Jimi Hendrix - The All-Encompassing Live Shows Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by EVOLVIST, Nov 27, 2018.

  1. EVOLVIST

    EVOLVIST Kid A Thread Starter

    You know, after posting my last post, and reading this one, I think it probably all boils down to the individual. I mean, many, many moons ago when I was a junior is high school, yeah, I tried LSD about a dozen times or so. That was a long time ago (at least to me), and no I really couldn't have maintained on 'cid. I would just sit around and look at things, listening to music. I would never do that stuff today! If I played the guitar, I didn't really come up with anything good. It sounded great at the time, but upon playback it was terrible.

    So, yeah, you're right; it's not to sensationalize anything. It just is. I might very well be viewing Jimi Hendrix through my own personal experience, that acid and playing wasn't very good, when in reality, obviously Hendrix is a different person than me, not to be viewed through my limited optic.
     
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  2. jhm

    jhm Forum Resident

    To me its been the persistent "Jimi hid tabs of acid in his headband" tales and the fact that most still think he died of an overdose of narcotics that's driven me nuts. Hell, even Neil Young flashed an image of Jimi after Janis Joplin when performing "The Needle And The Damage Done" on an awards show of some kind that I saw years ago. I'm sure he partook and perhaps even played many gigs while under the influence, I just don't believe he was this borderline strung out junkie I feel he's been portrayed as since his death. This was especially true in the 10 to 15 years or so immediately following his death. Starting in the early 90s, we stared to get some quality biographies of the man published and then a bit later the internet made information about his life more available "to the masses". I think the strong/constant drug use talk has died down a bit since then. Again, all of this is just IMO.
     
  3. asdf35

    asdf35 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin TX
    Well, I certainly couldn't function at any level as a person with acid, but many performers have. That has always been a fascinating subset to me. It doesn't wreck your body like alcohol or other substances, but it can affect your coordination and timing....and thinking process. A surprising number of performers have maintained shows on LSD. As I said, the Elevators were militant about it. Morrison took some before Hollywood Bowl, which was to be filmed under bright lights. It was always my understanding that Jimi pulled this stunt before Monterey. Bootsy Collins had that acid edge for most of the 70's. And of course, there's the famous story of baseball pitcher Doc Ellis pitching a no-hitter on a tab.

    I'm mostly interested in recorded performances while under the spell, not so much what these guys did in private. It's an epic Herculean feat to be the embodiment of psychedelia while on psychedelics! The performances I am aware of being influenced this way tend to have a bit of a manic edge. Not as overtly "different" as I'd expect, but a strange musical or verbal tempo.
     
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2018
  4. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    :laugh: Reminds me of the old joke about Grateful Dead fans who came round after the drug induced excesses 60s/70s and upon hearing the Dead again said "Jeez, what's this crappy music?"
     
  5. Mark7

    Mark7 Forum Resident

    Well, the autopsy noted: "no stigmata of [intravenous] drug addiction." Proof enough? There is proof he was using coke: he asked for it at the Aarhus show from the promoter when he came off stage and he told a German newspaper at the Berlin gig he was snorting when the reported inquired about his runny nose.
     
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  6. DJ LX

    DJ LX Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison WI
    Any opinions on the Experience's final gig - the Denver Pop Festival?
     
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  7. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    Raucous!
     
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  8. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Ah, but he never injected heroin. He snorted it according to his friends. So, no, that's not proof that he didn't use heroin. It's futile to suggest he didn't use heroin when several friends and fellow musicians state that he did, just as it's futile to suggest he didn't use coke. Hardly important, but it helps us understand what happened in 1970 and his actions on the last tour.

    For what it's worth, the autopsy revealed Jimi to be in great physical condition. He might have been tired and felt run down, but he was fit and healthy, not destroyed by drug use like Jim Morrison or Janis Joplin. So the old media image of him as a junkie is in error.
     
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2018
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  9. DJ LX

    DJ LX Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison WI
    Same with Clapton - he snorted heroin, rather than injecting it. Injection gives more bang for the buck, but when you're a wealthy rock star that's not a concern.
     
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  10. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Yeah, high profile rock stars don't have to resort to needles.
     
  11. Mark7

    Mark7 Forum Resident

    I do think an autopsy by a physician is decent proof as to injections. The Aarhus promoter is quoted in Tony Brown's book and the Jimi's comments in Berlin about snorting were printed in a newspaper. That is solid proof in my eyes.
    Not to be combative, but I can't recall reading that he snorted heroin. Do you have references to the literature?
     
  12. EVOLVIST

    EVOLVIST Kid A Thread Starter

    Right. Wasn't the only things in his system at the time of death some grass, barely any alcohol and the Vesparax? The barbiturates ended up being lethal, mixed with a little wine, and assuredly his physical state at the time; yet all other indications was that he was a healthy 27 year old.

    It's sad, really. I hate to bum the thread out. It certainly wasn't the typical rock star death.
     
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  13. Mark7

    Mark7 Forum Resident

    Bringing it back to the music, here's what I posted a couple of years back on the IOW gig:

    I know many like to slam the IOW, but I do think it is a fine performance and to me has some definitive live versions of several songs:

    All Along The Watchtower. Yes, the wah wah flames out, but on balance this song never sounded better. Jimi plays well and is singing loud "from his kneecaps" and Billy and Mitch are in a groove too.

    Machine Gun (with Billy and Mitch.) Hard to beat the BOG version, but the IOW version (well the first 8 minutes) is pretty amazing. Jimi is really playing out of his mind and the radio interference just adds to the drama...the song does break down a bit after Mitch's drum solo, but the balance is interesting nonetheless.

    Freedom. This song just is perfect from beginning to end. Again Mitch and Billy provide a solid backing and Jimi shines.

    Red House. OK, this is not like the bluesy Red Houses, but this is the definitive "heavy metal" Red House. Yes, still the blues..but the blues on steroids..."amplified blues." The twin of Hear My Train from Berkeley.

    In From The Storm. Not too many of In From The Storms to choose from, but this is by far the best...from Mitch's majestic solo (ok, not part of the song maybe) to Billy and Jimi locked in a groove through all the tempo changes.

    So there you have it! IOW was not a disaster! My 2 cents of course :)
     
  14. dryjoy

    dryjoy Brother In Sound

    Location:
    Bournemouth, UK
    Sounds reasonable to me. I think some of the problems with H happen when it’s not there, rather than when it is. And periods of abstinence, enforced or otherwise, often lead to ODs etc, when tolerance has decreased.
     
  15. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    I'm saying he snorted heroin, no needles. I don't know why you fixate on this point, it has no relevance really. He ingested it.

    Only two of the most vivid accounts.

    Noel Redding, about a recording session in March 1970:

    "Jimi dropped by one night sort of to say he was sorry, and had the grace to look embarrassed. He offered to play guitar and gave me a snort of coke which was heavily laced with smack (heroin) and made me violently ill."


    Brian Auger:
    "In 1970, I was in New York and I got a call from John McLaughlin and he said, “You should come down and listen to the mix of my album, I know you’re going to really dig it”. So I went along. Then the door opens and who should come in but Jimi and his girlfriend. We hadn’t seen each other for a long time.

    But the thing that bothered me was that his skin tone, and that of his girlfriend, it was kind of a pallid grey colour. And I thought, “Whoa, he doesn’t look too good here”. We were talking and he asked me, “Listen, Bri, can you stay and make an album with me?”. And I said, “I’d love to, man, but I have all these contracts that I have to fulfil, I just can’t do it”. And then Jimi pulls out of his pocket this silver paper, opens it up, and there’s this brown heroin in there, and he takes a snort of that, gives it to his girlfriend, and then says, “Oh, sorry, Bri”, and tries to hand it to me. This is one of those moments I’ll never forget. I said to Jimi, “Hey Jim, I’m telling you, man, you’d better quit doing that stuff, as soon as you can, because it’s gonna kill you”. And he said this to me – I’ll never forget it – he said, “You know what, Bri, I need a lot more people around me like you”. That really touched me."
     
  16. Experiencereunited

    Experiencereunited Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland
    Curious what the Aarhus promoter said. Never seen that before
     
  17. jhm

    jhm Forum Resident

    Wild show, with the cops having to throw tear gas earlier in the day. My friend (and author) Phil Carson found a guy that shot the following footage when researching the gig and libertated it for the masses. It's short, but man, what great close up footage:



    It also helped us figure out that Voodoo Child (Slight Return) was played after the audience tape ran out.
     
  18. Mark7

    Mark7 Forum Resident

    Fair enough. I guess what I am saying is I have no doubt he dabbled, but I don't see evidence he was a full-on junkie. I understand some of his behavior was erratic on the final tour, but there were some extenuating circumstances, i.e. batting a cold, 6 shows in 7 days in four countries (including two shows in one day in two different countries!) He sounds relaxed here, is insightful and is in good spirits on 9/11/70, not like a spaced-out junkie.
     
  19. Mark7

    Mark7 Forum Resident

    I'll find the comments in Tony Brown's book when I get home. He basically said Hendrix asked him for coke and he said "I have no cocaine."
     
  20. David67

    David67 Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    Jimi certainly could have done with a band member steering him in the right direction.

    BT: I saw him go through that with a lot of things, and one of the last was heroin. We were playing San Francisco headlining shows with big crowds. He followed me back to my hotel room one night and went off on me: “What the hell are you guys doing? When I play, you give me nothing. When Dickey [Betts] plays, you play your butts off.” I looked at him square and said, “Duane, you are so messed up on smack you’re not giving us anything. I play off of you.” He stared at me for a long time, but I just held his gaze because I knew I was right. I think he followed me that night because he knew I was the only one who would tell him. He knew it. He just wanted confirmation. He walked out the door and went to rehab in Buffalo. Until the day he died, he never touched smack again.
     
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  21. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    If you read my posts above you'll see I didn't claim he was a "full on junkie" or "spaced out junkie". Those are your words, you're doing a strawman.
    Knowing that Jimi used heroin with some regularity in 1970 you'd have to be pretty naive to not interpolate that on what happened in September 1970. He didn't have "a cold", those were withdrawal symptoms, and he tried to counteract them with alcohol.
     
  22. alchemy

    alchemy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sterling, VA
    Don't forget the whole time Eric Clapton used Heroin he only snorted it.
     
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  23. alchemy

    alchemy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sterling, VA
    FYI

    How Long Does Heroin Stay in Your System?

    Heroin is an illegal opioid, classified as a Schedule I controlled substance in the US due to its addictive quality, damaging nature, and the fact that it has no approved medical use in the country.

    IT’S TYPICALLY SMOKED, SNORTED OR INJECTED DIRECTLY INTO ONE’S VEINS FOR A FAST, EUPHORIC HIGH, FOLLOWED BY FEELINGS OF CONTENTMENT, RELAXATION, AND SLEEPINESS.

    Heroin’s effects last longer than the effects of drugs like cocaine and meth, but it has a particularly short half-life of only 30 minutes. This means that if a user takes a single dose of heroin, it will take 30 minutes for half of the drug in the person’s system to be flushed out. Some studies suggest that this half-life is as short as 3-8 minutes. However, the actual time this takes for each individual depends on a number of factors, including: Height Weight etc.

    How Long Does Cocaine Stay in Your System?

    Cocaine is a very fast-acting central nervous system stimulant that produces an intense but short-lived euphoric high, lasting for roughly 15 minutes to an hour.
    Cocaine levels peak in the blood an average of 30 minutes after it’s ingested, which usually occurs via smoking, snorting, or injection. The speed of onset of cocaine’s physiological effects, as well as the total duration of action, is influenced by the method of use.

    • Intravenous use or smoking: Effects felt in seconds, but dissipate quickly.
    • Snorting: Effects felt within minutes, but persist for as long as a half hour.
    • Oral ingestion: Onset and duration of effects felt within and over the course of 20-90 minutes.
    Other factors include the amount taken at once, individual body chemistry (e.g., rate of drug metabolism), and how long and heavily the individual uses it (which will determine the extent of any tolerance, if present). Though it takes time for the levels of the drug to peak, some effects may be felt almost immediately, especially when it is injected or smoked. This initial high is often referred to as a rush. This fades after a short period of time, resulting in an unpleasant crash. The cycle of high, crash, and then seeking more of the drug to counter the crash can easily lead to an increased tolerance and eventually addiction. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 900,000 people in the United States met the criteria for a cocaine use disorder – more commonly referred to as a cocaine addiction – in 2014.

    One wonders how sophisticated the toxicology tests were 48 years ago in 1970.



    . . .
     
  24. alchemy

    alchemy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sterling, VA

    That's what I heard about Janis Joplin. She had cleaned up for the Pearl sessions. In a moment of extreme loneliness, she chanced upon a dealer she knew. The dealer gave her xtra pure heroin to gain her business. Not taking into effect she had been clean, and that the Heroin was extra pure, she took what was her usual dose and ODed.
     
  25. Mark7

    Mark7 Forum Resident

    "Jimi used heroin with some regularity in 1970" ??? Anyway, you have your interpretation and I have mine. Truth is, we will never know, it's all speculation.
     

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