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This Bird Has Flown…Record Production 101…

My pet seagulls, Wednesday June 16, 2021 around 6:04 pm ….I bought some dreadful potato chips that sounded delightful, but they weren’t as advertised; they were for the birds…so my pet seagulls had a party.

The Esoteric Diary of Joe Viglione 1:48 am June 18, 2021…

So I invested in a rock band, a four piece group who came up with an amazing song. First, I promoted the music which got airplay from Spain to Australia, Los Angeles to parts across the known universe. The band had no direction, and when I set up an interview the 29 year old lead singer wanted to say the most incredibly obnoxious things. Calmly this writer explained to him that a bad tattoo is something you may regret ten years later and need to have scrubbed off. The band leader forgot to give the websites so the interviewer was kind enough to let him send an update and actually promote the music.

The level of serious that they presented was absent.

I get a phone call and the band leader explained that he had a blowout with two of the band members. Not good. The leader/bassist/singer said that the two gentlemen were “egotistical.” He also called them lazy. Some lawyer friend of a relative was working out a deal where they would pay off the guitarist and a drummer and come back as a trio. The trio were going for a Leslie West sound – but the big problem is, the exquisite sound that I was promoting was replaced with a 23 year old amateur with bad drumming habits.

A prescription for disaster. Since I funded the project and the trio started deciding how the session would go. They wanted to record at 8 AM. What do I know? I’ve only been doing this for fifty years, half a century. My outline is simple: don’t have a session go over five hours, no pot smoking, no alcohol, we are there to work not to party. The band got too close to the engineer, the son-in-law of my pals who own the studio. Incredibly, the engineer was telling me that he could record the band without me, and that he would. What am I after producing Grammy winners, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and such? Match.com? Some kid who can’t even stay awake during the ten hour session, looking like he’s losing the digital information that I’m paying for (the late Jimmy Miller called erasing any part of a session akin to murder,) and now I’m getting a lecture on the law from the upstart. Sheesh.

I get an apology:

Tue, Jun 1 at 5:27 PM

Hey Joe,
I wanted to apologize for my unprofessionalism and crossing any boundaries I might have crossed with you. I have never worked with a real producer before so I was not aware of the proper workflow or procedures during a session like this. I did not mean to step on your toes or overstep my position as the engineer. It was never my intention to undermine you, I only wanted to make sure the music coming into the system was good and usable for what you and the band want to do with it. My ambition got the best of me this weekend, but please know that I have your best interest in mind. 
In regards to the files, all track sessions are on your hard drive already. I still need to condense them down to just the stems of each track. Those will be on a separate folder on your hard drive once that’s been done. 
Once again, I apologize for my behavior for this past weekend as I really do feel terrible about it all. I hope that I have not tarnished my relationship with you. I look forward to keep on building this relationship with you, and moving onward and upward!
Best regards,

Feels terrible about it all? I gave two examples of bands in 1978 and 1979 that the lad’s father-in-law worked on with me. How great it was to work with the bands Unnatural Axe and Phobia. Indeed, Kurt from Phobia also played in Tall Paul with a member of the Axe, Frank, and they hired me to promote their single years after I launched Unnatural Axe and their classic e.p. They Saved Hitler’s Brain.

Well, after praising Phobia and our reunion, which I thought was a couple of years ago but the lead singer, a dear friend, wrote to tell me our Phobia Reunion was five years ago, August of 2016…how time flies. While I’m praising the band in comparison to the trio that caused a ruckus and thought partying was how you make records, we get word that guitarist Kurt passed away on Monday, June 14, 2021. Five years younger than me, it puts a stamp on the fact that life is too short to argue.

Gary and I were making GREAT classic punk / new wave before the bands of today were even born. Classic recordings that go for big dollars, and some punks calling their ex bandmates “egotistical” put ego on display rather than talent.

Now the group who took ten hours to record six basic tracks…what a waste of time…I could have written and recorded two albums at the piano in that time, blowing each one of their compositions out of the water and off the map. Insult upon insult, investing in them, they abused my time, my consideration for their emerging songwriting, and now they want to steal the tapes without compensating me for my time, energy and efforts on their behalf. It is truly stunning their own self-sabotage of their career.
The studio e mails me that the band who didn’t pay a nickel, who started drinking a bottle of liquor at the studio that didn’t even belong to them, how they – with no cause – want to sue the studio

Wow, how to make friends and contacts in the record industry. Of course all three are either married or getting married…as soon as they start having offspring, well, you know the routine …the women in their lives will start that immortal chant “Isn’t it time you grew up? You tried it, you failed, now be responsible.” They go off to their day jobs, chained to life outside of rock and roll…maybe reuniting with the two members they screwed over because the 23 year old drummer going on five years of age still has his bad drumming habits- can’t remember the full songs, can’t keep time, and his drum rolls sounding like a seagull burping. Music not BY the Byrds, but music FOR THE BIRDS.

Imagine someone offering to put up the money for studio time, give his production ear, and an engineer and band ignoring a man with half a century of production experience.

They know better than everyone with an amateur drummer when I got have brought in any number of Grammy-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummers to make a real record that would entertain the world.

But it wasn’t about entertainment. It’s about their enormous, bloated idea of self-worth, their self-indulgence, their partying and ransacking the serious art of recording that I set up, and that I paid for.

And now, with no cause, they want to sue the recording studio where they created chaos and acted unprofessionally, foolishly, and didn’t burn bridges…they blew them up.

The Esoteric Diaries 10:12 pm June 17, 2021

Welcome to today’s edition of Esoteric Diaries…

es·o·ter·ic/ˌesəˈterik/ Learn to pronounce adjectiveadjective: esoteric

  1. intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest.”esoteric philosophical debates” h Similar:abstruse

obscurearcanerecherchérarefiedreconditeabstract

di·a·ry/ˈdī(ə)rē/ Learn to pronounce nounplural noun: diaries

  1. a book in which one keeps a daily record of events and experiences.”I resolved to keep a diary of events during the war” h Similar:journal

memoirchronicleloglogbookweblogblogvlogday-by-day accountdaily recordhistoryannalrecordmoblogdaybook

It’s interesting to write thoughts contemporaneous with our position in the universe at what man calls 10:28 pm Eastern daylight time on Thursday 6/17/21 but which, in actuality, is where the Architect has us situated in the Matrix; where the Talosians have us in their imaginations on Talos IV, or what petrie dish we are in at any given moment in time or space or on the spiritual switchboard. Captain Kirk, of all people, on William Shatner’s recent birthday says as he is in his 9th decade that none of it matters anyway. Not the Mr. Spock article in today’s Boston Globe interview with Adam Nimoy.

  • British

As some of you know I’ve been working on tapes recorded August 4, 1971, my dad singing standards like “Release Me,” “My Way,” “Green Green Grass of Home,” “My Woman, My Woman, My Wife.”

well, we have three renditions of “Green Green Grass of Home” so for Father’s Day this weekend, June 20, 2021 I had Eric Lee put some fiddle tracks down and asked Peter to add some drums, bass, keys etc. and add Lee’s fiddle and do a mix. What is amazing is the authenticity of Mr. Calo and his cowboy acoustic guitar. Then it was like, duh, I wrote a review of his amazing Cowboy Song CD, so Pete is the perfect guy to put early cowboy guitar playing on dad’s country CD. It’s not that he’s my pa and that these tapes are a half a century old now, recorded on August 4, 1971 at 7-8 pm on my two track reel-to-reel, but that the music is so much more entertaining than this new 2021 slick country/pop/rap hybrid. The original is still the greatest.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/cowboy-song-mw0000586500 AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione  [-]
Peter Calo is known as both a jazz performer and session man, but on Cowboy Song (“Contemporary Arrangements of Songs From the American West”) he turns his attention to traditional songs of the American frontier. The liner notes explain that the artist was inspired by the composition “Red River Valley,” with its theme of parted lovers. Calo found many of these tunes in a book published in 1910 by University of Texas professor John Lomax, as well as in poet Carl Sandburg‘s collection The American Songbag. What he’s created is an extraordinary 13-track collection of new interpretations of timeless melodies. Both ambitious and commendable, the artist flavors these renditions with his impeccable timing, sparse but eloquent instrumentation, and a sense of adventure. “Shenandoah” starts the album off, followed by a medley of “I Ride an Ol’ Paint”/”St. James Infirmary.” These are the performances with the most jazz influence, but things get decidedly more Old West with “A Cowboy’s Lament,” featuring Antoine Silverman‘s very nice violin work. Calo essays his thoughts on much of the material in the liner notes, and the eight-page booklet is very detailed. The musicians attack this material as if it is their own, and that’s the beauty of Cowboy Song — sincere reworking of music, much of which came from a time before tape recorders. In probably the same fashion as classical music has floated down the rivers of time, so too “Red River Valley” is reborn with cello, violin, and Calo‘s acoustic guitar. “The Old Chisholm Trail” gets a slinky, eerie treatment, with Mike Harvey‘s vocals and what sounds like wah-wah meets slide guitar. The guitarist calls these “songs of the cowboys, the way I hear them now,” and his vision is itself as exciting a find as the old sheet music that inspired him. The almost instrumental of Hank Williams “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” is a far cry from B.J. Thomas. Mike Harvey adds only dashes of vocal sound, blending it in with the electric guitars and violin. “Home on the Range” plays like Jimi Hendrix doing an acoustic version of his classic “Star Spangled Banner,” while Calo‘s jazz roots invade the country picking of “Oh, Dem Golden Slippers.” “The Streets of Laredo,” “Yellow Rose of Texas,” “Jesse James,” and other selections get the treatment, and it is most enjoyable. There are lyrics to nine of the songs and even a bibliography. A really different kind of project worthy of attention.
1:37 PM · Jun 17, 2021 #ThursdayMotivation from #BostonRockandRollAnthology21 Thought About You on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/6Qd6KtWH2OmbFKy65eBA4a @Spotify Thanks @LonelyOakRadio for the spins. #ModernPop #ModernRock #PopRock #Sonypublishing #RecordProducerJoeViglione #RecordProducer #Producer

The Esoteric Diaries Wednesday June 16, 2021 9:34 am

Thanks to Sandy for sending a blurry but historic photo of a Count concert from way back when

Vinyl Stocker has my review of West Coast Bound from the Blues Magoos up on eBay. God Bless him! Re-exploring my thoughts on albums from long ago here on the Esoteric Diary

Blues Magoos Gulf Coast Bound Vinyl LP – ABC ABCS-710 (1970)Condition: VG Vinyl and Cover. Original gatefold cover with original inner sleeve. Cover has light to moderate ringwear but no splits.
AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione As original member Peppy Thielhelm and original producer Bob Wyld expanded the Blues Magoos’ foray into Latin music meets mainstream blues, these May 1970 recordings take the previous years’ Never Going Back a step further. Gulf Coast Bound is an improvement, retaining John Liello’s vibes and percussion and pianist Eric Justin Kas, who is the major songwriting contributor here (strangely enough, he is listed as “Kas” on the album jacket and “Kaz” on the songwriting credits). “Slow Down Sundown” could be the band Chicago vamping without their horn section, some strange imitation monkey-sound vocals making their way onto the platter mixed in with Daddy Ya Ya’s out-of-place tambourine as the song fades. Erik Kas does the lead vocal on the 12-minute-plus opus “Can’t Get Enough of You,” which sounds like a strange marriage between Steely Dan and Traffic.
Of the pyschedelic/garage rock bands which changed over to another format — the Electric Prunes, H.P. Lovecraft, etc. — in what seemed like gambles to become “respectable,” this is the best of the lot. 
TracklistGulf Coast Bound 3:51Slow Down Sundown 6:09Can’t Get Enough Of You 12:21Magoo’s Blues 7:54Tonight The Sky’s About To Cry 4:14Sea Breeze Express 4:13


PersonnelEmil “Peppy” Thielhelm – guitar, vocalsRoger Eaton – bassEric Kaz – keyboardsRichie Dickon – drums & percussionJohn Leillo – percussion

Perry Mason on S1 Ep13 The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink is on 9:43 am

Commercials are SO annoying, the mute button is my best friend. Got my Vanilla coffee next to me; nice to write these things down for future reference…like what I had for coffee five weeks ago,right? So much to do, got my 351 list handy of “writings for the future” or “writings of the future.” Our index of possibilities, thank you Weird Scenes inside the Goldmine (Doors)…index of past achievements, all for fun for the future generations. I cannot remember any details of this morning’s dreams. Will have to keep a notepad and work on it.

1.1 Break on Through 1.2 Strange Days 1.3 Shaman’s Blues 1.4 Love Street 1.5 Peace Frog/Blue Sunday 1.6 The Wasp (Texas Radio ; the Big Beat) 1.7 End of the Night 1.8 Love Her Madly 1.9 Spanish Caravan 1.10 Ship of Fools 1.11 The Spy 1.12 The End 1.13 Take It As It Comes 1.14 Running Blue 1.15 La Woman 1.16 Five to One 1.17 Who Scared You 1.18 (You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further 1.19 Riders on the Storm 1.20 Maggie McGill 1.21 Horse Latitudes 1.22 When the Music S Over
Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine



A very interesting double LP retrospective two years after Jim Morrison’s version of the Doors had officially closed. Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine contained the first album release of two B-sides, Willie Dixon’s “(You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further,” sung by Ray Manzarek, originally on the flip side of the 1971 45 “Love Her Madly,” and the beautiful “Who Scared You,” “Wishful Sinful”‘s flip with Jim Morrison on vocals from a session in 1969. Both are worthwhile additions not found on their first “greatest hits” collection, 13. This compilation is a strange amalgam of their music, the LP title taken from a line in the song “The End,” which concludes side two. Five of the 22 songs are from the L.A. Woman sessions, including the title track of that album and the full length “Riders on the Storm,” both clocking in at seven-plus minutes. With “The End” and “When the Music’s Over” at 11:35 and 11:00 respectively, that’s 38 minutes and 38 seconds between four titles, more than a third of the 99-plus minutes of music on this collection. Nothing from Absolutely Live is included, and surprisingly, the classic “Waiting for the Sun” is not here, though that Morrison Hotel number would fit the mood perfectly. “Love Street,” the flip of “Hello I Love You,” is here, but pertinent singles like “Wishful Sinful” or “Do It” and its flip, “Runnin’ Blue,” from The Soft Parade, are all missing in action. The cover art pastiche by Bill Hoffman is worth the price of admission if you already have all this material, while the inside gatefold picture looks like an outtake from the first album. Bruce Harris’ liner notes are truly the ’60s merging with the ’70s; he calls Jim Morrison “merely the index of our possibilities” and states that Morrison didn’t want to be an idol “because he believed all idols were hollow.” The essay is all the more silly when you realize it isn’t tongue-in-cheek in the way Lou Reed’s incoherent ramblings inside Metal Machine Music are more enjoyable than the disc. Harris seems to actually believe what he pontificates. But the music is awesome, so put it on and read the Metal Machine Music scribblings instead. Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine is a work of art in the first order, the way the Beatles #1 album is wonderfully redundant, and it should see the light of day again. This time they could add “Tree Trunk,” the flip of the “Get Up and Dance” 45 RPM from 1972’s Full Circle album.
by Joe Viglione
All Music Guide
https://clubbohemianews.blogspot.com/2021/06/electronic-arts-doors-weird-scenes.html

Track Listing

Side 1
Break On Through
Strange Days
Shaman’s Blues
Love Street
Peace Frog / Blue Sunday
The Wasp (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)
End of the Night

Side 2
Love Her Madly
Spanish Caravan
Ship of Fools
The Spy
The End

Side 3
Take It As It Comes
Running Blue
L.A. Woman
Five to One
Who Scared You
(You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further
10:05 AM · Jun 16, 2021 #Wednesday rare photo of bassist Ron Carter and guitarist #BobbyHebb @SoulHeritage1 performing #ProudSoulHeritage on TV. The song re-recorded by Kitoto Sunshine Love @kitotolove listen on YouTube https://youtu.be/emjP5mQn-Lw @YouTubeIndia @spotifypodcasts produced by joe viglione
12:00 PM · Jun 16, 2021 #wednesdaythought @gregpaquette5 @jim_knable @IPDKg I love the song INTO THE SUNSET from the #SingleStone CD. @Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/1NrVDnR53RuZ3ass0TsIkA Thank You #TiorrChannel1 for airing this majestic tune @YouTubeIndia @YouTube @Slapbackband @Goldmine_mag #Rock
For Father’s Day we’re remixing Track 18 “Green Green Grass of Home” with a Fiddle intro, two tracks of Eric Lee’s amazing Fiddle, mix and more instrumentation from Peter Calo. In the works today June 16, 2021. It’s sounding great.



Joe ViglioneWe should be BUILDING DOWN, DEEP DOWN INTO THE EARTH, plenty of housing for the homeless, build shopping malls under the sea along the coastline…and build out deep under the ocean. We have the technology, see Porter Sq Subway station and Fort Point Channel with the two subway trains AND the tunnel to Logan Airport. The Government takes all the top of the spectrum for communications and they take the underground bunkers; but with climate change and tornadoes we need to build down and the buildings above ground can’t be all this tinderbox cheap condos….it’s insane…and it is all about money; this could have been a Paradise 50 years ago with some sanity

Joe Viglioneimagine the trillions spent on wars instead being spent to build firm housing under the surface, let the animals frolic and have more space…mankind is so stupid and people in positions of power, especially thug Republicans, want people to remain stupid. Jim Jordan as pied piper…ugggh

1:33 AM · Jun 16, 2021 #Wednesday Thought About You on #BostonRockandRollAnthology21 on #VarulvenRecords @rranimaltour Hear on SPOTIFY @Spotify The Rock and Roll Legend from Boston is back https://open.spotify.com/artist/4SFC23u8qbNm6KajVHL3ot @WhiteLightArts @gregpaquette5 @lspinna @RadioRaccoon #BostonRock

The Esoteric Diary June 15, 2021

Oh to be young and handsome again!

If I knew then what I know now! Big letters are more appropriate on these kind of websites. The personal touch!

“Can’t Wait to See You Smile” b/w “Thought About You” are the songs on my new online single, from the albums “Love Songs Just For You” (Smile) and Boston Rock and Roll Anthology Chapter #21 (Thought)

Monday May 10, 2021 A collection of thoughts…

“If men believe in fallible computers, it should be easy for them to believe in an infallible Spiritual system, call it God, Christ, Subconcious or whatever” Joe Viglione 12:46 pm May 10, 2021

Joe Viglione’s Original Hotline to the Underground, …since the 1970s

The Batman 2021

THE BATMAN Trailer (2022)

Thirty-two million, eight hundred fifty eight thousand, five hundred and fifteen views on this particular YouTube video / preview / trailer …the ” First trailer for The Batman starring Robert Pattinson” https://youtu.be/-FZ-pPFAjYY begs the question could DC screw up their franchises, in concert with Warner Brothers, any more than they already have? First, Robert Pattison looks more like Robin than Batman, but ANYTHING would be better then Ben Affleck, God help us and save us. Political castings are so passe’ – and boring. People love the familiar, and Christian Bale rescued the franchise from the abysmal castings of Michael Keaton (fine as Vulture in Marvel, horrible as Batman courtesy of DBPS (Director Bi-polar syndrome) Tim Burton. George Clooney was clueless, Val Kilmer put the stake in the bat’s heart and killed the franchise. IF the film company had any decorum Adam West would have been the Batman for the first Burton film. Yes, Burton made money for the company (not so much for Dark Shadows though, did he?) and that being said, the biggest mistake after the stale television show which needed reinvention into a serious Batman series, the original Batman movie from the 1960s should have been serious. As serious as Planet of the Apes or Star Wars. Then there’s the earlier two serials, starting with 1943 (see below) and 1949’s Batman and Robin. The Batman was never treated properly until Christopher Nolan’s trilogy – Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Even that tremendous turn of events (Batman Begins 373.6 in 2005; the Dark Knight 1.005 billion 2008; The Dark Knight Rises (2012) 1.081 billion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_in_film#The_Dark_Knight_Trilogy_(2005%E2%80%932012) the poor villains of the first and the third made the films more difficult, though vastly superior to every other Batman entry. Heath Ledger seconded by Christian Bale performances saved the day, but one must have superior scripts to work alongside superior acting. Christian Bale was necessary for this role…an older Batman and Robin could save the day, but no matter how much money Pattison makes it is still going to be an “alternate universe” Batman. One of the most famous figures in film and comics has still not yet has his day. Christian Bale can return and make things right. Rob Pattison? Kind of like an alternate universe Joker that Joaquin Phoenix gave us, not coming anywhere near Heath Ledger’s brilliance.



Batman and Robin: the Complete 1949 Movie Serial Collection >10<

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Batman and Robin: the Complete 1949 Movie Serial Collection Description.
Where the 1943 Batman debut had a certain charm and a supremely despicable villain in J. Carroll Naish, this sequel misfires six years after the first 15 chapter serial and doesn’t hold up as well as the original on DVD. The plot is a good one and despite some fine work by the B movie cast – Lyle Talbot as Commissioner Gordon (he of Chick Carter, Detective fame) and Robert Lowery as the Batman (horror fans take note, Lowery was in The Mummy’s Ghost and Revenge Of The Zombies ) director Spencer Gordon Bennet just can’t seem to put it all together. Where the first film had the caped crusader and his boy wonder helping the police surreptitiously, they are fully cooperating with the Commissioner here, in his office and at his beck and call. The biggest problem is that their nemesis, The Wizard, is not as diabolical as a future Marvel Comics character of the same name (the leader of The Fantastic Four’s powerful enemy, The Frightful Four), especially in light of the fact that The Joker was already an established villain in the comic book series and, had he been the antagonist instead of the Wizard, there would have been the opportunity for some fun elements absent in this outing. Actor Leonard Penn (also from producer Sam Katzman’s aforementioned 1946 Chick Carter, Detective flick) just doesn’t put any malice into his Wizard character, none of the relish needed to seep through the secretive wardrobe. Eric Wilton, as butler Alfred, gets to play Batman in a deception created by the dynamic duo, which gives him a footnote in movie trivia history, one could say. There are lots of mind games between The Wizard and Batman, a plot device that wears pretty thin, but there are also plenty of amusing electronic gadgets at The Wizard’s disposal and a pretty cool Bat Cave to boot. On home video or DVD the chapters get tedious where the previous entry from 1943 could hold one’s attention and, despite the addition of a sub-plot where The Wizard also becomes The Invisible Man, this quickie really feels like it was made to entertain in short bursts at a movie theater in the late 40s. Some critics liked Robert Lowery better than his predecessor, Lewis Wilson, in the dual roles of Bruce Wayne and Batman, however the actors from both serials do a fine job and get into the character better than Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney ever could in their attempts to play the superhero. It is actually quite sad that producer Katzman and director Bennet didn’t realize the iconic figure they were dealing with because with a little extra effort the assembled cast and this decent script idea could have made for a very entertaining movie. It’s too bad Michael G. Wilson, son of the original Batman, Lewis Wilson, and co-producer of Quantum of Solace, didn’t watch this serial prior to the 2008 James Bond entry because the glaring error of not having a masterful villain is why both Quantum and this Batman And Robin have less sustain. The Dark Knight worked so well because Heath Ledger’s Joker was every bit the equal of Christian Bale’s Batman. ~ Joe Viglione, Rovi Click To More information. 

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Ian Hunter When I’m President

By Joe Viglione – September 20, 2012

On September 3rd 2012 I reviewed the wonderful title track of this album, and seventeen days later Mr. Hunter is scheduled to be on my TV show, Visual Radio Live, 8:00 PM carried on cable access TV  We’re going to explore his album in depth, but right now, here are my immediate thoughts. Read more Ian Hunter reviews on ClubBohemia.club https://clubbohemianews.blogspot.com/2021/05/ian-hunter-strings-attached-by-joe.html

“Comfortable (Flyin’ Scotsman)” has a roller coaster “Brown Sugar” ride resplendent in that classic style familiar to Mott The Hoople fans around the globe.  The Rolling Stones may have been exiled on Main Street back in the 1970s but as Ian Hunter crafts album after album with solid songwriting his musical essays are expanding the original vision while simultaneously migrating from label to label.   1995’s Dirty Laundry was on Cleveland International, 1997’s Artful Dodger on the OutofTime imprint, 2000’s Rant on Fuel 2000, the live DVD Just Another Night on MVD (2004)the beautiful Strings Attached on Sanctuary (2005),  Shrunken Heads on YepRoc (2007),   Live In London – a cd release of some of Just Another Night on The Great American Music Company (2007), Man Overboard on New West (2009) and now, three years later, When I’m President on Slimstyle Records (2012). 

If you’re counting that’s nine labels in 17 years, an amazing feat in an era when hit radio is controlled by corporations spoon-feeding nonsense to the masses.  We can thank Congressman Ed Markey (located right down the street from my home where I write this) and the usually reliable Bill Clinton for the disarray. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 didn’t work out the way Markey and Clinton figured it would, and the radio industry as we knew it no longer exists.  Nor does the record business, two components of alleged “free enterprise” that have exacted even more hardship on creative artists and their fans.

And perhaps that’s the submliminal message that “When I’m President”, the song, sends out.

This album rocks with authority, picks up and delivers, and has some unique surprises. “Ta Shunka Witco (Crazy Horse)” is not an ode to an old Neil Young band, nor is it Paul Revere & The Raiders’ “Indian Reservation.”  “Ta Shunka Witco (Crazy Horse)” quotes the film Galaxy Quest’s battle cry “Never Surrender” (well, their rant was actually “Never give up! Never surrender!”).   It’s a slow, dreamy, eerie stylistic change for Hunter, and it is brilliant.   Where 2009’s Man Overboard had its moments the CD When I’m President chugs along with the inspiration we want…and expect…from this rock icon.  “What For” could have been an out-take from Brain Capers or Mad Shadows, vintage Hunter in great voice and a charging Rant band that is relentless in its execution.  “Black Tears” is another abrupt change of pace, everything falling into a groove with stylish lyrics and splashy sounds from the very efficient and very spontaneous band, Ian churning out the passion in a way the rock-star-wannabe 20somethings of today have yet to provide… or experience.

“Just The Way You Look Tonight”   is not a cover of the classic Frank Sinatra tune (“The Way You Look Tonight”, no “just” in the title), nor a take-off on former (early, early) almost Deep Purple musician’s “The Way I Feel Tonight” (made famous by the Bay City Rollers), it’s a fun stomp that has magical instrumentation and an eloquent expression from the veteran frontman.   The entire album works, “Wild Bunch” deserving special mention, and while Man Overboard had an extraordinary few moments (“Arms & Legs”), this album has Ian Hunter being Ian Hunter, a great leap forward, a welcome return to what the fans love about this icon.   He’s got our vote.

Ian Hunter, When I’m President – Track Listing 1. Comfortable (Flyin’ Scotsman 2. Fatally Flawed 3. When I’m President 4. What For 5. Black Tears 6. Saint 7. Just The Way You Look Tonight 8. Wild Bunch 9. Ta Shunka Witco (Crazy Horse) 10. I Don’t Know What You Want 11. Life

Joe Viglione is the Chief Film Critic at TMRZoo.com. He was a film critic for Al Aronowitz’s The Blacklisted Journal, has written thousands of reviews and biographies for AllMovie.com, Allmusic.com and produces and hosts Visual Radio. Visual Radio is a fifteen year old variety show on cable TV which has interviewed John Lennon’s Uncle Charlie, Margaret Cho, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Felix Cavaliere, Marty Balin, Bill Press and hundreds of other personalities.

http://www.tmrzoo.com/2012/37871/ian-hunter-when-im-president

Joe Viglione NY Times dot Com Reviews

They were published over a decade ago. Links no longer work

New York Times reviews

Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/368256/Kenny-Ball-and-His-Jazzmen/dvd/181480

NRBQ: One in a Million
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/309319/NRBQ-One-in-a-Million/dvd

How To Create A Rumba (Como Se Forma una Rumba)
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/289396/How-to-Create-a-Rumba/dvd

TG Sheppard: In Concert
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/372794/T-G-Sheppard-In-Concert/dvd/162266

Ian Parker  Whilst The Wind
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/325589/Ian-Parker-Whilst-the-Wind-Live/dvd

John Lennon: The Messenger [With CD and Book] [2 Discs]
(View all DVD Editions)
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/267203/John-Lennon-The-Messenger-In-Spite-of-All-the-Dangers/dvd

John Martyn: Man Upstairs – Live in Germany
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/410048/John-Martyn-The-Man-Upstairs-In-Concert-in-Germany/dvd

Frankie Laine  That Lucky Old Sun
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/406376/Frankie-Laine-That-Lucky-Old-Sun/dvd

Sharon Shannon -and Big Band: Live at Dolans [DVD/CD]
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/382220/Sharon-Shannon-and-Big-Band-Live-at-Dolans/dvd

Fathom
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/91136/Fathom/dvd

Mother Jugs & Speed
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/33433/Mother-Jugs-Speed/dvd

Waking The Witch Live
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/416483/Waking-the-Witch-Live/dvd/176295

Gerry Goffin “It Ain’t Exactly Entertainment” 1973
http://time-has-told-me.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_archive.html

Ian Lloyd reviews
http://incaroads-wvkayaker.blogspot.com/2007_12_16_archive.html

Jo Jo Laine tribute
http://judecalverttoulmin.blogspot.com/2006/11/artists-muse-tribute-to-jo-jo-laine.html

Ian Hunter Strings Attached

合計収録時間 | 01:42:36

The DVD of Strings Attached could also be called Ian Hunter Lite, a nice bookend to the singer’s Just Another Night: Live at the Astoria, London disc. The orchestration here, recorded in Oslo back in January of 2002, doesn’t have (or require) the bombast found on Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull, but it is fun to see the always serious Hunter actually indulging in a more spirited, humorous, and playful mode. Of course, “Twisted Steel” is all business, and with more distance in time and space from the 9/11 tragedy, how many outside of Hunter’s hardcore fans realize that this artist is effectively articulating the insanity of that day? The R.E.M.-style delivery works well in this setting, as does the rise and fall of the accompaniment in “Boy” and the pure pop of “23A Swan Hill.” As with the Just Another Night DVD, there are some delicious soundcheck cuts and valuable interview material. And while Rod Stewart is selling millions of “Songbook” albums like a Columbia House special in the 1960s supermarket racks, one might think it parody for Ian Hunter to follow suit. Remarkably, the Mott the Hoople frontman successfully dips into that arena, providing a pleasant diversion from the mission at hand. Brook Benton, Bobby Darin Nat King Cole, Rosemary Clooney, and Bing Crosby have all sung the Eric Maschwitz/Manning Sherwin classic “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square,” and that gem provides a nice segue into Hunter’s own “Michael Picasso.” Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott keeps showing up on Hunter’s DVDs, and he provides the intro on a collection of orchestrated folk-rock that touches upon key moments in the songwriter’s prolific career. The haunting approach to “Roll Away the Stone” breathes new life into a song that has never received the appreciation it deserves. To see this Oslo audience mouthing the words to “Saturday Gigs” provides another clue to what the U.S.A. missed when the song wasn’t pushed in America, and when Mott the Hoople couldn’t rejuvenate themselves with the addition of Mick Ronson. The insightful interviews add much and the rendition of “All the Young Dudes” is so campy gay that it could be considered politically incorrect in this era of Brokeback Mountain, when gay without the glitter is definitely the trend. Perhaps because Hunter is merely acting the part (where Gyllenhaal and Ledger might not be — acting, that is), Strings Attached reminds viewers that the times they are a-changing. ~ Joe Viglione

  1. 1. [DVD]
    • 1. Rest in Peace
    • 2. All of the Good Ones Are Taken
    • 3. I Wish I Was Your Mother
    • 4. Twisted Steel
    • 5. Boy
    • 6. 23A Swan Hill
    • 7. Waterlow
    • 8. All the Young Dudes
    • 9. Irene Wilde
    • 10. Once Bitten Twice Shy
    • 11. Rollerball
    • 12. Ships
    • 13. Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, A
    • 14. Michael Picasso
    • 15. Wash Us Away
    • 16. Don’t Let Gos
    • 17. All the Way From Memphis
    • 18. Roll Away the Stone
    • 19. Saturday Gigs

Love Songs Just For You New CD

Can’t Wait to See You Smile (3:31,) the first single off of Love Songs Just For You released Friday 2/12/21 https://youtu.be/55mVRYAofhc



Joseph “The Count” Viglione
Love Songs Just For You (Self-Released)

By: Alex Steininger


Recording an album in 1985, and never releasing it, Joseph Viglione has finally decided to release that album, along with some bonus tracks. Mixing pop with a rock sensation, “The Count” releases thirteen tracks total, showcasing his musical ideas from 1985 to 1994.Self-proclaiming itself as an ‘alternative’ album, my first impression was that this tape was going to be someone trying to pass off a decade old album as ‘alternative’ so a bunch of mall shopping teens would quickly pick it up and earn some quick sales for the artist. But once I put it in, all suspicious were quickly drawn to a halt. The album is most definitely alternative. Choosing to stay away from both metal-rock and cheesy pop tunes that were common in the 80’s, it shapes itself with beautiful pop ballads.
The songs are well-crafted, and considering most of their ages, stand out well amongst other soft-rock/adult contemporary numbers of today. The one thing that I hated about this tape though was the song “Joseph.” The line “he called me Joseph” repeats itself over and over again. Of course he called you Joseph, that’s your name! I kept shouting that at the tape player, hoping it would stop annoying me, but it didn’t. But once that song was over and another adult-pop number came on, my blood pressure began to lower and I was once again feeling relaxed.
No matter what year the songs were recorded in, rather it be 1985 or 1994, each song fits well together and seemed as if it was a piece of the puzzle that was needed to release this album. Maybe that’s why the album took thirteen years to be released…Joseph had a gut feeling it was missing something. I’ll give this tape a B-.


https://www.inmusicwetrust.com/articles/10r10.html

JV Quoted in NY Times

“If you take this work at face value, without the baggage of what ‘producer’ Alan Douglas did to the tapes,” Joe Viglione wrote in a review on the website AllMusic that also disparaged a co-producer, Tony Bongiovi, “it’s still Hendrix. Maybe God allowed the series of albums to happen so the world could see Hendrix’s work could survive doctoring and musicians jamming with his art after the fact.” https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/arts/music/alan-douglas-who-mined-hendrix-archive-dies-at-82.html
_______________________________________
     Interesting…I co-promoted Tony’s nephew, Jon Bon-Jovi, in 1985 – his first Boston show, and had dinner with Jon’s uncle, Tony Bongiovi, back in 1995, great guy.  While at the Power Station  Tony had AC/DC recording upstairs.  Though I appeciate the band I was never a big fan, but they were sitting across from me in the lobby… 
I was set to interview Mr. Douglas in July of 2014 for his new book but with the news of his passing, his co-author chatted with me on the radio.  
The NY Times quote wanted to give the upside and downside of the Douglas legacy.  My qualm was with some of the re-recording of the music after Jimi had passed…the doctoring was not necessary, but I credit Alan Douglas with keeping Jimi’s name alive which was instrumental in making him the superstar that he is now, long after his passing fifty years ago. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/arts/music/alan-douglas-who-mined-hendrix-archive-dies-at-82.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/arts/music/alan-douglas-who-mined-hendrix-archive-dies-at-82.html


 Joe Viglione takes Another Look at the Haleakala Center Recordings

 The dreamworld that was the collection of films and bootlegs of Jimi Hendrix at Rainbow Bridge, including a Reprise records album (Original Motion Picture Sound Track From Rainbow Bridge) back in the 1970s, are for the many Hendrix collectors as exciting and difficult as figuring out the philosophical maze presented by the film The Matrix.

Jeff Slate’s excellent writing in his liner notes helps put the spider web of information into a proper context.  I cannot stress enough the accurate business model Experience Hendrix has built in keeping all-things Jimi compact and easy to identify.  The booklet that accompanies this new Legacy/Sony release has pictures galore – the above referenced narrative as well as John McDermott’s technical notes.   It’s something that is very helpful for those who have joined Hendrix groups on the internet, read the ever-evolving Wikipedia, or taken dives into the more maddening perpetually changing histories on YouTube, eBay and elsewhere.

“Dolly Dagger” goes into “Villanova Junction” on the late show and hearing the splendid performances again always enlightens and inspires writing, stirs up thoughts or – perhaps – gives one an urge to pick up the guitar and start making your own noise.  Entitled “Instrumental” on the now out-of-print British release – Jimi Hendrix The Rainbow Bridge Concert – this appealing music from the Hawaii taping has always been one of my favorite Hendrix live shows.  From the bootleg I purchased when I was 17 or 18 years of age to the Rainbow Bridge VHS and other anomalies, the sounds created by this combo of Band of Gypsys (Billy Cox) and Jimi Hendrix Experience (Mitch Mitchell) backing Jimi’s amazing tonal quality and instrumental story telling is pure symphonic rock. Symphonic with only three people.  The Jimi Hendrix Experience of 1970.

      July 30th 1970 is the actual date and a very intriguing “Jam Back at the House” is nearly nine minutes of this elaborate rock bordering on jazz/blues fusion.  While “In From the Storm” from the earlier show bites harder.  “Purple Haze” as mesmerizing fuzz tone ascending while “Message to Love” showed an evolution from the Band of Gypsy’s album recorded one half a year earlier. The two shows from Maui have their own personalities and discs one and two deliver the goods. To quote Slate’s liners the music you encounter is “…unlike any of their many concerts circulating both officially and unofficially.” 

With decades of listening to these sounds on those official and unofficial releases, there’s no argument here.  

Rainbow Bridge or Live in Maui or Hendrix/Mitchell/Cox, whatever you choose to call it, has “streamed” on our consciousness for decades, coming out in bits and pieces and standing out as a primary, essential look at Jimi Hendrix, not just in concert, but creating his art in a splendid and most compelling way.

Just as I have essayed on Goat’s Head Soup with various perspectives, the Maui tapes of this version of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, coupled with the Stones’ Goat’s Head Soup release are two of the key gems of the year 2020.  And what kind of statement does that make about seven billion or so people currently on this planet unable to capture anything close to what the 60’s and 70’s gave us?

Package is elaborate with a Blu Ray and a cover that extends out five ways from Sunday. Very nice.

MY SON JIMI – AL HENDRIX WITH JAS OBRECHT

BOOK REVIEW BY JOE VIGLIONE

Written Jun 28 1999, 12:00 am

James A. Hendrix tells his story to Jas Obrecht, former editor of Guitar Player magazine and primary author of Blues Guitar: The Men Who Made The Music. And many of us forget that underneath the psychedelia, the fuzz guitar, the stage presence and theatrics,

James Marshall Hendrix was, indeed, a blues guitarist. Check out the great stories…P 144 “Jimi didn’t give his first album to me directly, I got one from some hippies who lived next door…I was surprised that I knew it was Jimi because I’d never heard him sing before. I had also never heard him play
as the Experience. But I told the wife, “Hey, that sounds like Jimi!”
..The people came over and brought their record. They had just bought
it that day, and they were so excited over living next door to Jimi’s dad. They said, “Oh, yeah! You can have the record.”

Great shots of The Experience at the airport during the visit to Vancouver, Jimi’s last visit home…reading this it is hard to believe the rock warrior was only 27 years old…a baby – really, and made such an impact on what we hear and how people make music today.

This book is essential reading. It sells for 29.95

https://www.allmusic.com/album/soundtrack-recordings-from-the-film-jimi-hendrix-mw0000849706

AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione  [-]

Unlike the soundtrack to the movie Janis Joplin, which — most unfortunately — contained studio versions of songs performed in the film but not the actual live takes from the motion picture; this 1973 double-LP from Reprise/Warner Brothers has the actual music from the celluloid. The liner notes to Sound Track Recordings From the Film Jimi Hendrix note that the film contains “all the performances included in this album,” so there are none of the substitutions that Joplin fans would encounter two years hence. There’s a plethora of interviews in the actual film, Eddie KramerLou ReedEric ClaptonPete Townshend, and many others, while this soundtrack album — interestingly enough — contains “some of the same individuals interviewed in the film but (not) necessarily taken directly from the film.” Making it a definite collectors item. As for the music, four tracks are from the Monterey Festival in June of 1967, “Johnny B. Goode” and “Purple Haze” come from Berkeley California, May 30, 1970, “Machine Gun II” is from the Band of Gypsies recorded December 31, 1969, with material also from Woodstock and the Isle of Wight festivals. There’s also a “Hear My Train A-Comin'” taped in London, 1967 by Jimi using a 12-string guitar. Twenty-four photographs inside the LP gatefold, and a Nigel Waymouth illustration of the musician sitting on a stool gracing the front cover give the document added value for collectors. When released in 1973 it was difficult to find some of this material, though most — if not all of it — has surfaced via the fine work of the Experience Hendrix corporation. The interviews do make it extra special, and right now, it is the only LP to legitimately have the voices of both Little Richard and Jimi Hendrix — though Little Richard is here in interview form. Not to be confused with the British film soundtracks Experience and More Experience, released in 1971 and 1972 respectively.

EXPERIENCE SOUNDTRACK AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione  [-]

This single disc in a beautiful gatefold cover, Experience (subtitled “Original Soundtrack from the Feature Length Motion Picture ‘Experience'”) is material culled from the Jimi Hendrix appearances at Royal Albert Hall in London during February 1969. As with the sequel to this outing, 1972’s More Experience, the liner notes — quoting both Hendrix and his contemporary, Eric Clapton — claim the material is from the February 18, 1969, concert, though it is more likely that this is the second show that happened on February 24 of that year. It is mere fragments of the program and should have been combined with the follow-up or other selections from the performance. Steven Roby’s excellent book Black Gold: The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix refers to this album as having “horrid sound quality on highly edited official recordings from this show.” If one doesn’t have the bootleg to compare, the album is quite listenable, though much too brief. “We’d like to blast your eardrums one more time,” Jimi says during a lengthy tune-up prior to a title the producers call “Smashing of the Amps” — which is actually the intro to “Purple Haze” mutating into a very brief “Star Spangled Banner.” The cut takes up one half of one side of this recording but delivers very little. “Sunshine of Your Love” is fun and “Room Full of Mirrors” is also a delight, at least performance-wise, Hendrix acknowledging the presence of Chris Wood and Dave Mason of Traffic on the track — though they aren’t credited anywhere on the album jacket. With the Experience Hendrix company releasing so much other high-quality material, this one is definitely for the completists/fanatics.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/experience-original-soundtrack-mw0000987602


Experience [Original Soundtrack] – Jimi Hendrix … – AllMusicwww.allmusic.com › album › experience-original-soun…

AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione  [-] February 24, 1969 https://www.allmusic.com/album/more-experience-mw0000844920 WIKI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_Experience

1972’s More Titles From the Original Soundtrack of the Feature Length Motion Picture “Experience” is the full name of this “Volume Two” to 1971’s single-disc, entitled — of course — Original Sound Track From the Feature Length Motion Picture “Experience.” The pair of albums — released on Ember Records in Great Britain — are better known as Experience and More Experience, Vol. 2. Steven Roby’s excellent book Black Gold — The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix has the date of the show as February 24, 1969, though the liner notes claim this set of recordings from the Royal Albert Hall, London, were made on February 18, 1969 “during the filming of his only feature motion picture(sic), entitled Experience.” This single-sequel disc includes alternate, shortened versions from the soundtrack of “Room Full of Mirrors” and “Bleeding Heart” — both titles showing up on the previous disc in longer form. They also give a truncated “Wild Thing” just as the guitar is going way out of tune. The material has been bootlegged for years — a marvelous Live at the Royal Albert Hall with Hendrix‘s image — but no mention of the artist on the black and white cover — appearing in stores during that era alongside the Ember releases — and noting that Traffic members Dave Mason (on second guitar) and Chris Wood (flute and percussion) appear on “Room Full of Mirrors” ( Steven Roby’s book mentioning Jim Capaldi, as well ). The band is Mitch Mitchell on drums, Noel Redding on bass, and the original Jimi Hendrix Experience and they can be heard far better on the bootleg — that even more underground versions display far more clarity than the Ember Records, Ltd. releases. There are different cover photos on the front of the respective volumes while the same photo is used on the back of Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 — all pictures in a pseudo-film frame painted along the right and left of the album cover. When comparing the tracks to those listed in Roby’s book, the set list matches the performances from February 24, 1969, not February 18, as described on the back of this release and in the gatefold of Vol. 1. “Little Wing” is listed on the back cover and on the label as “Little Ivey” — which only goes to show how out of touch the “producers” of these recordings were. It’s the same take of “Room Full of Mirrors” as on the bootleg, only it fades before Wood’s flute can be heard. It is the exact same take as on the first volume as well, identified by the feedback that can be heard as Hendrix is singing the first verse. Yes, this material is for the collector, but even with the questionable date of recording, mistitled classic “Little Wing,” and recording that is inferior to the authentic bootleg (no oxymoron intended), it is great to have in your personal Hendrix archives.

AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione  [-]
Urban legend has it that bootlegger Rubber Dubber would have a truck outside the concert hall to record the records they released, with Jimi Hendrix’s Live at the Los Angeles Forum and the Rolling Stones’ European boot being two of their more famous efforts before allegedly getting busted. In a world where the Grateful Dead and Phish decided to give live music away to perpetuate their respective myths, and Frank Zappa’s “beat the boots” campaign no doubt inspired Experience Hendrix to legitimize these recordings on their own imprint, the last vestiges of ’70s bootlegs became collector’s items and exciting gray-area treasures. The sonic quality here is not very impressive, but the performance is great. Side three is titled on the disc label as if “Room Full of Mirrors” is the one long jam on the side, but “Hey Baby/New Rising Sun” and “Freedom” are part of the mammoth jam, along with a drum solo. Glimpses of what would become The Cry of Love album are here (indeed, Rubber Dubber published the first version of “Brown Sugar,” available from the aforementioned Rolling Stones double disc they issued). This disc was also released on Munia, catalog #M1622, as happens with boots — other underground distributors repackage and keep the sounds in circulation. There’s a very cool “Star Spangled Banner”/”Purple Haze” 11-minute medley, close to eight minutes of “Voodoo Child,” and over 77 minutes of Jimi Hendrix. The title, six dollar price, and Rubber Dubber logo are rubber-stamped on the blank white cardboard cover. A real artifact from the day. https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-the-forum-los-angeles-april-25-1970-mw0001177919

From Answers.com

The opening riff to “Foxey Lady” provides the foundation for the instrumental “Trash Man,” and no amount of bastardization can take away from the genius guitarist his legacy. If you take this work at face value, without the baggage of what “producer” Alan Douglas did to the tapes, this time with Tony Bongiovi along for the ride, it’s still Hendrix. Maybe God allowed the series of albums to happen so the world could see Hendrix’s work could survive doctoring and musicians jamming with his art after the fact. That this disc goes for big bucks on Internet auction sites says something about the timelessness of the music.

The title track, as with seven of the eight performances here, has session player Alan Schwartzberg on drums, a far cry from his work with Carole Bayer Sager. Mitch Mitchell only appears on Hendrix’s blues classic “Hear My Train,” Schwartzberg adding shakers. Bob Babbit is the “designated bassist” on the entire project (no doubt what Billy Cox and Noel Redding thought about this), and Jeff Mironov shares guitar duties with Lance Quinn. That’s not a misprint. Thankfully, the extra guitarists are somewhat invisible — you know, what’s the point of having co-vocalists add their talents to a Janis Joplin disc? What these recordings effectively do is offer the world a comparison between what the official Hendrix estate is doing, and what Douglas did. The Hendrix estate wins that battle, Eddie Kramer and John McDermott carefully restoring all the master tapes of Jimi Hendrix, and restoring them properly. Discs like Midnight Lightning are also a statement on how a great artist’s legacy can go through various hands and the artistic consequences of tapes traveling as if under their own steam.

History is an excellent vantage point from which to view. The title track is great — and it goes along with the cover painting very nicely. Is it blasphemy to say that this is a highly enjoyable disc? All the post-Cry of Love releases — War Heroes, Crash Landing, Voodoo Soup, Blues, Hendrix in the West, Rainbow Bridge, the soundtrack to the Jimi Hendrix film, and this — provide another crucial look at Hendrix. The more the merrier. It is great to have the official Hendrix estate with Janie Hendrix, John McDermott, and Eddie Kramer doing this properly, but this version of “Gypsy Boy (New Rising Sun),” the inclusion of Mitch Mitchell’s “Beginnings,” another “Machine Gun,” and “Blue Suede Shoes” exist, thus they are important additions to the Hendrix archives. It will be interesting to see if the official Hendrix estate eventually re-releases the Alan Douglas masters just to keep these once-legit works from cluttering the market with counterfeits. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide https://classicrockreview.wordpress.com/category/jimi-hendrix-midnight-lightning/

Jimi Hendrix Live at the Isle Of Wight

http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:26184~C

Blue Wild Angel
http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:276129~C

BLUE WILD ANGEL: Jimi Hendrix Live At The Isle Of Wight Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hendrix Live at The Isle Of Wight is a 102 minute documentary by Academy Award winner Murray Lerner which features a crystal clear updated sound mix by engineer/record producer Eddie Kramer and other goodies separating this version from the 56 minute 1970 release. Videotaped documentary footage recorded three decades after the original film was shot adds insight. There are interviews with Kramer, bassist {$Billy Cox}, drummer Mitch Mitchell, Jim Marron – president of Electric Lady Studios, Hendrix tour manager Gerry Stickles, along with director Lerner himself and full length versions of the included songs from the legendary festival. As audio fragments of this concert became commercially available through the years including three tracks on Columbia Records The First Great Rock Festivals Of The Seventies and four other titles on Polydor’s Jimi Hendrix / Isle Of Wight lp, different perceptions of one of Jimi’s final concerts reached the public consciousness. At nearly double the 54 minute length of the Rhino Home Video} from 1970 entitled Jimi Hendrix: Live At The Isle of Wight, the result is simply breathtaking with Jimi Hendrix – the rock star performing in all his glory as his sun was about to set. Lerner calls this “a labor of love which took a long time to finish” and he credits the Experience Hendrix company with helping obtain the backing to complete the project. Filmed between approximately 2 AM and 4 AM on August 31, 1970, it is so dark that the 600,000 or so people in the audience hardly affect what you see on the screen. The director said the film is “deliberately claustrophobic” realizing that “Jimi was the key thing to photograph” stating that they stuck to Hendrix “very intensely”. Billy Cox’s brilliant bass work can be heard cleanly as both he and drummer Mitch Mitchell creat a platform on which genius unfolds. Jimi’s versatility is in evidence, he clearly separated making a record from performing on stage. Purple Haze explodes in a way that would never have captured AM radio airplay, and is a stark contrast to the blues of “Red House” which, on film, has lots of interesting shots of Jimi’s hand playing against the light while his facial expression is of a man lost in thought while in the throes of a wild solo. The guitarist here is a master technician, as is Murray Lerner who captures this modern day Beethoven with equal brilliance. The contrast of “Red House’s” subtleties to Hendrix turning up his Marshall stacks and giving the people what they want -he psychedelic blasts of “Foxy Lady” – is more proof of how the singer/performer utilized all aspects of the stage – combining the volume and feedback with his clothing, hair, body movements, foot on the wah wah pedal, over amplification, all tools of this part of his trade. The build up with photography of the landscape before the main event and daytime glimpes of the crowd (along with Billy Cox’s memories of how loud they were) combine to make this a respectful and precise look at a special moment in music history. Murray Lerner feels the 20 minute version of “Machine Gun” here “makes a big difference. It’s much more powerful” (than the previous seven minute edit they had in release). The DVD has different camera angles for some of the songs included in the theatrical version, and will also include a bonus rare live performance of “Dolly Dagger”.

AMG REVIEW: Before the Alan Douglas era set in with that after-the-fact producer’s vision for the Jimi Hendrix catalog of music on albums like 1975’s Crash Landing and Midnight Lightning, manager Michael Jeffery had engineers Eddie Kramer and John Jansen develop compilations after 1971’s The Cry of Love, those being the Rainbow Bridge Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (actually, studio tracks and a cut from the May 30, 1970 Berkeley Community Center concert) and this quick follow-up, Hendrix in the West at the end of 1971/early 1972. (Note: Michael Jeffrey Frank Michael Jeffery (13 March 1933 – 5 March 1973)  ) With a version of “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and the traditional British National Anthem, “The Queen,” culled from the Isle of Wight concert (but not the single-disc 1971 Polydor Isle of Wight release); “Lover Man,” “Johnny B. Goode,” and “Blue Suede Shoes” from the Berkeley Community Center concert (the “Johnny B. Goode” track would be re-released the next year along with “Purple Haze” from the Berkeley concert on Reprise Records’ Sound Track Recordings From the Film Jimi Hendrix); and “Red House,” “Little Wing,” and “Voodoo Chile” from the San Diego Sports Arena, this album strangely works. Maybe because it is Jimi Hendrix and his music somehow had the ability to rise above all the mutations his performances would endure in the years after his passing. The Jim Marshall photos are beautiful, and the seamless production by Eddie Kramer and John Jansen makes for a commercial and interesting mixture of the two versions of the Jimi Hendrix Experience: Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding from the San Diego Sports Arena, and Mitch Mitchell and Billy Cox from both Isle of Wight and the Berkeley Community Center. Author Steven Roby gives a clear explanation of how this album developed on page 171 of his book Black Gold: The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix, citing engineer Eddie Kramer and manager Michael Jeffery’s ideas for the project. Roby’s book also states that material on this release came from England’s Royal Albert Hall, but that information is not on the liner notes. It’s an interesting release for the fans in the immediate time after the loss of Hendrix, and a guilty pleasure for purists years after the fact. — Joe Viglione

References[edit]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_Lightning

  1. Jump up to:a b Moskowitz, David (2010). The Words and Music of Jimi HendrixABC-CLIO. pp. 102, 165. ISBN 0313375925. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  2. Jump up to:a b Viglione, Joe. “Midnight Lightning – Jimi Hendrix”AllMusic. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  3. Jump up to:a b Christgau, Robert (1981). “Consumer Guide ’70s: H”Christgau’s Record Guide: Rock Albums of the SeventiesTicknor & FieldsISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 26, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  4. ^ Valleys of Neptune uses the title “Hear My Train A Comin'”.
  5. ^ People Hell and Angels uses the title “Hey Gypsy Boy”.

External links[edit]

Two Great Experiences: AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione  [-]

https://www.allmusic.com/album/two-great-experiences-mw0000019050

https://www.discogs.com/Lonnie-Youngblood-Featuring-Jimi-Hendrix-Two-Great-Experiences/release/3180275 Lonnie Youngblood on Discogs

Tracklist

1Mother, Mother8:01
2Under The Table (Take 1)1:35
3Under The Table (Take 2)2:54
4Wipe The Sweat (Take 1)2:49
5Wipe The Sweat (Take 2)3:32
6Wipe The Sweat (Take 3)2:46
7Go Go Shoes2:50
8Go Go Place2:04
9Soul Food3:31
10Goodbye Bessie Mae2:24
11Sweet Thing2:33
12Groove Maker (Take 1)2:19
13Groove Maker (Take 2)2:16
14She’s A Fox2:39
15Go Go Shoes (Fairmount 45)2:36
16Go Go Place (Fairmount 45)1:49
17Soul Food (Fairmount 45)2:48
18Goodbye Bessie Mae (Fairmount 45)2:30

AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione  [-]

Some of the recordings on Two Great Experiences are so absurd that you need to be a detective to know if Jimi Hendrix is on the record at all. Hendrix does perform on the What I’d Say album, live recordings by Curtis Knight with the disc label titled Early Jimi Hendrix, a different name for that collection than what is on the cover. The Friends from the Beginning album with Little Richard has absolutely no Hendrix. Which brings us to this Maple Records release, another alleged Hendrix product from “producer” Johnny Brantley for Vidalia Productions. Vidalia put out suspect product on Shout Records, and also released Moods on Trip, something Springboard International, the cheapo label, appeared involved with (they had distributed at least one Trip project, an album called Rare Hendrix). All of this stuff is disgraceful — capitalizing on the death of the most innovative electric guitarist of the time. There are nine minutes and 38 seconds of jams credited to Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Youngblood, and they are tracks seven through ten. It is not extraordinary music, but if this stuff is going to proliferate (and it is, indeed) then maybe it is time for Brantley and Ed Chalpin and all the people who have rare, early Hendrix tapes to just work something out with the Hendrix estate and let professionals create a CD documentary with dates, times, players, and commentary. The music is presented here lumped under one umbrella with the illusion that Hendrix is all over the disc. The instrumental tracks allegedly with Jimi Hendrix — “Under the Table,” “Table II,” “Table III,” and “Psycho,” with the tape machine stopping and starting and no definite liner notes giving any hints — become valuable more for the unique photograph of Youngblood and Hendrix on the cover. “All I Want,” which starts side two, is simple ’60s R&B with a throbbing bassline, keyboards, drums, and a distant, twanging rhythm guitar. Isn’t it amazing that Hendrix fans never got to hear Youngblood and Knight tour the country performing these classic tunes? The only thing monumental about these releases being sold in this fashion is that they are examples of grave robbing as hideous as the destruction of portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The silver lining is that someone might be able to piece together a good look at the guitar genius by finally putting this mess in order.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/friends-from-the-beginning-mw0000040051


AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione  [-]

There are only two instances of Jimi Hendrix performing with Little Richard known to exist on tape. There’s the Vee Jay single “I Don’t What You Got, .Pts. 1 & 2” produced by Bumps Blackwell, and a live performance at Revere Beach, MA, of Little Richard in concert with Jimi Hendrix on guitar, recorded by the legendary mastering engineer and disc jockey “Little” Walter DeVenne. According to very reputable sources, this Alfa release, Friends from the Beginning, is totally bogus. There’s Aki Tomita’s illustrations of Hendrix and Penniman on the front and back cover, there are ridiculous liner notes that are almost as absurd as the ones producer Johnny Brantley etched on the back of Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Youngblood: Two Great Experiences Together (an album reportedly containing a couple of actual songs with Hendrix and tracks that feature a Hendrix sound-alike to fill out the disc), and there’s the music. The album claims to be produced by Bumps Blackwell and Little Richard, but most likely is not. The version of “Tutti Frutti” which ends side one sounds like a simple guitar lesson being played over a quick studio session with vintage ’60s ambience. Where a true “bootleg” album contains rare performances that fans treasure and a “counterfeit” is usually an identical reproduction of a legit album by unscrupulous individuals, fraudulent recordings like Friends from the Beginning serve no purpose but to confuse the public and harm the reputations of the artists whose names appear on these travesties. It is a deception. There is no Jimi Hendrix on this record. This album says it is a 1972 release, and it actually credits most of the songwriting to Little Richard and Jimi Hendrix. This is of value to fans only as a bizarre artifact from an industry where the artist and the public are both being cheated. Author John McDermott from the official Experience Hendrix company has written Hendrix: Setting the Record Straight on Warner Books to help clear situations like this up. Such a book is very necessary for an artist whose catalog is rife with items like Friends from the Beginning; it is suggested you spend your money on the book rather than this pathetic album.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/whatd-i-say-mw0000846653

AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione  [-] https://www.allmusic.com/album/whatd-i-say-mw0000846653

This release on the Music for Pleasure label is culled from the 1965 live recordings made in New Jersey by producer Ed Chalpin. MFP was manufactured by EMI, and this Curtis Knight material featuring Jimi Hendrix is different from the Flashing and Get That Feeling studio recordings released on Capitol in the U.S.A., but does include tracks that were issued on MFP’s Birth of Success and EMI/Stateside’s Early Jimi Hendrix, Vol. 2. Stateside is an interesting name for a European label, as these tapes, allegedly, are not for sale in the U.S.A. — the licensing provides for their manufacture and sale elsewhere and they only come to the United States as imports. Side one opens with 12 minutes and 38 seconds of “Driving South” and “California Nights,” two songs credited to a McNear. A voice, perhaps singer Curtis Knight, opens the disc by saying, “I’d like to let everyone know that you’re being recorded. This is being recorded live here in the fabulous George’s Club 20 in Hackensack, New Jersey.” Muffled drum and bass come through the speakers along with guitar and vocals. It may be historic, but it is not the holy grail. Unlike the treat Jimi Hendrix fans have when the official Experience Hendrix company issues material with love and affection, all these Curtis Knight recordings are carelessly pushed out to the world with no sense of history, no chronological order, no liner notes that identify just where and when each track was recorded, and no documentation of who else performs on this live show. Where is Curtis Knight’s picture? On the What I’d Say album there’s a beautiful color photo of Jimi Hendrix on front and back, but it’s not truly a Jimi Hendrix album — it is a live tape of Curtis Knight with Jimi Hendrix on guitar. The public and the Hendrix legacy would be better served with photos of Curtis Knight, some sense of history, and a better edit of these tapes. The songs fade before they are finished, the recordings are drum-heavy, with the vocals and the guitar poorly recorded, and it is utter confusion having this material strewn over so many different albums, something that adds insult to injury and is just totally disgraceful. This version of Marvin Gaye’s “I’ll Be Doggone” is not something you are going to play at parties when the original Motown track sounds so much better, while “Bright Lights Big City” has no flashes of inspiration from anyone. The cymbals are too present and so annoying that when it does fade early it enhances the listener’s experience. Are the tapes historic? Yes. Does this packaging do justice to Jimi Hendrix? Absolutely not. The verdict? Someone should take control of this stuff and put it out once and for all with proper liner notes — and a warning to artists. That warning: No matter how influential and valuable your work is, unless it is in the hands of people who care about it and appreciate it, there is no telling how it will be represented. Ed Chalpin should turn his masters and the licenses over to Experience Hendrix and allow Hendrix’s family the chance to make these recordings an important part of the Hendrix library that they deserve to be.

AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione  [-] https://www.allmusic.com/album/flashing-mw0000371827

Flashing is the follow-up to Get That Feeling: Jimi Hendrix Plays, Curtis Knight Sings released on Capitol as well and the reason why the Band of Gypsies live album eventually came out. These Ed Chalpin masters are different from the live tapes recorded at the New Jersey nightclub in 1965, material that comprises the albums Birth of Success, What I’d Say, and Early Jimi Hendrix, Vol. 2 released on EMI’s MFP imprints in Europe. The material here was recorded in July and August of 1967, with three tunes recorded in 1966 and one from 1965. As Jimi Hendrix performed “I Saw Her Standing There” with Little Richard on the unreleased live tape by Walter DeVenne, the legendary mastering engineer, Curtis Knight and Hendrix give “Day Tripper” a go — though they both sound pretty out of tune. The 1965 track “Don’t Accuse Me,” on the other hand, isn’t bad, with snarling Hendrix guitarwork and a bluesy R&B groove. Though there are no revelations, as on Band of Gypsies, or underground gems like Jimi Hendrix Live at the Los Angeles Forum, 4-25-70, hearing Hendrix improvise on instrumentals like Curtis Knight’s “Hornets Nest” or Ed Dante’s title track “Flashing” (with its vocal snippet, “I got that feeling,” almost a reference to the previous album) is more satisfying than hearing Moods or Rare Hendrix. “Happy Birthday” has some excellent Hendrix wah-wah and gives a taste of future “Voodoo Child” sounds. “Odd Ball” is another Ed Dante instrumental which has some future “Machine Gun” riffs from Hendrix lurking, waiting in the wings. For true fans, this is all so essential. It will be interesting to see if and how Experience Hendrix compiles this material along with the music he recorded with the Isley Brothers, Little Richard, and Lonnie Youngblood. Hendrix fans will always be seeking the holy grail, so these early albums are of value in understanding his master’s guitar voice.

Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for Experience [Original Soundtrack] – Jimi Hendrix, The Jimi Hendrix Experience on AllMusic … Rating: 6/10 · ‎Review by Joe Viglione
Soundtrack Recordings from the Film Jimi Hendrix – AllMusicwww.allmusic.com › album › soundtrack-recordings-fr…

Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for Soundtrack Recordings from the Film Jimi Hendrix – Jimi Hendrix on AllMusic – 1973 … Rating: 6/10 · ‎Review by Joe Viglione
Listening – Listening | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusicwww.allmusic.com › album › listening-mw0000673731

AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione [+]. Michael Tschudin led the Boston-based band Listening, but it is the contributions by former Velvet Underground bassist … Rating: 6/10 · ‎Review by Joe Viglione
What’d I Say – Jimi Hendrix | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusicwww.allmusic.com › whatd-i-say-mw0000846653

Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for What’d I Say – Jimi Hendrix on AllMusic – 1972 – This release on the Music for Pleasure … Rating: 6/10 · ‎Review by Joe Viglione
Two Great Experiences – Jimi Hendrix | Songs … – AllMusicwww.allmusic.com › album › two-great-experiences-m…

Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for Two Great Experiences – Jimi Hendrix on AllMusic – 1971 – Some of the recordings on Two … Rating: 2/10 · ‎Review by Joe Viglione
At His Best, Vol. 1 – Jimi Hendrix | Songs, Reviews … – AllMusicwww.allmusic.com › at-his-best-vol-1-mw0000850000

Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for At His Best, Vol. 1 – Jimi Hendrix on AllMusic – 1987 – In the quagmire that is the Jimi … Rating: 3/10 · ‎Review by Joe Viglione
Birth of Success – Jimi Hendrix | Songs, Reviews … – AllMusicwww.allmusic.com › birth-of-success-mw0000846215

Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for Birth of Success – Jimi Hendrix on AllMusic – 1970 – Producer Ed Chalpin’s live tapes of … Rating: 6/10 · ‎Review by Joe Viglione
More Experience – Jimi Hendrix | Songs, Reviews … – AllMusicwww.allmusic.com › more-experience-mw0000844920

Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for More Experience – Jimi Hendrix on AllMusic – 1972 – 1972’s More Titles From the Original … Rating: 6/10 · ‎Review by Joe Viglione
Midnight Lightning – Jimi Hendrix | Songs, Reviews … – AllMusicwww.allmusic.com › midnight-lightning-mw0000691149

Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for Midnight Lightning – Jimi Hendrix on AllMusic – 1975 – The opening riff to “Foxey Lady” … Rating: 6/10 · ‎Review by Joe Viglione
Midnight Lightning – Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org › wiki › Midnight_Lightning


More Experience – Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org › wiki › More_Experience

Drummer Michael Tegza was the only original bandmember left when he reinvented the band H. P. Lovecraft.under the name Lovecraftand released an album called Valley of the Moonin 1970.  Joe Viglione, writing for Allmusic says of this album:  “For this 1970 Reprise release, they are dubbed Lovecraftand have abandoned the psychedelic Jefferson Airplane sound for a progressive Crosby, Stills & Nash-meets-Uriah Heep flavor.  In 1975, drummer [Michael] Tegzare-formed the band again and separated the two words; their Love Craft album,We Love You Whoever You Are, took things into an almost Santana-goes-soul direction.” 

AllMusic, 3/5 stars. More Experience is the second live album that was issued of the performance by the Jimi Hendrix Experience … ViglioneJoe. Album review …
The Eric Burdon Band – Sun Secrets (1974): This is an …www.pinterest.com › pin
… hard-rock album that was released without Burdon’s consent according to Joe Viglione (AllMusic). … Jimi Hendrix – Can hear that guitar just by looking at Jimi.

Midnight Lightning is a posthumous compilation album by American rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix. … AllMusic‘s Joe Viglione later said the enduring quality of Hendrix’s music was retained in spite of Douglas’s “doctoring and musicians jamming …

AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione  [-]

I have the Love Craft album, and the addition of soulful vocals by LaLomie Washburnatop a dreamy pop-psychedelic sheen makes this a fascinating listen, though it has little similarity to the original H. P. Lovecraft.  This record gets some grudging admiration by Joe Viglione in Allmusic:  “The record sounds better than it looks, for they look like a glorified Holiday Inn band; but the creative spark is still there, with Michael Tegza producing this withLaLomie Washburn, and the band dipping into progressive jams, expertly played, but with little chance of obtaining Top 40 success.”   https://sites.google.com/site/underappreciatedrockartists/home/the-pantheon/other-media/allmusic/allmusic-2014

Jimi Hendrix At His Best Vol. 1 https://www.allmusic.com/album/at-his-best-vol-1-mw0000850000

https://www.allmusic.com/album/at-his-best-vol-1-mw0000850000

https://www.allmusic.com/album/at-his-best-vol-1-mw0000850000

AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione  [-]

In the quagmire that is the Jimi Hendrix catalog of albums he never meant to release (not to mention travesties like Friends From the Beginning: Little Richard & Jimi Hendrix, which has none of the work that Hendrix and Richard did together), there are these four volumes consisting of 21 tracks. All of these Pantonic or SagaPan or Allied Records Ltd. releases come with the same cover photo, the difference being the 1971 release entitled simply Jimi Hendrix, with liner notes by Nick Allen. The three 1972 volumes are called Jimi Hendrix at His Best, Vol. 1, Jimi Hendrix at His Best, Vol. 2, and Jimi Hendrix At his Best, Vol. 3, and are hardly that. It is guitar noodling with percussion and no vocals at all on side two. The commentary on these three volumes is all by Mike Ephron (who credits himself with the songwriting, naturally, though it is doubtful he wrote the lyrics Hendrix is singing). The shortest track, “Baby Chicken Strut,” has interesting moments, and “She Went to Bed With My Guitar” at least has Hendrix having some fun jamming with the keyboards and singing. Someone should put this song on a 5.1 surround-sound DVD with the Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray.” But all kidding aside, there are “Sister Ray”-style interplays between the keys and the guitar, and as Alex Henderson states in his review of Jimi Hendrix at His Best, Vol. 2 on AMG, “the music on this album is intriguing…for die-hard collectors.” That is true. With the great work the Hendrix estate is doing, the fans deserve to have this material released under one roof, the Dagger records label, with John McDermott liner notes, commentary, and Eddie Kramer mastering, if only because it exists and is part of the output of the Mozart of the electric guitar. How much the liner notes by Mike Ephron can be trusted — liners stating that Jimi Hendrix wanted this music released, well, it’s anybody’s guess, but he places this circa 1964 in New York City. Material good for studying and collecting…maybe even as a soundtrack for an underground film, but in no way can it replace “Purple Haze,” and in no shape or form is it Hendrix at his best.

Jimi Hendrix
Early Jimi Hendrix, Vol. 2
https://www.allmusic.com/album/early-jimi-hendrix-vol-2-mw0001028988

https://www.allmusic.com/album/early-jimi-hendrix-vol-2-mw0001028988

Another half-an-hour from the infamous PPX Production tapes owned by Ed Chalpin and recorded live at George’s Club in New Jersey, 1965. This second of two volumes is on the EMI/Stateside imprint with the German language used for the legal stuff on the label, and features artwork by Jacques Heere. These probably the most collectible aspects of this enterprise. “I’ll Be Doggone” and “California Night” appear on the MFP/Stateside 1970 release What’d I Say, while “Get Out of My Life Woman,” “Last Night,” “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” “Sugar Pie Honey Bunch,” “U.F.O.,” and “Land of a Thousand Dances” appear on 1970’s Birth of Success album, also on MFP or “music for pleasure.” At least the What’d I Say and Early Jimi Hendrix, Vol. 2 mention singer Curtis Knight on the back cover; Birth of Success fails to reference the singer and bandleader at all, though they do credit him for writing “U.F.O.” on Birth of Success, at least giving you a hint. This material is best served as a historic document — the recording quality does not make it “music for pleasure.” To reiterate, this is the Curtis Knight group recorded live at George’s Club in New Jersey, 1965, with Jimi Hendrix on guitar doing cover songs. Hendrix deserved a lot better than this, but for those who acknowledge his brilliance, it is worth a listen.

Jimi Hendrix Reviews

Reviews can be found on http://www.jojolaine.com

linked to here:

JIMI HENDRIX
http://community-2.webtv.net/pubmac/JimiHendrix/index.html
Jimi Hendrix Experience Reviews
Joe Vig’s Jimi Hendrix Reviews
http://www.joeviglione.com
p.o. box 2392
woburn, ma 01888
http://www.varulven.com/ presentAnother great guitarist!
MICK TAYLOR ON VISUAL RADIO #115, July 9, http://community.webtv.net/pubmac/MICKTAYLORONVISUAL

Jimi Hendrix’s friend Jo Jo Laine has her own page:
http://community.webtv.net/musicbm/JOJOLAINE
The Quarrymen Original Beatles
http://community.webtv.net/pubmac/TheQuarrymenLive
you are reading:
http://community.webtv.net/pubmac/JimiHendrix
16 JIMI HENDRIX REVIEWS The Hendrix Songbook The Rubber Band http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:f9b1z81ajyv2~T1

Flashing Jimi Hendrix with Curtis Knight
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ey8m965o3ep6~T1

Early Jimi Hendrix Vol. 2 with Curtis Knight
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:6l0qoauaqijb~T1

Birth Of Success Jimi Hendrix with Curtis Knight
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:9tabqjkboj0a~T1

Two Great Experiences: Jimi Hendrix & Lonnie Youngblood http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ac1tk60xtkra~T1

Experience: Original Soundtrack
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:7sp1z88aoyv5~T1

More Experience: Vol.2 of Original Soundtrack
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:zad3vwrva9yk~T1

Soundtrack Recordings from the Film Jimi Hendrix
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:4zrc28ol053a~T1

Jimi Hendrix Live At The Forum (bootleg)
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Aom831vj3zzua
photo on Ebay and review of Live At ForumeBay item 4028352410(Ends Aug-08-04 16:57:36 PDT) – JIMI HENDRIX LIVE @ LOS ANGELES FORUM 4-25-70 RARE 2xLP

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4028352410&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

Jimi Hendrix Midnight Lightning (Alan Douglas Prod)
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Ap1q67uw0h0jf

Jimi Hendrix What I’d Say
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Atev8b5z4tsqa

Jimi Hendrix Moods
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=A9x0xlfae5cqt

Hendrix “At His Best” Vol. 1 http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:4s2gtq4ztu42~T1

Jimi Hendrix/Little Richard Together (Not posted on the Hendrix site) http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Aoojweaz04xs7

Posted Here on AMG’s Little Richard Site: Friends From the Beginning: Little Richard & Jimi Hendrix [Ember]

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:yzdyyl2jxpbb~T1

Jimi Hendrix Live At Royal Albert Hall
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:evae4j276wae~T1

Jimi Hendrix Live at the Isle Of Wight

http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:26184~C

Blue Wild Angel
http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:276129~C

BLUE WILD ANGEL: Jimi Hendrix Live At The Isle Of Wight Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hendrix Live at The Isle Of Wight is a 102 minute documentary by Academy Award winner Murray Lerner which features a crystal clear updated sound mix by engineer/record producer Eddie Kramer and other goodies separating this version from the 56 minute 1970 release. Videotaped documentary footage recorded three decades after the original film was shot adds insight. There are interviews with Kramer, bassist {$Billy Cox}, drummer Mitch Mitchell, Jim Marron – president of Electric Lady Studios, Hendrix tour manager Gerry Stickles, along with director Lerner himself and full length versions of the included songs from the legendary festival. As audio fragments of this concert became commercially available through the years including three tracks on Columbia Records The First Great Rock Festivals Of The Seventies and four other titles on Polydor’s Jimi Hendrix / Isle Of Wight lp, different perceptions of one of Jimi’s final concerts reached the public consciousness. At nearly double the 54 minute length of the Rhino Home Video} from 1970 entitled Jimi Hendrix: Live At The Isle of Wight, the result is simply breathtaking with Jimi Hendrix – the rock star performing in all his glory as his sun was about to set. Lerner calls this “a labor of love which took a long time to finish” and he credits the Experience Hendrix company with helping obtain the backing to complete the project. Filmed between approximately 2 AM and 4 AM on August 31, 1970, it is so dark that the 600,000 or so people in the audience hardly affect what you see on the screen. The director said the film is “deliberately claustrophobic” realizing that “Jimi was the key thing to photograph” stating that they stuck to Hendrix “very intensely”. Billy Cox’s brilliant bass work can be heard cleanly as both he and drummer Mitch Mitchell creat a platform on which genius unfolds. Jimi’s versatility is in evidence, he clearly separated making a record from performing on stage. Purple Haze explodes in a way that would never have captured AM radio airplay, and is a stark contrast to the blues of “Red House” which, on film, has lots of interesting shots of Jimi’s hand playing against the light while his facial expression is of a man lost in thought while in the throes of a wild solo. The guitarist here is a master technician, as is Murray Lerner who captures this modern day Beethoven with equal brilliance. The contrast of “Red House’s” subtleties to Hendrix turning up his Marshall stacks and giving the people what they want -he psychedelic blasts of “Foxy Lady” – is more proof of how the singer/performer utilized all aspects of the stage – combining the volume and feedback with his clothing, hair, body movements, foot on the wah wah pedal, over amplification, all tools of this part of his trade. The build up with photography of the landscape before the main event and daytime glimpes of the crowd (along with Billy Cox’s memories of how loud they were) combine to make this a respectful and precise look at a special moment in music history. Murray Lerner feels the 20 minute version of “Machine Gun” here “makes a big difference. It’s much more powerful” (than the previous seven minute edit they had in release). The DVD has different camera angles for some of the songs included in the theatrical version, and will also include a bonus rare live performance of “Dolly Dagger”.

Joe Viglione Steven Roby’s BLACK GOLD
http://www.aimpress.com/bgreviews.htm
http://aimpress.com/blackgold.htm
The Tombstone Tourist with Hendrix
http://community.webtv.net/musicbm/bookreviewsbyjoe
pt 4 The Velvet Underground Discs on MoFiupdated august 7, 2004 10:11 pm
november 4, 2003 5:55 pm



http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.fan.jimi-hendrix/browse_thread/thread/118293d112aaa4fc/a9cdc583f92adc46?q=jas+obrecht++joe+viglione#a9cdc583f92adc46

Review of MY SON JIMI 1999

MY SON JIMI

Visual Radio Jun 28 1999, 12:00 am

Newsgroups: alt.fan.jimi-hendrix
From: v…@webtv.net (Visual Radio) – Find messages by this author
Date: 1999/06/28
Subject: MY SON JIMI


Title: My Son Jimi
Authors: James Allen Hendrix, Jas
Obrecht
Publisher: Aljas, Seattle

Release: June, 1999
185 Pages
85 photos
36 reproductions of Jimi’s artwork


Review (C)1999 Joe Viglione’s
First Impressions


A purple cover with gold embossed
letters, and one of my favorite rock stars
of all time comes to life again via the
written word.


Jimi’s dad writes in a message from
Experience Hendrix General Headquarters
“…I also wanted to get the story of his
life straightened out before something
happened to me…I just got so tired of
seeing so much garbage and made up
stuff, I had to set the record straight.”


Jimi’s grandparents – the beauteous
Nora Hendrix in her show biz years,
Jimi’s grand-dad in the age of horse
and carriages…on a whole other level
this book is a snapshot of an American
family – the photographs are incredible
life in Vancouver B.C., a front page of
the 1941 Seattle Star newspaper, the
Western Union telegram to Pvt. James
A Hendrickson (PFC James Allen
Hendrix), baby photos, rare and wonderful
photos of Jimi…the book is a treasure
chest and more evidence (as if it were
necessary) that the Hendrix Family
deserves to guard over Jimi’s legacy.


Jas Obrecht, co-author, was for twenty
years an editor at Guitar Player magazine, and he is the primary author
of “Blues Guitar: The Men Who Made The Music.


This Music/Biography sells for $29.95
and is worth double that.


joe viglione
producer/host
VISUAL RADIO
http://www.visualradio.cjb.net
Visual Radio Productions
P.O. Box 2392
Woburn, MA 01888


My Son Jimi
Only 1 message in topic – view as tree
Visual Radio Jun 28 1999, 12:00 am show options

Newsgroups: alt.music.jimi.hendrix
From: v…@webtv.net (Visual Radio) – Find messages by this author
Date: 1999/06/28
Subject: My Son Jimi
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.music.jimi.hendrix/browse_thread/thread/8650bafab0cd92d7/26418ce822f09569?q=jas+obrecht++joe+viglione#26418ce822f09569

Second Impressions tm
(C)1999 Joe Viglione


James A. Hendrix tells his story to
Jas Obrecht, former editor of Guitar Player magazine and primary author
of Blues Guitar: The Men Who Made The Music. And many of us forget that
underneath the psychedelia, the fuzz guitar, the stage presence and
theatrics,
James Marshall Hendrix was, indeed,
a blues guitarist.


Check out the great stories…P 144 “Jimi
didn’t give his first album to me directly,
I got one from some hippies who lived next door…I was surprised that I
knew it was Jimi because I’d never heard him sing before. I had also
never heard him play
as the Experience. But I told the wife, “Hey, that sounds like Jimi!”
..The people came over and brought their record. They had just bought
it that day, and they were
so excited over living next door to Jimi’s dad. They said, “Oh, yeah!
You can have the record.”


Great shots of The Experience at the airport during the visit to
Vancouver, Jimi’s last visit home…reading this it is
hard to believe the rock warrior was only
27 years old…a baby – really, and made
such an impact on what we hear and how
people make music today.


This book is essential reading. It sells for
29.95


Experience Hendrix
83 South King St.,
Suite 606
Seattle, WA 98104

AllMusic Review by Joe Viglione  [-]

https://www.allmusic.com/album/birth-of-success-mw0000846215

Producer Ed Chalpin‘s live tapes of Curtis Knight resurface again, without Knight‘s name anywhere on the album cover. The Birth of Success by Jimi Hendrix has an airbrushed drawing of the guitarist on the front and back with stars and butterflies under a rainbow of colors. No doubt this was intended to be a “showcase” of Hendrix‘s work with Curtis Knight & the Squires, and, if so, why not some liner notes and detail explaining just that? Six of the eight tracks appear on Early Jimi Hendrix, Vol. 2, the exceptions being a cover of Marvin Gaye‘s Top Ten hit that was charting two months before these recordings took place, “Aint That Peculiar,” and Jimi Hendrix doing a lead vocal on Bo Diddley‘s “I’m a Man,” which is a smart way to start things off. It’s too bad there are annoying sound shifts on “I’m a Man,” but that seems to come with the territory here. Only “UFO” was penned by bandleader Curtis Knight, and it is the only time Knight gets a credit — it’s on the label as a songwriter. Decades later, these myriad compilations indeed became collectors items, though the lack of liner notes makes the motive behind release after release even more questionable. In what is a strange and ironic twist to the PPX tapes produced by Ed Chalpin, it’s the Hendrix fans who truly know what this is (and who aren’t going to listen to it much) who keep buying this recycled material. The less savvy record buyer of 1970 might’ve been intrigued enough by the clever, cheesy marketing to hear Jimi Hendrix performing on hit songs with marquee value, the mentality Mitch Miller employed at Columbia to sell records by name artists — have them record popular covers to fill out their albums. The difference here, of course, is that Hendrix had no intention of being marketed in this fashion, that the sound quality is so poor, and the original headliner, Curtis Knight, didn’t even get his name on the cover of this album. Now that’s disrespect all the way around.

http://sites.estvideo.net/clf/details/14858.html


joe viglione
producer/host
VISUAL RADIO


http://www.visualradio.cjb.net



Visual Radio Productions
P.O. Box 2392
Woburn, MA 01888




Here’s an interesting Hendrix site:
http://www.portaldorock.com.br/english/museuhendrixenglish.htm

Here’s the usenet newsgroups:
alt.fan.jimi-hendrix
alt.music.jimi.hendrix


Jimi Hendrix Live at Winterland

By Joe Viglione -September 12, 2011

Eleven titles were released in 1987 when Ryko Distribution issued Live At Winterland from The Jimi Hendrix Experience.  The potent new team of Experience Hendrix with Sony Legacy issuing a quartet of Hendrix music – an expanded edition of the venerable old lp Hendrix in The West, Murray Lerner’s Blue Wild Angel: Jimi Hendrix Live at the Isle of Wight (DVD), a DVD with every Hendrix appearance on the Dick Cavett Show and another four discs, a box set of Jimi Hendrix Live at Winterland.

This review will focus on Winterland, specifically disc 4.  With 9 tracks each on discs one and two, eleven on disc three, the fourth is called the “bonus disc” which includes a revealing  backstage interview from the Boston Garden (about a month after the Winterland shows) as track seven preceded by six selections: “Foxey Lady” (10/12/68), “Are You Experienced” (10/10/68), “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” 10/10/68, “Red House” (10/10/68), “Star Spangled Banner” (10/11/68) and “Purple Haze” (10/11/68).   Now we purists, of course, may have preferred all three double dates (six shows in all, two each night) issued in the order as Jimi performed the titles…that concert experience times six, top to bottom, but just having the proper dates, the superb mastering, the booklet and more will have to suffice for the time being.

Rolling Stone writer David Fricke’s June 2011 liner notes explain details about the Winterland shows…how Wally Heider recorded “every note” – all of the music – and a bit about Jimi’s artistic presence at that point in time.

As a stand alone Disc 4 is a valuable library of music, both Red House and Star Spangled Banner displaying some of Hendrix’s musical eloquence along with cosmic bursts and delightful nuances put out there in inspiring fashion.  “Purple Haze” falls apart…wonderfully, the drums and bass playing on different planets the way Bachman Turner Overdrive went sideways during an 1980’s tour (though these days they are said to have come back down to earth and have it together)…but Jimi is the central point and, he, after all, is what we’ve come to hear.  No slight to Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding…with all three musicians having drifted from this mortal coil it is exciting to hear this music pouring from the speakers in all its psychedelic jazz-tinged glory.  Were disc four issued in the 1970s on Reprise some critics might have called it an instant classic.  In this setting its merely the bonus material…but it is staggeringly powerful and at least gives us a chance to enjoy …and study…the masterful sounds Hendrix generated.  Fun enlightenment is what it is.

Hendrix Returns: From Valleys of Neptune to West Coast Seattle Boy

By Joe Viglione -November 6, 2010

West Coast Seattle Boy – The Jimi Hendrix Anthology, featuring more than four hours of rare and previously unreleased Jimi Hendrix music on a 5 Disc (4 CD/1 DVD) is the first big box from the new Sony deal with Experience Hendrix. Previously Universal Music had a beautiful velvet 4 CD box in 2000 entitled simply The Jimi Hendrix Experience ( I’ll have to pull out my article on the making of that from Replication News back in the day and share it). The original Uni package was the first enormous project to take another look at Jimi’s commercial recordings…and while coupled with the Legacy/Sony November 16 box (though these two multi-disc packages are the true “official” look at Jimi in the same way that Eric Clapton’s Crossroads opened doors for the boxed set as a format)there were actually two compilations on Jimi prior to these landmark Experience Hendrix re-issues.

Alan Douglas released Lifelines: The Jimi Hendrix Story (Reprise), a 5 CD set in 1991 which featured the rare Buzzy Linhart/Al Kooper version of “Like A Rolling Stone” (though the narrator ends up placing the performance at the wrong New York club) and in 1996 Ed Chalpin released a 6 CD PPX Recordings – the Curtis Knight material. For we purists/historians all four of these sets are an invaluable look at the genius of Jimi and essential components of our respective Hendrix libraries.

Now when one also factors in the Purple Haze Records label out of the U.K. which was releasing the Yameta product (it gets very confusing, even with many of the CDs staring me in the face on my shelf), well, sifting through it all and giving a critique is one part of the job, the other is figuring out if these tracks actually surfaced on bootlegs or the “unofficial” labels that acted like they were official…it’s a huge task. But in the end, the fans do benefit as Experience Hendrix issues these wonderful releases which only add to the fun of exploring where we may have heard these tracks (if, indeed, we ever heard them) and how they fit into the context of Jimi’s recorded work.

Thus, I’ve had Disc 4 playing endlessly, just randomly pulling it from the envelope…and it is stunningly wonderful. Seventy three minutes and two seconds of newly remastered old tapes with a shimmering 14:46 minute version of “Stone Free” recorded live (keep in mind, TMRZoo reviewed Valleys of Neptune in March of 2010, the first Sony/Legacy release with a Traffic-styled rendition of “Stone Free”). “Sunshine Of Your Love” is tucked inside this long jam session, one of Jimi’s fave riffs it seems…and there’s yet another “Hey Baby” (New Rising Sun)” included which adds to that mesmerizing songs legacy …tons of great stuff on this jam packed disc. I could go track by track…but take my word for it…CD #4 is highly listenable and exciting. There are three more discs and a DVD to cover so let this article stand as Part 1. To be continued….

Joe Viglione is the Chief Film Critic at TMRZoo.com. He was a film critic for Al Aronowitz’s The Blacklisted Journal, has written thousands of reviews and biographies for AllMovie.com, Allmusic.com and produces and hosts Visual Radio. Visual Radio is a fifteen year old variety show on cable TV which has interviewed John Lennon’s Uncle Charlie, Margaret Cho, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Felix Cavaliere, Marty Balin, Bill Press and hundreds of other personalities.

CD Review – Jimi Hendrix: You Can’t Use My Name

By Joe Viglione -March 23, 2015

The authority of the playing displayed on a song like “Voodoo Child” is so firm and complete that it explains the world’s attraction to the artistry of Jimi Hendrix. It’s such a command of the musical vision/statement that the song’s appearance in a pop culture moment like Steven Segal’s film Under Seige is one of the many reasons why people who appreciate superb writing and playing keep going back to the Jimi Hendrix well. It’s the most dramatic event in an interesting but still corny film.

“Gloomy Monday” has elements of the “Sunshine of Your Love” riff just as opening track “How Would You Feel” draws heavily from Bon Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone.” Those two compositions – and the artists that spawned them – Cream and Dylan – were essential parts of the Hendrix repertoire and spirit. The influences of the man who would influence millions more. But an album that is important because of the historical impact of an artist – as is this artifact titled “You Can’t Use My Name: The RSVP / PPX SESSIONS by Curtis Knight & The Squires” – is not going to be the first thing you grab to be entertained. But God bless Eddie Kramer for putting the music together in a way which lifts the veil away from the cloudy, murky quagmire that were the two releases on Capitol – the notorious but you-gotta-have-in-your-collection Get That Feeling and Flashing discs, along with the plethora of descendants that they helped spawn, a variety of imports and domestic pressings – so many other voluminous releases that made their way nine to the universe and beyond, so to speak.

This offering’s listening experience – and John McDermott’s always essential and detailed liner notes – contain true revelations for those of us collecting this material for 45 years or more and not knowing the proper context That context being: how the heck they were recorded, and where they fit into the puzzle of so much product – be it official releases, bootlegs or Purple Haze Records or where we really get lost and sidetracked – the internet waterfall – that blur of fan chatter (and the download onslaught that accompanies it…) as well as YouTube offerings – the Dusty Sprinfield/Jimi Hendrix duet being a favorite of that fare – and other platforms where Jimi lives on.

The complexity for the novice who likes Hendrix is sometimes equal to the confusion “experienced” by the obsessed long-time individuals – those who truly appreciate Jimi’s work (some not even knowing why) – all looking for enlightenment to navigate the fabric that is the ever expanding Hendrix museum of modern art.

You Can’t Use My Name has the daunting task of bringing that morass of the PPX/RSVP tapes to some kind of uniformity, where Jimi’s work at that point of time can be viewed with more clarity.

At least the Hendrix live tape with Little Richard is Jimi working with a star in his own league. If released on CD combined with Penniman/Hendrix studio work, it becomes a single moment that is easier for all to grasp and understand. Recorded by mastering engineer Little Walter DeVenne, and discovered during an interview Walter did with my TV show Visual Radio in 1995 (a tape which Experience Hendrix’s John McDermott got to hear when Walter played the WTBS/WMBR broadcast tape for us (yes, Walter played the Little Richard concert with Hendrix on his radio show on WTBS – now WMBR) the tape is, as stated, that single moment in early Hendrix time that is easy to understand. It’s Little Richard with Jimi. It’s Little Richard singing “Lucille” and “I Saw Her Standing There” with Jimi Hendrix – two stars who stand far beyond the relatively unknown Squires, a group known because of their association with Hendrix, not his association with them.

Here’s the complete track list of the live Penniman/Hendrix Experience: Little Richard: – I Saw Her Standing There, Lucille, Send Me Some Lovin’, Medley – Rip It Up / Tutti Frutti / Jenny, Jenny
– Shake A Hand – Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On

See some fan’s “Early Hendrix” site for more info: http://www.earlyhendrix.com/richard-menu-live

Add the live tape to the Little Richard studio recordings and you have the definitive Little Richard/Hendrix which
Is, in my opinion, even more essential. It’s Jimi blazing a trail on hit music with one of the most influential stars of early rock and roll.

These were the days before Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin psychedelicized the world, “”And my soul has been psychedelicized?” as the Chambers Brothers so succinctly put it. And it was the psychedelicization that came with “Piece of My Heart” and “Purple Haze” by Joplin and Hendrix, respectively, which changed the lives of those of us who were and are children of the sixties.

When Buzzy Linhart heard opening track “How Would You Feel” the first time he certainly had a chuckle (and stated “Hendrix deserves co-writing credit!) The “Like A Rolling Stone” riff was a key component of the Jimi Hendrix Experience – as stated above – and an important part of Jimi’s personal repertoire, a terrific live version of the Dylan classic with Buzzy Linhart on drums, Al Kooper on keyboard, Noel Redding on bass which proves just that. Which, of course, gives “How Would You Feel” the perfect entrée to the CD, You Can’t Use My Name, and one of the discs most compelling moments.

For those of us who are enamored of and love Jimi, “Like A Rolling Stone” is a key song. In the lyric Bob Dylan warns Buzzy Linhart to get away from his drummer in the Seventh Sons, who allegedly was the diplomat with the Siamese cat..
You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat

Jimi Hendrix jammed with Buzzy at the Seventh Sons’ loft, while the Music album from Linhart was one of the first to be recorded at Electric Lady studios with Eddie Kramer, key information which makes hearing Jimi’s charging and slinky creeping “How Would You Feel” first cousin guitar riff a distinct look at Hendrix without that “psychedlicization” discussed earlier.

Play Track 1 from the Capitol Records lp “How Would You Feel” followed by Track 2, “Hornet’s Nest” from the Flashing lp, also on Capitol, tracks 1 and 11 on this new CD, and the lesson begins. Ahhh to go back in time and make the “Hornet’s Nest” accompaniment more Ventures in style than the manic keyboard/drum heavy jam that it is, Hendrix playing with decent but lesser talents. Perhaps that’s what makes this more of an investigative adventure than something you will play repeatedly, certainly not with so much invigorating Hendrix material within reach. “Fool For You Baby” is fun enough, but Knight – a good singer who hardly struck fear into the hearts of Marvin Gaye or Curtis Mayfield – is not in Jimi’s league. That’s the point, isn’t it? That reason alone makes the issuing of the true Little Richard / Hendrix tapes all the more essential. Richard Penniman, a wizard and a true star, is in Jimi’s outrageously famous stratosphere, and that the two paired up was a cosmic, albeit brief, storm.

Imagine being Curtis Knight and having a platform to be heard worldwide because Jimi Hendrix was your guitarist and a piece of paper got Capitol Records, the Beatles label, to give you a chance to release “Day Tripper” with Jimi Hendrix on bass? (as John McDermott’s liner notes emphasize.)

An opportunity of a lifetime that Curtis Knight couldn’t capitalize on to secure himself as a world class artist. “Don’t Accuse Me” ends side two of the Flashing album on Capitol and is track three on this marvelous early Hendrix CD, but it is marvelous only in that it shows us Jimi’s work in another light. Again, it’s the efforts of Eddie Kramer which improve the old tapes, which bring these fragments of Jimi history into a space where they can be listened to, dissected, and utilized to appreciate the master craftsman who set the standard for the electric guitar.

The fusion of “Knock Yourself Out” – track #43 on the old PPX boxed set – with “Flying on Instruments” – one of four instrumentals from the RSVP label, is smart, seamless and is again, quasi Ventures gone somewhat fuzzy and heavy.

Do we need this music? Yes, it’s great to have, and important to put the messy history that is the PPX legacy in the world of Jimi into some kind of compartment that is easier to grasp and comprehend. But at the end of the day, I want to pull out the Jimi Hendrix music that is the reason that we all flipped out the first time we heard the magical first notes of “Purple Haze.”

These are the fragments, and they give us a greater appreciation of Jimi Hendrix when he’s totally in control, writing, singing and playing. Perhaps my colleagues Buzzy Linhart (who finds the CD fun) and Ed Wrobleski will have a different perspective, I’m sure they will. But this is my take and for history’s sake, I thank Janie Hendrix, John McDermott and Eddie Kramer for getting this music out in this form.

Post Script: With all the litigation surrounding these tapes, the humorous thing is that Billy Ocean on Sony Music U.K. – the same label – has a song “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car”. ( (C) 1988 Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited ) which has a very close hook to “How Would You Feel” written by the late Curtis Knight, PPX Publishing. Can anyone say “My Sweet Lord” / “He’s So Fine.”

The Hollywood Reporter states that there are 88 master tapes in all.

The deal between Experience Hendrix LLC and Legacy Recordings is for the full and complete rights to 88 studio and live recordings by Curtis Knight & the Squires (featuring Jimi Hendrix) and concludes a long-running legal dispute between the Hendrix estate and onetime rights holder Ed Chalpin. Terms were not disclosed. Hendrix’s long-time sound engineer Eddie Kramer will oversee the reissues, which will be released by Legacy Recordings over the next three years.

Joe Viglione is the Chief Film Critic at TMRZoo.com. He was a film critic for Al Aronowitz’s The Blacklisted Journal, has written thousands of reviews and biographies for AllMovie.com, Allmusic.com and produces and hosts Visual Radio. Visual Radio is a fifteen year old variety show on cable TV which has interviewed John Lennon’s Uncle Charlie, Margaret Cho, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Felix Cavaliere, Marty Balin, Bill Press and hundreds of other personalities.

Excerpts from THIRD STONE FROM THE SEVENTH SUN

http://hendrixreviews.blogspot.com/

INSIDE THE LEGACY OF JIMI HENDRIX
By Joe Viglione

Imagine sometime in the future when the music of Jimi Hendrix will be public domain (as the works of Edgar Allan Poe are now) – when people will be free to take his amazing intuition, inspiration and feelings down different avenues with whatever new technology is available.

Exploring the life and music of JimiHendrix as it currently stands in 2005 is a full time job. Whether you are listening to the beautiful instrumental, “The New Rising Sun“, from the 1995 “Voodoo Soup” album put together by producer Alan Douglas or “Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)” that appears on the 1997 release “First Rays Of The New Rising Sun” produced by Eddie Kramer, Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and John Jansen, or comparing those two discs to the 1971 release “The Cry Of Love” – all three versions of Jimi’s “final album” having many of the same tracks, those performances going through new mixes with new technology, and sometimes, different sets of ears.

While listening to all the musical information these various producers have made available it is hard to retain each nuance of the guitarist’s magic – there is just so much remixed material to absorb, study and consider. And if you think cataloguing the music ofHendrix available to fans is a daunting task, what about the volume of text material being issued that discusses his short life?

The Jimi Hendrix fan base is strong — and rabid! Thus the release of the book “Jimi Hendrix: The Man,The Magic, The Truth”, by former UPI reporter and Hendrix friend Sharon Lawrence, has caused the usual stirs in that world. Described as “the definitive”account of Jimi Hendrix by publisher Harper/Collins, readers should be advised that, although author Lawrence was clearly a close confidante of Jimi’s -the 352 pages may include important information, but can hardly be considered the “definitive” account.

There is some insight regarding the persona of Ed Chalpin, the man who has perpetually licensed the PPX tapes and who signed Jimi to a recording contract in the 1960s. Lawrence speaks with him on the phone and quotes Chalpin as saying “They’ve killed him” in regards to the passing of Jimi on September 18, 1970. The author also notes that she received a call from Monika Dannemann in 1991 – who Lawrence describes as “the woman who let Jimi die.”
Since Jimi’s death has become as much of a discussion as his music – that event unfortunately walking hand-in-hand with the art – this article explores information previously unavailable about that tragic incident – and how it has all impacted what the artist was expressing. While “The Last 24 Hours Of Jimi Hendrix” DVD saysthat the U.S. Government had interest in killing Jimi Hendrix – making it clear that from that product’s point of view – that his death was a murder, Lawrence says with great emphasis that she believes his death was a suicide. Metronome Magazine, in an exclusive interview with Jimi’s friend, Buzzy Linhart, has information that the late Monika Dannemann killed Jimi at the request of the late Michael Jeffrey, former manager of Hendrix, The Animals, Genya Ravan and other groups.

In order to get to the truth the devotee – the true Jimi enthusiast – needs to explore as many of the books and DVDs as humanly possible. Jas Obrecht and Al Hendrix’s “My Son Jimi“, Steven Roby’s tremendous “Black Gold: The Lost Archives Of Jimi Hendrix” and Eddie Kramer and John McDermott’s equally excellent “Hendrix: Setting The Record Straight” are a good start, though none of them answer all the questions in a satisfactory manner.

Lawrence’s book is certainly compelling enough,but when she discusses the Toronto trial she limitsher own testimony at that major event in Jimi’s life to one paragraph. It leaves the reader wondering and wanting more. While Steven Roby includes testimony from both Hendrix and Lawrence in his book, an exhaustive and essential work, and though his 278 pages -like McDermott’s 364, is a fun investigation and exploration of the music, it still has flaws.

Lawrence glosses over “Jimmy James & The BlueFlames“, a pivotal bridge from Jimi’s work as aback-up musician to the formation of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. The material on “Jimmy James & The BlueFlames” – a vital part of Jimi’s career which featured future “Spirit” co-founder Randy California and future Utopia co-founder Moogy Klingman – is remarkably thin.

At least a chapter or two on that phase of his lifeis essential to any biography. The author loves Jimi, and that comes throughloud and clear, but her bias against Al Hendrix, Janie Hendrix, Leon Hendrix, John McDermott (a major force in Experience Hendrix who gets dismissed with a mere mention), Ed Chalpin, Michael Jeffrey, Monika Dannemann, Devon “Dolly Dagger” Wilson, pretty much most of the people in Jimi’s life save a few, is a red flag. She lumps some of the heroes in with the villains. There’s no doubt that Jeffrey, Dannemann and Chalpin had a negative effect on the artist, but then there’s the catch 22 – the question which most feel is blasphemous: would Jimi Hendrix have emerged as the giant he is without the efforts of Ed Chalpin and/or Michael Jeffrey?

Would he have gotten frompoint A to point B without those two?

One would like to think that pure talent wins out, but we are talking about the music industry, a business which discards talent like yesterday’s newspaper. Just look at how the tapes of Jimi Hendrix were treated prior to Experience Hendrix giving those masters and mixes the respect, in regards to properly cataloguing andstoring them, that genius deserves. Lawrence is lethal when it comes to Al Hendrix, Jimi’s dad, and maybe – if she’s to get the benefit of the doubt -her insight there is not off base, but there is a glaring lack of objectivity in the book,and that is what weakens her story and makes us question her motives in regard to Al Hendrix. Roby, as well as McDermott and Eddie Kramer, give more meat in their writings- though all these books can’t resist offering and mixing opinion with fact. At least Steven Roby makes the effort to give a Bibliography in Black Gold, and a book that reviews the books is what is really needed here.
It is going to take a highly objective journalist to sift through the voluminous work that makes up the Hendrix audio and video catalogs as well as the variety of sources that give so many perspectives.

Eric Burdon’s 2001 biography, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”, speaks kindly of Al Hendrix, and asks the pertinent question: Did Monika “dose” Jimi with wine and sleeping pills?
Proving my point – an overabundance of information with no clear line that provides something conclusive.

Perhaps the most outrageous aspect of “Jimi Hendrix: The Man, The Magic, The Truth” is Sharon Lawrence totally dismissing John McDermott (and StevenRoby) but quoting a whacko obsessive fan from aHendrix Yahoo group. For a credible journalist to indulge the lunatic fringe, well, the transcripts ofthe Toronto trial would be a bit more informative than hearing from one of the nuisance fans who live vicariously through Jimi’s music. It is devastating to Lawrence’s credibility – she savages the memory of the late Al Hendrix and backs up her position with quotes from a nutcase. Jimi Hendrix: The Man, The Magic, The Truth needed a little bit more emphasis on the performances and the recordings and less animosity. While the book has a wealth of positive material, the animosity does as much disrespect to Jimi’s memory as those who hurt him while he was alive.

A loving tribute to Jimi, Janis, Brian Epstein, Brian Jones and others is in therare and succinct “No One Waved Good-Bye” edited by Robert Somma for Bostonian Barry Glovsky’s Fusion Books. Al Aronowitz, Lillian Roxon and Lou Reed – three tremendous essayists, are far more sensitive in those128 pages.

Which brings us to the DVDs, and there are lots of them: Eagle Vision’s “Electric Ladyland” identifies the solution to the dilemma discussed in this article. The DVD is part of their “Classic Albums” series and gives one a renewed appreciation of the third album from TheJimi Hendrix Experience. Engineer Eddie Kramer takesus through the music and the DVD makes you want to putthe album on again. For those who truly want to remember Jimi Hendrix respectfully and stand in awe ofhis talent, something that creates new desire to hearthe recordings again can only get a thumbs up. “Electric Ladyland” the DVD has me playing the albumagain, and is a DVD that will get repeated spins inthis writer’s house. Chrome Dreams “Jimi Hendrix: By Those Who Knew Him Best” and MVD’s The Last 24 Hours of Jimi Hendrix are two interview discs. Steven Roby appears on “The Last24 Hours” while Jimi’s brother Leon Hendrix, respected journalist Al Aronowitz, Vince Martell of The VanillaFudge and others talk about Hendrix on “Those Who KnewHim Best.” Between all the items mentioned is such a wealth ofinformation that we won’t have time to give you thetranscript of Harvey Wharfield’s WZLX interview withbassist Noel Redding, or the lecture Visual Radiotaped by Wild Blue Angel director Murray Lerner. Butthis article will give you something very special – anexclusive interview – a conversation with BuzzyLinhart conducted on March 30, 2005.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Having collected Jimi Hendrix music ever since”Purple Haze” burst on my radio – for the better partof thirty eight years, it never ceases to amaze whenthe guitarmaster’s music perpetually sells on eBay -sometimes at ridiculous prices. There are 6,209 itemsmentioning Jimi’s name on eBay as I write this, 1:36AM on March 31, 2005. That’s a stunning amount ofmusic. But there’s lots more that you won’t ever findon eBay. When taping Little Walter for this writer’sTV program,Visual Radio, the famous disc jockey toldthis journalist that he recorded many Little Richardconcerts, including one with Jimi Hendrix on RevereBeach! Little Richard performed on a bill with Don & Dewey and Maxine Browne. Jimi Hendrix played guitarand Little Walter recorded the event. Not only that-he broadcast it on MIT’s WTBS (now WMBR). The onlyknown tape of Little Richard with Jimi was actuallybroadcast on college radio in the 1960s!

As I had interviewed John McDermott of the JimiHendrix Estate for an article on the packaging of theHendrix 4 CD Boxed Set, I phoned up Mr. McDermott andinvited him to hear the rare recording at LittleWalter’s studio. The three of us listened to theplayback from the radio broadcast tape, the dub, andwe actually got to touch the original masterreel-to-reel tape! It’s amazing, opening with The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There”, “Lucille”, “SendMe Some Lovin'”, and five other tunes – Little Richard with the unmistakable sound of Jimi Hendrix on guitar. Hopefully Little Richard will authorize its release. Akarma Records, a division of the Italian Comet Records label, re-released the interesting LittleRichard album “Friends From The Beginning” which claims to have Jimi and Richard together. It’s a good Little Richard lp, but others dispute any input fromHendrix – Steven Roby stating that Jimi appears only on the single “I Don’t Know What You’ve Got” b/w”Dancin’ All Around The World”, John McDermott’s “Setting The Record Straight” citing the only appearance being on the 45 “I Don’t Know What You’veGot But It’s Got Me” Parts 1 & 2 – the A side thatRoby mentions. It’s a dilemma, sifting through the fact and the fiction – and while not judging Sharon Lawrence, a true fan will find more info in “Setting The RecordStraight” and “Black Gold: The Lost Archives Of Jimi Hendrix”, so they are a good place to start. The definitive book has yet to be written – but thanks to the internet, eBay, and the lasting power of Jimi’s music, more will be written, studied and explored.

One idea is for a journalist and fan totake a look at what is currently on the table – as we’re doing here – and merging those reflections with information from someone who was there back in the day- someone who knew and who jammed with Jimi Hendrix. The tentative title of that work – a study ofthe recordings and insight from one of Jimi’s peers is:
“Third Stone From The Seventh Suns” Metronome readers have – with the above informationand that which follows, a taste of the proposed book which is

(C)2005 Joe Viglione & Buzzy Linhart – as is this article.



Buzzy Linhart played with Al Kooper and JimiHendrix at Steve Paul’s THE SCENE, a recording of them performing Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” is on a well known and very expensive double lp Hendrix bootleg,”Hoochie Koochie Man”. Buzzy also worked with Eddie Kramer and Mitch Mitchell putting vibraphone on the song “Drifting” which appears on all three variationsof the “Cry Of Love” sessions.

Buzzy:”I first met Jimi at the Cafe Au Go Go at themiddle of a rehearsal with Hendrix and John HammondJr. We were just stopping by to pick up a couple ofdrums or something. This was a pivotal evening for mebecause as I approached the Cafe Au Go Go, the famousdrummer Muruga (of Weather Report fame)was exiting theclub – Muruga told me to get inside and hear thegreatest guitarist in the world. I went down thedimly lit stairs into the showroom of the Cafe Au GoGo and turned the corner into the big room and sawJimmy James & The Blue Flames and John Hammond Jr.rehearsing for an up and coming show. It was a triowith the addition of John Hammond Jr. fronting thegroup, creating a quartet (this was before Buzzy’spartner, Moogy Klingman, and Spirit’s Randy Californiawould join The Blue Flames).The Steven Roby book Black Gold says on page 50 – that”Jimi found a loft on Hudson street with roommatesBuzzy Linhart, Roger McGuinn and David Crosby…” Buzzy clarified Mr. Roby’s information:”(It was on)Greenwich and Reade St. above the UnitedEgg Company – we were on the third floor – The SeventhSons had a rehearsal loft – Jimi came to it manytimes, David Crosby came many times, Roger McGuinncame many times, but they weren’t roommates. It wasthe Seventh Sons’ rehearsal loft and party place.” From 1966 to 1968 Buzzy Linhart was in the band TheSeventh Sons – featuring Buzzy on vocals, guitar andvibes, drummer Serge Katzen and bassist James Rock. Flute player Frank Eventoff made the Seventh Sons a quartet.
They produced an album but only limited material found release on the legendary ESP label.

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Buzzy: “I was playing Cafe Au Go Go after The Seventh Sons fell apart and left me with just an acoustic guitar… and I had an offer to open for whoever theacts were at Cafe Au Go Go – opening for acts likeBlood, Sweat & Tears.” Steve Paul saw Linhartperforming at Cafe Au Go Go and brought Buzzy to his club, The Scene, to open for acts like B.B. King, TheMcCoys with Rick Derringer, and other acts from theday. Buzzy remembers Jimi at The Scene: “…most nights, about showtime, if he wasn’trecording, Jimi would be sitting at one of the bestseats in the house – and many of those evenings weoften ended up in jam sessions.One night I was sitting by the side of the stagewatching whomever and someone came over and said”Buzzy, Jimi’s going to play, will you play drums?”, and I said Yes. I believe that was the same nightthat Noel Redding announced he was leaving theExperience. He was very sad and got very drunk andkind of messed up the bass parts – which is one of thereasons that recording has not been used more often.” It has found release on the Jimi Hendrix double discbootleg “Hoochie Koochie Man” which sells for about ahundred dollars on eBay IF you can find a copy.Sharon Lawrence claims Jimi committed suicide, The Last 24 Hours Of Jimi Hendrix claims it was apolitical assassination because of the Black Panther movement, etc. “That could have been a red herringput out there by Michael Jeffrey” Buzzy surmises, asDevon Wilson a.k.a. Dolly Dagger, told Buzzy “Please -you must tell everybody that Jimi was murdered. Hehad been drug free for months.” Supposedly she wasdrug free as well as Hendrix and Wilson reportedlyentered and left treatment together. Says Buzzy, “I’ll personally never forget Jimi lookingat me from the antique barber’s chair in theElectric Lady lobby – spinning around – slowing downexactly on the third spin, holding up a Marlborosaying “Now if I could just quit this I’ll havebeat everything.” It was really cool – it happenedthat way – I believed him when he told me that, and tohear just a day and a half later people claiming that”once a junkie always a junkie” etc. really rankledme. This was the evening of the day he went back toEngland for the last time. (It took about six hoursto get to London from New York, so night turned intoday with the time change.)Thoughts from Buzzy when Jimi passed away on September18, 1970 “I was sitting in my living room with John Hammond Jr.- we had just jammed on a couple of songs – harp andguitar – when we flipped on the radio. It happened tobe on the news and the international news report cameon saying “the greatest guitarist in the world hasdied in London.” I turned to John Hammond and said”that’s got to be Hendrix.” And the next part of thereport confirmed it. We didn’t know what to say, butbeing just 20 blocks or so from Electric Lady we justprobably jumped a cab down to the studio. At ElectricLady somebody said there was a phone call for me. Ipicked up the telephone on the receptionist’s desk andit was Dolly Dagger (Devon Wilson) telling me I had tobelieve her. What she told me was that Jimi hadcalled her the day or so before and told her that hehad been up for days. He had talked to his doctor inNew York City and the doctor said “You’ve got to getsome sleep” – the doctor said “Do you want me to callin some sleeping pills for you to a doctor I know inLondon?” Jimi said”No, that’s OK, there’s Tuinols in the medicinecabinet in the bathroom here.”

They agreed that Jimi- having a great tolerance to this type of drug -would need to take 3 capsules. But this turned out tobe the German Tuinols which were the EQUIVALENT ofthree apiece, so they turned out to have the potencyof 9 capsules.” (It’s been reported by Sharon Lawrencethat Jimi took 9 capsules, but what he took was theGerman equivalent of nine capsules – and Monika musthave known this. If she wasn’t sure she should havesaid something.)

It overdosed him into sleep lying on his back and hechoked on food, he asphyxiated. “Remember”, Buzzy made clear, “this is what Devon toldme.” Weeks or months earlier – not the night before -but it clicked with the someone in the know afterSeptember 18, 1970, a band member or crew member madea bad mistake when he decided to take a nap on a largecouch in Michael Jeffrey’s opulent office – thirdfloor of Electric Lady studios, New York City. It’sthe kind of a sofa where when it is facing this largefireplace – the giant back of the sofa – you can besleeping there and if someone didn’t think to lookthey wouldn’t even know you were in the room. Thisparticular crew member claims to have overheard adiscussion between Monika and Michael Jeffrey duringwhich he told her that it was only a matter of timetill he – Michael -assured her that he would be taking back the businessfrom Jimi and would she help by poisoning him.

To Be Continued.

THE ABOVE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE MAY ISSUE OF METRONOME MAGAZINE
http://metronomemagazine.blogspot.com

Here is Part II for the June issue, completed May 2, 2005 at 3:30 AM

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE HIGH TO STAY AWAKE TOO LONG(and You Don’t Have To Take Drugs To Be Paranoid)
By Buzzy Linhart as told to Joe Viglione

One of the basic things we have to complete to even begin step one, we must once and for all establish the coroners cause of death. There are at least three different versions in three different books regarding this. It’s hard to keep a clean laboratory when you’re not starting out with the purest necessary elements.

a)if he died of drowning in wine, as one source (between the books, internet and DVDs) suggests, then why is that not mentioned in the coroners report in one of the other well known sources on the subject?

b)what Dolly Dagger (Devon Wilson) was upset about was the suggestions that Hendrix would kill himself.

c)if as Dolly said – this was a proud moment for him -(being drug free) – why would he go backwards? He had already bragged to me about it.

All I can personally say as I sift through these files of immense proportion regarding Hendrix’s death -and boasting a long list of authors – is that everything I see and read seems to contradict everything else. All I know is that the phone rang at Electric Lady studios and it was D.D. (Dolly Dagger) for me, she said, “Jimi had been awake for days but totally straight, but too excited”. She said she was upset because the press was reporting “heroin overdose”, she swore he was “7 months clean”, something she and he had accomplished together, his plan to prove that he could play clean. His earliest memories of practicing and learning how to copy other people’s licks were confused with a combination of alcohol, marijuana and most anything for awhile there. But if he were to prove that he was the king of the psychedelic gypsies, he’d have to do it not only better than anybody else, but completely clean.

First he was my hero, then I was “dating” one of his girlfriends, and then he was gone. “Don’t believe them” she sobbed “He played clean.”

BUZZY ON DOLLY DAGGER:
Just a few months later (after Jimi’s passing), Dolly & I went to see Taj Mahal at the Fillmore East, Taj solo on dobro accompanied by three tuba players. A hell of a show. I couldn’t help but notice that she was looking tired and strained and looked sad even when she smiled. Everybody knew how bad she seemed to miss Jimi. And then just a couple of weeks after that she died mysteriously, under mysterious circumstances at the Chelsea Hotel, Manhattan, New York. She did tell me she didn’t know if she could go on without him. I wonder whatever happened to her baby. She showed me a picture of a baby with lips like Mick Jagger – she claimed that it was Mick Jagger’s baby, and you’d think so by seeing his face.”
In Sharon Lawrence’s book, JIMI HENDRIX: THE MAN, THE MAGIC, THE TRUTH, page 160, she claims Devon Wilson threw a party “both to celebrate Jimi’s birthday and further her own desire to start an affair with Mick Jagger.”

Buzzy’s recollections are startling – especially when one looks at the timeline. According to an article in VOODOO CHILE by Carmen Geddes: “Devon Wilson had fallen (or been pushed) from a window at New York’s Chelsea Hotel (in February of 1971), and in March 1973, Mike Jeffrey was killed in a plane crash on his way to find out who would be inheriting Jimi Hendrix’s British musical royalties.”

If Jimi Hendrix was murdered, which is the conclusion found in “Rethinking John Lennon’s Assassination – The FBI’s War on Rock Stars By Salvador Astucia, Part V, Chapter 12: Jimi Hendrix”, it fits in with what our unnamed Hendrix associate told us – that he heard Michael Jeffrey ask Monika to kill Jimi. But Jeffrey (the manager of Hendrix) only went so far in discussing it during that overheard conversation revealed in the May 2005 issue of Metronome.
Astucia goes back to the late Tony Brown’s book: “Brown insinuates that Dannemann murdered Hendrix because she was jealous of his other girlfriends. Having stated that, Brown makes a compelling argument that Dannemann was, at a minimum, deeply involved in Hendrix’s death in some manner. She may have killed him personally, as Brown suggests, but I seriously doubt that she acted alone regardless of her role in the crime.” Which gives more credibility to Devon Wilson’s claims and the information from the person who was on the couch in Mike Jeffrey’s office. Also keep in mind that Tony Brown was corresponding with Dannemann frequently until her death, April 5, 1996, while Tony Brown was working on HENDRIX: THE FINAL DAYS – that author having more access to Dannemann’s ramblings over a longer period of time than perhaps anyone. Astucia notes that the suicide was “Two days after the court found her ‘in contempt’, Monika was found dead in her Mercedes car, asphyxiated by carbon monoxide.” Tony Brown himself died on March 9, 2001. Which means the casualty list has grown quite long – Hendrix, Devon Wilson, Mike Jeffrey, Monika Dannemann, Tony Brown, Noel Redding, Chas Chandler and Al Hendrix.

Astucia goes into great detail on “the real cause of Hendrix’s death” saying ” Twenty-three years later, information emerged which strongly suggests Hendrix was murdered. In 1993 it was disclosed that Hendrix had not strangled on his vomit, but “drowned in red wine.”
Caesar Glebbeek co-authored “Electric Gypsy”, and interviewed Buzzy Linhart, though Buzzy is not referenced in the book. On page 477 of that 1991 St. Martin’s Press book the authors seem to draw a conclusion that it was an accidental overdose – but again – they quote Monika Dannemann on page 476 saying “there were other tablets in the cupboard which he could have taken if he wanted to do the job properly.”They also consider the CIA, FBI, Black Panthers and manager Mike Jeffrey – which they dismiss.

Classicbands.com notes that “In 1993, the investigation into Hendrix’s death was reopened by Scotland Yard, but when no new evidence was unearthed, the matter was dropped.”

www.classicrockpage.com goes into even more detail saying “…a leading forensic scientist said at the time that the dose of sleeping pills was too low to be fatal in itself. The official cause of death rendered was “inhalation of vomit due to barbiturate intoxication”. The site notes that “Both Noel Redding and Monika Dannemann believe in the “slight possibility” that Hendrix was murdered…” – which is interesting since Dannemann is believed to be the murderess.
The site also claims something interesting: “Jimi did have access to over 40 sleeping tablets at the flat, so if he wanted to commit suicide . . .)” Sharon Lawrence’s book says that Monika Dannemann told her she had four packets of 10 pills and that one was opened with only 1 pill left. So Sharon Lawrence, Jimi’s “dear friend” who slashes at Al Hendrix in the book,makes the ludicrous claim that Jimi made a “conscious decision” to take 9 tablets. Which means that Lawrence buys into one of Dannemann’s many stories – the one Sharon Lawrence finds most convenient. As an outsider, one has to shake their head: this is Jimi’s friend?? – believing one of Dannemann’s stories – stories from a woman who killed herself two days after losing a libel trial regarding her information (or misinformation) about Jimi Hendrix? The only thing missing from Sharon Lawrence’s book is the notion that maybe Jimi Hendrix took 9 pills while listening to The Beatle’s “Revolution #9” while the voice says “#9, #9, #9”.

Absurd.

The Classicrockpage.com has more interesting bits: “As Redding says in his book, “Jimi died from choking on his vomit and that in itself should have been a preventable cause of death”. Interestingly enough, in 1991 both Eric Burdon (who Dannemann called before calling the ambulance the morning of September 18, 1970), and Mitch Mitchell called on Scotland Yard to reopen the investigation into Jimi’s death. In 1993, England’s Attorney-General agreed and investigated before announcing that it “found no evidence to pursue the case further”.——————————————————-

Buzzy on Monika Danneman

The rumor is that Monika called a local celebrity’s roadie and he warned her that she had to make sure her flat was completely clean of any drug residue or paraphernalia or they’d all be indicted for drug possession. They started talking about it, it got out of hand, and she was afraid to call or something.That was NOT from Dolly Dagger, that was New York City scuttlebutt.

Jimi Hendrix’s Music in The Afterlife
http://www.artquest.org.uk is a British website which features the Artlaw Archive – a program for visual arts and craftspeople. There they have a fascinating page called “Art After Death” by Henry Lydiate

Lydiate discusses famous legal battles, the (Andy)Warhol Foundation (1994), the Dali Estate (2001), Bacon’s legacy (2002) and others. The site states:

“Consistent themes/issues emerge for artists who care what will happen to their works after death. For example, making a will and taking independent expert advice before doing so; choosing executors – especially ones who have nothing to gain from the Estate; ensuring that unsold works and personal archive material are carefully catalogued well before death; and taking particular care to decide on the possible merchandising of their images during the 70 years of their copyright remaining after their death.”

This, of course, was a major problem with the legacy of Jimi Hendrix, which makes his cause of death as essential as the fact that he had no written will.Keep in mind, in this 35th year after his passing, thousands of pages have been written in books and on the internet, with little new information. For the first time in those 35 years, Metronome Magazine is presenting new – never before published – information regarding one of the greatest tragedies in the history of rock music.

Scotland Yard should reopen the investigation.



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