Jimi Hendrix

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 18 Sep 2007 4:31 pm

Hard to believe he's been gone 37 years today.
Here's a snapshot from the old scrapbook circa 1968.

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 18 Sep 2007 4:52 pm

Thanks for reminding us Michael! I remember seeing Jimi in Philly at the Electric Factory, I was still in high school, he walked off the stage when no one clapped. I saw him again at the Philly Rock Fest @ Temple Stadium he was standing in front of his stack, his hair was blowing back from the notes coming from his stack of speakers.
WWJD... today?

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 18 Sep 2007 5:26 pm

How could they clap with their jaws in the way?

Very cool of you to provide this rare photo, Michael.
It's not often you see him with a sunburst anything.

But, it's always great to see him get a mention anywhere, except when it was in the obits...

Ther'll never be anyone close to Jimi.

Will Houston · Post by **Will Houston** » 18 Sep 2007 5:36 pm

Ya thanks for the reminder, I usually remember, must be gettin old. Jimi's one of those that I still remember where I was and what I was doing when I heard.

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 18 Sep 2007 6:22 pm

Yup.

For some reason I spent the last couple evenings going over Electric Ladyland, and the Red Album. Also the BBC "collection".

He played in Portland a couple times, and had some technical troubles. He was a master of putting things on vinyl, and sometimes that didn't transfer to live stages as well as he would have liked.

Another Gemini.

And we're left in "The Out of Style"..

From Memory:

"Oh say can you see, it's really such a mess.

Every inch of Earth is a fighting nest.

Giant pencil and Lipstick-Tube shaped Things,

Continue to rain and and cause screaming pain,

And the Arctic stains from silver blue to bloody red,

As our feet find the sand, and The Sea..

is straight ahead..."

EJL

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 18 Sep 2007 6:49 pm

Here's another shot. I took this on the night Martin Luther King was shot. Jimi mentioned it during the show but I hadn't watched the news that day and didn't realize what he was talking about till later on that evening when he told us about it at the after party. You won't see too many pictures of him playing a Jazzmaster.

Steven Segal owns one of the 2 or 3 Jazzmasters Jimi ever played.Whether it's the one in my picture is up for debate - it could have faded in 39 years. He bought it off Tappy White for $30K about 15 years ago. Here I am copping a little mojo over at Steven's house recently.It don't get any better than that.

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 18 Sep 2007 6:51 pm

"Well I'm riding through L.A. - on a bicycle built for a fool.........."

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 18 Sep 2007 8:01 pm

Great pictures, Michael. I'm another one of those who still remembers the exact moment I heard "Hey Joe" blasting out of a stereo in 1967, as well as exactly what I was doing when I found out he died. Just monumental, he changed the face of the way people look at a guitar. He had the touch of a true genius - often imitated, never equalled. In his case, the hype didn't even begin to capture the massive scope of the reality.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 19 Sep 2007 1:04 am

...the hype didn't even begin to capture the massive scope of the reality.

It's weird to me looking back what's remembered & fixated upon - "Purple Haze", "Foxy Lady", braless women and LSD. Yet, his least-noticed album "The Cry of Love" fundamentally changed the way subsequent rock albums were made - all those twisting, overlapping guitar tracks.

Hendrix, "Sgt. Pepper", "Layla" and Led Zeppelin 4 really kicked open the door to the idea of studio-as-creative-weapon and it was a comprehensive shift - remember how lame TV soundtracks used to be?

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 19 Sep 2007 5:02 am

My favorite Hendrix moment is when I saw him in Bridgeport Ct, he played the first song then came up to the mic to talk ..I am thinking this was around Summer '68...

he said..

"Uhh, Welcome to..."

then looked over at Noel Redding and said
" Where are we man ?"

Noel told him they were in Bridgeport..

Jimmy comes back to the mic and says..

"uhh, yeh man welcome to Bridgeport, wherever that is "...

He played great, he played "Are You Experienced", even the backwards parts !

The only other time I saw Jimmy was in NYC ,it was a tad ugly, seems like he played 3 or 4 songs over an hour period...but I was still glad to be there, after all, he was ( is ) Jimmy !

tp

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 19 Sep 2007 7:28 am

Yet, his least-noticed album "The Cry of Love" fundamentally changed the way subsequent rock albums were made - all those twisting, overlapping guitar tracks.

I agree on "The Cry of Love". The very first note on the record - that huge Albert King style bend on "Freedom" - demonstrated his complete mastery of blues. Then, he proceeded to show how it's done in every aspect of rock guitar playing. The production of the record was astounding.

It always made me so frustrated - I'm absolutely confident that if he had survived, he would have found a way to make the jazz/rock fusion much more interesting that it ultimately became - to my tastes, anyway.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 19 Sep 2007 8:47 am

Dave, I fully agree about if Jimmy lived..I think he was doing his "THING" up until and when he died but his genius had not really surfaced yet..I think it was still in the making..when he really wanted to play the boy could play...

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 19 Sep 2007 8:53 am

I got the BBC recording sessions on CD a couple of years ago.

You could definitely tell his "blues bag", and that he was probably a little disdainful of doing "live radio feeds".

It showed more of his "playing style", and that he successfully manicured it for the albums for a minimum of lick and effects repetition.

"From what my friends told me".... (cough cough), dabbling in barbiturates has a distinct side or after effect of putting a person in a BAD mood. That explained a lot of it, and that it was IMPOSSIBLE to put "his sound" out on live stages. Put the two together....

If I could go back in time, and have the power to swap stuff out, I'd have swapped out Garcia's Stage Gear to him. That's the kind of speaker stacks it would have taken to do his stuff live the way HE wanted to do it.

Not saying that a half a city blocks' worth of JBLs were wasted on JG's Noodlathons, but Jimi coupe have put them to better use.

Oh well.

Castles made of sand..

He left us plenty.

EJL

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 19 Sep 2007 11:44 am

Again Michael, great shot, awesome pix!
Unless it's super faded over the years, the red on the 2 Jazzers looks significantly different. But, just viewing from pix, who knows.

You always hear how Jimi was 'ahead of his time'. No way. If he'd been at any other time, it wouldn't have been the anywhere near the same and the impact would have been much less. He was dropped in from the musical heavens at the right time and place, to starve for a while, get the chops, meet Chas and head to London during it's exploding creative zenith and steal from those guy's to make his own mercurial music that took only 3 years to completely write the book and lay out the blueprint for the rest to follow by. Not that it was perfect for him during those last years, but he was the top dog, and when he moved on, it was also at the right time, as I don't think the 70s would have been kind to him. Not to mention these last couple of decades. He was the right man, at the right time.

Fly on!

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 19 Sep 2007 12:21 pm

In August 1967 Jimi played the Ambassador Theater in Washington, D.C., a five-night run from Wednesday through Sunday. It was, as I understand it, the first gig he played after being dropped as the opening act for the Monkees tour (!!!!Yes, you read that right!)

The Ambassador Theater was D.C.'s answer to the Fillmore and Avalon in San Francisco; a former theater that had been vacant for many years, with all the seats removed and big screens up to the high ceiling for the psychedelic light show projected from the balcony. It had only been open for a few weeks (and in fact only lasted for a few months before the authorities, and/or perhaps mismanagement, shut it down), and I was eager to check the place out.

This was shortly after Jimi played Monterey, and there was no radio station in the D.C. area that played any of the "psychedelic" music. I was sixteen. I had heard "Purple Haze" through the static on WBZ (AM) from Boston, and thought, though I had never heard of the guy, that it sounded like a pretty good song, so I chose that Wednesday night to check out the Ambassador.

There were, I would estimate, no more than a hundred people in the place, standing and sitting on the concrete floor with lots of empty floor around us. Maybe a few knew what to expect; nobody I knew did. To be exposed to the Jimi Hendrix Experience without knowing what to expect was a concert experience I can never hope to equal. "Mind-blowing" was never more accurate!

Of course, by the weekend the place was packed to overflowing. Having gone Friday and Saturday as well, I missed seeing him burn his guitar on Sunday. But I'll never forget that first night.

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 19 Sep 2007 12:45 pm

That must have been an incredible 'Jimi Hendrix Experience', Brint! Smart move, and, lucky!!

A new JHE installment at www.wolfgangsvault.com showcases another of the '68 Winterland gigs, this time with Herbie Rich on organ.
An interesting show, but personally, I can much do without anyone sitting in/getting in the way of Jimi. JH stetches out all the #s quite a bit, with him in a good mood, and the lyrics benefit.

Archie Nicol R.I.P. · Post by **Archie Nicol R.I.P.** » 19 Sep 2007 2:33 pm

My favourite Hendrix intro....In fact, this is my favourite intro of all time. Just IMHO, of course:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=X3WeABKGckc

Arch.

Oh, yes. High volume required.

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 19 Sep 2007 3:33 pm

I always thot he should have started the show that way, instead of with Killin' Floor, but then he may never have gotten around to KF, so no sense changing history.
To have this all (most of it anyway) preserved on film (Pennebacker's film camera is now for sale) is extrordinary, and one of the best all time must see's.

The main thing that kills me about this is the sound he got with his Strat straight into the head. Period.
How do you top that?!

And that it was his first show in America is wild, all thanx to Paul McCartney who sed it wouldn't be a great festival without him.

As was always the case (with Jimi), I almost made it to the shows in Monterey, but noooooooo, got ditched half way there in the middle of California at 12 yrs. old.

Gotta say, Noel never got enuf credit.
To stand toe to toe with Jimi for 2 years on stage, and hang like he did, unreal.

Frank Freniere · Post by **Frank Freniere** » 19 Sep 2007 6:00 pm

Michael -

Way cool pix of Jimi - AND the Jazzmaster.

Saw him twice in'68 or '69: at a Mass. theater in the round (Soft Machine opened) & at the old Rhode Island Auditorium where Noel Redding announced from the stage that "today is Mother's Day in England - any ladies that would like to become mothers are invited backstage after the show."

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 19 Sep 2007 6:59 pm

Brint... I saw Jimi open for the Monkees in Greensboro NC just before you saw him in DC.

To be exposed to the Jimi Hendrix Experience without knowing what to expect was a concert experience I can never hope to equal. "Mind-blowing" was never more accurate!

couldn't put it better myself... especially when I was waiting for the Monkees! My whole perspective shifted in the space of that set.

Michael Haselman · Post by **Michael Haselman** » 19 Sep 2007 7:11 pm

Saw him twice, second time, May 5, 1970, with Mitch and Billy Cox at St. Paul Civic Center. He came out and started tuning, then said "Only cowboys stay in tune," then blasted into Fire. I'll never forget that remark, or concert. About 10 rows back. BTW, "Live At BBC" is a wonderful CD. The original band, live at the BBC studios.

Mike Shefrin · Post by **Mike Shefrin** » 19 Sep 2007 7:21 pm

My good friend Kevin Ayers and his group the Soft Machine toured with Hendrix throughout the states waaay back when in the sixties. He told me that Hendrix was real generous and used to buy him and the rest of the guys drinks since they had no money.This was in weird after hours bars in places like Nebraska after they all had finished their gig for the night.There were some other stories he told me about being on the road with Hendrix but not right for posting here.

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 19 Sep 2007 7:31 pm

Kevin Ayers! That's a name (of one of my favorite performers) that I never thot I'd see mentioned on this forum!

And, your a friend? Damn, Mike...

Mike Shefrin · Post by **Mike Shefrin** » 19 Sep 2007 8:44 pm

Ron,
Kevin and I met in Mallorca, Spain where we both lived for ten years. We were very close friends although I haven't seen him in a few years. I sent you an email about it all.

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 19 Sep 2007 9:17 pm

Yeah I got a number of Hendrix stories also and mostly politically incorrect ones involving certain substances. Ask Kevin Ayers about the bullwhip incident sometime... But I'd say that Jimi was extremely intelligent,generous and friendly to me the times I was around him. Don't be fooled by the stoned out dumbass mumbling you see on those old films - even though he had only a high school education,he was very well informed,well read and incredibly bright. When you'd sit down and talk to him he was just as amazing a person as he was a musician.He had read a lot of classic Sci-Fi novels - A.C.Clark,Asimov,Heinlein and the like,as well as Huxley and all the LSD culture stuff - and you hear it in his lyrics.He was well aware of the political realities of the 60s,had a pretty deep world view and was what I'd call a spiritually enlightened person. He was one of those 2 or 3 of what I call "magic people" one meets during their whole lifetime. He came across as some kind of otherworldly alien but there was a lot of humility and humanity there. I'm sure glad I met him and I wish he was still around.