a couple of times during its travels, and ultimately – if this guitar was
truly Hendrix’s – inherited by Mitch Mitchell when Jimi died who
then sold it off a couple years later deeming it didn’t have much
worth.
The book is fascinating, especially in light of the number of alleged
Hendrix guitars that have come up for auction in the past few years
that have sold for extraordinary prices considering they have been of
questionable covenance with little to no collaboration of their
authenticity.
And while the primary premise of the book is to document
the guitar as Hendrix’s, what we ultimately get is one of the
best biographies of the Jimi Hendrix Experience . That’s right,
the Experience. More than just Hendrix, in following the trail
of the guitar Adams has to spend a lot of time tracing the
history of Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell.
One of the most interesting details Adams has unearthed in the
book is that Hendrix actually played a Telecaster, not his usual
Stratocaster, on “Purple Haze”. As the story goes, he had damaged
his guitar at a gig earlier and they needed a guitar for the session.
Redding had already traded the guitar to his former bandmate Trevor
Williams of The Lonely Ones. As it turned out, they were gigging
nearby and Redding borrowed the needed guitar for the session.
As mentioned, while this is a history of the guitar, it is truly a
biography of the band. Detailed travels of Noel Redding during his
pre-Experience years. Rare interviews tracking history with Linda
Keith, Roger Mayer, Eric Barrett and a host of others. Mitch
Mitchell’s possession of Hendrix gear after Jimi passed.
As Adams tracks down the surviving musicians and
acquaintances, they shed light on the fate of that Telecaster
leaving Adams to decipher the details. Throughout, Adams
weaves his own story as a rock musician and tells how, against
the odds, he managed to hold on to this remarkable instrument.
Adams follows trails until he reaches dead ends, and then doubles
back to make sure there is no other route to traverse. The path snakes
and winds, twists and turns, and at times feels like it’s going in
circles. Undaunted, Adams continues to move forward.
He finds the guitar has been modified, shaved, refinished, painted,
with hardware modifications. He talks to Fender guitar factory
historians and luthiers. He leaves no stone unturned.
In final summary, he feels he is 99% sure the guitar in his
possession is the one. Yet in the end, he has to leave that 1% of
doubt.
And while that result matters to Adams, what matters to us is the
detail and documentation of Hendrix history making this an
indispensable addition to any Hendrix library.
Jimi Hendrix: 50 Years On – The Truth
By Rod Harrod
PROmpt Press
ISBN 978-1519027672
102 pages paperback
2016 $5
Author Rod Harrod was on the inside of the evolution of rock and
roll in the U.K. From his teenage years, when he became the Welsh
correspondent for Melody Maker magazine covering all the major
acts who came through the region. When he was just 18 he relocated
to London and became a leading music gossip columnist for Melody
Maker’s sister publication Disc. That lead him to a management job
at the London club Scotch of St. James.
The theme of the book is “I was
there.” And he certainly was on the
night of September 26, 1966 when
Jimi Hendrix made his debut public
appearance in the U.K., sitting in with
the V.I.P.’s as he was managing the
club and graced Hendrix manager
Chas Chandler with the opportunity
for Hendrix to hit the stage.
Harrod approaches his story with
the premise, “Jimi is the most
maligned and lied about performer,”
in rock history. “There have been
cover-ups, re-inventions, mangles and
simple changes in stories,” going on
to note that even the “whispers and
recollections get adopted as the truth.”
What he set out to do with this book is to reveal the truth – because,
“I was there.”
What he does present is an encapsulation of that one night in
Hendrix history and the events that led up to the performance and
dispel some of the other stories of legend.
He prefaces his story with an introduction that puts the British
social, media and music scene in perspective for us to understand
how Chandler was able to bring Hendrix to market. He describes the
favors Chandler was calling in to get Hendrix the gig. And he
provides in depth detail of that given night.
Regarding the myths, he points to one published piece that
indicated Chas quit managing Jimi because he found him in bed with
Lotta (Chas’ wife). “This wasn’t just inaccurate, it was repugnant.”
He also makes claim Chas, not Noel Redding, played bass on “Hey
Joe” noting, “This isn’t a criticism of Noel but indicates Chas had a
specific sound in his head. It was an admirable first production
decision. After all Noel had only switched to play bass a few weeks
earlier.”
One interesting story he brings to the table in that the Jimi Hendrix
Experience almost never was. He says while Hendrix was sitting in
with the V.I.P’s on this particular evening, Chandler actually solicited
the band to be Jimi’s permanent backup band. Howver, they would
have had to fire their lead singer and they opted to decline the offer.
But then the book starts to fall apart. Harrod starts providing details
of Hendrix when he headed back to New York after enjoying success.
The problem is Harrod wasn’t there. He confuses the New York
“cosmic ladies” to the Plastercasters and involvement with women
including Carol Shiroky and Linda Keith. Then he goes on to put his
perspective in on how Hendrix died. Again, he wasn’t there.
The first part of the book telling the tale of Jimi’s first appearance
in the U.K. would make a great magazine article, or even a couple
pages in a book. 46 pages of the book are valid in the documentation
of Hendrix history, but the other 56 should have been deleted. Still,
since the book is only $5, less than if he would have given the story
to a magazine to publish to add to the Hendrix archives.
And there’s more books to come. At press time, we understand the
fifth volume of Ben Valkhoff’s Foxy Papers is out offering press
clippings covering October 1968 through January 1969…The fine art
archives publishing creative Iconic Images has teamed with ACC
Editions to offer a coffeetable edition Burning Desire: The Jimi
Hendrix Experience Through the Lens of Ed Caraeff with over a
hundred pictures capturing the Experience at Monterey, 8/10/67
Hollywood Bowl, 2/9/68 Anaheim Convention Center, 2/13/68
Ackerman Ballroom at UCLA, 9/14/68 Hollywood Bowl, 10/19/68
Whisky A Go-Go, and Jimi’s two appearances the weekend of 6/20-
22/69 at Newport…The Monkees’ Mike Nesmith has come forward
with his stories in his new memoir, Infinite Tuesday, where he recalls
his days with The Monkees, forming his own group, creating one of
the first music videos, writing novels and becoming friends with the
likes of John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix.
COMPACT DISCS (Vol. 103) …The Gypsy Eye Project is a
Japanese label that continues to crank out unauthorized product. It
has been difficult to find releases from the Japanese Gypsy Eye
Project label, and have to rely on the reviews published in the
excellent Jimi Hendrix fanzine Jimpress which we’ve encapsulated
some of them here. Check them out at www.jimpress.uk
One we have to mention from a Jimpress posting, but don’t
necessarily include in the Hendrix archives is Praying Silently For
Jimi (Empress Valley) crediting Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. It’s
a Japanese 5CD box set of which the first four discs feature two live
Led Zeppelin shows that day after Jimi died at Madison Square
Garden. The last disc is Hendrix – a copy of the rare Electric Hendrix
(Track) album.
ALIVE ON FIRE *
(Gypsy Eye Project GEP-223)
3/18/67 TwenclubNDR Funkhaus, Hamburg, Germany
9/5/67 Radiohuset, Stockholm, Sweden
5/18/69 Miami Pop Festival, Miami, Florida (4 songs)
9/2/70 Vejlby-Risskov Hallen, Arhus, Denmark
7/4/70 Atlanta Pop Festival, Byron, Georgia
Five performances on 2CDs. Nothing new, and bootlegged to death.
Plus, the Radiohuset is presented in the wrong sequence of
performance; the Miami Pop is the original Univibes release of only
four songs (the complete show now commercially available), and
ditto on the Atlanta Pop Festival (although this release includes “Hey
Baby” which is not on the official release). Still nothing really new to
get excited about. (2016)
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED SESSIONS **
(Gypsy Eye Project GEP-229)
Disc one: Disc two:
Hey Joe (3:44) Red House (10:46)
Can You See Me (8:42) La Poupee Qui Fair Non
51st Anniversary (4:58) Manic Depression (9:37)
Fire (7:33) Remember (17:45)
Red House (4:10) May This Be Love (3:11)
Hey Joe (8:56) Stone Free (3:38)
Hey Joe (3:24) Can You See Me (2:33)
Purple Haze (2:58) Are You Experienced (2:41)
Fire (2:32) Look Over Yonder (2:53)
The Wind Cries Mary (3:30 Taking Care Of No Business
I Don’t Live Today (15:42) Cat Talkin’ To Me (2:35)
Another hodgepodge compilation of outtakes from material for the
debut release of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. While interesting, has
been done before. Nothing new on this release. Only of interest if you
are just starting to explore the music and seek some of the studio
outtakes to initiate your experience to Hendrix.
AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL **
(Breakdown 474)
Introduction/Tune Up (7:07)
Are You Experienced (5:51)
Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) (814)
Red House (9:59)
Foxy Lady (4:56)
Fire (3:47)
Sunshine Of Your Love (5:45)
I Don’t Live Today (5:21)
Little Wing (3:38)
Star Spangled Banner (2:52)
Purple Haze (5:25)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience were returning to the Hollywood Bowl
as headliners after nearly being booed off the stage a year earlier
when they opened for The Mamas and The Papas. Decades ago,
Hendrix fans got the first taste of this 9/14/68 concert at the
Hollywood Bowl on the vinyl release Live At The Hollywood Bowl
(TMOQ). But the release was missing songs from the set. Still, other
versions continued to get recycled over the years, still missing those
tracks. Finally, Electric Shock At The Hollywood Bowl (Rattlesnake)
gave us the complete show including the introduction and tune up.
This is a copy of that release.
BALLROOM ON FIRE *
(Breakdown 595)
Killing Floor (5:05)
Foxy Lady (4:10)
The Wind Cries Mary (3:41)
Fire (2:35)
Red House (4:53)
I Don’t Live Today (4:37)
Purple Haze (6:25)
Wild Thing (3:50)
A new unauthorized Japanese label has emerged, and actually given
us something worth adding to the collection.
The disc captures the first show from the Experience performance
3/10/68 at the International Ballroom in the Hilton Hotel in
Washington, D.C. where they resided for three days. This is not the
first time we have seen this concert released, but does provide
significantly better audio fidelity then the only other complete release
on the Major Tom label. (2016)
ELECTRIC LADYLAND SESSIONS *
(Gypsy Eye Project GEP-199)
Disc one: Disc two:
My Friend (4:39) Rainy Day Shuffle (5:15)
My Friend (4:35) Rainy Day Shuffle (1:31i)
Little Miss Strange (3:28) Rainy Day Shuffle (5:54)
1983 (4:18) Rainy Day Shuffle (2:11)
Somewhere (3:59) Rainy Day, Dream Away (3:15)
Somewhere (4:01) Rainy Day, Dream Away (5:20)
Somewhere (3:57) Rainy Day, Dream Away (7:38)
Somewhere (3:47) Rainy Day, Dream Away (7:32)
Long Hot Summer Night (3:29) Jazz Jimi Jazz (12:10)
Long Hot Summer Night (3:27) Electric Ladyland Blues
Little Miss Strange (2:55) (Have You Ever Been
Little Miss Strange (2:50) To Electric Ladyland) (6:11)
Little Miss Strange (2:50)
1983 (4:33)
1983/Moon Turn the Tides (14:40)
Gypsy Eyes (2:01)
Gypsy Eyes (2:08)
Walking Through the Garden (4:43)
Disc three:
Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) (1:30)
Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) (4:54)
Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) (3:26)
Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) (0:42)
Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) (2:11)
Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) (2:11)
…And the Gods Made Love (1:08)
…And the Gods Made Love (0:51)
…And the Gods Made Love (1:24)
…And the Gods Made Love (1:23)
Room Full of Mirrors (1:25)
Come On (Part One) (1:15)
Come On (Part One) (2:55)
Come On (Part One) (2:52)
Come On (Part One) (4:26)
Come On (Part One) (4:08)
“As we surmised, this is simply a copy of the first three discs of
Naked Ladyland, once more demonstrating the lack of imagination
evident in all the Gypsy Eye Project’s releases,” notes Jimpress in
their review. While a nice compilation, all tracks have been
bootlegged to death. (2016)
THE CRY OF LOVE SESSIONS ***
(Gypsy Eye Project GEP-209)
NEW YORK MIXING SESSIONS
(Gypsy Eye Project GEP-217)
Night Bird Flying (1035)
Dolly Dagger (4:54)
Freedom (9:20)
Drifting (41:29)
From a review in Jimpress, these four tracks, “come from reference
tapes made by Jimi during the various mixing sessions and, while
they contain many fascinating moments, they are very fragmented
and therefore not an easy listen.” But they go on to say, “On the
upside, if you are a completist, all sessions appear here in complete
form, as complete as is circulating that is, marking a first release for
the complete ‘Night Bird Flying’ and ‘Freedom’ sessions.” At the
same time, the label tries to suck buyers in with things like this –
basically the same 2CD set released less than a year apart under
different titles, cover art and label number. (2015/2016)
HELL’S SESSION *
(Gypsy Eye Project GEP-211)
Driving South (12:32)
Drone Blues (8:59)
It’s Too Bad (4:52)
Jimi/Jimmy Jam (7:53)
Young/Hendrix (14:44)
On one hand, this is a digitized copy of the album Hells Sessions. On
the other hand, that album has been long out of print and for newer
Hendrix fans, while most of this material has seen the light of day on
various releases, it is a chance to move from vinyl to CD. Because it
is transferred from an album, its only about 48-minutes of material,
so one may feel shortchanged.
The disc opens with “Driving South” from a session 3/25/68 at the
Record Plant with John McLaughlin and Buddy Miles. “Drone
Blues” is from a 4/24/69 Record Plant session. “It’s Too Bad” is from
a 2/11/69 Record Plant session with organist Larry Young and Buddy
Miles. And the “Young/Hendrix” jam is from 5/14/69 Record Plant.
All released numerous times on other titles.
JIMI HENDRIX LIVE 0 *
(TDM30)
Purple Haze (3:56)
Fire (2:50)
Wild Thing (3:43)
Hey Joe (4:02)
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (7:26)
Burning of the Midnight Lamp (3:55)
Foxy Lady (3:26)
Can You See Me (2:37)
Like A Rolling Stone (6:25)
Star Spangled Banner (3:15)
Aagh! Stop the pain with unauthorized titles like this. This one from
Italy Yes, this is Jimi Hendrix live. But a hodgepodge of tracks in no
particular order of chronology, and pulled from various concerts
(some incomplete) that have been widely circulated.
Still let’s at least list the running order: “Purple Haze”, “Fire”,
“Voodoo Chile” and “Star Spangled Banner” (1/9/69 Konserthuset,
Stockholm); “Can You See Me”, “Like a Rolling Stone” and an
incomplete “Wild Thing” (6/18/67 Monterey); along with “Hey Joe”,
“Burning of the Midnight Lamp” and “Foxy Lady” (9/5/67
Radiohuset, Stockholm). They didn’t even put the tracks from each
concert together in the release. Stop the pain!
THE LAST CONCERT IN SWEDEN ***
(Breakdown 621)
Disc one: Disc two:
Spanish Castle Magic (5:35) Hey Joe (5:05)
Killing Floor (4:46) Foxy Lady (5:43)
Hear My Train A Comin’ (13:37) Red House (10:21)
Message To Love (10:13) Room Full of Mirrors (3:48)
Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) (7:12) Straight Ahead (5:02)
In From The Storm (4:10) Purple Haze (12:45)
This ultimately turned out to be the final leg of the 1970 European
tour with a stop 9/1/70 at the Stora Scenen, Liseberg Nojespark in
Goteorg (Gothenburg), Sweden as 17 days later Jimi Hendrix was
dead.
With that, as Jimpress notes, “While not the best performance of
the tour and not the best quality audience recording, you will find this
is a show worthy of a listen any time. In common with many shows
on the final European tour it has a refreshing mix of the old and new
from ‘Hey Joe’ and ‘Killing Floor’ to five tracks that wouldn’t be
released until after Jimi’s death.”
While this concert has seen the light of day previously on Warm
Hello Of The Sun, that disc is long out of print for newer fans to be
able to find.
MIGNIGHT LIGHTNING SESSIONS **
(Gypsy Eye Project GEP-219)
Disc one: Disc two:
Midnight (6:00) Crash Landing (4:51)
Midnight Lightning (615) Midnight Lightning /
Hear My Train A Comin’ (3:28) Stoop Down Baby (6:16)
Gypsy Boy (3:18) Izabella/Machine Gun (8:12)
Blue Suede Shoes (11:34) Further Up The Road (1:38)
Machine Gun (12:17) Astro Man Jam (12:22)
One I Had A Woman (7:48) Country Blue (7:04)
Beginning (2:22) Lord, I Sing The Blues (4:39)
Midngiht Lightning (2:42) Message To Love (3:47)
Blue Sued Shoes (3:52) Stone Free (4:04)
Once I Had A Woman (5:29) Rock and Roll Jam (1:28)
Izabella (3:10)
In 1975, producer Alan Douglas reworked Hendrix material to give
us the commercially released Midnight Lightning. Over the years,
tracks from those and the original sessions have surfaced. And while
this might be a nice collection for newer Hendrix fans to study, there
is nothing new here for anyone longtime Hendrix collector to add to
their library as it is basically a combination of a 1990s release Gypsy
Suns, Moons and Rainbows (Sidewalk) and Midnight Ligthning
Revisited.
As a matter of fact, this exact set was released on colored vinyl a
couple years back under the same title.
NUREMBERG 1969 ****
(Breakdown 619)
Intro (2:22)
Fire (4:11)
Hey Joe (4:39)
Spanish Castle Magic (5:38)
Red House (4:09)
Foxy Lady (6:00)
Sunshine Of Your Love (8:19)
Little Wing (3:31)
Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) (10:12)
All Along The Watchtower (5:49)
Purple Haze (4:28)
In 2015, a tape of this second show from 1/16/69 at the 3,000-seat
Meistersingerhalle in Nuremburg, Germany started making the
rounds in collector’s circles. Here it is on CD.
PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE ****
(Breakdown 554)
Introduction (3:30)
Tax Free (8:54)
Fire (3:32)
Hey Joe (5:51)
Foxy Lady (4:59)
Red House (10:59)
Purple Haze (6:52)
Outroduction (0:08)
As noted in Jimpress, “The most surprising thing about this is that it
is a first release for the May 30, 1968 show at Hallenstadion, Zurich
as part of the Beat Monster Konzert shows.” They note, “The
recording quality is not great but we have seen much worse on many
a bootleg,” noting the source as an audience recording taped by
Arnold Soder (see Jimpress #99 for more detail).
The Experience were performing as part of the mammoth two-day
Beat Monsters concert that included The Move, Traffic, Small Faces,
The Koobas, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Eric Burdon’s New
Animals.
A riot breaks out during the show with the audience throwing beer
mats and chair legs on to the stage. Jimi stops playing during “Stone
Free” and emcee MC Giorgio Frapolli comes on stage to warn the
crowd that if the disruption continues Jimi will stop.
RAW BLUES *
(Gypsy Eye Project GEP-242)
Disc one: Disc two:
Red House (7:20) Jam 292 (6:37)
Born Under A Bad Sign (820) Voodoo Chile (9:17)
Once I Had A Woman (818) Strato Strut (1:51)
Easy Blues (4:38) Country Blues/Astro Man
Mannish Boy (5:52) Things I Used To Do (5:45)
Villanova Junction Jam (27:37) Bleeding Heart (3:31)
Hear My Train A Comin’ (8:13)
Belly Button Window (2:29)
Villanova Junction Jam (19:50)
While a nice compilation of Hendrix blues-flavored studio takes, this
is a copy of the recently released :Blues Outtakes (Eat A Peach).
Another non-creative Gypsy Eye Project, even copying the style of
artwork on the commercially released :Blues.
SUNSHINE MAGIC ISLAND **
(Breakdown 622)
Introduction (1:35)
Lovers Man (4:43)
I Don’t Live Today (8:20)
Red House (12:38)
Hear My Train A Comin’ (8:25)
Spanish Castle Magic / Earth Blues / Sunshine Of Your Love (9:23)
Foxy Lady (4:08)
Purple Haze / Star Spangled Banner (4:00)
Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) (9:39)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience headed to Providence, Rhode Island for
this concert on their 1969 U.S. tour 5/17/69. An audience recording
of a lackluster show, part of Hendrix history that needs to be in the
archives, but not one to go back to very often. And, it’s already seen
the light of day as One Night At The Arena (Venue) and Rhode Island
Red House (Major Tom). Don’t know where Breakdown came up
with the title for this one.
COVERS (Vol. 103)…We continue to pay homage to those who
keep the spirit of Jimi alive and honor Hendrix with their inspired
interpretations of his music.
Phil Brown – Live in Seattle
(Grooveyard GYR096)
“Manic Depression”
“Purple Haze”
“I Don’t Live Today”
“You Got Me Floatin’”
“One Rainy Wish”
“Love or Confusion”
“Fire”
“If Six Was Nine”
“Voodoo Child”
“Spanish Castle Magic”
Phil Brown may not be a household name, but his music is. This Los
Angeles-based songwriter has penned songs for Cher, Tower of
Power, Pat Benatar, Bonnie Tyler, Kim Carnes, Steve Perry, Lou
Graham, etal. He’s collected numerous gold and platinum awards.
His career includes a period as a roadie for Studio Instrument Rentals
and the Whiskey A-Go-Go; a tour with Little Feat after Lowell
George had passed away to fill in; and as a songwriter for Warner
Brothers and A&M Records.
Brown once declared Electric Ladyland was the album that
“changed the world forever.” Since that time, the acclaimed Los
Angeles-based songwriter has kept the spirit alive in his personal
music (having included a version of “If 6 Was 9” on his 2003 release
Cruel Inventions with Phil Brown & The Apaches From Paris). In
2006 he took his Hendrix tribute one step further with The Jimi
Project, an album of interpretations of Hendrix music that at the time
we commented, “This is Phil Brown meets Jimi Hendrix, not Phil
Brown is Jimi Hendrix as so many other tribute acts pretend to be.
We have to commend Brown for one of the most exploratory
evolutions of Hendrix we’ve heard to date.”
This disc captures Brown live at the Columbia City Theatre in
Seattle, Washington on June 29, 2006 in support of The Jimi Project
(Apache From Paris 25003) release. And while we get some live
flourishes of Brown’s guitar on some brief extensions of the album
tracks, we would have to say if you are going to invest in Brown’s
catalog, try to find the original studio release. (2012)
(www.philbrownguitar.com)
Jack Bruce – You Burned All
the Tables 1969-1992 (Crimson)
Uli Jon Roth – Das Jimi
Hendrix Konsert 1991(Crimson)
“Spanish Castle Magic”
“Who Knows”
“One Rainy Wish”
“The Wind Cries Mary”
Since his days with Cream, Jack
Bruce is a legendary figure in
rock music history with a career
that crossed paths with Jimi
Hendrix and the Experience clan
over and over. Unfortunately,
we lost Bruce in October of 2014, but he has left an indeliable stamp
with the music he left us with.
This disc offers a piecemeal compilation of performances from
Bruce. It opens with four Hendrix songs dated 1992. It was actually
1991 when on April 25, 1991 in Cologne, Germany, Scorprions’
guitarist Uli Jon Roth hosted a tribute concert in homage to Jimi
Hendrix. Gathered for the event were 16 renowned musicians
including the likes of Jack Bruce, Simon Phillips, Randy Hansen,
John Wetton, Zeno Roth, etal. The original project was broadcast on
German TV. The concert is available on CD as The Spirit Of Jimi
Hendrix Live In Concert (HQ 01/2) and was released on DVD as The
Spirit Of Jimi Hendrix Live In Concert (Global Premium TKLB
50141).
Pulled from that set we get four songs – “Spanish Castle Magic”,
“Who Knows” (faded out 1/3 the way through), “One Rainy Wish”
and “The Wind Cries Mary” with all arrangements staying on course
with the original Hendrix versions.
The remainder of the disc delivers tracks from four other concerts
dated 1969, 1971, 1975 and 1990. We’ve always envisioned Bruce as
a bass player, but he takes more of a frontman/vocalist roles on most
of these tracks. Of minor interest to Bruce fans, although a
hodgepodge of material. Most interesting is his solo version of
“Theme for an Imaginary Western” with just piano accompaniment
and an acoustic version of “Rope Ladder to the Moon” from the 1971
concert. (2015)
Brett Ellis Band – Electrified Live (Grooveyard GYR141)
“Freedom”
A mainstay on the hard rock music scene in the San Diego area for
over 20 years, the Brett Ellis Band is a power trio that has mastered
the art of fusing hard rock with the blues. One of the goals of the
band is “Keeping the Rock Alive,” the lead song on Electrified Live
setting the tone for their hard-edged sound.
Midway through the set they dig into Hendrix’s “Freedom”
staying true to his arrangement with a straight ahead, metal-edged
rock flavor with Ellis’ growling in-your-face rendering.
Ellis first emerged in 2008, serving up two albums of acoustic
classical guitar compositions by Fernando Sor. His catalog quickly
moved to bluesy Stratocaster expressionism, and continued to emerge
into a heavier rock sound with a hard blues edge.
This live set captures the energy of the band , but unfortunately,
their sound never became distinctive enough to break out any further
than the local music scene, albeit being called on regularly as an
opening act for national touring artists coming through. (2015)
(www.brettellisband.com)
Jan Gerfast Trio – Electric Blues Power (Grooveyard GYR 068)
“Voodoo Chile”
Over the years, Swedish guitarist Jan Gerfast has developed his own
style and sound dubbed “groovy blues.” His career spans over four
decades emerging from being a European vagabond and Parisian
street busker, to a period playing experimental rock music while
living the hippie life in the woods, to becoming a session player in
the 80’s. It was the end of that decade when he formed his own blues
band which has been his foundation ever since.
Impressed with his work, Grooveyard Records was
commissioning a compilation of Gerfast material from the 90s and
had requested an unpublished track. With that “Voodoo Child” is
included as a “bonus track.”
“I’ve had ‘Voodoo Child; in my repertoire since the 70’s,” Gerfast
says. While he doesn’t play it every night, “I play it on and off, when
I feel like it or when the audience requests it – and they do a lot.”
Various Hendrix songs have always been part of Gerfast’s
repertoire. “When I play his songs I don’t just try to make a cover. I
try to play them with my own feeling and improvise a lot. Just like
Jimi did from the beginning.”
Of the track, Gerfast says, “The version of ‘Voodoo Child’ on this
release is a wild version we did on a Scandanavian tour.” The year
was 1993, and Gerfast was then touring with two Texans - drummer
“Uncle John Turner (original drummer with Johnny Winter) and
Leland Parks on bass.
“It was recorded in Osby, Sweden where I was born.” The
homecoming stop was to a private audience. “The sound engineer
recorded it, so it is a live recording with the live energy.”
The disc features Gerfast at various points in time, but stands out
to demonstrate he was one of the most progressive players of the time
in the region. The disc opens with a song that could have come from
P-Funk, incorporating the rock-and-funk groove while introducing
rap decades before it became known. Other tracks leave the tastes of
Peter Green and Jimmy Page, along with Hendrix. And it only makes
righteous sense he closes the disc with “Voodoo Child”.
But it’s not just a close. It’s a statement! Raw and live, Gerfast
serves up a seven-minute earthy, electric paean. And he doesn’t end
there, extending the track another three minutes as the bass line
morphs into “Third Stone From the Sun” but Gerfast himself takes
off on a high-powered extended free form jam. It closes the disc with
an exclamation point.
“The biggest influence Jimi Hendrix has had on me is the way
he’d take a groove and improvise on it from his heart. Even if it’s just
one chord or a riff. That’s what I like to do and still do.” And that he
does. (2012) (www.jangerfast.com)
S.A. Harris – Steel Horse (Harris Music)
“Red House”
“The Wind Cries Mary”
Oregon native Sean Harris got his first job playing music in front of a
music store when he was just 10 years old.
“The first time a crowd gathered around me, I knew that this was
what I was born to do.” He continues, “In my teens I started a 50s-
70s rock review band that played all the hits.” But it was the likes of
Peter Green from Fleetwood Mac and Jimi Hendrix that first inspired
him.
Harris tell us, “Although I was born in 1968 (too young to discover
Jimi Hendrix while he was still living), the historical performances of
Monterey and Woodstock put Jimi Hendrix in the playlist of AM &
FM radio all across the world. I was blessed to discover Jimi
Hendrix listening to KYJC AM radio in Medford, Oregon in the mid-
1970s. His feel and how expressive his playing was what inspired
me to become a musician, and 40 years later I wanted to pay tribute
to Jimi by recording a couple of classic Hendrix pieces for my
homage to the Legend.”
On this Steel Horse project, the bulk of the material is original
although he does offer up versions of Mark Knopfler’s “Sultans of
Swing”, Billy Gibbons “Blue Jean Blues” and two pieces from
Hendrix – “Red House” and “The Wind Cries Mary”.
“Red House was a collaboration with fellow musician, Bobby
Beausoleil, via a set of guitar rhythm rifts I wrote for an original
composition on my first album Funny Farm titled ‘Drunken Six-
String Blues’.” Harris explains his arrangement. “Bobby just started
singing the lyrics to ‘Red House’ over the instrumental of ‘Drunken
Six-String Blues’ and we decided to slightly modify the song to fit
‘Red House’ and record our version of the song. “ Thus, we get an
alternate melody line to the slow blues drenched rendition Harris
serves up.
“I had been playing around with ‘The Wind Cries Mary’ for a while
and decided to record it and have vocalist Christian Hawkins sing it.”
You can check out the version on YouTube -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1lt91GKkUg&feature=youtu.be
"Red House" was also released on Bobby BeauSoleil's label as a
single. We are now cosmically linked to the spirit of Jimi.
Harris’ life is one of a survivor, and not always on the right side of
the law. He says, “The interesting part of producing the covers of
‘Red House’ and ‘The Wind Cries Mary’ is that Bobby and I are both
lifers who were serving time at the Oregon State Penitentiary together
in 2014 producing the songs from our respective prison cells.”
Bottom line is to Harris, “Music is the internal rhythm that drives
my soul.” (2014) (www.s-a-harris.com)
The Janeys – Get Down With The Blues (Grooveyard GYR113)
“Beginnings”
“Third Stone From The Sun”
A father-son duo from Iowa, Billy Lee and Bryce Janey serve us a
Midwest boogie-woogie edged blues-rock style. The disc opens with
their take on “Beginnings” putting their own four-minute voodoo
spell on the Hendrix track, while closing the disc with an interesting
read of “Third Stone From the Sun”. With drummer Eric Douglas
laying down a straight ahead percussive underlayment, Janey opens
with an dual-octave overlayment of the Hendrix lead lines eventually
progressing into a Texas/Southern rock twinged take, a bit of echo-
enhanced whammy bar bending, into a hard rock edged refrain as
Bryce and his father trade off licks. An impressive seven-minute
journey.
In 2011, Bryce won the Iowa Blues Challenge and was an IBC
semi-finalist in Memphis in 2012.
His catalog includes releases with the family, as well as a solo
career which dates back to 1995 through his most recent releases
including the electric Delta Road in 2015 and acoustic Organic Man
in 2016. (2013) (www.thejaneys.com)
Various Artists – The Many Faces of Jimi Hendrix (Music Brokers
MBB 7242)
Fourth Stone – “Hey Joe”
Monks of Doom – “Spanish Castle Magic”
Trick Bag – “Fire”
Freedom Searchers – “All Along the Watchtower”
Thee Hypnotics – “Can You See Me”
Bleeding Hearts – “Purple Haze”
501 Spanish Verbs – “Ain’t No Telling”
David Dreams – “Third Stone From the Sun”
The Corn Dollies – “I Don’t Live Today”
Styler and Baldwin – “You Got Me Flating”
The Membranes – “Voodoo Chile”
The Stretch Heads – “Spanish Castle Magic”
Obsequious Cheesecake – “If Six Was Nine”
The Mock Turtles – “Are You Experienced”
OK, we’re not quite sure where to place this 3CD Mexican budget
($11.99 for 3CD set) gatefold set in the Hendrix library – whether in
the Hendrix section or in the covers section. Only the last disc of the
three is truly covers of Hendrix songs.
Disc one features a
mixed bag of Hendrix
pre-Experience material
sprinkled in with tracks
from Hendrix bandmates
when they were in other
bands – Billy Cox,
Buddy Miles and Mitch
Mitchell when they did
sessions with Bruce
Cameron; Noel Redding
with Cork; Buddy Miles
from his Electric Flag
days; and then closing
with two tracks from Betty Davis, although not tracks from the album
Mitch Mitchell played on. Then disc two offers a hodgepodge of
material from the pre-Experience Curtis Knight/Lonnie
Youngblood/Little Richard era.
Once we got to disc three, the track list of covers looked vaguely
familiar. Pulling out the 1990 tribute disc If Six Was Nine (Imaginary)
we find most of the tracks were pulled from that release including the
Monks of Doom, Trick Bag, Thee Hypnotics, 501 Spanish Verbs,
David Dreams, The Corn Dollies, Styler and Bladwin, The
Membranes, The Stretch Heads, Obsequious Cheesecake and The
Mock Turtles.
We do get three new covers not in the Hendrix library, which the
disc credits courtesy of Countdown Media, although we can find no
information about any of these artists. Fourth Stone does “Hey Joe”,
Freedom Searchers do “All Along the Watchtower” and Bleeding
Hearts do “Purple Haze”. (2017)
NOTES FROM THE THIRD STONE…The February, 1969 Royal
Albert Hall footage legal battle between the Hendrix estate and the
film producers Gold & Goldstein continues as we await the
commercial release of the film. According to a report from Law360,
Experience Hendrix LLC is urging a California state appellate court
to reverse a lower court’s determination it couldn’t rescind its deal
with a filmmaker, saying his “unreasonable” decision to block Sony
Music Entertainment’s distribution plans for a 1969 concert film
violated their implied good faith covenant in a motion filed April. 20.
The dispute stems from footage defendant Gerald Goldstein
possesses of Hendrix performing two concerts at the Royal Albert
Hall in London in 1969. Goldstein and the estate formed a joint
venture in 2010 to complete and distribute the film.
Italian Hendrix historian Roberto Crema unearthed a reel of video
from the 8/16/68 Merriweather Post Pavlion concert in Columbia,
Maryland
and acquired
it on Ebay
(paid a little
over $100).
An amazing
price for the
find. Says
it’s about 9
minutes of
silent
footage.
Here’s a 30 second snippet:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9sSupfLixE&feature=youtu.be
Jimi Hendrix on the charts – Taking a look at Billboard
magazine’s charts on how successful Hendrix was in the United
States, while he was hitting Top 10 consistently in the U.K. – His
biggest hit was “All Along the Watchtower” which peaked at #20
10.19/68 and stayed on the charts for 9 weeks. “Crosstown Traffic”
peaked at #52 12/21/68 and was on the charts for 8 weeks.
Surprisingly, “Purple Haze” only made it to #65 10/14/67, lasting two
months on the charts. Other singles that charted included “Freedom”
peaking at #59 5/8/71 with 8 weeks of chart action, “Foxey Lady”
peaking at #67 1/13/68 but only on the charts for four weeks, “Up
From the Skies” peaking at #82 3/30/68 also only lasting four weeks,
and “Dolly Dagger” peaking at #74 11/27/71 staying around for
seven weeks…
The vision for Seattle’s Jimi Hendrix Park can now be realized, as
the final funding needed to create the "Shadow Wave Wall" art piece
has been acquired. Sony Music Entertainment, which has a major
licensing deal with Experience Hendrix LLC, is donating $300,000
toward the wave wall, a key focal point for the new park and part of
its Phase II construction. The wave wall is in three pieces at the north
end of the park, representing sound waves, with silhouette images of
Jimi Hendrix on the two outside walls and his face on the middle
section. “This magnificent structure, crafted and sculpted to create a
moving experience for those who view it, is one of the most
impressive jewels of the Park,” states a Jimi Hendrix Park
Foundation new release. During a late-February meeting between
three Friends of Jimi Hendrix Park members and King County
Councilmember Larry Gossett, who advocated including $35,000 for
Phase II in the county budget, project manager Maisha Barnett said
estimates were for the Shadow Wave Wall had increased
significantly. “We would like to thank Sony Music for this enormous
contribution,” the release states, “demonstrating their continued
dedication to the legacy of Jimi Hendrix.”
A central shelter in the park’s plaza that will serve as a performance
and community space will be installed this month, according to
Barnett.
Will you ever play that new Hendrix album you just bought – you
know, the limited edition 180-gram one? Or the one you got at
Record Store Day? Last year vinyl sales reached a 25-year high, yet
the BBC published a survey that stated half the people who purchase
vinyl have no intention of ever playing it, while seven per cent of
vinyl buyers don’t even own a record player. This year, Hendrix fans
got the Curtis Knight release Live at George’s Club 20 (see review in
this issue). But since the CD had been released two months earlier,
how many bought the CD first, and then as a completist had to buy
the vinyl just to put in the collection? For collectors who couldn’t get
to the record store to buy the already overpriced album, Ebay scalpers
are already asking two to three times the price for the limited edition
release.
Speaking of this year’s Record
Store Day on April 22, Buddy Miles
could also be found in the new
release bins. A 2LP set from the
Electric Flag Live From California
1967-1968 with material when
Miles was part of the progressive
blues-rock entourage that included
Michael Bloomfield, Harvey
Brooks, Barry Goldberg, Nick
Gravenites as part of the group. The
first album is a live set from the Whisky A Go-Go in Hollywood
from September, 1967 which the second captures the band live May
18, 1968 at the Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco.
Another limited edition collector’s
item comes from the U.K. Classic Rock
magazine. A “fan pack” that includes a
116-page magazine with “rare and
never-before-seen photos,” art cards and
a copy of the CD People Hell and
Angels…
In 2009, the toymaker Funko gave us
a Jimi Hendrix Purple Haze pop figure
as part of their Legends series. They
return in 2017, once again give us
another Hendrix cartoonish 3 3/4” vinyl figurine in their Funko Pop!
Series. The Hendrix Pop! comes
with signature bandanna and
Fender Stratocaster, held upside
down to accommodate his left-
handed playing.
When you’re trying to sell
perfume that promises “a view into
the eyes of a man” and is designed
for “a man who knows his freedom
has no limits,” who can you turn to for your commercial soundtrack
Jimi Hendrix, of course. Hendrix’s take on “All Along the
Watchtower” has been licensed to Chanel for the fragrance giant’s
latest commercial campaign for its Bleu scent, providing a soundtrack
for the one-minute “film” you can watch above, which stars French
actor and model Gaspard Ulliel: https://youtu.be/A8FvBrIKfDY
Hendrix’s Woodstock Gypsy Suns and Rainbows percussionist
Jerry Velez made a rare appearance with the Hendrix tribute band
Kiss the Sky on March 24 at The Vault at Victor Records (150 S.
White Horse Pike in Berlin, New Jersey) for a special concert and
storyteller session. “It was my Birthday, and my first professional
performance, and I was playing with the greatest guitarist in Rock
and Roll History Jimi Hendrix….what a weekend!!” From there,
Velez went on for a stint with the jazz-fusion group Spyro Gyra,
toured with the likes of Chic and Marc Anthony, and recorded with a
who’s who of music greats. Velez now lives in Hawaii where he has
started a chapter of the American Society of Young Musicians to help
the youth of today become the leaders of music into the future. For
Velez, his career is one of being in the right place at the right time.
Velez went on to perform with such luminaries as David Bowie,
Elton John, Stevie Wonder,
Destiny’s Child, Stevie Nicks,
Chaka Khan, Marc Anthony and
countless others. His event
company Gerardo Velez
Productions (GVP) continues to
produce concerts and private
events. He is the Executive of the
Board of Governors for American
Society of Young Musicians New
York Chapter, and has just opened
a chapter in Hawaii. His range in
Music continues as a musical supervisor and director for Conde Nast
Travelers Awards. And he has been involved in creating the concepts,
music, choreography, as Artistic and Music Director for several
entertainment venues. You can check out a montage of the many
artists Velez has performed with https://youtu.be/6goDP9Yp2us
Kenny Wayne Shepherd paid special tribute to Chuck Berry
during the Experience Hendrix tribute tour on March 18 as they were
scheduled to play at the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis after
hearing the news of the death of Chuck Berry, who lived in the St.
Louis suburbs. During the concert, in a video he posted to his
Facebook page, Shepherd said “I think we all know that we lost a
legend today. All of us on this stage have been influenced by Jimi
Hendrix, and Jimi Hendrix was influenced by Chuck Berry."
Shepherd said he wanted to perform Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode”
though they hadn’t rehearsed it, because Hendrix used to perform it
as well. “We want to do it honor of the late great Chuck Berry,” he
said. Noah Hunt handled lead vocals during the rip-roaring version of
the classic. Bassist Billy Cox said in a statement just before the start
of the show: “This is a sad day for all of us I am sure because we lost
Chuck Berry today. But I believe he lives on since Chuck Berry was
about the music and fun. Let’s have some fun and play some music.”
Ironically, Cox said in a post on his Facebook age, “Wow, Chuck
Berry's transition is a double whammy for me...Tonight we play St.
Louis, Chuck's home town...I had just asked our tour producer, to see
if he could get Chuck out tonight...Of course I was hoping that we
could play "Johnny B. Goode"...However the news soon hit that he
had just died...Ladies and gentlemen, we have lost a pillar of Rock &
Roll...Chuck Berry was the foundation upon which many would
launch their musical careers...Thank you Chuck Berry, your influence
will continue to transcend generations...”
Cheryl Watkins, the creative/business partner to classic rock
photographer Ron Raffaelli and curator of the Raffaelli Archives
photo library is finishing up work on an a book, sharing 50 personal
stories and a treasure trove of his photographs. “This is one of the
photos of Jimi when he was dining with Ron,” from 1968, Watkins
says, that will be included in the volume. The book should be
released in 2018. We’ll keep you posted.
50 years ago, on May 12th, Jimi Hendrix's first record Are You
Experienced was released to the world. This year, the Rochester
(New York) music scene will celebrate Jimi's legacy by performing
music from all of his albums. Some three dozen area musicians are
listed in the performance lineup for the event. The show will be held
at the Anthology Club (336 East Avenue). For additional
information: www.anthologylive.com/event/1459001-jimi-hendrix-
50th-rochester/
Speaking of upcoming projects, Italian movie director Gianni
Leacche with working with Hendrix historian Roberto Creama on a
film documentary of the Jimi Hendrix Experience tour of Italy. They
hope to have the project completed for distribution in cinemas in
2018.
As a matter of fact, we understand there s a preview of the film
upcoming. In Bologna, Italy, the sixth annual Jimi Hendrix tribute
concerts will be held May 19-20. Highlighting the event will the the
release of a Hendrix documentary film
by Roberto Crema and Enzo Gentile
about the Jimi Hendrix Experience
performance in Bologna on May 26,
1968. Also appearing over the two-day
event will be Giorgio Cavalli aka Mr.
Blue Experience, the
Scarpato/Santisi/Zanotti power trio, pollini, Easy 3 and Fulvio Felicicano.
Top Related