Customer Reviews

Woodstock

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've owned this 1994 MCA release for almost ten years and have long thought it was a lousy production, despite an amazing performance with the Band of Gypsies' often visionary group improvisation. They had minimal rehearsal before this performance, which in no way inhibited their creativity and energy on stage. A few of the songs they whipped up the day before.

But with this MCA release, you have to listen really hard in order to appreciate all the bnad's dynamics, such as what other musicians are doing and how they are relating to each other. Often times, Jimi will basically be playing a two-chord rhythm chug, which makes sense if someone else is soloing but otherwise sounds lousy. And Lo! Larry Lee is there in the background, almost totally edited out, and indistinguishable unless you are listening for it. Most of the percussion is waaaay in the background, apart from Mitch who is barely keeping time at more than one point and in his soloing sounds at the end of his rope.

The engineers also monkeyed around with the crowd noise a lot, which is irritating (the photos in the booklet are also blatantly manipulated). One reviewer below notes that most of the crowd had left, and if you listen closely you can easily hear the idiot editor almost randomly waving the volume knob on the canned crowd track. Pathetic. All in all a botched edit.

So I give it two stars for the crap production. The Experience Hendrix label has a 1999 two-disc release that I haven't listened to closely, but I suggest you favor that one and AVOID this MCA release. Not only that, the '99 release (called, "Live at Woodstock," this one is "Jimi Hendrix: Woodstock") actually has the tracks in order.

I'll keep it brief: every rock fan should hear this performance, as it is a virtuoso work. The big HOWEVER is that whoever re-mastered/re-mixed this performance PIPED IN MASSIVE CROWD NOISE DURING THE SONGS. It's total fakery; listen to Star Spangled Banner and you'll know what I mean. Jimi performed at Woodstock very early Monday morning. Most of the crowd had left and the few that remained were definitely vocal, but not to the levels that this CD portrays. I am replacing this with the new release and hope the same flaw is not there.

This is not all of Jimi's Woodstock show (Experience Hendrix plans to reissue the entire set in the summer of '99) but that's not what's really missing on this release. In 1969 Hendrix was making a definite transition to a more "black power"-oriented music that would incorporate distinct elements of funk and R&B, not just the psychedelic blues-rock he had been playing since 1967. So at Woodstock he had the opportunity of debuting an expanded band that would illustrate this new direction towards polyrhythm. The band included hand percussionists and extra guitar. But this expanded sonic range was not mixed into the recording tape of the show, so essentially we are left with the Experience, what rock critics and fans wanted to hear. And I believe it's obvious listening to this recording. Jimi's guitar-work is choppier and less full than usual. Was this a mediocre performance in places or was he complementing instrumentalists who were mixed out of the performance, therefore leaving a blank space? I think the latter option is correct. That still leaves some great performances here, but the overall recording suffers from the neglect of the original on-site engineer.

If you don't have this CD already, you should wait for the upcoming Experience Hendrix reissue. It will feature the complete Woodstock performance and will most likely be a 2-CD set like the wonderful BBC Sessions and Live at the Fillmore East.

This CD (or rather, the upcoming reissue) is a must-have for any Hendrix fan. It features one of his most famous and celebrated performances, the Star Spangled Banner. Hendrix also plays an old favorite or two (Fire, Purple Haze) and tries out some new material (Izabella, Beginnings) which would have showed up on his 4th studio album had he lived to complete it.

This is a monumental Jimi Hendrix performance and anyone who appreciates this great artist, or just loves great rock and roll, should have this performance.

It is a good recording but the new one will be better.I have this one but I will still buy the new one.

As already stated, this is not the complete concert. The full set [minus two Larry lee-sung numbers] will be released on July 6 this year. Whether this single CD version will be deleted or not remains to be seen. Either way, you should buy it because it is a great editing job all round. What we have here with this butchered version is the Jimi Hendrix Experience; the other performers are almost non-existent. The missing tracks are: (1) Message to Love, (2) Spanish Castle Magic [a jam], (3) Lover Man, (4) Foxy Lady [good solo] and the encore (5) Hey Joe. Despite the omissions both CDs will be relevant to the Hendrix-Head. Every Woodstock mix of Hendrix's is different: from 1970 to now, consequently, they all have something to offer.

This is definitely not the best release of Hendrix's Woodstock live show, but this was the first of them. Anybody interested in Hendrix or virtuoso guitar playing in general must own this performance. Jimi left us very little of his studio works, and the main part of his impressive musical legacy is his numerous live performances. Here he plays his usual mix of popular hits, like "Fire" and "Purple Haze", some very emotional pieces, like "Red House" and "Villanova Junction", funky "Hear My Train A Comin'", one of his most famous pieces, "Star-Spangled Banner", and a live jam. As usual, live versions of songs differ much from their studio interpretations. I can't say that Jimi's or his supporting band's performance is absolutely flawless, but that's live show, and it is precious as it was played.

The "but" part of my review only concerns this release. As it's been stated in other reviews, it's been edited and altered somewhat, and there are better releases available now. My 5* rating only concerns the music, not the release.

This is my most-played Jimi Hendrix album; one of the top recordings in my whole collection. Despite being unwell and having had to wait all night before finally taking the stage at about 8.00am on a damp Monday morning, Jimi plays at the top of his form, putting in a tremendous performance, as do Billy Cox on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums. The sound is filled-out by Larry Lee on guitar and Juma Sultan and Jerry Velez on congas and other percussion instruments. Not that Jimi and Mitch ever really needed such assistance; Noel Redding had left the band a couple of months before and Jimi was into making it more of a collective.

Songs played include Red House (new out in the States at the time), Voodoo Child (Slight Return), Purple Haze and Jimi's famously and of course deliberately murdered Star Spangled Banner, his Vietnam equivalent of Picasso's Spanish Civil War painting Guernica. Izabella, Fire, Hear my Train a Comin' and Villanova Junction are pretty good too, not to mention the various improvisations and jams.

The recording carries some extraneous noise, some unintended feedback, the odd buzz and squeak, but even before factoring-in the primitive equipment and the appalling weather and other conditions of the festival weekend it ain't bad. In fact, all things considered, it's really good. The atmosphere comes over and by the time we get to announcer Chip Monck's closing remarks - closing the whole festival - it's impossible to feel anything other than downright nostalgic. There is a nice exchange too between Jimi and a guy who comes onstage to fix the mikes. Jimi empathizes with his embarrassment, "I know what you mean. People are looking at me too, man".

There is, however, a loss of authenticity; the tracks have been re-ordered. First off was actually Voodoo Child (Slight Return), not Fire, though Jimi often did open live shows with Fire. As re-ordered, the show plays well enough, with no noticeable gaps or breaks between sections. Some material was left off too, including an encore that started as Valleys of Neptune but ended as Hey Joe. Live at Woodstock has the whole set but for a couple of songs from Larry Lee (but again re-ordered).

The booklet with this CD is colorful and informative. A long essay by Michael Fairchild pushes the limits of how much we really want to know about the weather in Mississippi over the Woodstock Weekend (even worse than in Bethel, N.Y., where the festival was held), but on the detail of what it was like wallowing in the mud of Max Yasgur's dairy farm Fairchild stops way short of the Woodstock film. For that, most buyers of this album will be grateful.

Total running time of the CD is 63:46.

There is flawed yet visionary group improvisation at his most famous concert. The rhythm section sometimes has difficulty keeping time with Jimi and I wish the polyrhythms weren't drowned out. But I love the idea that at Woodstock he starts incorporating more funk and R&B into his stage routine than ever before. And "Voodoo Child/Stepping Stone" leading into "Star Spangled Banner", into "Purple Haze" with an extended instrumental solo and lastly into the emotional pull of the flamenco-tinged "Villanova Junction" does complete justice to his virtuosity and sound.

Who am I to comment on the poetry of the Angels? Me, a mere mortal, an unholy, absurd wretch of a soul. How dare such a filthy turd as myself dream of scavenging the words that, at best merely hint at the Aural Miracle that is offered here. But I vainly persist...

On that August Monday morning of '69 a haggard, sodden horde found themselves awash in a roiling cascade of fathomless sonics. The dwindling throng, the lingering faithful, were ritualistically cleansed by Astronomically Groovy Monster Waves of Pure Electric Soul. A Cosmic Baptism.

"Woodstock" has assumed the mantle of a tired cliche; a fading symbol of both the surprising potential of our nation's youth, and our yet-unredeemed hopes for profound social change. The festival's memory is encumbered by the weight of four decades of unrepentant Idolatry and obsessive Mythology.

Myths, it seems, fulfill that odd cultural need to reassure ourselves in our doubtful belief that We Belong Here, that we are forever needing to be reminded that we have a Divine Right to be at any one particular place at any one particular moment. Jimi's astonishing sonic creations passionately remind us that this is a FALSE need, for we ALL Belong not just HERE but EVERYWHERE, because EVERYBODY already is EVERYWHERE. Spiritually, Jimi declares, we ALL have always been, and always will be, ENTITLED TO EVERYTHING, EQUALLY. That's why when I listen to this CD I know HE is still here... and there... and here...

So when "others" conspired to contaminate Jimi's legacy, by altering, deleting, maiming, butchering his art, that is truly sad. If we believe we've been duped we may allow our prideful indignation to obliterate our joy. It may seem that I am being contradictory, but by emphasizing the negative aspects of this production you do yourself and Jimi's spirit a great disservice. That some of this "live" event has been modified is perhaps regrettable, but don't let this minor fact drown your love of special music. What remains here, what we ARE given to behold is in fact remarkable, magical, transcendent. So, words are feeble tools in the service of exalting the miracle of Jimi's Sublime Gift. Perhaps it's better expressed by A Forty Year Smile on the Collective Face of All who witnessed, two generations later still radiating pearly white and wide.