Psychedelic, Blues, Rock: A surprisingly discovered, great recording from the early phase, available for the first time.
The incredible vehemence with which Jimi Hendrix’s career took off is still astonishing: landing in London Heathrow as an American nobody in September 1966, the first single of his newly assembled trio was released in December, followed by the debut album in May and a triumphant return to the USA a month later. After Hendrix rocked the Monterey Pop Festival there, the rest of America was due before the first overseas trip ended in August.
The penultimate show took place in the Hollywood Bowl, and it breathed exactly that “I’ll-show-you-everyone” that had actually accompanied the entire tour. The pop culture-interested part of the American public was actually only now realizing what incredible talent had been let go – and that this former R’n’B backing musician from Seattle had the support and creative freedom that a British producer and a British record company had granted him , used in a breathtaking way. Framed by two British sidekicks, namely bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell.
The joy of these early shows is the absolute carefreeness and sheer energy
The joy of these early shows is the absolute insouciance and sheer energy with which Hendrix went about his work. It was only in the following years that he was annoyed by having to play the debut hit “Hey Joe” for the 237th time because the audience expected it. In the summer of 1967 everything was still fresh and new and exciting. Colleagues like The Who and Cream had elevated the loud, aggressive stage power play to an art form and were considered the most spectacular acts of the season. Against this background, the Jimi Hendrix Experience also wanted to impress, and it undoubtedly succeeded.
With all due respect – and please without unnecessary discussions about cultural appropriation: For an Englishman like Cream’s Eric Clapton, the blues was initially a foreign language that he successfully learned thanks to hard work, talent and love of music; for Hendrix it was part of his personal and musical history Identity, but curiously enough, only the starting point on the way to far more adventurous sound worlds.
So we hear from three men in their early to mid-20s who appeared out of nowhere within a few months and were now increasingly celebrated as sensations. Almost worldwide. The truth is, however, that the Experience’s repertoire was naturally still quite limited at that time; album number two was not due to be released until December. Traveling almost constantly, the opportunities to rehearse or even record new songs were few and far between.
A classic mismatch
A few hits from our own pen will be released on HOLLYWOOD BOWL | AUGUST 18, 1967 of course required, specifically “The Wind Cries Mary”, “Purple Haze”, “Foxey Lady” and “Fire”, but foreign compositions still play a major role. Like “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” by the Beatles, Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor”, Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”, Robert Petway’s “Catfish Blues” and the Troggs’ garage rocker “Wild Thing”. However, you shouldn’t assume cover versions that are true to the work, especially since Hendrix’s rather cozy “Killing Floor” mutates into an uptempo ripper and “Wild Thing” after a short quote from Bert Kaempfert (“Stranger In The Night”, a hit shortly before for Frank Sinatra) degenerates towards the end into a wild cacophony of feedback in which Mitchell drums up a wolf.
The audible, surprisingly subdued audience reaction was probably due to the fact that a large proportion of the audience had flocked to the Hollywood Bowl to listen to the harmonious, sunny radio pop of the headliners The Mamas And The Papas, accompanied by Hendrix’s harsh blues deconstructions then stood in maximum contrast. At four shows on this tour he even had to open for the teen TV attraction The Monkees, which caused some irritation among the young people in their early 10s and resulted in loud protests from accompanying parents. A classic mismatch. America’s bootlegger scene was already extremely active at the end of the 1960s, especially since some bands, following the anti-materialist hippie ethos, even actively promoted recording, but this show at the Hollywood Bowl is actually appearing for the first time. Optionally on CD or vinyl.