Jimi Hendrix: An Electric Thanksgiving... Nov. 28 1968

There is an interesting write up on Crosstown Torrents about this show.Anybody have any other info on this.When I was into reading everything about Hendrix in the early 90s I thought this was an interesting title for a show as it was billed as such.

 

1st show
1. Fire
2. I Don't Live Today
3. Hear My Train A Comin'
4. Spanish Castle Magic
5. Foxy Lady
6. Red House
7. Sunshine Of Your Love
8. Purple Haze

Mitch : "We'd always wanted to play Carnegie Hall, but they wouldn't have us. In lieu of that we were offered the Philharmonic, which was great. Lovely hall, very prestigious, no rock band had ever played there. Only one problem, a member of the band had to play in a symphonic context. Jimi and Noel flatly refused, so I thought OK, what the hell, I'll do it. Would I mind having tea with Leonard Bernstein? Which I did; charming chap. He suggested that I might like to play percussion with The New York Brass Ensemble. It was fine, I went on with them, with a collar and tie on and did some Bach and a little Mozart after which The Experience played. It was a great gig and the whole thing was filmed and I'd love to see it."

Press review (unknown source):
I don’t think the builders and planners of Philharmonic Hall in their wildest flights of imagination ever thought that someday that conservative stage would be filled with giant speakers powered by amplifiers turned up full volume, pouring out ecstasy to a capacity crowd. But it came to pass, not once but twice, on Thanksgiving, as the Jimi Hendrix Experience, denied the use of Carnegie Hall, let loose with their usual mind assault.
Perhaps to atone for the desecration of this shrine, the first half of the show was given to Fernando Valenti, a highly regarded classical pianist, and the New York Brass Quintet, a straight chamber ensemble. Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell joined the quintet for their last number, and if the match did not quite create a new art form, it was an interesting, cute segment.
With an apologetic “we haven’t practised for a while, so we’re just going to jam a little and see what happens,” Hendrix led his crew, which includes Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding, through their paces. The Experience somehow always manage to stay on the tasteful side of excessive loudness, and if the lack of practise showed up occasionally, it was compensated for by many moments of sheer beauty. Tunes were mostly staples from the Hendrix repertoire, ‘Fire,’ ‘I Don’t Live Today,’ ‘Crosstown Traffic,’ (groups current single), ‘Foxey Lady,’ and ‘Purple Haze,’ but their instrumental interpretation of ‘Sunshine Of Your Love,’ done as a tribute to Cream, was one of those pleasant surprises that [just made?] going worth while.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES - by Robert Shelton:
“Two baroque and roll concerts at Philharmonic Hall got off to a rocky start. . but ended triumphantly, if not for the mating of classics and pop, at least for the star, Jimi Hendrix.
The trend toward mixing classics and rock has been gathering force in recent months. It is primarily a recording industry concept for selling more records to the youth market. But is also an idea that has captured the imagination of composers, concert producers and fans who see no need for categories in musical experience.
It all begins to make sense if we view the superstar, Mr. Hendrix, as a great classical virtuoso, He breaks strings, as did Paganini. He postures, as did Liszt. He deals in thundering climaxes, as did Beethoven. He explores the range of colors and effects of his guitar-turned-orchestra, as did Stravinsky with other instruments.
The parallel has its obvious limits. Mr. Hendrix is, beyond being an impeccable musician-singer, a one- man revolutionary, lover and showman. He makes the tradition of the blues as modern as tomorrow, astounding the teeny-boppers with his arrogance while soothing them with warmth and eroticism. The show was originally planned for Carnegie Hall, but found no welcome there.
The young audience was a bit surly and rough, but didn’t really cause much trouble. And Mr. Hendrix, in the first show at least, happily found he could cause excitement enough without smashing his loudspeakers, as he often does....
The evening began poorly. The great baroque harpsichordist, Mr. Valenti, was forced to endure an audience as mannerless as young savages. They buzzed and whistled through his Scarlatti and cheered his brilliant playing in mock appreciation. The host and scene- maker, Steve Paul, admonished them against acting ‘with the sensitivity of the Chicago police.’
This seemed to turn the trick, for the kids then listened appreciatively to the Brass Quintet. But the audience responded best when the drummer, Mr. Mitchell, joined them for some informal jamming. It is going to be some time before rock audiences, or, to be specific, before some rock audiences, can begin to appreciate all the musical feasts spread before them.
But, that day is not far off Mr. Valenti’s gracious patience will earn its reward.”

THE VILLAGE VOICE - by Annie Fisher:
“Calling it a feast hardly does justice to all the music going down around town last week: give thanks for Thanksgiving and all the students it brings to town to support the likes of Jimi Hendrix, the Jefferson Airplane, Slim Harpo, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Incredible String Band, etc., etc. in one week... I spent the early afternoon in a pastry factory ‘The later afternoon [28 November] I spent on the hosy stage of a deserted Philharmonic Hall, littered with never-again speakers that Jimi Hendrix had rammed through some where else the night before. I don’t know if ABC-TV used the interview they taped with road manager Jerry [sic] Stickells and an ebullient equipment man named Eric [Barret]
Returning a couple of hours later by the front entrance... I found the house packed and the stage deserted. I was late, but Hendrix was later. If any fault was to be found in the show it was that it seemed disappointingly truncated. I don’t think Hendrix could possibly not play well, but this fourth time I’ve seen him in concert reminded me again that if you can possibly catch him jamming (not difficult if you stay up late and can make the Scene when he’s in town), you’re going to hear Hendrix at his very best.
He is a born entertainer as well as musician, very much at home on stage, but as the innovator he is, he is at his best exploring, experimenting, or even just noodling around in the freedom and challenge a jam session provides.”
(Page?) [title?] Eric Barrettinterview by by Annie Fisher: “Do you think the generation gap applies to Hendrix’s music?” [….]
[Eric]: “After the Hendrix concert in Philadelphia [31 March], an older lady who had just come from the concert gushed to me, ‘Isn’t it wonderful, all those young people coming out to hear Harry Belafonte!’ Belafonte was scheduled to appear the week after.”

RAT SUBTERRANEAN NEWS - by Vince Aletti:
“Jimi Hendrix was late for the first show..., and it was taken as a bad omen. During the ever-lengthening intermission, another bad sign began to take shape: the audience....
The teenybopper contingent was out in force, holding down the front rows or, later, taking frantic headlong runs from the back to crouch religiously in the front aisles. In the lobby, someone offered a joint to a boy who looked like he might soon be fifteen. ‘I don’t need it,’ he said, already somewhere else: ‘I’m tripping.’ Another one of those audiences. A sort of dread began to set in.
But as usual, omens proved a waste of time and when Hendrix finally came out on stage.. .he easily dispelled them... He broke exuberantly into ‘Fire,’ sending warm waves of excitement through the audience. This was not entirely reassuring since what had bothered me about previous Hendrix concerts was his decision to stick with the crowd-pleasing over first album material. And as soon as the first song ended, people began to scream requests for ‘Foxy Lady’ and ‘Purple Haze.’ But Hendrix told them to relax, that he
was gonna jam and would get to everything in time.. It was the first time I had seen Hendrix take command of the audience rather than let them command him, and after that everything got better.
At one point, a girl called Hendrix to the edge of the stage, handing him a string of beads. He took it and put it on top of one of the amplifiers, still torn in a gaping hole from the last guitar attack (a scene mercifully left out of this act). When the girl persisted in calling Hendrix over again he laughed, telling her. . .back at his mike, ‘Watch out, baby, I’m a booger man. Watch out.’ Dig it. I think maybe I’ve been underestimating Hendrix all this time.”


BILLBOARD (page?) ‘Hendrix Knocks the Stuffings Out of Hall’
“Philharmonic Hall underwent a Jimi Hendrix Experience and a unique ‘Electronic Thanksgiving’ Thursday (28), surviving the two-show assault with its classical aplomb ruffled like the feathers of the holiday turkey. Appropriately plumed for the occasion, Jimi Hendrix.. punished two guitars till they cried out in great gulps of psychedelic agony and flashed his classical-type virtuosity for a savage bunch of teeny-hoppers....
Hendrix ‘jammed’ with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, coloring his athletic guitar man with sexy twists, hip quips and struttings and the lack of inhibition of a one-man revolution erupting on stage. Taking in his gait and dress, it becomes apparent that the instrument Hendrix plays best of all is Hendrix himself, a circus with all three rings in rhythm.
Hendrix’s impossible licks and riffs, coaxed out of his guitar without mercy, screamed through Philharmonic in waves and bursts. His […] were frantic translations of blues, lyrically retarded but soaring in their mind-bending psychedelic effect. His high-frequency guitar work, fed to the audience through giant amplifiers torn open from previous Hendrix destructive fits, flitted through a range of decibel and vocal imitations as Hendrix threw himself bodily into the beat.
Arrogant as a barroom bully and erotic to the point of outright invitation, Hendrix wailed from his knees while changing strings and by raking the strings across the microphone and his mouth. Following a rude reception to virtuoso harpsichordist Fernando Valenti and
the New York Brass Quintet, Hendrix stomped on stage to the war whoops of excited fans. And though the Hendrix Experience is the most ecstatic musical experience in rock today, Philharmonic should have been spared the scene of the rock trip and left in darkness to enjoy a quiet Thanksgiving.”

Many photos here:
New York (Philharmonic Hall) : 28 novembre 1968 [Premier concert] »

 

the late show is around too. unfortunately both shows are mediocre audience recordings but great shows.

 

Sadly, Mitch must have mixed this up with some other show; his claim that the performances were filmed isn't corroborated anywhere else.

 

maybe he mixed that with their previous nyc show at the singer bowl in august.

 

Maybe. That wasn't filmed by a crew though, only by an audience member.

 

Wow... what a show.Imagine seeing Hendrix in that setting.Live shows are so impersonal for a star of that magnitude.A great piece of rock history that I'll bet a lot of Hendrix fans weren't aware of.

 

Yes. There was some rumour saying that Jeffrey had hired Gold & Goldstein to film the shows prior to their European tour assignement. As you say, nothing came along to confirm it.

 

There's a third source for this show that although incomplete sounds better the recordings that have the entire show.
Fortunately it includes all the blues numbers and extended jams.
In regards to the Rat Subterranean review posted above I'm gonna suggest that Jimi may have said "I'm a boogey man" not "I'm a booger man" as reported.
That seems to make a bit more sense.