Jimi Hendrix - Hear My Train A- Comin'

[redcloud]

My son and I went and saw this new film on Hendrix tonight. Guess it was a premier of sorts as it was a "One Night Only" showing a week early from the official release date. Film was a very familiar story with a lot of stuff we have all heard or seen before but it does have some previously unseen footage of the Experience, footage of the Miami Pop Fest as well as Jimi on Sept. 6, 1970 (12 days before his death). Normally one sees these things on a tv so to see and hear it on the big screen and proper audio blasting loud was cool.

Info on film: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/musi ... l/3182409/

Here is a photo of the marquee in Portland as we walked up to the cinema...

hollywood.jpg (100.82 KiB) Viewed 5895 times

[angelsighs]

cool pic!
one hand I'm dubious that much more can be told about Hendrix in film format. that said, I still think anything relating to him is of interest so will definitely be catching this when I can. is it just a general life story kind of thing?

[BzaInSpace]

Coincidentally, this is being shown as the first in a new part of 'Imagine' tonight on BBC1 at 10.35pm - well, a 90 minute version of it at least! Presumably will be on iPlayer after...

[angelsighs]

awesome! nice spot Bza!! will def catch this tonight

I see there's a new live album 'Live at Miami Pop Fest' coming out too

[sunray]

There's a Hendrix biopic on the way starring Andre Benjamin from Outkast called "All Is By My Side". Apparently it focuses on Jimi in London from 1966 - 67 before he heads back to America.

[redcloud]

cool pic!

Hollywood Theatre here in town is a great place. This is the same cinema that showed "The Source", "Sunshine Daydream (Grateful Dead Veneta, Oregon 1972), "DEATH" etc.

on one hand I'm dubious that much more can be told about Hendrix in film format. that said, I still think anything relating to him is of interest so will definitely be catching this when I can. is it just a general life story kind of thing?

Yes. It is very much a "life and times" talking about life as a kid, joining the army, playing in Isley Brothers, Little Richard, Jimmy James & The Blue Flames etc. It then leads up to Linda Keith/Chas Chandler, London etc. We have seen it all before and some of the interviews (with his dad) are stuff straight out of other films as well as familiar footage of interviews, TV shows, live performances, people talking about Hendrix (friends, family, lovers, Eddie Kramer etc.).

Honestly, there isn't much new here other than some rare footage at Miami Pop Fest, a few days before he died and some footage in London pre-Monterey. I think the whole idea of this film and the various Hendrix Estate reissues, posthumous releases and live shows is Janie's way of getting control of everything that has been circulating for years.

What made it interesting is, as I said in my initial post, one normally sees these things on a TV/DVD...it was cool to see it on a big screen in full-on theatre surround sound audio.

[BzaInSpace]

Busy night and promptly forgot about this until back of 11pm - saw from Are You Experienced onwards. Seemed pretty cool, always good to see Hendrix.

Very little post Experience though, Band of Gypsys just got a fleeting mention, reckon they could have had less of Chas Chandler and Noel Redding complaining about the lengthy recording sessions for Electric Ladyland (again) for a start.
Maybe instead it could have related how Electric Ladyland pretty much kills every other record from that time?

Like most/all of these docs I wish they'd cut down the amount of talking heads. Just annoys me now. I don't need some hippy describing how 'The Star Spangled Banner' "...like, encapsulated everything we were feeling right there, man..." while they are actually showing this footage.

I know you can watch the Woodstock stuff elsewhere, but still!

Hopefully be repeated online, definitely worth a watch, lots of clips I'd never seen before, Hendrix was some fuckin' guy...

[BzaInSpace]

Hopefully be repeated online...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... n_A_Comin/

[angelsighs]

this was okay, but it didn't really tell me anything I didn't know. it was also very much a whistlestop tour of the basic facts of his life, without going into much detail. still, always good to watch Hendrix do his thing.

[angelsighs]

that eponymous film isn't much cop either, to be honest. you'd even recognise a lot of the interviews from the new film.
has the soundtrack got the fuckin amazing acoustic version of Hear My Train?

re: your question about the Hendrix discography.. all those you mentioned certainly are the cornerstones, of course.
being a huge fanboy I think pretty much everything with his name on is of interest on some level. he was one of the great improvisers, so I love the live albums where he really stretches out and songs can sound different each time. there's also loads of studio outtakes of varying interest. HOWEVER, as you said you are allergic to jazz funk noodling, I would tread carefully. therefore the two albums that are really solid, and that I would recommend next, are:-

First Rays Of The New Rising Sun.
people's best guess as to what the 4th album would have consisted of. it's still a double album, but it does reign in a lot of the excesses of Electric Ladyland, for better or for worse. (only one song above 5 mins). here he is moving towards a funkier, more soulful sound. there is some noodling but also some great, tight, rock songs like Ezy Rider and Dolly Dagger. beautiful ballads like Angel and Drifting. and also one of my favourite of all his songs, Hey Baby (New Rising Sun). the only thing it lacks is the huge ambitious statements of Electric Ladyland. it's also not particularly psychedelic.

BBC Sessions
get this right now! packed full of gems. Hendrix at his most explosive & raw, but also reigned in as it's in the early days. the sound is great considering the vintage of these tapes. he seems to be just having fun a lot of the time. loads of stuff to enjoy- blues workouts, throwaway covers of Beatles and Elvis, tight live versions of material from the first two albums, and even Hendrix improvising his own Radio 1 jingle! my highlights would be Driving South which is a ferocious instrumental jam, a rare version of Love or Confusion, and Voodoo Chile played on the Lulu show which is just mindblowing.

there's loads more essential gems throughout the posthumous stuff but those albums are the most consistent...

[redcloud]

What I'd REALLY like to know is if any of the stuff released after his death is worth getting, or should one stick with Are You Experienced, Axis, Electric Ladyland, Band of Gypsies, and something with all the singles on...?

(Note - I'm allergic to aimless jazz-funk noodling)

I would highly recommend "First Rays of the New Rising Sun". I love this album and most of it was recorded after 'Electric Ladyland' with Billy Cox and Mitch (although some tunes have Buddy on drums). These are the songs that point to the direction he was headed with his music. They are much more bluesy/funk hard rock workouts than they are jazz funk noodles. Songs like "Dolly Dagger", "Izabella", "Ezy Rider", "Freedom", "In From The Storm" etc. All of the songs on this album have been released at some point or another on the many posthumous Hendrix releases but this was the first release that collected them on one album.

After this, some of the many live albums like Berkeley, Fillmore, Woodstock (I actually really love this set), Monterey etc. are worth getting.

"Valleys of Neptune" and "People Hell & Angels" are much more blues oriented but also come from similar sessions as "First Rays". The only difference is both of these albums showcase more of the Cox/Miles band and have less Mitch.

I would agree about the Experience BBC Sessions album and I also really like the "Blues" album. The latter being various sessions/comp of recorded heavy blues workouts and jams. May not be your thing but there is some beautiful guitar playing on several of the tracks.

[angelsighs]

I love the live albums too but I thought someone who doesn't like noodling may not like them as much.. I love Woodstock too but I think Berkeley is my overall favourite.

[angelsighs]

the next Hendrix release is one that really appeals to me- the first Band of Gypsys show at the Fillmore, in full.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/jimi-hen ... gun-album/

the setlist is really interesting as he made a point of not playing any old Experience numbers he had played endlessly before. and his guitar tone in these shows was dynamite.

anyone got any thoughts on Band of Gypsys vs the Experience? I think Buddy's more steady drumming fitted some songs but not others.