Confessions of a Fanboy

One burst of Hendrix deserves another. I have now turned to the great Live at the Fillmore East set as I slog away simultaneously on two projects.

The Fillmore East set is an expanded edition of Band of Gypsys. Hendrix, Billy Cox and Buddy Miles did two shows on New Year’s Eve 1969 and New Year’s Day 1970. Band of Gypsys was compiled from those tapes and released to get Hendrix out of a contractual jam. Nearly 30 years later, more of those performances were resurrected and the two disc Live at the Fillmore East was released.

This was released while I was in college and I remember buying it and listening to it in my dorm room with my girlfriend (now TheWifeToWhomI’mMarried).

I’m still partial to single-show releases but the material compiled on Fillmore is mostly very good and so is the sound quality. Two very long versions of “Machine Gun” might seem excessive and unnecessary… but only until you listen to them. That’s one of those songs that could never be properly captured in a studio. It screams to be played live, and it often was. The artillery of machine gun-like fire drumming and Jimi’s air raid guitar explodes into an incredible apocalyptic energy.

“Stone Free” segues into “Little Drummer Boy,” which was seasonally appropriate. “Hear My Train A-Comin’” is one of my favorite Hendrix blues jams and the Fillmore version is a good one. Cox’s bass simple, musical, and muscular and Jimi’s solo is fabulous. He was, as we all know, an amazing guitarist and artist but not necessarily every night. An adventurous spirit and an altered state of being led to occasional sloppiness. “Train” holds together very well.

I don’t know how long my Hendrix kick will continue, but it better take a hiatus long enough to allow me to get my BMA coverage finished. Stay tuned, blues lovers.

Filed under: Tags: Jimi Hendrix, Musical Musings and Random Ramblings