Hendrix: disastrous Band of Gypsys gig at Madison Square Garden

There was Woodstock and the Harlem followup gig, then nothing for four months until the Fillmore NYE gigs, then Madison Square, then around April he began a schedule playing on weekends with Cox and Mitchell while working in the studio during the week. Not what I would call being "toured to death" but my Hendrix expertise is nowhere near that of others participating in this thread.

 

That doesn't make too much sense since it was Jimi, not Buddy, who was having the problems on stage. Also, wouldn't that kind of decision be up to Jimi?

 

I remember reading the Woodstock band members also said management was trying to push them out, not telling them when Jimi had TV appearances lined up and the like.

 

Either way, BOG is a great album. I used to run into Buddy Miles sometimes during the mid to late 90s at blues clubs and Guitar Center in Arlington and Fort Worth, TX. One time I heard this guy pummeling the drums at GC and I knew it had to be BM. Guys used to cringe when he would saunter or stagger into J&J's Blues Bar in Fort Worth, because they knew he would take over and destroy their drums. I wasn't a BOG fan back then, but am glad that I got to see him "do his thing". I personally enjoy Live at the Fillmore East and BOG more than the JHE.

 

this!

 

Well put, encapsulates and expands perfectly on what I was getting at in the earlier post! Mr. Beck is a true living legend and thank god he's here to watch, like a good story where one can't wait to see what happens next.

And nah, no amount of bad marketing decisions, editing etc (EH has done some good things too) can touch the beauty of Jimi's actual notes, the ultimate connection between his imagination and ours.

 

Maybe he had the flu or just ate something (food) that didn't agree with him. Or didn't get enough sleep.

 

Umm it's called drug addiction and the resultant insanity, which we have on display here. I always thought the Band of gypsies funkier heavier style suited Jimi Better.

 

This seems the most likely answer. I mean, Jimi was messing up the performance, not Buddy - why fire Buddy immediately after Jimi loses it during the concert? Because Jimi and Mike had already decided he needed to go. Jimi was always one to do anything he could to avoid conflict, and leaving it to others to do the "dirty work" is totally consistent with his nature. Maybe his lackluster performance was both due to drugs and the fact he was all worked up over how Buddy was going to respond to being fired, and that he didn't want to have to deal with the fallout. When the gig fell apart Mike got pissed and fired him sooner rather than later.

 

I'm not sold on the story either, I only mentioned it as it's the common explanation given. It is hard to imagine anyone telling Jimi who he had to play with. How did he know the lysergic booster wouldn't result in Jimi's best playing ever

 

Jimi wasn't addicted to anything as far as anyone knows. I don't think anyone can say for sure what was wrong with Jimi that night. It's certainly not a clear cut "drug" issue though.

 

At the time of this show, no. His previous gig was Dec 31/Jan 1, 4 weeks earlier and plenty of time to rest up.

 

I never thought Miles was that great.
He had a nice groove and that was it, he otherwise had the finesse of a caveman.
Has anyone heard that version of "Blue Sweade Shoes" off of Loose Ends where Jimi is instructing Miles for close to 4 minutes on how to play the opening on the hi-hat, it almost sounded like the Troggs tapes.

Michael Jerrey got his in the end.
Reding that Eric Burdon interview when he descibes the crash scene with Jeffery handcuffed to a briefcase full of money and his pockets stuffed with cash, instant karma knocked him upside the head.

 

Maybe he was not addicted or an addict, if you say so. Only Jimi himself could have ever figured that, I'm only saying that from the outside, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison just happened to follow the same path of insanity and death any other addict does- being famous and talented does'nt exempt you from that.

 

The story I heard on the west coast (underground headshop) was that Jefferies deliberately slipped Jimi some PCP instead of LSD. Some of this explains his strange behavior and Jimi could take massive amount's of acid. The cloudy stories of Michael Jefferies and Jimi are never-ending.

 

This is the single most embarrassing recorded moment I have ever heard (up there with Pete Best's Love Me Do performance). Miles is completely unable to play the most basic part, one that any 14-year old drum newbie could play. No surprise that the LP never even got released in the US & has totally fallen off the map. Anyone who doesn't think that Mitchell could drum rings around Buddy just has to hear this track. He was a complete joke.:thumbsdn:

 

It wasn't that Buddy was incapable of playing the part, it's just that he kept wanting to embellish it with kick/snare when Jimi just wanted hi-hat. Dunno, always seemed like a pretty routine few minutes in the studio to me (& I liked Loose Ends in general). Yeah Buddy was all about the groove but that's *exactly* what Jimi needed at times and that whole period seemed to be about solid support for him, musical and otherwise. Like I say, it's only looking back on such a compressed timeline that these chapters seem more significant.

As for drugs, IMO Jimi was a habitual user but not specifically addicted, and the exact details of his demise will forever be shrouded in mystery.

 

This is an interesting discussion, I've enjoyed reading most it.

Since its all speculation, other than Miles given his walking papers, its that, perhaps, Jimi Hendrix wasn't the first musician, nor the last, to be controlled by a manager feeding them drugs to keep them compliant. An enabler, in other words, that maybe was looking more at helping themselves, than in taking care of the musician.

I'm pretty sure that Jefferies didn't like the arrival of Cox or especially Miles, and was concerned his own spot maybe in danger with the changes going on around Jimi.
Its easy to see why Jefferies was only too willing to ditch Miles, who certainly was more outspoken than Cox, when Jimi expressed his dissatisfaction for whatever reason.

Did Hendrix ever mention anything in subsequent interviews about the break up of BOG?
I know it was only another short 9 months he had left, and he was looking forward to opening his new studio and releasing new music. But surely some journalist must have asked him why he split away from Miles, while still keeping Cox. It seems like a no brainer question to me.

 

I think that was more to do with Buddy's musical heritage. He didn't come from a Carl Perkins/Eddie Cochran background. He was more RnB orientated.

I love Becko but I find his playing rather straight-jacketed at times. His music/solos don't flow in such a free-form organic way. It's like listening to a series of special effects sometimes. Jaw dropping certainly but he lacks the rhythmic groove and intense majesty that Jimi put across.

You're right. The BOG thing happened while Jimi was free from the pressures of touring. He paid a compensatory fee for having cancelled a 1969 fall tour.

Miles did put in some great drums in the studio with Jimi ("Rainy Day", "Ezy Ryder", "Earth Blues", "Power Of Soul", etc. and some cool jams) and there were some great funky moments at the Fillmore ("Who Know", "Power Of Soul" and the legendary rat-tat-tat-tat-tat of "Machine Gun") but overall his style was too sparse for Jimi's sonic explorations. However, sometimes it could give Jimi a neutral platform (compared to Mitch's stylings) for him to attack his solos in a different way (listen to the extraordinary "Foxy Lady" solos at the Fillmore - very different to what went down with The Experience/Cry Of Love band).

 

He was good enough to play live and record with Hendrix. Jimi could've played with anyone he wanted to at the time and he picked Buddy.

 

......... Jimi and Miles may have had their differences off stage, but believe me, Jimi was lucky to have Miles on stage with him, and not Mitch, when Jimi was faltering like this.

Miles was one of the most rock solid drummers to ever sit on the throne. As a groove drummer he could drum rings aroung Mitch...... But I like them both for their different styles. But Buddy was no "Joke.

 

You can't take acid that often like that and expect it to do anything.

 

You say that kind of stuff when you're tripping. He was just having a bad trip.

 

It doesn't even take bad acid to cause someone to have a bad trip. Even the most experienced acid trippers with the most consistent acid can be sent off into a bad trip by literally anything.