Jimi Hendrix Both Sides of the Sky - new album coming March 9, 2018

I thought a lot of the UK 68 Smash Hits tracks were fold downs or something like that but I've never been sure.

 

I doubt very much it's a fold-down. Over here mono was king on rock albums until 1969 and for singles a few years after. It's seems inconceivable that they'd mix a stereo version at the time for a non-album track and then fold it down on a compilation album containing some rudimentary early stereo mixes?

 

Yes, that is correct.

Also see: jimi hendrix "the stars that play with laughing sam's dice"

 

Yes, the US release squandered "Red House" among other sins and was put out as an after-thought in 1969. Over here, at least, it compiled all the important singles which weren't ever intended to be in the album running orders.

 

It's definitely not a fold down. The mono mix of "Stars" really emphasizes the "vocals" (spoken parts and background sounds) while the stereo version is a much more "guitar to the fore" mix with background "activites" pushed more to the back. IMO the mono is a fun listen to hear the parts that were more difficult to discern (compared to the stereo version) but for listening it's stereo all the way because...it's guitar to the fore and it's JIMI !

 

And the guitar on Stars has a really nasty tone that i love

 

So who is Linda actually about, Linda Keith or Kathy Etchingham? Was this song written early on but never recorded until 1968?

 

whats the deal with Kathy? She tells this story but then when its included in that Hendrix bioprick she says it never happened?

'Then, you know, the first time that Jimi went back to the States, in 1967, I wanted ta go with him because it was to be the longest period of separation for us since I had known him. But because it was his first trip over there with The Experience, it wasn't possible to take me, and Jimi promised that he would let me come over the next time he went to the States. 'Anyhow, to go back a bit from then, you know Jimi was very jealous in those early days. He had these fits of jealousy, he didn't want me to have anything to do with any other guys. I remember one night specifically, in the Bag O' Nails, Jimi and I were there and I left the table to go upstairs to phone a girl friend, and I was gone a little longer than he thought I should be gone, and he came upstairs raging mad because he thought I was talking to some guy on the phone. He snatched the booth door open, snatched the phone out of my hand and started beating me on the head with it. I thought he was going crazy and I began to scream and at the same time, I was trying to have a go at him. But even though Jimi was very skinny, he was very strong and he was definitely too much for me. And then just in the nick of time, like as if it was in some James Bond movie, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were coming into the club, and they saw what was happening and so they pulled Jimi off of me and took him over to the side and cooled him down. That may have been the first of our many
fights.'

And then: "
Before seeing the film I was apprehensive, as I had been told that my character was portrayed in a derogatory and potentially defamatory manner. I had been told that Jimi had beaten me with a telephone in the film and after I had protested that this was not true the film makers had replied that it was true because they had “thoroughly researched” me.

In other words they were saying that they were telling the truth and I was not." from her website.

Its hard to know what to think when you have a direct quote from the person saying two opposite things. How credible is Kathy's claim that Linda is about her?

 

That is a stunning guitar piece and I think it was a nice idea at the time (Loose Ends) to bring it forward and show it off for what it is. We had Smash Hits for the original mix.

 

Yeah, I had read that as well.
In fact that original article doesn't put Hendrix in a very good light at all, and it's got Echingham's quotes all over it.
I wonder what year that was from, and if she was paid for that interview?

 

It's hard to fathom in today's sociopolitical climate but domestic abuse was apparently prevalent and actually tolerated back then with charges rarely filed. Brian Jones and John Lennon also would get physical with girlfriends.

 

Wasn't it from Curtis Knight's silly book which appeared in the early 70s?
I bought it when it came out and I think it was the about the second book to appear on the market (after Chris Welch's).

 

Don't know, was just doing a bit of reading on the Internet and came across it.
Kind of the first thing I had ever read that didnt cast Jimi in favorable light, and much of it seemed to be fairly told in Kathy's voice with quotes.

Another interesting imo conflict in the story, is that Kathy was pretty certain that after she broke it off with Jimi, and married someone else, that her husband allowed her and Jimi to continue on. This seems to be a 180 from her recent comments that she left Jimi and made it stick.
So which is it?

There's a reason Etchingham moved on from Hendrix, and I'm guessing like a vast amount of breakups of young couples in their mid 20s,
it wasnt based on mutual respect and consideration of the other partner's feelings/needs.
I think the fact that Etchingham got married soon after breaking w Jimi showed where she was at, and I'm pretty sure marriage was in no way, shape or form anywhere close to appealing in anyway to Jimi.

That Curtis Knight book was released in 1974.

 

Kathy disowned that interview and said the journo just made **** up. I guess we all have to form our own conclusions as to what the truth is .

But really, she was just a kid at the time.

 

When Kathy broke up with Jimi, he hadn't been thinking of marriage but by the following September he had proposed to Monika Damnation (or so she said) and Kirsten Nefer if I remember rightly.

 

" Monika Damnation"

 

Kirsten Nefer is not a name I've heard of.

With the pressure, financially/creatively/financially on Jimi, I find it hard to believe Jimi was entertaining settling down.
May have appealed to him in that time, but surely he'd have gotten bored with it.

I can see Jimi playing with his women like that. It's not an unusual tack to take with women to placate them, playing the what if game....

 

He mentions her by name in the intro to "Foxey Lady" at the Isle of Wight (1970) gig. She definitely travelled with him to a few gigs on that last tour.

 

Oh really hm that seems strange. So is that story made up? McCartney ever asked about it? Is Tony Brown still alive?

 

No.

 

Nice what year is that from?

 

Thats a real shame