Hendrix: disastrous Band of Gypsys gig at Madison Square Garden

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Chris M, Dec 21, 2011.

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  1. acdc7369

    acdc7369 Forum Resident

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    Source please.
     
  2. acdc7369

    acdc7369 Forum Resident

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    United States
    Or he was just tripping face.
     
  3. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Agreed. I don't know why Miles' drum skills get so much negative scrutiny. If anything, I think Mitch's talents are somewhat overrated. Was Mitch the better drummer and/or the more versatile drummer? Yes, but Buddy brought something of substance to the table and I personally hold his drum work with Hendrix in very high regard.
     
  4. prof. stoned

    prof. stoned Forum Member

    Location:
    ...
    Here's my theory of what happened (originally posted partly in response to this excellent article).

    Up till his death, Buddy Miles has been in denial about his sacking from the Band of Gypsys and -worse- about his own role in that band.

    It's an undeniable fact that Michael Jeffery and Buddy Miles never saw eye-to-eye about the Band of Gypsys adventure, and it was probably a lot easier for Buddy to blame him than his good friend Jimi (especially after the latter left this world).
    In that light, the rumour that Miles spread about how Jeffery had spiked Hendrix with bad acid behind his back and how frightened Hendrix had looked that evening seems a bit preposterous. Jeffery had absolutely no motives to further weaken the already fragile relationship with his number-one-client.

    Miles has always claimed that Jeffery’s was behind his sacking and that ultimately race was the motive. This is false, I believe.
    In the end, it was Hendrix who wanted him out. Jeffery may have been a shady character with a hidden agenda and a lot control but there is absolutely no doubt that Hendrix was firmly in charge of his own musical outlets. Hendrix let Jeffery have his way by sacking Miles because he didn’t have the guts to do it himself. As noted above, Hendrix was an extremely non-confrontational person to the point where he’d rather make himself suffer than hurt somebody else’s feelings. But at the same time, he was also a driven man with a clear vision.
    Jimi was very unhappy with Buddy's domineering role within the band and mostly his vocals. According to Kramer, he more than once expressed his displeasure during the mixing of the album by shouting ‘shut the f. up buddy’.

    As for the race thing, no one has ever funded this claim for being the reason why the BOG disbanded, including Billy Cox. Coming from Omaha, Nebraska, Miles was extremely sensitive to racism and he probably had his reasons.
    Jeffery had good reasons for wanting Hendrix to return to the original format: money. It was the Experience that had made those first three blockbuster albums. The Gypsy suns and rainbows project had been proven to be a disaster and even after the Fillmore shows, Hendrix wasn’t willing to go on tour with his new band.
     
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  5. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    ^Totally agree.

    As regards Miles' drumming again, listening to "Live At The Fillmore East" etc. it is painfully clear that he was not the right man for the job (apart from a few moments of cohesion in relation to what Jimi was doing - most of which Jimi selected for "Band Of Gypsys"). The band was a brave, interesting but ultimately disastrous project.
    On the other hand, Mitch Mitchell fitted Jimi like a glove.
     
  6. reeler

    reeler Forum Resident

    Mitch is definitely a better drummer, but listen to "stone free" on that expanded Fillmore disc you mention, it's probably my favorite version. And who can deny that "Who Knows" and "Machine Gun" on band of Gypsies is'nt some of the best Hendrix on album, I sure consider it to be.
     
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  7. SoundAdvice

    SoundAdvice Senior Member

    Location:
    Vancouver
    Wasn't jeffries actually a LSD tripping partner for a very short period around the time of this show?

    I did wonder if Jimi's management was annoyed at him doing a charity gig, as almost every other gig he did was paid. I also remember readint that this show went late by several hours with Jimi going on around 3am - at an arena show!!

    There seems to be some mystery surrounding the film from this show. 60 seconds from 1 camera angle shown ona french tv documentary(?)is all that ever surfaced. I htink the raw footage has since vanished into a private collection. EH or Paul Allen don't seem to have it, EH say the Fillmore is the only footage of BOG that exists...

    I've never seen ANYBODY else back up Buddy Miles story.

    I find it interesting that Mitch felt he had job security. I've read he was present at the Fillmore shows, but not sure abut this show. Wasn't his first kid born aournd this time in the UK? Mitch also did some Jack Bruce(?) dates aroud this time. I always thought Noel was never around Jimi after he left with the lone exception of the Rolling Stone interview.

    I've seen reference to cancelled fall tours by Jimi in 1969 and fall 1970 after he shoudl have come back from Europe. Never seen a list of dates/cities/venues or even specific rumours.
     
  8. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover

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    Hampton, VA
    To my mind Filmore East was the best album Mr. Hendrix issued. As many have stated here Mitch and Buddy were very different drummers and complemented Jimi in different ways.
     
  9. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    Mitch played with Jack Bruce, Larry Coryell and Coryell's keyboardist Mike Mandel at Fillmore East January 30/31 1970, and Fillmore West February 26 to March 1 1970.
     
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  10. John DeAngelis

    John DeAngelis Senior Member

    Location:
    New York, NY
    I think Jimi did himself in. Just about everything I've ever heard about him indicated that he accepted and ingested any and all drugs that people gave to him. He would have needed a lot more than "a long walk on the beach" to change his self-destructive ways.
     
  11. musicalbeds

    musicalbeds Strange but not a stranger

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    It's possible that Jefferies slipped Jimi some acid, hoping Jimi might play even better, or longer etc. Or he could have done it as a lark, knowing Jimi approved of that sort of game. There's two possible reasons that aren't malicious.

    It's also plausible that acid was bad, but Manager Mike didn't know it, thereby creating a scenario that explains why Jefferies would slip him bad acid, and Buddy's story.
     
  12. musicalbeds

    musicalbeds Strange but not a stranger

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Unlike Garcia, Page, and Hendrix to name a few, he does small fiery phrases that are filled with technique or drenched with attitude, which don't build up and flow...but that's not always the case. Off the top of my head, I recall a Big Block from his last appearance here a few months ago that included a longer, "flowing" solo so I think it's depends on the moment with him, as always. Generally speaking, he's not a "noodly" player.

    There's quite a few areas that Jimi was much better/different than Jeff; Jimi could write, that's a huge difference, and he could flow and groove like no other where as Jeff isn't that style rhythm player, along with the above-mentioned noodling contrast. So while it's valid, imo, to say Jeff carries the torch, it's also quite clear that we lost so much in one man when Jimi died.
     
  13. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

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    Bretagne
    Jimi and Mike were acid buddies as far back as mid 68 (as recounted on film by Chas Chandler).
     
  14. SammyJoe

    SammyJoe Up The Irons!

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    Finland
    Interesting topic. Everyone one of us has some sort of bad times or dark moments in life.
     
  15. dino77

    dino77 Forum Resident

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    Europe
    I always heard it as very sarcastic, a jibe on Buddy's spotlight hogging.
     
  16. dino77

    dino77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Dear Jimi was well known for avoiding personal confrontation. He just couldn't say no, so basically Jeffery did his dirty work. Similarly, when Noel Redding came to New York for an Experience re-union tour in spring 1970, Jimi didn't have the stomach to tell him he wasn't going to be on it.
     
  17. dino77

    dino77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    You stated it way better than me :righton: This is probably all very close to the truth.
     
  18. CDix

    CDix Active Member

    Location:
    New England US
    I really didn't bring Beck up to compare their artistry, just to put some perspective on the timeline as regards inflated after-the-fact significance of much Jiminutiae, and more importantly the tragic loss of Jimi's potential.

    That said, I'll give no ground on Beck's preeminent role as our greatest living rock guitarist. He's certainly got the flash moves but plenty of organic flow too (ex any # of live solos on slow/medium tempo tunes like "Cause We've Ended As Lovers" or "Angel (Footsteps)"). That also said, he and Jimi are certainly very different artists, Beck the consummate guitar artisan, craftsman, interpreter and innovator, Jimi all those things *plus* being the core writer and poet that he was.
     
  19. reeler

    reeler Forum Resident

    Agree. It's always someone else's fault when celebrity addicts die and there's always "mysterious" circumstances. Clapton realized he had a problem and did something about it and is alive today- Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Keith Moon did not and are dead.
     
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  20. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

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    Chicago, IL, US
    From what I know of Clapton he should consider himself lucky he did not die before he "did something about" his problems.
     
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  21. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    I know he was deeply engaged in heroin addiction, but I don't recall reading he ever overdosed or had a lot of "close-calls." Still, he was playing with fire, but other addicts (like Elvis) had a history of almost dying prior to their ultimate demise.
     
  22. musicalbeds

    musicalbeds Strange but not a stranger

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Moon actually did try and quit drinking.... the pills he OD'd were prescription, to help him quit. :shake:
     
  23. vinyldreams

    vinyldreams Forum Resident

    Location:
    Main St.
    Didn't Jimi try to get away from Jeffrey towards the end of his career? I heard he contacted Chandler to try and get him back as his manager. Doubt that Jeffrey would try to sabotage the BOG but that guy definitely was not on the up and up.
     
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  24. CDix

    CDix Active Member

    Location:
    New England US
    Jimi was no angel but was not an addict, and he did indeed die under mysterious circumstances (unlike the others he was not alone). No two cases are ever alike. That's ok though, it's just one of those things like JFK where each simply needs to settle it in their own mind in whatever way allows them to move on.
     
  25. doc021

    doc021 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hershey, PA, USA
    Having heard the story, I was expecting much worse.Jimi's performance of Earth Blues , though, was bad to say the least. Actually, it was sad if what Chris says is true. Do we have footage of this performance anywhere?
     
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