Jimi Hendrix Miami Pop Festival CD & DVD by Sony due Nov. '13

ok thanks

 

Had the pleasure of listening again to parts of the concert last night too and am forced to concur after my nitpicking, that much of what I heard was exciting and electrifying, and I felt Experienced after getting hit early with Foxey Lady and Tax Free!

 

Great! Love it. All cylinders on here.

 

A bit off topic but that's strange to hear given Daltrey's comment that when Moon first joined everything was more exciting but the tempo didn't get faster. In it's simple way that quote said a lot to me about great drumming. Mitch was an incredible drummer, his description of touring with Hendrix as "having to take acid just to feel normal" might explain the sloppiness on the live tapes. Hendrix/Cox/Mitchell is by far my favorite lineup - the best of all worlds.

 

A few comments. There is no drum solo here. I don't hear where Miles plays unaccompanied. Hendrix is, as almost always, amazing, especially from 8:00. The tone, the playing, the drive, it's just too much. Cox plays the same 3 note riff for many minutes, BORING. Noel never would have done that. The drumming is very good, I have no real issues with it, but the bass playing is lame for much of this.

 

Yeah, Noel would have never done that. By late '68 and '69 Noel was often competing with Hendrix, muddy loud distorted bass. He was no Entwhistle. In the Winterland latest release it is very apparent.

 

I'll take Cox playing 3 notes with a groove over Noel pretending he's Jack Bruce any day of the week.

 

In all honesty Jimi Hendrix is a better Bass Player then Noel Redding. Hendrix jammed with everybody who was somebody back in the late 60s. And while Noel was in some bar pissed off because of all the hangers on that Jimi had at the studio, Jimi played most of the bass parts on " Electric Ladyland." Jimi was very humble and just wanted to play when he jammed with Johnny Winter Jimi played bass. And in 1969-70 I never saw Hendrix without a guitar he was ready to play anytime the man loved to play. I think Jimi's words are prophetic in the lyrics of Red House " That's all right, I still got my guitar."

 

I love all things Jimi-even Atlanta. If it indeed is the next release, I will get it without question.

 

In all fairness, Noel wasn't a bass player before joining the Experience. My understanding is that he was picked for bass because he looked cool.

 

I'm sorry, were you talking about "Stone Free" or "Nine To The Universe"? The section from about 5:20 to 6:02 on the embedded "Nine To The Universe" is nothing but Buddy's drums. On Stone Free, the section from 7:41 to 8:32 is also nothing but Buddy's drums. In retrospect, these probably aren't great examples of his "solos" but still, they are drums only (did I miss something?).

Here's the edited version. Buddy sounds good but again, it was edited, so it's not a true representation of his playing "live in the studio" (the edited solo starts about 2:39 into the song and isn't terribly long).



If someone has a better example of a Buddy solo from around the same time frame, please post away!

 

Jimi on bass with Robert Wyatt (of Soft Machine):

 

Right you are John. Redding's hair got him the gig. And Noel was a guitar player but there was only one man needed at that position.

 

Well again to be fair, Noel thought he'd be playing guitar for The New Animals. I'm sure any idea of being a guitarist with this "other" band Chas suggested went out the window once he heard Jimi play !

 

So total "fantasy band" question, but at the time, Jimi and Chas had to choose between Mitch and Ansley Dunbar to fill the drum seat in the Experience and the story has been they went with Mitch based on coin toss. I'm just interested in your opinion; given what we know/have heard now, do you think Mitch was the right call or would Ansley have been a better fit?

 

Listening again tonight it seems to me the man played that guitar with simultaneously such disdain, affection, panache, sensitivity, passion, and sense of discovery and abandon - amidst additional qualities - it is remarkable to me listening to him play guitar, even moreso in concert, and the kinds of unbelievably expressive and intense solos he manages to create and play on virtually every song at these Miami concerts. Amazing. And Mitch Mitchell plays drums and plays more drums in seemingly constant motion and manic energy and its good to clearly hear the whole kit in a balanced way.

 

Well put - listening to it again reminded me it would have been so great to hear him live several years down the road, when he was no longer chained to a tired "same old hits" setlist and given the freedom to mix things up.

Can you imagine a 1972 or 1973 a more typical two hour setlist (none of these day/night shows) where he still played some hits, but mixed in newer tracks, deep album tracks, maybe even some covers?

 

I meant Nine To The Universe. I played it again from the repost in the time frame you mentioned and I hear bass, guitar and drums...

 

Sorry Gersh, I'm not sure what the deal is then. Both the edited and unedited version of Nine To The Universe have a short (about 40 seconds) section with only drums in them.

 

Well partly. It was his versatlity and quickness to adapt to varying musical styles that interested Jimi and Chas. The fuzzy Dylan hairstyle, similar to Jimi's was the clincher (it gave the band an image).

 

There is no way to know how Dunbar would have fit in the band; or how he would have sounded on album. In general, I don't think The Experience outside of Hendrix was the most impressive or dynamic band. Redding is pretty underwhelming; he gets the job done, but there were many more proficient bass players that could have added something to the sonic picture. I think Mitchell is overrated. He and Hendrix had some chemistry and when in theory Hendrix could have played with anyone post-1969, he went back to Mitchell -- so that says a lot. I think Dunbar is the better drummer, so that would have been my choice.

 

I particularly like Track #9.

 

Indeed, a belter. Better still set at 11

 

Other than Jimi, what pro-shot footage from this festival circulates?

 

Aynsley Dunbar was the drummer on the Mothers At The Fillmore album, listening to that my give you a slight clue.

-K