for DUers who dig Jimi Hendrix

[ensho]

http://counterpunch.com/jacobs03192010.html


The Blues Had a Baby and They Named Him Jimi Hendrix
Spirits of the Red House


My friends and I used to fantasize about a life after death in a rock and roll heaven. Although there would be many guitarists present in the heavenly jam, the guy at the front of them all--sharing leads, riffs and chord changes--would be Jimi Hendrix. His clarion strings would stretch notes beyond the elysian boundaries, challenging Orpheus himself. As if to prove me right, a new disc from the master himself was released from beyond the grave on March 9th. Titled Valleys of Neptune, the disc contains twelve never-before-released songs or versions of songs. The title song, a version of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" and "Crying Blue Rain" were recorded in early 1969 with the best-known lineup of Hendrix's band the Experience (Mitch Mitchell on drums and Noel redding on bass) and percussionist Rocki Dzidzornu (who played percussion on the Stones song "Sympathy For the Devil"). The majority of the other material was recorded later the same year.

-snip-

Now, a cynic might say that it's easy to recycle some old tapes and make a buck off of them. If they were referring to this collection, they would be completely off the mark. This disc enables the listener to hear Hendrix in a brand new way. The members of the Jimi Hendrix Memorial Project that have committed themselves to maintaining and enhancing Hendrix's legacy have certainly done the man right with this release. It is definitely worthy of that rock and roll paradise referred to above.
---------------------------

[Fumesucker]

1. I've heard the whole thing, it's good.. n/t

[Echo In Light]

2. k/r

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

3. DON'T! Leave him alone in his grave! Why dig him? -nt

[texastoast]

15. The same reason I dig Mozart, Guthrie, Santana, Garland, and on and on

Beauty.

[Romulox]

4. I haven't listened to much Hendrix since college, but I'll likely pick this up.

Thanks for the post!

[Hissyspit]

22. It collects several albums in the same place, so it's great. No meddling like on 'Voodoo Soup'

which is out of print, anyway. I do have that CD, though.

[truebrit71]

5. It is really good stuff...

..

[livetohike]

6. Thanks! I heard a cut on the local FM rock station last week

and it was wonderful. Of course, I think everything Hendrix has done is wonderful :-).

[kpete]

7. Mr. Pete and my

first date - Hendrix, Honolulu, 1970
40 years later, still together - Both men are BEYOND AWESOME,
Mr. Pete & Hendrix
its not just the music, its the surroundings...........
kpete

[L0oniX]

8. While he was the master with the new over driven Marshall sound, he has been greatly surpassed.

Jason Becker, Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, Vinny Moore, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vie, Jeff Beck and many more are better guitar players. I do have a Hendrix poster on my recording studio wall. I think Electric Ladyland was his best album and that sound is not accurately produced to this day mostly due to the end of lifetime for those old tape machines with motor speed and synch controls.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

10. Don't Mistake Speed For Quality

Just because a guy can play a billion notes per second doesn't make him good (see B.B. King). Jimi Hendrix was a genius. Only a few of the guys on your list can even approach his same level. When I make my list of the best guitar players out there, only Joe Satriani and Steve Vai rank ahead of Jimi. But the fact remains..........what innovations did they ever come up with? What Jimi did, and WHEN he did it, prove his genius. Those other guys have ridden the train, imitating and improving on the things Jimi did, but I wonder if they could have invented any of them if they had been around in those days.

Back to the topic, when I first heard "Valleys of Neptune," I was completely blown away. And what really floors me is the fact that Jimi didn't think it was good enough to be released to the public. Meanwhile, the Jonas Brothers and Lady Gaga sell millions upon millions of shit-shingles to deluded 12-year-olds who think that qualifies as music (let alone GOOD music). Sad.

[L0oniX]

11. He couldn't never play neo classical because he was limited by his use of pentatonic scale.

He was nothing but a blues player with an over driven amp. If it weren't for the over driven amp which provided sustain he wouldn't have been any different than many other blues players. I'll give him credit for discovering the benefits of having a stack of speakers and lots of volume to provide feedback and sustain. He never even used his pinky finger which will forever stop anyone from playing neo classical or any advance style including Spanish classical. As a guitar player for over 45 years I think I know what I am talking about but everyone is entitled to an opinion. I doubt you ever listened to Jason Becker though.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

24. I've Been Playing Guitar For 25 Years.......

..........and while I appreciate how hard it is to play some of the things the guys on your list play (and while I have a lot of their stuff in my CD collection), I also find it pretty darn BORING unless I'm in the right mood. Most of the time I'm like, "Yeah, you can play fast. Great." It means nothing if there's no emotion behind it. I can sit and listen to Stevie Ray Vaughn for hours on end, but my Vinnie Moore album gets played maybe once a year. I recognize Joe Satriani as the best guitar player ever (in my own opinion), and yet I can only listen to him in small chunks. You can only go, "Wow, that's really impressive!" for so long before you want to put on something that really moves you. Truth be told, pretty much ANY classically-trained guitar player could play Yngwie Malmsteen with ease. I recognize how good classical guitar players are. I just don't care to listen to their music. Just like I recognize that Pavarotti was a great singer, but I'd still rather listen to Ozzy.

I confess I've never listened to Jason Becker. When I was first learning to play guitar back in the '80s, he appeared in a lot of the guitar magazines I read (as a member of Cacophony), but I figured he was just another "fast" player who only appeals to other guitar players who are impressed by his technical proficiency. Those magazines were full of those kinds of guys. I only checked out a select few. In that same vein, a lot of people praise John Mayer and Dave Matthews up and down for their guitar playing, but I can't bear to listen to their music.

Bottom line: I really doubt we'll be listening to Jason Becker's unreleased material 40 years after his death. It's amazing that after all this time, his music still speaks to people. And as I said before, this is an album of material that Jimi didn't think was good enough to be released to the public.

[L0oniX]

25. I used to have 4 albums of his first recordings with just him and Buddy Miles.

They were nothing but jams and you could hear pieces of he used for many songs. I always hear the "speed" critic of other guitar players and of course speed in and of itself isn't all the great to listen to but when you listen to great violinists in the vane of Paganini you can appreciate that speed can be used with great feeling. Some guitar players have tried to capture that. some imo have succeeded. I don't expect those that don't listen to or appreciate excellent violin virtuosos will appreciate the speed of some guitarists. Blues always brings out feeling and is not the kind of style to be played fast. Hendrix was a great blues influenced player and writer no doubt. he could have been so much more if he had branched a bit away from the pentatonic thing and experimented with modes. If I was really trying to push the speed thing I would have mentioned Michael Angelo Batio who can play better and faster than Hendrix with either hand. Now that dude is a one of a kind player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rutyA12z3Ok ...check this for a while ...let it play for a bit.

[Romulox]

13. Not to get into a pissing match, but you couldn't pay me to listen to Vai, Malmsteen, et al.

"surpassed" is a matter of opinion--you know darn well that a sizable number (the majority, in my estimation) of critics, guitar players, and music lover all will tend to disagree with you.

[L0oniX]

26. ...and lots of them never learned to use their pinky either ...and or accurately pick.

[dana_b]

16. None of those guys

have the "feeling" that Jimi had, imo. They may be faster, technically more proficient, etc., but the feeling of his music hits me in the gut.

[L0oniX]

27. Blue is easy to have feeling with.

[dana_b]

28. wow

really?? Well, I guess I'm a basic and "easy" person then. :eyes:

[Lex87]

9. Hendrix was awesome

I know many people that consider him the single most talented musician to date. I wouldn't go that far but his music is such a journey for me that I'm going to go take this new disc for a spin right now.

Thanks for the post!

[Amerigo Vespucci]

12. And the new Rolling Stone cover story is:

Jimi Hendrix’s Last Days and Lost Music

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/03/17/jimi-hendrixs-last-days-and-lost-music-new-issue-of-rolling-stone/



On August 26th, 1970, Jimi Hendrix celebrated the official opening of his Electric Lady Studios in Manhattan’s West Village. It would be the last time he ever set foot in his beloved recording sanctuary; he died three weeks later in London at age 27 after ingesting a powerful dose of the sedative Vesperax. But a month prior to the party, the man Rolling Stone would later name the Greatest Guitarist of All Time laid down a few special tracks, including a jam with Steve Winwood on “Valleys of Neptune,” in Electric Lady’s Studio A. That song, in a different incarnation, is now the centerpiece of a new collection of previously unreleased Hendrix gems called Valleys of Neptune. In the new issue of Rolling Stone on sale at newsstands today, David Fricke dives into Hendrix’s last days and lost recordings, tracing the epic plans and earthly troubles that marked the guitar god’s final months.

Speaking with Hendrix’s longtime engineer Eddie Kramer, as well as bassist Billy Cox and former assistant engineer Tommy Erdelyi (better known as Tommy Ramone), Fricke explores Hendrix’s high hopes for Electric Lady and his anticipated fourth studio album. In an interview just days before his death, the guitarist had said he was thinking “this era of music — sparked off by the Beatles — had come to an end. Something new has got to come, and Jimi Hendrix will be there.”

Fricke also provides a guided tour of the previously unheard Hendrix recordings found in Jimi’s vaults, from the whirlwind nine-minute Band of Gypsys song “Burning Desire” to an alternate master of “May This Be Love” — both of which will see release later this year via Experience Hendrix’s deal with Sony. As a bonus, you can read original Hendrix reviews — including Lenny Kaye’s original take on The Cry of Love, plus Rainbow Bridge, Into the West and War Heroes — online now.

[Name removed]

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[Ignis]

17. K&R, thanks for the link.

Can't wait to hear the "new" songs. :D

[dana_b]

18. love love, LOVE Jimi!

my favorite guitar player and one of my favorite songwriters of all time

[H2O Man]

19. I'll be adding it

to my already enormous collection of Hendrix music.

Recommended.

[Biker13]

20. K&R

[Hissyspit]

21. All the albums have been redone. I bought this and the others, since I never had any good

Hendrix CDs. They have done a great job.

[Scurrilous]

23. K & R

:thumbsup: