| CD REVIEW The Jimi Hendrix Experience |
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Band : The Jimi Hendrix Experience The “Winterland” in the title of this 4-CD box set, relates to the 5400-capacity San Francisco venue Winterland, where The Jimi Hendrix Experience (with Jimi on guitar and singing, Noel Redding playing bass, and Mitch Mitchell banging the drums quite artfully) were to play 6 sold-out shows on Thursday 10, Friday 11, and Saturday 12 October 1968. A total of 18 songs (they were “Tax Free”, “Lover Man”, “Sunshine Of Your Love”, “Hear My Train A Comin'”, “Killing Floor”, “Foxey Lady”, “Hey Joe”, “Star Spangled Banner”, “Purple Haze”, “Are You Experienced?”, “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”, “Red House”, “Like A Rolling Stone”, “Fire”, “Manic Depression”, “Little Wing”, “Spanish Castle Magic”,and “Wild Thing”) were rotated through the 6 sets, with only “Purple Haze” being played twice on the same day (the Friday). There had been amplifier problems all throughout the weekend, and due to that the recordings were shelved for decades. Although sóme of the recordings eventually made it to the 1987 album Live At Winterland, this is the first rather complete document of that week-end (there's simply not enough material here, considering 6 shows were played and the band already did 1 ½ hour shows – also, the liner notes mention guest jam participations from Jefferson Airplane on the first day, and of flautist Virgil Gonzales and saxophone & organ player Herbie Rich from opening act Buddy Miles Express on the 11th...of which there's no trace here) at a time when everything was still okay within the band (Redding would later decamp back to the UK to concentrate on his own thing). There was an in-sinc feel with the musicians at that time, which made 'em the perfect partners for improvisational passages, as performed on these days in the cover songs “Tax Free”, “Sunshine Of Your Love” (originally by Cream) “Like A Rolling Stone” (Bob Dylan), and the band's own “Are You Experienced?” and “Red House”. If you ask me, those songs with too much amp problems were scratched (which may be a good thing sound-wize, you know, and also to not diminish the better material in average). Due to CD lengths, the better material from the first day (the bulk of the material at hand, with a total of 102 ½ minutes playing time) was divided over the first disc (9 songs lasting just over 72 minutes) and the last disc (3 songs with a combined length of 30 ½ minutes) in this box. Disc two for the same reason only contains 9 songs (length 69 minutes and some seconds) of the second day on that prolonged weekend in October 1968, and two songs (together 12 ½ minutes long – that making the total length of the second day's recordings 81 ½ minutes) were transferred to disc 4. Concerning the available material of the third day, I don't quite understand why it wasn't all put on just one disc. As it is, the 11 songs on that disc only last 69 ½ minutes, so the remaining 6-minute version of “Foxey Lady” would've fit on that disc quite well! Ach...ours is not to reason why, but to accept small presents...and such nice documents from the past. Nice enhancement on disc 4, a 19-minute interview with Jimi, recorded backstage at the band's Boston Garden more than a month after the Winterland shows, on Nov. 16, and where he talks about his early influences and urge to steer away from copy-catting, and much more (find out for yourselves...with Redding jamming a little on an acoustic guitar in the background. Live album, so no rating...but I dó love Jimi, you know! Tony. |