The Hendrix Thread

[angelsighs]

thought this chat might merit a thread of its own?

Out of interest, what would you guys rate as the most vital hendrix things outside of the official albums? I have a few bootlegs/studio out-takes cd from many years back that were pretty great, but i'm sure i've missed some really essential/rare stuff. somewhere i've got a cd's worth of very loose bluesy jams/studio outtakes where he really let loose. it had a long version of villanova junction blues at the start which i absolutely love (i found a version of the track online but it quickly disappears into another track, so i guess i'm after a different edit). i'm sure you probably know what i'm talking about better than i do! if not i'll try to track it down...

I've not dipped into the world of Hendrix bootlegs much yet to be honest as there is plenty of official stuff to be getting on with.

there does seem to be some cool studio outtake stuff out there.
I almost bought this 'Astroman' box set at a record fair once, wish I'd grabbed it now

https://www.discogs.com/Jimi-Hendrix-As ... ase/916902

there is some cool live stuff on this blog. I grabbed the Berkley show (which has a pretty cool setlist) and the recording of a club show where Jim Morrison jams with them on Tomorrow Never Knows amongst other things!! (to be fair the latter is pretty rough and nothing classic, but interesting nonetheless)

http://heavysoundboard.blogspot.co.uk/s ... %20Hendrix

Villanova Junction- oh my, I love that song!!! the version he plays at end of the Woodstock show is simply sublime. its so soulful, melodic and seems to rise out of that glorious extended section of improv. this is another song I really want to hear more versions of..

[stegraham]

I've loved Hendrix for 30 years but only have 4 of his albums - the 3 studio, and the BBC Radio Sessions (Drivin' South is fantastic!). I appreciate I'm missing some essential stuff. What should I go for next?

Ste

[moop]

ah you beat me to starting 'the obligatory hendrix thread', as i was gonna call it
glad you did!

i noticed the Concerts album being mentioned in the other thread. somehow i totally missed that one, but from what i've read it's really good, so i definitely made a mistake there! as was mentioned, it has a particularly great 'red house', which is often where jimi gets his most experimental. i just love that track so much!

I'm giving my hendrix collection a bit of a revisit. need to remind myself of what's actually great (bootlegs/out-takes-wise), and what i have overly-fond memories of. for example - i found that villanova jam track i was talking about- my memory is that is was at least 12 minutes long, but it turns out to be 4, and it's now clear to me that the start is just pasted on at the end as a way of making it seem like a finished track. i found other, longer versions of the jam online and it seems that where the one i had gets edited is where he basically just stopped playing and told the guys in the band to 'do some jungle sounds' and basically it turns into something totally different. but i guess that's just jimi being jimi!
still interesting though. here's a link: https://vimeo.com/188126897
i think in retrospect i was merging the memory of the villanova track with at 8 minute 'country blues' and 11 minute 'astro man jam' which i put on the same cd. the 'electric church' version of red house was on there too, which is great.

somewhere i have a rejigged band of gypsys' album compiled from my favourite selections of the complete filmore east recordings. wonder what i'd think of that today...

in terms of official bootlegs, i'm really curious about the Winterland box set. does anyone out there have it? i'd be curious if it's as good as i'm hoping, based on set-list and era.

[good dope/good fun]

Outside of the studio albums, the original Winterland release on Ryko from 1987 or 88 has always been a favorite.
The 1st time I heard the Tax Free from that release was one of those defining moments of my musical perception.
We were blessed with an official release a few years back of more from those Winterland shows and the complete reels can be found on the traders den.
Woodstock is a great performance, as just the other night I popped the DVD in because I had to watch that Voodoo Child again.
That Jimi Hendrix concerts cd posted in the other thread is essential, and that Hear My Train A Comin' is fucking fantastic where he plays the Churchill Downs thing at the very end, but that version is edited.
If you listen to the version on Winterland where it is taken from, the middle section is edited out.
And the 2 disk Live at the Fillmore East of the expanded Band of Gypsys is great.
Stop is among my favorites on that and how Jimi comes back in with his guitar at the end, and the Burning Desire on there has such a great breakdown in the middle.

[angelsighs]

I've got the official Winterland boxset- i'm still digesting it to be honest because I only got it fairly recently, but it is really good. it's great to catch the Experience in their prime. Many of the other live albums catch Hendrix at unusual times in his career (short lived Band of Gypsys, even more short lived Woodstock ensemble..) so it's good to hear the classic band take flight, and good to have rare songs in the setlist too. Are You Experienced is amazing. it's always been a song that I figured as pretty much a studio creation, what with all the backwards guitar and stuff. but they totally pull it off live. he starts the song with some screeching freeform feedback and somehow they emulate the studio version when they launch into it.
the production is really clear too.. possibly too clean tbh.. I prefer my Hendrix with a bit of grit round it..

In term of general recommendations, i'd back up Live At the Fillmore East. New band, new sound (much more stripped down and funky) & a more generous helping than the Band of Gypsys album itself. Machine Gun has to be heard. the guitar playing is not of this earth.
it's interesting to hear them do readings of Experience tunes too. Hendrix seemed to have a soft spot for Stone Free- probably because it was his first original song IIRC (B side of Hey Joe). he actually did a rerecording at one point that was more sophisticated than the original version (for a greatest hits I think??), and it was often in the setlist in his latter years, anyway, the Band of Gypsys version is insane!! hugely extended with Hendrix pulling out some ludicrous soloing over the tight as hell rhythm section.

In terms of studio stuff I'd actually recommend South Saturn Delta (my choice would probably be different tomorrow!..) it's a bit of a grab bag of rarities but oh is there some essential stuff on there! (studio version of the aforementioned Tax Free for starters)

[moop]

cheers good dope/good fun! am currently giving the 'complete reels' of Winterland a listen
lots to digest for sure! i wonder how different the sound quality is between this and the official 3 cd version. as you say angelsighs, it's great to catch 'the experience' in full force.

totally agree with you guys on the fillmore east highlights: stop, burning desire, stone free(!) and, of course, machine gun. so good!

listening to jimi has made me want to go out and buy a fuzz face pedal!

i'm off to investigate that version of 'hear my train...' that you guys are talking about. can't wait..

great thread!

[angelsighs]

I can't stand pretty much any rock music biopics at the best of times. there's always something a bit contrived about them and no matter how good the main actor is, it's like they are doing an impersonation rather than an acting role.

give me a documentary any day.

[angelsighs]

actually I've just remembered the Ian Curtis one was pretty good.. there is an exception to every rule!

[good dope/good fun]

I've said it before, but I'll put the Band of Gypsys album in my top 3 favorite albums.
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space I'll say is another.

But I always wondered about those Band of Gypsys shows.
Like did the people in attendance know what they were witnessing?
Were they into the music or expecting more Experience stuff?
What the vibe was like and such.

Here's a pretty good blogspot about those shows.
Apparently the 1st show of the 4 is considered the best.
Good thing because that show was released in it's entirety about a year or so ago.
Spiritualized should take note that it's never too late to release a live performance.

Anyways....

http://www.rockprophecy.com/bog3.html

[angelsighs]

really enjoyed reading that blog. as you say it's quite interesting to get the general vibe on the shows and how they were received.

they had a gospel choir as support act?

on a geeky note also liked the quick breakdown of Hendrix's pedalboard for the shows.

things seemed to move really fast in the sixties. 4 weeks later the Band of Gypsys were no more!

[angelsighs]

So, who's gonna grab the latest excavation from the archives?
There was a preview stream on the NPR site but it wasn't available in my country unfortunately!

On youtube they have posted this album's version of Hear My Train a Coming. Blow me down if it isn't possibly the best version (although I think the BBC sessions still wins out). Jimi's guitar tone is fierce.

Eddie Kramer has said that this is basically the last of the studio albums (although we've heard that before..) and now they are going to work through the live shows