Hendrix -new 2 lp Release Machine Gun 9-30-16

Can you divulge your vocation without it becoming a vacation?

 

Accountant.

 

This one's even better: bog_fillmore.htm

 

Well you have just accounted for the TT!

 

Give EH a bit of time to replenish stock, as they've "sold out" in the past after Xmas/major Jimi releases when fans reignite their interest and hammer them with orders.

 

Is there anything on BOG 2 that's not available on Machine Gun or the 2 disc set of Live at the Fillmore East?

Also BOG 2 doesn't appear to be available on CD.

 

The only thing from BOG2 on Machine Gun is Hear My Train A Comin’. BOG2 wasn’t released on CD in full but the three BOG tracks were bonuses on the late 80s Polydor versions of the original BOG album. Foxey Lady from BOG2 is the B side to the CD single of Somewhere and Stop is on Live at the Fillmore in full instead of the fade from the videotape.

 

Thanks! So what's on BOG 2 that's not available elsewhere on disc? Not sure I can parse that from your reply.

 

Side 2 of BoG2 (aka the non Band of Gypsys part) has almost been fully released: Voodoo Child is on the Atlanta set and Stone Free is on Berkeley. Ezy Ryder from Berkeley1st set has not been rereleased yet.

 

Here's all you need to know about Band of Gypsys 2 and its variations - and also its immediate predecessor - excerpted from my new book Modern Listener Guide: Jimi Hendrix.

For much more, please visit www.ModernListen.com





Alan Douglas may have had a bright idea in following up Band of Gypsys with a second album by Hendrix’s trio, but the end result was anything but illuminating. The seldom-seen Band of Gypsys 2 album is pictured here with its namesake, both in the now-uncommon cassette format. (Frank Moriarty, Modern Listener Archives)




From Modern Listener Guide: Jimi Hendrix, copyright 2018 Frank Moriarty



For his first projects since The Jimi Hendrix Concerts, Alan Douglas decided to remain in the realm of Hendrix in concert.

Johnny B. Goode came first, a five-song “MiniAlbum” released by Capitol Records. It was designed to accompany VHS videocassette and LaserDisc releases containing brief video excerpts from the May 30, 1970, Berkeley concerts and the July 4, 1970, concert at the Atlanta International Pop Festival. The content of the MiniAlbum reflected the video selections. This included Jimi’s Atlanta festival take on “The Star-Spangled Banner,” a far less satisfying version than the awe-inspiring glory of his Woodstock performance. Joining the anthem was additional Atlanta content in “All Along the Watchtower” and a heavily edited “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).” Berkeley was represented by “Machine Gun” and the MiniAlbum’s title track. Of course, any release containing Hendrix’s thunderous Berkeley romp through Chuck Berry’s classic tale of a young guitar player can’t be all bad, but this title’s content was constrained by its soundtrack role. Originally released on 12” vinyl, Johnny B. Goode is uncommonly encountered on CD, its sole digital release having been in the Australian market.

Having established a relationship with Capitol Records to release Johnny B. Goode, Douglas agreed with the label on a deal cashing in on Capitol’s best-known Hendrix release – Band of Gypsys – via the predictably titled Band of Gypsys 2.

In that context, the first side of the album made sense, presenting “Hear My Train A-Comin’” from the Band of Gypsys’ Fillmore East early show on December 31, 1969, and “Foxy Lady” and “Stop” from the January 1, 1970, early show. Apparently with the Johnny B. Goode tapes still on hand, however, Douglas strangely decided to dedicate the second side of the album to more from the Atlanta and Berkeley concerts – in the process bestowing Gypsy status upon Mitch Mitchell. Douglas recycled “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” from the former concert and chose “Stone Free” and “Ezy Ryder” from the latter. The fact that these were not performances by the Band of Gypsys appears to have not mattered.

Even stranger was the fact that a number of copies of Band of Gypsys 2 appeared in the market with incorrect pressings which, of course, did not match the album art work. One iteration found the correct first side matched up with four different songs on the second side: “Ezy Ryder, “Hey Joe,” “Hey Baby (New Rising Sun),” and “Lover Man.” The version of “Hey Joe” was sourced from Atlanta; the other three songs came from Berkeley tapes. Still another version of the album offered the correct second side, but the first side contained the Fillmore East “Hear My Train A-Comin’” followed by the Atlanta “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” and Berkeley’s “Stone Free.” To cap off the confusion trifecta of Band of Gypsys 2, a totally wrong version also leaked out with the incorrect side one paired up with the incorrect side two. Band of Gypsys 2 was never officially released on CD in any running order.

Although both albums received some respectable reviews, neither threatened to storm the charts. In truth, these albums were not thematically focused and could not overcome the sense of random selection that pervaded their content. With the exception of “Foxy Lady” from the January 1, 1970, early show and “Ezy Ryder” from the May 30, 1970, early show, the material on these recordings - including all of the Band of Gypsys 2 misprint variations - has since been released in better context by Experience Hendrix.

There was no arguing that The Jimi Hendrix Concerts had been a big step forward for Alan Douglas; Johnny B. Goode and Band of Gypsys 2 were two equally big steps back.

 

Thanks Frank, hard to do on a phone and you did all the legwork in the book!

Now Foxy Lady was reissued on the B-side of Somewhere, but hard to say if that’s a better context than on BoG2. They should just do a reissue of the Jan 1 first set on audio already instead of having most of it available on the video, Burning Desire on Live at the Fillmore and half of Earth Blues still missing.

And a Berkeley first set release would clean up a bunch of stray songs as well (Purple Haze from the JH soundtrack as well as Ezy Ryder).

 

Great post.
I am happy to have the Aussie Johnny B Goode CD as they are scarce and at least the cover was a nice shot of Jimi not the Monterey tv image with the mermaid.

 

BOG 2 is one of my only white wales left. Someday I'll find one in the wild. It's nice to have something to look for still.

 

Speaking of stray songs from the first Berkeley set:

From Modern Listener Guide: Jimi Hendrix, copyright 2018 Frank Moriarty, www.ModernListen.com

For reasons known only to Experience Hendrix – and perhaps to the gods who control the assembly of music box sets – one of Jimi Hendrix’s greatest nights of musical achievement has only been partially issued. Both sets played by Hendrix on May 30, 1970, at the Berkeley Community Theatre were professionally recorded, as well as the afternoon soundcheck. While Experience Hendrix has seen fit to release the entire second set of the concerts, parts of both the soundcheck and the first set are scattered across several releases. Many Hendrix fans remain hopeful that someday a comprehensive Berkeley Community Theatre box set will miraculously appear; for now, listening to the soundcheck material and the complete first set demands bootleg releases or trader files.

Four of the dozen songs from the first set have yet to be released officially: “Foxy Lady,” “Machine Gun,” “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).” A fifth track from the first set - “Purple Haze” - appeared on the out-of-print album Soundtrack Recordings from the Film Jimi Hendrix, but that title never saw a CD release.

Aside from those five missing performances, three other songs from the first set are easily found on Experience Hendrix compilation releases. Jimi’s stunning performance of “Johnny B. Goode” can be heard on Hendrix in the West, The Jimi Hendrix Experience box set, and the Voodoo Child compilation, the latter of which also hosts Berkeley’s first-set “Hear My Train A-Comin’” which can likewise be found on Blues and Rainbow Bridge. Finally, “Red House” from this show turns up on the West Coast Seattle Boy compilation.

The four remaining first set songs? If you want them on CD, it will take a bit of digging.

Probably the most difficult CD to track down is Jimi Plays Berkeley. A three-track CD released in the UK market in October 1991, Jimi Plays Berkeley was a limited companion to a release on video of the same name. In addition to the “Red House” mentioned before, it contains first show versions of “Freedom” and “Ezy Ryder” that are not available elsewhere. The latter song appeared on the out-of-print album Band of Gypsys 2 in slightly more complete form – with an extra minute of Mitch Mitchell’s drum solo – but that record was never issued on CD.

Jimi Plays Berkeley kicks off with “Freedom,” one of the solid tracks Hendrix had been working on with an eye toward including it on his next studio album. Jimi’s tone is clear, his amplification just slightly driven as he starts with a funky, chordal placeholder. He then quickly switches over to lock in on a single-note progression with Billy Cox’s bass. It’s an irresistible, earthy setup to the first verse, the guitarist returning to chordal vamping under the vocals. “Freedom” is a much more complicated song than many from earlier in Jimi’s career, though it’s not yet in complete final format, particularly lyrically. Billy and Mitch Mitchell really rise to the occasion, standing out as an inventive rhythm section, powerful but agile.

“Red House” has its characteristic late-night ambience despite its appearance in the early show. That’s particularly true of the first half of the song’s solo, which Hendrix approaches with a completely clean tone. He then enters into a chatty wah-wah section, emulating more vocal-like sounds while Cox blends an aggressive edge into his well-worn blues bass lines.

“Ezy Ryder” closes Jimi Plays Berkeley, with Jimi making reference to the then-current movie Easy Rider, starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper as two counterculture bikers riding across the country.

“It gave us the idea to do a song the way we seen it,” Hendrix explains, before jokingly making a pun on both titles by announcing “Greasy Slider.”

But Mitchell’s intro is all business, strong and urgent. Jimi joins in with a percussive, muted string experimentation, but he can’t seem to decide exactly where to jump in and start the song proper. When he does enter full force, it seems to come on an unexpected beat, and Billy has to adjust his entry to compensate. The song is undertaken at a gallop, with greater emphasis on energy than precision, although Hendrix tosses in a vibrant, tightly descending transition between the first two verses. Like “Freedom” before it, “Ezy Ryder” is a more complicated song; it’s impressive to hear Hendrix working so hard as he navigates his way through the multiple changes and passages, even if he slightly strays off course in the instrumental build to the solo. The solo itself is slightly unstructured, although at the 3:25 mark of the song you’ll encounter 15 seconds of must-hear Hendrix improvisational brilliance as he morphs the song’s progression into uncharted territory.

Jimi Plays Berkeley may be hard to find, but the effort is rewarding.

Two other songs from this first Berkeley show are only available on a release titled Sacred Sources 1: Live Forever. Issued in 1993 by PolyGram Records on a sub-label called Cohiba Records, this odd CD was compiled by guitarist Carlos Santana.

Thematically disconnected beyond being a gathering of artists Carlos likes, Sacred Sources 1: Live Forever also includes music from Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and John Coltrane – with absolutely no information given in the liner notes or credits about the sources of the performances. The disc quickly went out of print, though it is still found used easily and inexpensively.

The Jimi Hendrix content on Sacred Sources 1: Live Forever amounts to one song from the Berkeley second set joining two from the early show, with the Hendrix tracks first in the lineup.

The CD begins with a solid rendition of “Message to Love,” extracted from the middle of Jimi’s first Berkeley set. The band is tight, though Jimi is still tinkering with the lyrics despite the fact that he’s been at work on the song for more than a year. While Buddy Miles applied a steady-but-sure drum technique when he played this song with the Band of Gypsys, it’s no surprise that Mitch Mitchell does it his own way, enlivening verses with a series of flashy percussive accents.

The second song on this disc, “Fire,” was actually the opening song of the first Berkeley set. With a lengthy soundcheck having taken place in the afternoon, Hendrix, Mitchell, and Cox hit the ground running with a high-energy take that sets high standards for all the songs to come this evening. For good measure Jimi even offers a full-throttle quote from Cream’s “Outside Woman Blues” to set up the charging final verse.

These two songs from the first set amount to nearly ten minutes of priceless Hendrix music officially unavailable elsewhere, yet attainable here for just a few dollars.

The third of the Hendrix tracks on this release is “I Don’t Live Today,” from the second set. For a decade this track was only available on this Santana compilation. That’s no longer the case, because in 2003 Experience Hendrix and MCA issued Live at Berkeley, the complete second show from these concerts on May 30, 1970.

 

To be anal!

There are variations on the label too, Band Of Gypsys

 

Good point! We've used a lot of words to say what could best be simply said: it's a mess!

 

The first Berkeley set has higher highs (JBG, Hear My Train) and lower lows (Freedom) than the more even second set. But it's still something of a mystery why it hasn't been officially released in full.

 

As noted in infrank3si's informative post (just wanted to point it out especially, with a link), the "Ezy Ryder" on Band Of Gypsys 2 was reissued on the CD that accompanied (some versions of) the Jimi Plays Berkeley VHS: Jimi Hendrix - Jimi Plays Berkeley

I bought that VHS in the 90's, but my version didn't include the CD (I think only the UK release had it), I had no idea the bonus existed until much later. The CD was very kindly given to me by a forum member after it had been brought up in discussions here.

 

#frank3si, I just ordered your book!

 

Very much appreciated - I hope it will bring you many hours of enjoyment!

 

I just picked it up off of Discogs a few months ago with the CD. I saw it on a visit to London in '92, but held off since it was only 3 songs. 25+ years later I think I actually paid LESS for it than I would have paid at the time!

 

I will have to put the book on my birthday list in a few months!

Annoyingly enough, for reasons known only to Alan I suppose, Ezy Ryder did not survive the transfer from BoG2 to the VHS extra CD intact, it lost a minute. For the brief time the first set showed up on Wolfgang's Vault, that's the version that was included.

1st set Star Spangler Banner has sort of been released, it made the movie basically intact. You just have to go pull the video yourself. Oddly enough, the Wolfgang's version had this from a boot.

I'd known about the alternate side 2 for BoG2 since it was included at the end of a boot of the 1988 Live & Unreleased show. I just didn't know how many alternates there were!

 

Ripped the HD Tracks files to 320 mp3 for the car...this release may be the best thing EH has released.

The performances of 'Izabella', 'Ezy Rider', and 'Earth Blues', oh my, give me the vapahs! They were SO. TIGHT.

 

The amazing thing about this show is not a single song had been released on LP at the time. Not only that, but if somebody had been to the RAH show on the 24th AND the Woodstock set, they still would’ve only recognized four songs from before. That’s how much new material they were getting. The first set on the 1st almost replicated the feat if not for Foxy Lady (caveats to we’re not 100% sure what’s missing from the video).