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Warning- Much of this is the same review I wrote for First Rays of the New Rising Sun. There are a few changes. But, what I hold true for that release is no less valid for this one.
Ok, Ok. I'm currently and old fart who spent my teen years in the late 1960s. I always loved music and yes I still love all those bands from that era. I still have a turntable albeit I have more money invested in my phono preamp than I had in my entire system back in the day. In fact I suspect our house at that time dollar for dollar cost less than my current audio system. I never threw out or packed away my LPS when I made CDs my format of choice. So, let's recap: I'm old. I grew up on what is now called classic rock and roll. I still like music, classic R&R among the genres I still really like. I have a stereo system that kicks butt.
Now, concerning Mr. Hendrix. I loved him from the moment my cheesy old Garrard turntable spun Are You Experienced for the first time. This was around late 1969. Yes, it was released a few years earlier, but I was still making the awkward transition from green plastic army men and model cars to girls and rock and roll. We didn't have a stereo at home, just an AM/FM/Short-wave radio. My tardiness in finding Jimi Hendrix's LP can be forgiven. Later that year, Mom was divorced and she and the Tribe of Seven relocated to a small city midway up Long Island. Being the oldest, young, strong, and suddenly largely without adult supervision I changed radically. I got thrown out of school and went to work, saving enough money to buy an all in one stereo system with the previously mentioned Garrard turntable. My first three LP purchases were Muddy Water's Electric Mud, Ultimate Spinach's Just Like Romeo and Juliet, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Are You Experienced. Hendrix's guitar spoke to my life! Soon after came Axis: Bold as Love and then Electric Ladyland. Next up was Smash Hits! and then came Band of Gypsies which I didn't understand. I gradually became aware that musicians had things to say. Hendrix was different. He didn't need the put-on publicity stories like the Stones were accused of doing. He didn't need the indulgent stage volatility of the Who and Kinks. He didn't speak with the acerbic wit of John Lennon that few in the US understood at the time. It wasn't the ego-maniacal ravings of Ritchie Blackmore boasting of his guitar prowess. Yes, Hendrix was different. He didn't seem so much out to impress his audience as he was just being himself and pushing himself forward, out and away. The man was his music and the music was the man. If the rest of us wanted to follow along with him on his journey, there was always room for us. It was important to remember it was his trip and we were just passengers. He was the driver. We were the riders. Even though I was still largely a hormone driven, dopey kid at the time, I got what he was saying and was doing. But, like Jim Morrison, far too many people didn't "get" Hendrix and wanted to act like they owned him. They totally missed the musician, the mastery, the power, the man, and focused on the spectacle. Like crabs in a pail that pull the ones who try to escape back into the confines of their container, they were never willing to give him the freedom they claimed to represent. Hendrix became painfully aware that too many of his "fans" wanted to keep him burning guitars, playing with his teeth, and doing the other stage antics that were just the visual result of man, guitar, music, and the cosmos fusing together. The financial vampires that surrounded Hendrix knew those physical antics were what so many focused on. They knew that was where the money was, and with their blood sucking fangs deep in his cash flow, his escape with his art into the uncharted realms he wanted to explore was doubtful. After I "got" Hendrix, I finally "got" Band of Gypsies. And Jimi finally got away. After he was gone I remember when Cry of Love was released. Almost every track seemed to indicate he knew it was ending for him. Jimi's frustration showed (My Friend. Lyrics dealt directly with death and rebirth (Angel and especially Belly Button Window. To this day, I am convinced he knew! Damn, I missed him and hated the thought of no more music from him. But, I also wasn't so selfish that I would begrudge him the peace he found in death that was kept from him in life.
Sometime after his passing another album did come out. I'm not sure if it was this one or the First Rays LP. I do recall it was a single LP and the cover was similar to First Rays I think. I remember it was sort of purple and blue but I don't remember a picture of Jimi on the cover. I shopped at some pretty damn good record stores so it may well have been this one rather than First Rays. There was a write up about the record that said this was the new direction Hendrix was wanting to take with his music. As I remember the article, it claimed this was what he was doing to keep his sanity filling the personal need to push boundaries, but something his fans would not be ready for. I remember being disappointed in the record, as it wasn't the feedback power driven guitar I was used to. I seem to recall it was largely instrumental as well. I wish I could remember for certain what it was. I can't find reference to it on the discographies I have searched. At the time I had little exposure to or knowledge of jazz, real blues, or anything beyond AM radio and stuff I'd pick up on the BBC. Honestly, I didn't understand what I was hearing. Over the next several years after discovering Underground Radio, traveling and meeting many new and different kinds of people, my world and everything in it expanded. Yes, Jimi, old friend. I finally was experienced. I became a huge fan of progressive rock and later, fusion jazz, jazz, and dozens of genres of music since.
I can't say I knew what was up with the sudden spate of Hendrix music that was coming out other than much of it was terrible. If it had a decent sound quality, it was all just greatest hits type mixes. Tracks from other albums were repackaged in endless combinations and with different art work. There was little that was new. There was also a lot of live material coming out, but it was mostly bootleg audio quality. When video footage started being released, it was more of the same- most was crap. Bad sound and limited or poorly shot performances. I bought many of them hoping for something I hadn't seen or heard. Eventually, I gave up. (Currently I have seen this same phenomenon happening with Bob Marley)It was only later I learned of the battle for the rights to his catalog between Dark Forces of Exploitation and the Hendrix Family. I learned the Dark Ones were cashing in on Hendrix and cared for nothing but fleecing fans out of a few more dollars. Then it all made sense!
I was absolutely delighted to learn that this title was released and was also available on LP format. And being released with the approval of the Hendrix Family was a huge plus! There are samples of the track here on Amazon so they can be listened to. I think everybody interested in rock music of any era is aware of Jimi Hendrix and knows what to expect from his music. Here you can listen to "traditional" Hendrix, but also hear him pushing forward, and out, and up, and taking his music to new places. I can say nothing that hasn't already been said about him and his music. I can talk about my passion for it and hope it adds weight to my words. I couldn't get this set on the turntable fast enough. Jimi and I picked right back up where we had left off. It wasn't just that I finally had a system powerful enough feel the music pounding my body or speakers with the dynamic range to pick up every time his finger touched a string. It wasn't that I could approach near concert volume although all that helped! It was my old friend back again to play for me. The hair on my neck and arms stood up during some passages. During others, I was the wild young man back on Eastern Long Island again; as yet unaware of the Hendrix guitar solo like ride my life was going to take me on. And what a ride it was! Thank you Jimi, thank you Hendrix Family. Thank you for doing this, for sharing Jimi with us as he deserves to be heard. Hopefully we are older and wiser now and can understand him as guide and master. If you haven't been experienced, come on the trip with us- there's always room for one more!
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