| CD REVIEW Jimi Hendrix |
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Band : Jimi Hendrix Footage of Jimi Hendrix' first appearances on prime time TV in the US. Well, The Dick Cavett Show (which ran only during the Summer season through ABC, one of the 3 television networks of the era) may not have been as popular as shows done by Jimmy Carson in those days, or by Jay Leno later, but back in those days the show was a must among young people and college students wanting to see some of their heroes of what was then considered “the counterculture”, because it was like the only place where you could see people like John Lennon, Janis Joplin, George Harrison, and of course Jimi Hendrix on television. Of course, music wasn't the only thing Cavett touched on. As has become a standard on these shows in today's programs, guests would come from the movies and/or popular television shows, the world of politics, and other general areas, such as literature, and more...which attracted a broad audience. That was important, because the show was also watched by a lot of people from the Midwest and South, known for its occasionally rather prejudiced populace, and thanks to his intelligent nd insightful questions Cavett opened up minds of more than one hillbilly redneck. Anyway, enough about Cavett, what can you see on this disc, is what you're wanting to know! Right? Well, what you get is excerpts from The Dick Cavett Show of July 7 and September 9, 1969. Of both shows, you get Cavett's witty “Monologue” (with which he always started off the show), a short interview with Jimi, a performance, and Cavett's closing remarks for those shows. Now don't expect too much. The July excerpts count up to only 17:50 of viewing time, with the other session lasting a little longer, namely 18:56. Now one thing you gotta know, is that at around July 1969 The Jimi Hendrix Experience (which consisted of Jimi, bass player Noel Redding, and drummer Mitch Mitchell - the latter two English musicians) were fixing to split up (Redding veering back to the UK to go concentrate on Fat Mattress, which he'd already started up earlier). After a nice interview with Cavett, Jimi gets up to play a nice performance of the song “Hear My Train A Comin'”...with the show's house band ob Rosegarden And The Orchestra. Hendrix playing with a Big Band? Well, it worked perfectly well. In fact, it só fell in place with Jimi's own ambitions of enlarging the line-up of his band that, after Redding's departure and replacement by Jimi's old army pal Billy Cox, it was with an enhanced band (including congo players Juma Sultan and Jerry Velez, and additional guitarist Larry Jee) that he played at the now infamous Woodstock festival. These were definitely hectic times for Jimi, what with the management and booking agency always wanting more and more, and all of the stress was getting to him, for sure. Cavett put on a special Rock/ Pop show on August 19 (day àfter the festival), and Jimi was invited (alongside Jefferson Airplane, Joni Mitchell, and Stephen Stills and David Crosby), but then announced as “not being able to make it”. The word back then was, that Jimi was simply too tired after his morning show (which was supposed to have happened 9 hours earlier), that he simply could not make it to the show. In reality, the stress of the show being post-poned in combination with the contradicting participation to/ non-participation to the Cavett show, and the constant stress he was already on...had caused Jimi to suffer a nervous breakdown, in fact his 3rd since he'd gotten in the music business. Anyway, the September show was done after an all-night recording session, so Jimi was again really tired (slept like only 8 minutes that night, he jokingly said on the show), and if the excerpts from that last a bit longer, it's because Jimi and his band (with Cox and Sultan on the stage) first performed twó songs (namely “Izabella” and “Machine Gun”) before Cavett tackled him on the issue of having played his version of the “Star Spangled Banner” at Woodstock, the issues around not appearing at the show after that festival, his nervous breakdown, and more. Funny stuff sometimes, in spite of Jimi being so tired. Also on the disc, is a 54-minute “Behind The Scenes” documentary including a rather lot of material off the shows' footage, but also interviews with television executive Bill Flanagan, Cavett himself, the show's house band trumpet player Joe Wilder, and Jimi's band members Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, and Juma Sultan. And as an added bonus, you get a picture of some notes Jimi had written himself prior to the September show (he was “pre-interviewed” by an employee of the show so that Cavett would have some questions ready about which he would know Jimi to feel comfortable about), erroneously mentioned to be made before the July show. Nice document, even if so short, but I guess still worthy of being had, in the eyes of the many Hendrix fans. Still, as this is a DVD, there's no rating, eh!? Tony. 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. |