50 years ago today
- Thread starter marcmorin
- Start date
Treker
Super Member
Yes, indeed I do, but I kind of led a sheltered life growing up. That "kind of music" was prohibited in my house, and it's only been as an adult that I have discovered some of the classics of the '60's and '70's. Heck, it wasn't until a few years ago that I listened to Sgt. Pepper's for the first time.
beatcomber
AK Member
It sounds like there's a whole lot of cool stuff left for you to discover. I envy that!
Great album ! Elec Ladyland is top shelf from the era. Way back when, in the '70s or '80s, did you buy the imported version, on Polydor, with the nudie cover? The USA LPs sound great too...Jack Cassady plucking the bass with Jimi is fantastic !
beatcomber
AK Member
If you can find one in good shape at an affordable price, the earliest US pressing with the 2-tone steamboat label sound REALLY good.
More important... How did it smoke?
Treker
Super Member
I definitely have a lot of "new to me" old music left to discover. Even Led Zeppelin is still pretty new to me. But it was considered "Devil music" when I was growing up, so I never was exposed to it. My age was I'm sure a factor too though. By the time I started getting into music in a serious way, it was the late '70's, and many of these bands were old news.
marcmorin
RIP 1953-2020
If you can find one in good shape at an affordable price, the earliest US pressing with the 2-tone steamboat label sound REALLY good.
That's the side i play every time there is a lunar eclipse. The old neighborhood, the neighbors kinda dug it. The new neighborhood, not so much.
Good stories.
I was 11 years old when I bought my first album with my own money. It was "Are you Experienced" and I too had a suitcase stereo.
I played it for all of my friends and we were hooked. It was summer, it was hot and those songs played in my head all summer.
In 1968 "Axis" was released and my best friend turned me on to "EXP". I thought the song was "corny" but the rest of the album was phenomenal. I was lucky...the record store was a short bike ride from my house. My collection was growing.
My new best friend had a better portable stereo, a Panasonic with a fold down turntable. When he got "Electric Ladyland" he rushed over to my house with his stereo and said "You've got to hear this". He played "Crosstown Traffic" and I remember like it was yesterday. Sitting on my front porch, we played it over and over, the fall air was crisp.
When Jimi died I remember my mom saying "such a shame, so talented and so young". Maybe she wasn't as "old and square" as I had assumed.
About 12 years ago another friend's son threw a birthday party for his dad. He rented out a movie theater in Asbury Park because his dad is into film, has a projector in his basement and owns a 35mm copy of "Rainbow Bridge". There were maybe 20 of us and we had the entire theater to ourselves. A keg of beer in the lobby, another in front of the stage and all the popcorn we could eat. All High School buddies I hadn't seen in years. We stretched out, shot the breeze, drank some beer and watched Jimi on the big screen. It was so cool.
On the ride home, the "Birthday Boy" and his family saw three deer on Ocean Ave at about 3am. Kind of unusual to see 3 deer one block from the Ocean on a December night. But what the heck, it was a special night.
To me, Jimi never died. As long as they keep finding stuff to put out, I'll buy it. And each time something new comes out, I'm still amazed by his virtuosity.
I think the new Electric Ladyland is phenomenal. As much as I enjoy the new White Album, I think the new Jimi is even better. I especially love "The Early Takes" double album. I forget what song I was listening to, but I thought "This is so clear if my eyes were closed I would swear Jimi's in the corner playing through his amp".
Thanks for the opportunity to let me share. I think I was lucky to experience so much good music as it happened. It kind of spoiled me.
I'm also happy so much of that music has been remixed, remastered and re-released this fall. Sounds great but it definitely busted my budget. And now I have to buy a player to check out the included Blu Ray.
P.S.- You guys should check out the Showtime documentary "Jeff Beck: Still On The Run". It's fantastic. I ordered "Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop" right after the show.
I was 11 years old when I bought my first album with my own money. It was "Are you Experienced" and I too had a suitcase stereo.
I played it for all of my friends and we were hooked. It was summer, it was hot and those songs played in my head all summer.
In 1968 "Axis" was released and my best friend turned me on to "EXP". I thought the song was "corny" but the rest of the album was phenomenal. I was lucky...the record store was a short bike ride from my house. My collection was growing.
My new best friend had a better portable stereo, a Panasonic with a fold down turntable. When he got "Electric Ladyland" he rushed over to my house with his stereo and said "You've got to hear this". He played "Crosstown Traffic" and I remember like it was yesterday. Sitting on my front porch, we played it over and over, the fall air was crisp.
When Jimi died I remember my mom saying "such a shame, so talented and so young". Maybe she wasn't as "old and square" as I had assumed.
About 12 years ago another friend's son threw a birthday party for his dad. He rented out a movie theater in Asbury Park because his dad is into film, has a projector in his basement and owns a 35mm copy of "Rainbow Bridge". There were maybe 20 of us and we had the entire theater to ourselves. A keg of beer in the lobby, another in front of the stage and all the popcorn we could eat. All High School buddies I hadn't seen in years. We stretched out, shot the breeze, drank some beer and watched Jimi on the big screen. It was so cool.
On the ride home, the "Birthday Boy" and his family saw three deer on Ocean Ave at about 3am. Kind of unusual to see 3 deer one block from the Ocean on a December night. But what the heck, it was a special night.
To me, Jimi never died. As long as they keep finding stuff to put out, I'll buy it. And each time something new comes out, I'm still amazed by his virtuosity.
I think the new Electric Ladyland is phenomenal. As much as I enjoy the new White Album, I think the new Jimi is even better. I especially love "The Early Takes" double album. I forget what song I was listening to, but I thought "This is so clear if my eyes were closed I would swear Jimi's in the corner playing through his amp".
Thanks for the opportunity to let me share. I think I was lucky to experience so much good music as it happened. It kind of spoiled me.
I'm also happy so much of that music has been remixed, remastered and re-released this fall. Sounds great but it definitely busted my budget. And now I have to buy a player to check out the included Blu Ray.
P.S.- You guys should check out the Showtime documentary "Jeff Beck: Still On The Run". It's fantastic. I ordered "Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop" right after the show.
Last edited:
marcmorin
RIP 1953-2020
from the bottom up..............Guitar Shop is one of my demo albums. As I was a Yardbirds fan early on. Fortunate to have a brother 8 years my senior.
my 1st three albums I bought were AYE, Sketches of Spain, and Freak Out. However, the guys I hung out with weren't much into anything unless it was top 40 AM. Almost came to blows a few times.
Saw Jimi 3 times in concert. The first 2 were inadvertent. Had to ride along as "little brother chaperone " for my sister and her boyfriend to an Isley Bros show. I thought the guy in the back was pretty cool.
Spent a weekend at an Aunts' hose out of town. (cinncy area) She bought me a ticket to a concert at Cincinnati gardens.........as a said "thank you" through clinched teeth as i looked at my ticket for The Monkeys. Opening act..............."hey, I know that guy.......he's from the Isley Bros"..........The third time was completely intentional. One of the three opening acts for Jimi was a local Columbus band called The Dante's. They practiced time to time in my neighbors garage (the bass player) when I was young. Carter Holiday, the bassist, took me back stage. Hard to explain what happens when a 14YO meets "his god".
Redd House
If she dont love me no more I know her sister will
Redd House
If she dont love me no more I know her sister will
Eyewitness account:
https://uniqueguitar.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-many-guitars-of-jimi-hendrix.html?m=1
Also this:
1968-03-28 Xavier University Fieldhouse, Cincinnati, Ohio USA
Thursday 28 March 1968
Cincinnatti, Xavier University Fieldhouse, OH, USA. JHE
Jimi: “We played in Cincinnatti. Bought a new Jazzmaster here and a practice amp. Got the guitar for recording.”
Chuck Dunaway (DJ): “Here’s the story... I was an air personality at WKYC in Cleveland in 1968. One day, Ron Sunshine of Premier [Talent Association] called me to let me know Jimi Hendrix was booked into Detroit [Flint actually] and had a Cleveland date open two days after the Detroit [Flint] date. I told him I’d take the date and handle the promotion myself. He sent the contracts to me whereby they were submitted to NBC which owned WKYC. I needed their clearance. NBC would not allow me to promote the Hendrix concert due to what might be considered a conflict of interest.
I gave the Hendrix date to the Belkin Brothers who were just beginning to do promotions in Cleveland at that time. We sold the advance tickets at the radio station and had hundreds of people camp out the night before the tickets went on sale. We sold out the concert in two hours and the Belkins quickly called the booking agent and arranged a second concert. That also sold out within hours.”
Seymour Duncan (guitarist): “These shows were the brainchild of a guy called Rick Coghil. Reportedly it was Coghil and his band that put up the money to bring Jimi Hendrix to Cincinnati. The actual promoters -Gene Barnett and John Horvath- that Coghil funded were business students at Xavier University.
“Between [playing my own] gigs I started doing guitar repair for Dodd Music (store in Cincinnati]'... I also became friends with music promoter Gene Barnett, who was working with Tin Man Productions. Tin Man would bring out-of-town acts to Cincinnati, and one day they started talking about...Jimi Hendrix... Gene warned me to meet Hendrix and his band. I said, 'You're kidding!' and they handed me passes and tickets for [2nd] show at Xavier University.”
Alan Hartman (auto*graph collector): "The first time I met Jimi was when the Jimi Hendrix Experience played Xavier (pronounced "Zay-vee-yer") University Field-house. They stayed at the Terrace Hilton Hotel, located at 15 West 6tfc Street in downtown Cincinnati. Somehow I had found out approxi*mately at what time they were checking in and I was waiting for them when they arrived (around 3 PM). I was collecting rock-and-roll autographs back in those days, so I went to the hotel to get my JHE albums signed.
When the band entered the front entrance of the hotel I got a couple of things signed before they headed for the lobby, which was on the 8th floor of the hotel. Alter I got signed what I could downstairs, I followed them up to the lobby, where I was able to complete the auto*graphs I was seeking.
I do remember that all of the guys were nice, but when I asked Jimi to sign the back cover of the Are You Experienced? album (after he had already signed the front cover plus my Axis: Bold As Love album), he said to me, 'You ask for too many, man!’ But he did sign it for me.
That was it for the hotel...”
At the hotel Mitch was particularly friend*ly, so when there was an intermission at the gigs I talked my way into the Xavier dress*ing room by saying I was a friend of Mitch's to the guy guarding the door. I walked in with*out any trouble, but even if the guard would have gone to Mitch and asked if he knew me, I think he would have covered for me. So I just sat around and watched as Jimi and the guys (including the Soft Machine) drank can after can of Colt 45 malt liquor. There were tons of cans of that stuff, mostly empty though!
"During the time in the dressing room, Jimi was the center of attention as he was being interviewed by sev*eral reporters. Shortly before the intermission ended and Jimi was to go back on stage, some of the reporters asked Jimi for autographs. Back in those days I wanted as many autographs as I could get. Although I had already decided before I entered the dressing room that I would not ask Jimi for another autograph because of the comment he had made to me a few hours earlier at the hotel, nevertheless, when I saw the reporters asking him, I thought, 'what the heck, I'm gonna try to get another autograph.'
So, one of the reporters gave me a sheet from his note*pad, and when I asked Jimi to sign it, he was fine. Even though he recognized me from the hotel meeting, he signed the autograph without hesitation and even inscribed it to me with,"Be Groovy." Aside from also getting the Soft Machine's autographs on a sheet of paper, that's pretty much all I remember from that night. When I met Jimi the next time in November, he was a lot friendlier...."
Neville: “$100. FIELD HOUSE CINNCINATI OHIO
Got up 10:00 had breakfast left for Cinncinati 12:00. Drove down INDIANA into Ohio. Arrived Cin. 2:00. Looked around for gig. Got direction to go to university, went there but nobpdy knew anything about it. Got very annoyed so went back to town and to hotel. Bought some things at western shop. Promoter met us at hotel. Gerry and I both shouted at him. He took us to another University. Unloaded gear and set up for 2 shows.”
Seymour Duncan: The morning of March 28 Barnett told me, 'Come down early and meet Jimi during his soundcheck.' I was so excited! I bought my girlfriend, Lynne Prell, backstage to meet everyone and we went to the dressing room holding my camera and a bag of pickups I wanted to give Jimi.
I was introduced to him, Roger Mayer (his tech), Noel Redding, and Mitch Mitchell. I handed Roger several of the rewound Fender pickups from Hughes Music, and he started putting them in Jimi's white Strat, which we had taken apart on a makeshift workbench. I took a photo of Roger wiring the pickups and putting strings on Jimi's guitar.
Jimi and I started talking about the different sounds he could get from his guitars. He showed me how he plucked the springs on the back cavity and tapped the back of the neck and lowered the tremolo arm. He would pick behind the nut and close to the nut for dif*ferent sounds, and especially how he could control feedback while standing next to his amp.
While he practiced on various guitars, I was busy taking photos; Jimi with a Fender Jazzmaster (which he'd bought earlier in the day; see above], and with a sunburst Strat. The light (in the dressing room] wasn't great but Jimi took an interest in my camera and took a few shots of me playing his Strat... Roger let me measure the action of the Strat’s neck and record many other specifications....
A while later...a group of folks from the Goya [Music Corporation from New York], including John D. Field, were brought in to meet Jimi. They brought a Goya hollow-body electric for Jimi to try. Jimi had Roger reverse the strings; then he started pushing knobs and working the controls, in an effort to get the tone he wanted. He said to me, ‘Lets go up on stage and try it with the big amps.’
He plugged into his Fuzz Face and wah-wah and began to play through his Sound City rig. I watched as all kinds of uncontrolled feedback rolled out of the amps. Then I saw him take the strap off his right shoulder. The guitar was hanging off his left shoulder when he grabbed it around the G and A position and swung it into his Marshall cabinet. I didn't know what to say to the Goya folks, but they clapped their hands and smiled ear to ear. I felt bad for them, but Jimi didn't want to use the guitar because he couldn't control the feedback and didn't like how it was set up...
Jimi enjoyed talking about guitars and old band stories, especially how he was always experimenting with new ideas. He liked the tone of the Ja/./master with the toggle switch in the middle position as he and Roger tested the guitar. Jimi gave me several sets of his old strings, pickups, tremolo arms, backplates, springs, a scarf and he had the band sign autographs for me. All during this time, Lynne enjoyed talking to Mitch and Noel..."
[Vintage Guitar Magazine, November 1998]
https://uniqueguitar.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-many-guitars-of-jimi-hendrix.html?m=1
Also this:
1968-03-28 Xavier University Fieldhouse, Cincinnati, Ohio USA
Thursday 28 March 1968
Cincinnatti, Xavier University Fieldhouse, OH, USA. JHE
Jimi: “We played in Cincinnatti. Bought a new Jazzmaster here and a practice amp. Got the guitar for recording.”
Chuck Dunaway (DJ): “Here’s the story... I was an air personality at WKYC in Cleveland in 1968. One day, Ron Sunshine of Premier [Talent Association] called me to let me know Jimi Hendrix was booked into Detroit [Flint actually] and had a Cleveland date open two days after the Detroit [Flint] date. I told him I’d take the date and handle the promotion myself. He sent the contracts to me whereby they were submitted to NBC which owned WKYC. I needed their clearance. NBC would not allow me to promote the Hendrix concert due to what might be considered a conflict of interest.
I gave the Hendrix date to the Belkin Brothers who were just beginning to do promotions in Cleveland at that time. We sold the advance tickets at the radio station and had hundreds of people camp out the night before the tickets went on sale. We sold out the concert in two hours and the Belkins quickly called the booking agent and arranged a second concert. That also sold out within hours.”
Seymour Duncan (guitarist): “These shows were the brainchild of a guy called Rick Coghil. Reportedly it was Coghil and his band that put up the money to bring Jimi Hendrix to Cincinnati. The actual promoters -Gene Barnett and John Horvath- that Coghil funded were business students at Xavier University.
“Between [playing my own] gigs I started doing guitar repair for Dodd Music (store in Cincinnati]'... I also became friends with music promoter Gene Barnett, who was working with Tin Man Productions. Tin Man would bring out-of-town acts to Cincinnati, and one day they started talking about...Jimi Hendrix... Gene warned me to meet Hendrix and his band. I said, 'You're kidding!' and they handed me passes and tickets for [2nd] show at Xavier University.”
Alan Hartman (auto*graph collector): "The first time I met Jimi was when the Jimi Hendrix Experience played Xavier (pronounced "Zay-vee-yer") University Field-house. They stayed at the Terrace Hilton Hotel, located at 15 West 6tfc Street in downtown Cincinnati. Somehow I had found out approxi*mately at what time they were checking in and I was waiting for them when they arrived (around 3 PM). I was collecting rock-and-roll autographs back in those days, so I went to the hotel to get my JHE albums signed.
When the band entered the front entrance of the hotel I got a couple of things signed before they headed for the lobby, which was on the 8th floor of the hotel. Alter I got signed what I could downstairs, I followed them up to the lobby, where I was able to complete the auto*graphs I was seeking.
I do remember that all of the guys were nice, but when I asked Jimi to sign the back cover of the Are You Experienced? album (after he had already signed the front cover plus my Axis: Bold As Love album), he said to me, 'You ask for too many, man!’ But he did sign it for me.
That was it for the hotel...”
At the hotel Mitch was particularly friend*ly, so when there was an intermission at the gigs I talked my way into the Xavier dress*ing room by saying I was a friend of Mitch's to the guy guarding the door. I walked in with*out any trouble, but even if the guard would have gone to Mitch and asked if he knew me, I think he would have covered for me. So I just sat around and watched as Jimi and the guys (including the Soft Machine) drank can after can of Colt 45 malt liquor. There were tons of cans of that stuff, mostly empty though!
"During the time in the dressing room, Jimi was the center of attention as he was being interviewed by sev*eral reporters. Shortly before the intermission ended and Jimi was to go back on stage, some of the reporters asked Jimi for autographs. Back in those days I wanted as many autographs as I could get. Although I had already decided before I entered the dressing room that I would not ask Jimi for another autograph because of the comment he had made to me a few hours earlier at the hotel, nevertheless, when I saw the reporters asking him, I thought, 'what the heck, I'm gonna try to get another autograph.'
So, one of the reporters gave me a sheet from his note*pad, and when I asked Jimi to sign it, he was fine. Even though he recognized me from the hotel meeting, he signed the autograph without hesitation and even inscribed it to me with,"Be Groovy." Aside from also getting the Soft Machine's autographs on a sheet of paper, that's pretty much all I remember from that night. When I met Jimi the next time in November, he was a lot friendlier...."
Neville: “$100. FIELD HOUSE CINNCINATI OHIO
Got up 10:00 had breakfast left for Cinncinati 12:00. Drove down INDIANA into Ohio. Arrived Cin. 2:00. Looked around for gig. Got direction to go to university, went there but nobpdy knew anything about it. Got very annoyed so went back to town and to hotel. Bought some things at western shop. Promoter met us at hotel. Gerry and I both shouted at him. He took us to another University. Unloaded gear and set up for 2 shows.”
Seymour Duncan: The morning of March 28 Barnett told me, 'Come down early and meet Jimi during his soundcheck.' I was so excited! I bought my girlfriend, Lynne Prell, backstage to meet everyone and we went to the dressing room holding my camera and a bag of pickups I wanted to give Jimi.
I was introduced to him, Roger Mayer (his tech), Noel Redding, and Mitch Mitchell. I handed Roger several of the rewound Fender pickups from Hughes Music, and he started putting them in Jimi's white Strat, which we had taken apart on a makeshift workbench. I took a photo of Roger wiring the pickups and putting strings on Jimi's guitar.
Jimi and I started talking about the different sounds he could get from his guitars. He showed me how he plucked the springs on the back cavity and tapped the back of the neck and lowered the tremolo arm. He would pick behind the nut and close to the nut for dif*ferent sounds, and especially how he could control feedback while standing next to his amp.
While he practiced on various guitars, I was busy taking photos; Jimi with a Fender Jazzmaster (which he'd bought earlier in the day; see above], and with a sunburst Strat. The light (in the dressing room] wasn't great but Jimi took an interest in my camera and took a few shots of me playing his Strat... Roger let me measure the action of the Strat’s neck and record many other specifications....
A while later...a group of folks from the Goya [Music Corporation from New York], including John D. Field, were brought in to meet Jimi. They brought a Goya hollow-body electric for Jimi to try. Jimi had Roger reverse the strings; then he started pushing knobs and working the controls, in an effort to get the tone he wanted. He said to me, ‘Lets go up on stage and try it with the big amps.’
He plugged into his Fuzz Face and wah-wah and began to play through his Sound City rig. I watched as all kinds of uncontrolled feedback rolled out of the amps. Then I saw him take the strap off his right shoulder. The guitar was hanging off his left shoulder when he grabbed it around the G and A position and swung it into his Marshall cabinet. I didn't know what to say to the Goya folks, but they clapped their hands and smiled ear to ear. I felt bad for them, but Jimi didn't want to use the guitar because he couldn't control the feedback and didn't like how it was set up...
Jimi enjoyed talking about guitars and old band stories, especially how he was always experimenting with new ideas. He liked the tone of the Ja/./master with the toggle switch in the middle position as he and Roger tested the guitar. Jimi gave me several sets of his old strings, pickups, tremolo arms, backplates, springs, a scarf and he had the band sign autographs for me. All during this time, Lynne enjoyed talking to Mitch and Noel..."
[Vintage Guitar Magazine, November 1998]
Redd House
If she dont love me no more I know her sister will
Backstage: The cowboy hat w. the purple band, chain link ‘belt’, ‘star’, ‘stoned’ badge & mini native war shield; the ‘Indian’ waitcoat; the ‘luck’ shirt; the jade choker & fine pendant; L. 2 rings & the bracelet; the blue jeans w. the ‘Navajo’ belt & multi-hued neckerchief belt + purple neckerchief tied around knee; the ‘cowboy’ boots; [the Goya psyche?] guitar
Two shows at 19.00 and 21.30.
Show: The cowboy hat w. purple band, chain link ‘belt’, ‘star’, ‘stoned’ badge; the ‘Indian’ waitcoat; the ‘luck’ shirt; L. 2 rings & bracelet; blue jeans w. ‘Navajo’ belt & multi hued neckerchief belt + purple neckerchief tied around knee; the ‘cowboy’ boots; white/rose strat w. the ‘wavy line & dots cloth on white leather’ strap; wah pedal.
Support: Soft Machine with The Mark Boyle Sensual Laboratory light show.
Promoter: Xavier University Student Council & Tin Man Productions.
Songs 1st show: unknown
Neville: “first not bad...”
Songs 2nd show: unknown
Noel: “Went down well.”
Neville: “Second very good, packed gear up loaded truck. Went back to hotel. Went to Noel’s room had a smoke. Stayed up all night. Caught up with diary.””
Jimi: “Wow, I’m stoned as Hell in this hotel room with Mitch in Cincinnatti. The Gig? Oh yeah, groovy.
Alan Hartman: “...and later that night I went to the con*cert. I remember Jimi playing the guitar with his teeth, and his wild stage show, but unfor*tunately I did not bring my camera at all that day.”
Cincinnati Enquirer (07 April) Teen-Ager, interview (between shows) by unknown reporters: "Members of the Jimi Hendrix Experience had just finished their first show at Xavier University when we were invited backstage by promoter Gene Barnett to interview them for Teen-Ager We couldn't help but wonder if the unique personality Jimi displayed during the first show was really his own. It was!
"Jimi told us he doesn't ask anyone to follow him into the new regions of music he explores. 'Just come with me if you dig it,' he said. Jimi explained that everything he does is by impulse. He must be in the proper mood for everything to work out. Even the order of songs in the show was totally unplanned. He said, 'We just do what is right for the moment.' His bizarre treatment ol 'Wild Thing' during the first show was a good example of his unusual method.
"Noel Redding...was an ideal 'interviewee." He answered our questions openly and with a great deal of interest... Noel said the only question he hates to be asked concerns his curly hair. 'Everybody's always asking if it is naturally curly. It always has been. When the Rolling Stones were big I used to want straight hair. I tried straightness, but my hair never went that way. Now people like Micky Dolenz get perms to have their hair look like mine:"
The Post & Times-Star (29 March 1968).Hap O'Daniel: "The Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Soft Machine...must presently be the loudest two on the deci*bels per capita basis. The two groups were heard, if that is the right word, last night in two concerts at Xavier U. Fieldhouse. The first drew about half a house, with near capacity attendance indicated for the second....
"|Hendrix] has now been restored to the status of prophet with honor in his own country. His roots are in the blues, as evidenced in his excellent left-handed guitar technique. His sound is raw, gutsy and powerful, although his presentation last night was a bit more sub*dued than the audience had been prepared to expect. The drummers of both groups were particularly good..."
The Bulldog Barks #28 (26 April) Connie Smith (student, Woodward High School): "The Jimi Hendrix concert at the Xavier University Field house was wild but wilder still was my two-hour interview with the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Jimi Hendrix was surrounded by reporters so I, being an individual! I sat down with Mitch Mitchell...and Noel Redding.
"Mitch told me, 'The thing I would like most is some tme off. I would love to just lay around and get some rest. We have been traveling for so long that sometimes you forget that there is a home waiting for you when you're done.'
"Noel Redding was very willing to be interviewed because most reporters concentrate on Jimi. Noel answered each question openly and with interest... We got into a very deep discussion about drugs. ‘I think that LSD should not be illegal. If you want to take it then do... I do not take [hard] drugs because I do not need them. I get stoned instead... Many people have come up to me and said, ‘Stick this in your arm and feel I good.' I don't because l don't need it, but I am not tiling to tell others not to take it.'
Noel also took a very liberal stand on the draft.
If England decided to draft me I would leave, England has done nothing for me except take my money.'
If Noel could change one thing in America what would he change? 'I think I would change the people, in London you could walk around in bathing trunks holding a banana and people would only say, 'Look at that person walking down the street in bathing trunks holding a banana." I don't like Americans laughing at me. It only shows their ignorance and how impolite they are.'
"Noel tattooed his name on his hand and rolled up his sleeve to show me a tattoo of a stick man with a halo over his head. Noel said, ‘I'm a saint.' I must have looked doubtful so he told me to ask Jimi. I did and Jimi only gave a non-committal smile."
Seymour W. Duncan: "I'll never forget that as the [second! show was about to start, Jimi asked me to carry his white Strat onstage. We had front row seats...For months after the show there was a buzz aroud town.”" (Vintage Guitar Magazine, November 1998).
W.A. Williams (fan, bass guitarist): "I really remember watching Mitch Mitchell. I don't think the guy sat up straight once. He was just bent, hunched over his drums, just playing. It was very powerful stuff coming out of that little guy" (Eyewitness: The Illustrated Jimi Hendrix Concerts 1968 compiled by Ben Valkhoff, p. 64).
Two shows at 19.00 and 21.30.
Show: The cowboy hat w. purple band, chain link ‘belt’, ‘star’, ‘stoned’ badge; the ‘Indian’ waitcoat; the ‘luck’ shirt; L. 2 rings & bracelet; blue jeans w. ‘Navajo’ belt & multi hued neckerchief belt + purple neckerchief tied around knee; the ‘cowboy’ boots; white/rose strat w. the ‘wavy line & dots cloth on white leather’ strap; wah pedal.
Support: Soft Machine with The Mark Boyle Sensual Laboratory light show.
Promoter: Xavier University Student Council & Tin Man Productions.
Songs 1st show: unknown
Neville: “first not bad...”
Songs 2nd show: unknown
Noel: “Went down well.”
Neville: “Second very good, packed gear up loaded truck. Went back to hotel. Went to Noel’s room had a smoke. Stayed up all night. Caught up with diary.””
Jimi: “Wow, I’m stoned as Hell in this hotel room with Mitch in Cincinnatti. The Gig? Oh yeah, groovy.
Alan Hartman: “...and later that night I went to the con*cert. I remember Jimi playing the guitar with his teeth, and his wild stage show, but unfor*tunately I did not bring my camera at all that day.”
Cincinnati Enquirer (07 April) Teen-Ager, interview (between shows) by unknown reporters: "Members of the Jimi Hendrix Experience had just finished their first show at Xavier University when we were invited backstage by promoter Gene Barnett to interview them for Teen-Ager We couldn't help but wonder if the unique personality Jimi displayed during the first show was really his own. It was!
"Jimi told us he doesn't ask anyone to follow him into the new regions of music he explores. 'Just come with me if you dig it,' he said. Jimi explained that everything he does is by impulse. He must be in the proper mood for everything to work out. Even the order of songs in the show was totally unplanned. He said, 'We just do what is right for the moment.' His bizarre treatment ol 'Wild Thing' during the first show was a good example of his unusual method.
"Noel Redding...was an ideal 'interviewee." He answered our questions openly and with a great deal of interest... Noel said the only question he hates to be asked concerns his curly hair. 'Everybody's always asking if it is naturally curly. It always has been. When the Rolling Stones were big I used to want straight hair. I tried straightness, but my hair never went that way. Now people like Micky Dolenz get perms to have their hair look like mine:"
The Post & Times-Star (29 March 1968).Hap O'Daniel: "The Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Soft Machine...must presently be the loudest two on the deci*bels per capita basis. The two groups were heard, if that is the right word, last night in two concerts at Xavier U. Fieldhouse. The first drew about half a house, with near capacity attendance indicated for the second....
"|Hendrix] has now been restored to the status of prophet with honor in his own country. His roots are in the blues, as evidenced in his excellent left-handed guitar technique. His sound is raw, gutsy and powerful, although his presentation last night was a bit more sub*dued than the audience had been prepared to expect. The drummers of both groups were particularly good..."
The Bulldog Barks #28 (26 April) Connie Smith (student, Woodward High School): "The Jimi Hendrix concert at the Xavier University Field house was wild but wilder still was my two-hour interview with the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Jimi Hendrix was surrounded by reporters so I, being an individual! I sat down with Mitch Mitchell...and Noel Redding.
"Mitch told me, 'The thing I would like most is some tme off. I would love to just lay around and get some rest. We have been traveling for so long that sometimes you forget that there is a home waiting for you when you're done.'
"Noel Redding was very willing to be interviewed because most reporters concentrate on Jimi. Noel answered each question openly and with interest... We got into a very deep discussion about drugs. ‘I think that LSD should not be illegal. If you want to take it then do... I do not take [hard] drugs because I do not need them. I get stoned instead... Many people have come up to me and said, ‘Stick this in your arm and feel I good.' I don't because l don't need it, but I am not tiling to tell others not to take it.'
Noel also took a very liberal stand on the draft.
If England decided to draft me I would leave, England has done nothing for me except take my money.'
If Noel could change one thing in America what would he change? 'I think I would change the people, in London you could walk around in bathing trunks holding a banana and people would only say, 'Look at that person walking down the street in bathing trunks holding a banana." I don't like Americans laughing at me. It only shows their ignorance and how impolite they are.'
"Noel tattooed his name on his hand and rolled up his sleeve to show me a tattoo of a stick man with a halo over his head. Noel said, ‘I'm a saint.' I must have looked doubtful so he told me to ask Jimi. I did and Jimi only gave a non-committal smile."
Seymour W. Duncan: "I'll never forget that as the [second! show was about to start, Jimi asked me to carry his white Strat onstage. We had front row seats...For months after the show there was a buzz aroud town.”" (Vintage Guitar Magazine, November 1998).
W.A. Williams (fan, bass guitarist): "I really remember watching Mitch Mitchell. I don't think the guy sat up straight once. He was just bent, hunched over his drums, just playing. It was very powerful stuff coming out of that little guy" (Eyewitness: The Illustrated Jimi Hendrix Concerts 1968 compiled by Ben Valkhoff, p. 64).
Redd House
If she dont love me no more I know her sister will
1968-11-15 Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio USA
note: blog by Frank Thompson, includes pictures, see http://allthingswildlyconsidered.blo...r-15-1968.html
Hendrix - Cincinnati, November 15, 1968
Elvis, the Beatles, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Sammy Davis Jr., Tom Petty, Neil Diamond, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Kinks, Alice Cooper, Metallica, Bon Jovi, Pearl Jam – and even Lawrence Welk.
All of these performers have played the Cincinnati Gardens.
Frank Messer & Sons general contractors constructed the Gardens on 22 acres in Cincinnati’s north for a cost of $3 million. It was modeled after the popular and historic Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario. The design had no interior pillars or columns obstructing sight lines.
At the time of its opening in 1949, Cincinnati Gardens was the seventh largest indoor arena in the U.S. with a seating capacity of 11,000.
Many remember the Gardens as home of the NBA Cincinnati Royals that sported stars such as Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Sam Lacey and Nate “Tiny” Archibald. The Royals played there from 1958-1972. The Royals franchise still exists today as the Sacramento Kings.
My Number One Garden Memory
I remember Cincinnati Gardens as the site of the first big rock concert I ever attended on November 15, 1968. At the time, our small group of friends left Lucasville, Ohio, relishing the road trip to Cincy nearly as much as the opportunity to see the Jimi Hendrix Experience in concert. We attached no particular significance to the event other than we were young dudes on a mission with a unique opportunity to see what the Hendrix Experience was all about. We were young high school students and we were all about Jimi.
We had all purchased the 8-track tape of the album Are You Experienced, and we had already driven countless miles around our hometown in Southern Ohio accompanied by the unearthly sounds of "Purple Haze" and "Foxy Lady" and "Hey Joe." We had already been exposed to the footage of Monterey Pop and Jimi's famous guitar-burning ritual. And, naturally, we all had marveled at Jimi's guitar theatrics and amazing showmanship. But, this, our first true road trip together was special because it represented a rite of passage in the sense that we were 17 years-old, carefree, and entrusted to the wild spirit of rock and roll.
I remember we first stopped at a home in Cincinnati, a residence of a relative of one of our concert group. We had a good visit and headed to the Gardens. We parked and headed inside amid the large crowd. Like giddy children at an amusement park, we inhaled the sights and sounds of a major rock concert venue.We were too busy living the moment to buy souvenirs or to realize that we should savor (and preserve) the Hendrix Experience. I'm pretty sure no one took a photo or bought a program.
Hendrix at the Gardens. (By Richard Randy Chase?)
I really can't recall the set list. It wasn't that important at the time. Today, I am told, the set list included the following:
- Johnny B. Goode
- Are You Experienced?
- Stone Free
- Red House
- Foxy Lady
- I Feel Fine
- Hey Joe
- The Star Spangled Banner
- Purple Haze
The show was outstanding -- loud, heavy, and full of memorable Hendrix moments. Not one of us took drugs or acted crazy or charged the stage. We were there to see Jimi and to hear the Experience -- period. To us, Jimi was everything "groovy" and the legitimate sound of our times. Our attendance at the concert validated our "cool." We became experienced.
The concert ended and we drove back to our small hometown with some new memories rattling around our juvenile heads. Of course, once back home, our 8-track tapes became our personal soundtrack as we slid them into the players and recounted our concert experience with all our friends who didn't attend.
According to posts on JimiHendrix.com/encyclopedia, the concert was the last time that Cincinnati fans saw Jimi Hendrix live in Cincinnati before his death September 18, 1970. Jimi Hendrix died in London that day. The official cause of death was inhalation of vomit after barbiturate intoxication.
I am very saddened by the early death of Jimi Hendrix. In a way, I feel cheated of a lifetime of new music and new musical directions. Yet, I will always cherish my Cincinnati Gardens concert memories of 1968. I still listen to Jimi Hendrix and thrill to his great, innovative soul. I think I understand what this alien with a guitar was doing -- he was paving the way for so many other rock guitarists to experiment and push the boundaries of their music. I was just a young man when I saw Hendrix. I guess I'm eternally green and boyish in the memory.
Reported to be Jimi at Cincy Gardens, 1968.
"Look a golden winged ship is passing my way
And it really didn't have to stop, it just kept on going...
And so castles made of sand melt into the sea, eventually"
-Jimi Hendrix, "Castles Made of Sand"
note: blog by Frank Thompson, includes pictures, see http://allthingswildlyconsidered.blo...r-15-1968.html
Hendrix - Cincinnati, November 15, 1968
Elvis, the Beatles, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Sammy Davis Jr., Tom Petty, Neil Diamond, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Kinks, Alice Cooper, Metallica, Bon Jovi, Pearl Jam – and even Lawrence Welk.
All of these performers have played the Cincinnati Gardens.
Frank Messer & Sons general contractors constructed the Gardens on 22 acres in Cincinnati’s north for a cost of $3 million. It was modeled after the popular and historic Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario. The design had no interior pillars or columns obstructing sight lines.
At the time of its opening in 1949, Cincinnati Gardens was the seventh largest indoor arena in the U.S. with a seating capacity of 11,000.
Many remember the Gardens as home of the NBA Cincinnati Royals that sported stars such as Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Sam Lacey and Nate “Tiny” Archibald. The Royals played there from 1958-1972. The Royals franchise still exists today as the Sacramento Kings.
My Number One Garden Memory
I remember Cincinnati Gardens as the site of the first big rock concert I ever attended on November 15, 1968. At the time, our small group of friends left Lucasville, Ohio, relishing the road trip to Cincy nearly as much as the opportunity to see the Jimi Hendrix Experience in concert. We attached no particular significance to the event other than we were young dudes on a mission with a unique opportunity to see what the Hendrix Experience was all about. We were young high school students and we were all about Jimi.
We had all purchased the 8-track tape of the album Are You Experienced, and we had already driven countless miles around our hometown in Southern Ohio accompanied by the unearthly sounds of "Purple Haze" and "Foxy Lady" and "Hey Joe." We had already been exposed to the footage of Monterey Pop and Jimi's famous guitar-burning ritual. And, naturally, we all had marveled at Jimi's guitar theatrics and amazing showmanship. But, this, our first true road trip together was special because it represented a rite of passage in the sense that we were 17 years-old, carefree, and entrusted to the wild spirit of rock and roll.
I remember we first stopped at a home in Cincinnati, a residence of a relative of one of our concert group. We had a good visit and headed to the Gardens. We parked and headed inside amid the large crowd. Like giddy children at an amusement park, we inhaled the sights and sounds of a major rock concert venue.We were too busy living the moment to buy souvenirs or to realize that we should savor (and preserve) the Hendrix Experience. I'm pretty sure no one took a photo or bought a program.
Hendrix at the Gardens. (By Richard Randy Chase?)
I really can't recall the set list. It wasn't that important at the time. Today, I am told, the set list included the following:
- Johnny B. Goode
- Are You Experienced?
- Stone Free
- Red House
- Foxy Lady
- I Feel Fine
- Hey Joe
- The Star Spangled Banner
- Purple Haze
The show was outstanding -- loud, heavy, and full of memorable Hendrix moments. Not one of us took drugs or acted crazy or charged the stage. We were there to see Jimi and to hear the Experience -- period. To us, Jimi was everything "groovy" and the legitimate sound of our times. Our attendance at the concert validated our "cool." We became experienced.
The concert ended and we drove back to our small hometown with some new memories rattling around our juvenile heads. Of course, once back home, our 8-track tapes became our personal soundtrack as we slid them into the players and recounted our concert experience with all our friends who didn't attend.
According to posts on JimiHendrix.com/encyclopedia, the concert was the last time that Cincinnati fans saw Jimi Hendrix live in Cincinnati before his death September 18, 1970. Jimi Hendrix died in London that day. The official cause of death was inhalation of vomit after barbiturate intoxication.
I am very saddened by the early death of Jimi Hendrix. In a way, I feel cheated of a lifetime of new music and new musical directions. Yet, I will always cherish my Cincinnati Gardens concert memories of 1968. I still listen to Jimi Hendrix and thrill to his great, innovative soul. I think I understand what this alien with a guitar was doing -- he was paving the way for so many other rock guitarists to experiment and push the boundaries of their music. I was just a young man when I saw Hendrix. I guess I'm eternally green and boyish in the memory.
Reported to be Jimi at Cincy Gardens, 1968.
"Look a golden winged ship is passing my way
And it really didn't have to stop, it just kept on going...
And so castles made of sand melt into the sea, eventually"
-Jimi Hendrix, "Castles Made of Sand"
Redd House
If she dont love me no more I know her sister will
Friday 15 November 1968
Cincinnati Gardens, Sycamore Avenue, OH. JHE
Mitch: "We moved back to New York after the Benedict Canyon phase [ie Jimi spent nearly two months based in 'Los Angeles' doing some recording and playing the occasional gig. Ed.] and played a few East Coast gigs [ie a few dates 'en route' and on the 'East Coast' spread over November. Ed.]"
No gigs previous eleven days. JHE resume their 3rd US “tour” of 1968.
Concert at 20:00.
MC (a WUBE DJ (ID unknown)): "Did you know none of Cat Mother finished high school?"
Support: Cat Mother And The All Night Newsboys
Promoter: Concerts West & radio WUBE
Poster: Generic B&W design with Karl Ferris band photo
Accommodation: The Netherland Hilton Hotel, 35 West 5th Street, Cincinnati.
MC (see above. Intro): "Come on now. Let's hear it . . . "We want Jimi!!". . . "Did you know that Jimi Hendrix dropped out of high school in the 11th grade?". . .
Songs:
[a.o. unknown]
Manic Depression
Jimi: "I'd like to dedicate this song to the Andy Pandas [sic, "and the
(Black) Panthers " Ed.] [. . .] and other minority groups. . . Yeah, American Indians too [. . .] 1776."
[To Mitch] "What's the name of this song?"
['I Don't Live Today' (?)]
Jimi: "[I'd like to] thank the Cincinnati police for coming out to dig our gig. . .
Queen [sic, 'Wind Cries'] Mary. . . Watch that stick and judge your distance from that blue suede kick. Can you dig IT?"
['Wind cries Mary' [?]]
Purple Haze
Jimi: "[Stand up ‘cause I'm] gonna play the national anthem [. . .] stop hating each other. .
'Wild Thing' (James 'Chip Taylor' Voight)
>The Star Spangled Banner' (Music: John Stafford Smith)
> 'America The Beautiful' (Music: Samuel A. Ward)
Noel: “Went down well... used new amps.”
Saturday 18 November 1968
USA
KENTUCKY KERNEL (page?) ‘Hendrix Provokes, Sanctifies Garden Masses’ By JACK LYNE
Kernel Arts Editor: “CINCINNATI-Jimi Hendrix, a mass of purple silks, a blur of kinetic charisma, made his bump*tious presence felt Friday night at the Cincinnati Gardens.
That Hendrix has ascended the rock pantheon was clearly in evidence; over 8,500 of the faithful crammed full "The Home of the Royals,” Cincy’s contribu*tion to the second division of the NBA.
Cat Mother, a new rock quin*tet, drew the suicide squad pre*ceding Hendrix. They did some interesting, comparatively subtle work, which was lost in the ter*rible Garden acoustics and wasted on an impatient congre*gation. Cat Mother drew its most enthusiastic response when the organist unfortunately pref*aced his remarks with "We’d like to close with. ...” The rest of the statement was drowned out by the mob’s gleeful, cat*aclysmic response. Regardless, an album is scheduled for release "in about ten days," and this group just may break through.
A radio WUBE deejay slid surrealistically throughout the proceedings, like a Shakespearian fool, feeding the young au*dience the pablum pavlovian lines they supposedly will lap up (i.e. "Did you know none of Cat Mother finished high school?)’’ “Come on now, let’s hear it!! We .... want .... Jimi!!!!) Some performers have a stage personality that arouses hostility; our emissary from WUBE managed to generate pure, mass, animal hate. He should stick to tiptoeing through turntables.
Twentieth Century Flock
Hendrix ("Did you know that Jimi Hendrix dropped out of high school in the 11th grade?") finally emerged and began his litany with his flock. Jimi Hendrix is a lithe, erotic, twentieth century musician. The unearthly sounds that peel out of those four monster Marshall amplifiers create a 2001ish aura. It is very Now music, though not project*ing contemporary sounds of claw*ing autos pushing past each other to deposit masters in grinding stone towers. Instead, the whining, screaming sounds seem to symbolize some land of tomorrow, where cats with no eyes scrutinize clocks with no hands – of giant, screaming mechanical birds, and pervasive, overpowering, yet effortless, speed. Hendrix runs through his electronic arsenal as if he were John Cage starring as the mad scientist. Stomping the fuzz box, now roaming back among the amps, catching feedback, turning, kicking the wah-wah pedal. The non acoustics of the Garden could not destroy the Experience sound. (How does one stifle a sonic boom?)
Hendrix has help in his electronic adventures. Bassist Noel Redding plays with a strong hand, though his backup vocals are weak (For that matter, if Hendrix were only a vocalist, he would starve). Drummer Mitch Mitchell is the most underrated of the trio, hitting almost as hard, often, and well as Ginger Baker.
Electric Mind And Body
It is the purple haze, though, that draws the attention; it would be impossible to ignore him. Hendrix does not play only with his hands; he plays with his body, embracing his Fender Stratocaster like a lover, pressing the strings hard, rapidly running the palm of his hand over the neck of the guitar, picking the strings with his teeth, leaping backwards like some giant toad, playing all the while.
He plays behind his back, between his leg, slams the base of the guitar savagely with his hand. Amazingly, his movements are all grace, electric Nureyev. More amazingly he maintains control of all this amperage achieving the unthinkable sound structures he desires.
Between numbers he managed to emit some of the most confusing lines [confusing to you maybe
. Ed.] since Casey Stengel [baseball coach famous for his wordiness. Ed.]. After "Manic Depression,” this semantic disaster followed: "I'd, uh, like to dedicate this tune to the Andy Pandas [(missed a word) ‘and the (Black) Panthers’ – surely Ed.].... and other minority groups .... yeah, American Indian, too .... 1776 (turning to Mitchell) What’s the name of this song?”
He later thanked the large protective phalanx of Cincinnati policemen for “coming out to dig our gig,” drew a strange analogy to the Queen Mary, and then warned front-row patrons to “watch that stick and judge your distance from the blue suede kick [see Jimi’s ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ jam with the BOGs. Ed.]. Can you dig it?”
Civics 101, Revisited
Playing with such finesse, Hendrix could say almost anything and be assured of adulatory response. At the conclusion, looking at his feet, he asked the crowd to stand, as he was “gonna play the National Anthem.”
Was it a put on? No one bothered to ponder the question; 8,500 rose as one. Those who came to cheer stayed to worship. Hendrix was the master. Had he mouthed a line like “Would everyone please stick their fingers down their throats and retch?” the Garden M&O crew would have been faced with an unenviable Saturday morning.
The “national anthem” turned out to be the Troggs’ "Wild Thing." which seemed rather strange, as Hendrix had prefaced the number with a sin*cere, though garbled, plea to "stop hating each other." Then somewhere in the midst of that electronic maze, a riff from "The Star Spangled Banner" slipped out, then died.
Then Hendrix turned to that army of amps and played quite slowly, apparently quite sincere*ly, "America the Beautiful." The native iconoclastic tendencies of his audience at first produced chuckles. Yet, soon applause rocked back through the cavern*ous structure. You got the feeling that both Hendrix and his young audience, members of a genera*tion subjected to massive verbal defecation, deep inside desperate*ly wanted this country to be like the United States of America described in those Civics 101 books.
The Quixotic End
It was all quite appropriate. Marian Anderson at Carnegie Hall may say it for many Americans. But here, in the midst of minor electronic disasters, a twentieth century musician was expressing patriotism in a way a young throng could embrace as unshallow, unchauvinistic, sincere, and, most importantly, spoken in their language.
Hendrix went out with his normal dadaistic finale, turning to the amp army and charging like a modem day Don Quixote, once, twice, three times, each time producing squalling, dis*sonant complaints as he rammed his guitar into the big black amp, which was barely braced on stage by his Sancho stage*hand. He lowered the head of the guitar and made a final charge, ramming the neck through the amp and almost knocking Sancho off the platform. As the guitar dropped wounded to the floor, Hendrix clawed at the gaping hole , tearing the amp covering , flailing away with knees and elbows.
Then picking the guitar up, he straddled it on stage , pulling strings free, shaking, the neck like a dog destroying a smaller foe. He finally stood, tossing the battered guitar high in the air, bouncing it off a surviving amp. (Hendrix maintains a selective cool during performances. He covertly exchanged his shiny Stratocaster for a much older, less expensive instrument before beginning his assault.)
As Hendrix strode off stage exhausted, Mitchell paid homage to rock ritual, throwing his drumsticks to the audience. Jimi Hendrix, the swashbuckler with the electric cutlass, had come and gone, had vindicated the Andy Pandas, and you could dig it.”
Frank Thompson [blog spot]: “We had already been exposed to the footage of Monterey Pop and Jimi's famous guitar-burning ritual [No. Your memory is mixed up, it wasn’t released until 29 January 1969 and even then you would have had to go to New York City to see it, as it had an exclusive run at Kips Bay cinema until 25 April 1969 when it opened in Fresno, CA. Ed.]. And, naturally, we all had...” etc..
Cincinnati Gardens, Sycamore Avenue, OH. JHE
Mitch: "We moved back to New York after the Benedict Canyon phase [ie Jimi spent nearly two months based in 'Los Angeles' doing some recording and playing the occasional gig. Ed.] and played a few East Coast gigs [ie a few dates 'en route' and on the 'East Coast' spread over November. Ed.]"
No gigs previous eleven days. JHE resume their 3rd US “tour” of 1968.
Concert at 20:00.
MC (a WUBE DJ (ID unknown)): "Did you know none of Cat Mother finished high school?"
Support: Cat Mother And The All Night Newsboys
Promoter: Concerts West & radio WUBE
Poster: Generic B&W design with Karl Ferris band photo
Accommodation: The Netherland Hilton Hotel, 35 West 5th Street, Cincinnati.
MC (see above. Intro): "Come on now. Let's hear it . . . "We want Jimi!!". . . "Did you know that Jimi Hendrix dropped out of high school in the 11th grade?". . .
Songs:
[a.o. unknown]
Manic Depression
Jimi: "I'd like to dedicate this song to the Andy Pandas [sic, "and the
(Black) Panthers " Ed.] [. . .] and other minority groups. . . Yeah, American Indians too [. . .] 1776."
[To Mitch] "What's the name of this song?"
['I Don't Live Today' (?)]
Jimi: "[I'd like to] thank the Cincinnati police for coming out to dig our gig. . .
Queen [sic, 'Wind Cries'] Mary. . . Watch that stick and judge your distance from that blue suede kick. Can you dig IT?"
['Wind cries Mary' [?]]
Purple Haze
Jimi: "[Stand up ‘cause I'm] gonna play the national anthem [. . .] stop hating each other. .
'Wild Thing' (James 'Chip Taylor' Voight)
>The Star Spangled Banner' (Music: John Stafford Smith)
> 'America The Beautiful' (Music: Samuel A. Ward)
Noel: “Went down well... used new amps.”
Saturday 18 November 1968
USA
KENTUCKY KERNEL (page?) ‘Hendrix Provokes, Sanctifies Garden Masses’ By JACK LYNE
Kernel Arts Editor: “CINCINNATI-Jimi Hendrix, a mass of purple silks, a blur of kinetic charisma, made his bump*tious presence felt Friday night at the Cincinnati Gardens.
That Hendrix has ascended the rock pantheon was clearly in evidence; over 8,500 of the faithful crammed full "The Home of the Royals,” Cincy’s contribu*tion to the second division of the NBA.
Cat Mother, a new rock quin*tet, drew the suicide squad pre*ceding Hendrix. They did some interesting, comparatively subtle work, which was lost in the ter*rible Garden acoustics and wasted on an impatient congre*gation. Cat Mother drew its most enthusiastic response when the organist unfortunately pref*aced his remarks with "We’d like to close with. ...” The rest of the statement was drowned out by the mob’s gleeful, cat*aclysmic response. Regardless, an album is scheduled for release "in about ten days," and this group just may break through.
A radio WUBE deejay slid surrealistically throughout the proceedings, like a Shakespearian fool, feeding the young au*dience the pablum pavlovian lines they supposedly will lap up (i.e. "Did you know none of Cat Mother finished high school?)’’ “Come on now, let’s hear it!! We .... want .... Jimi!!!!) Some performers have a stage personality that arouses hostility; our emissary from WUBE managed to generate pure, mass, animal hate. He should stick to tiptoeing through turntables.
Twentieth Century Flock
Hendrix ("Did you know that Jimi Hendrix dropped out of high school in the 11th grade?") finally emerged and began his litany with his flock. Jimi Hendrix is a lithe, erotic, twentieth century musician. The unearthly sounds that peel out of those four monster Marshall amplifiers create a 2001ish aura. It is very Now music, though not project*ing contemporary sounds of claw*ing autos pushing past each other to deposit masters in grinding stone towers. Instead, the whining, screaming sounds seem to symbolize some land of tomorrow, where cats with no eyes scrutinize clocks with no hands – of giant, screaming mechanical birds, and pervasive, overpowering, yet effortless, speed. Hendrix runs through his electronic arsenal as if he were John Cage starring as the mad scientist. Stomping the fuzz box, now roaming back among the amps, catching feedback, turning, kicking the wah-wah pedal. The non acoustics of the Garden could not destroy the Experience sound. (How does one stifle a sonic boom?)
Hendrix has help in his electronic adventures. Bassist Noel Redding plays with a strong hand, though his backup vocals are weak (For that matter, if Hendrix were only a vocalist, he would starve). Drummer Mitch Mitchell is the most underrated of the trio, hitting almost as hard, often, and well as Ginger Baker.
Electric Mind And Body
It is the purple haze, though, that draws the attention; it would be impossible to ignore him. Hendrix does not play only with his hands; he plays with his body, embracing his Fender Stratocaster like a lover, pressing the strings hard, rapidly running the palm of his hand over the neck of the guitar, picking the strings with his teeth, leaping backwards like some giant toad, playing all the while.
He plays behind his back, between his leg, slams the base of the guitar savagely with his hand. Amazingly, his movements are all grace, electric Nureyev. More amazingly he maintains control of all this amperage achieving the unthinkable sound structures he desires.
Between numbers he managed to emit some of the most confusing lines [confusing to you maybe
He later thanked the large protective phalanx of Cincinnati policemen for “coming out to dig our gig,” drew a strange analogy to the Queen Mary, and then warned front-row patrons to “watch that stick and judge your distance from the blue suede kick [see Jimi’s ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ jam with the BOGs. Ed.]. Can you dig it?”
Civics 101, Revisited
Playing with such finesse, Hendrix could say almost anything and be assured of adulatory response. At the conclusion, looking at his feet, he asked the crowd to stand, as he was “gonna play the National Anthem.”
Was it a put on? No one bothered to ponder the question; 8,500 rose as one. Those who came to cheer stayed to worship. Hendrix was the master. Had he mouthed a line like “Would everyone please stick their fingers down their throats and retch?” the Garden M&O crew would have been faced with an unenviable Saturday morning.
The “national anthem” turned out to be the Troggs’ "Wild Thing." which seemed rather strange, as Hendrix had prefaced the number with a sin*cere, though garbled, plea to "stop hating each other." Then somewhere in the midst of that electronic maze, a riff from "The Star Spangled Banner" slipped out, then died.
Then Hendrix turned to that army of amps and played quite slowly, apparently quite sincere*ly, "America the Beautiful." The native iconoclastic tendencies of his audience at first produced chuckles. Yet, soon applause rocked back through the cavern*ous structure. You got the feeling that both Hendrix and his young audience, members of a genera*tion subjected to massive verbal defecation, deep inside desperate*ly wanted this country to be like the United States of America described in those Civics 101 books.
The Quixotic End
It was all quite appropriate. Marian Anderson at Carnegie Hall may say it for many Americans. But here, in the midst of minor electronic disasters, a twentieth century musician was expressing patriotism in a way a young throng could embrace as unshallow, unchauvinistic, sincere, and, most importantly, spoken in their language.
Hendrix went out with his normal dadaistic finale, turning to the amp army and charging like a modem day Don Quixote, once, twice, three times, each time producing squalling, dis*sonant complaints as he rammed his guitar into the big black amp, which was barely braced on stage by his Sancho stage*hand. He lowered the head of the guitar and made a final charge, ramming the neck through the amp and almost knocking Sancho off the platform. As the guitar dropped wounded to the floor, Hendrix clawed at the gaping hole , tearing the amp covering , flailing away with knees and elbows.
Then picking the guitar up, he straddled it on stage , pulling strings free, shaking, the neck like a dog destroying a smaller foe. He finally stood, tossing the battered guitar high in the air, bouncing it off a surviving amp. (Hendrix maintains a selective cool during performances. He covertly exchanged his shiny Stratocaster for a much older, less expensive instrument before beginning his assault.)
As Hendrix strode off stage exhausted, Mitchell paid homage to rock ritual, throwing his drumsticks to the audience. Jimi Hendrix, the swashbuckler with the electric cutlass, had come and gone, had vindicated the Andy Pandas, and you could dig it.”
Frank Thompson [blog spot]: “We had already been exposed to the footage of Monterey Pop and Jimi's famous guitar-burning ritual [No. Your memory is mixed up, it wasn’t released until 29 January 1969 and even then you would have had to go to New York City to see it, as it had an exclusive run at Kips Bay cinema until 25 April 1969 when it opened in Fresno, CA. Ed.]. And, naturally, we all had...” etc..
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