Jimi Hendrix – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Jimi Hendrix – Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

This ~~song~~ explosion is like an atom bomb going off. From the first words “Well, I stand up next to a mountain and I chop it down with the edge of my hand” you know Jimi means business. This is no boy band, folk cafe, or pop song. Jimi is shooting to kill. This song is off the great 1968 Electric Ladyland album. From the tone of the guitar and how he spits out the lyrics, the song is a masterpiece. The guitar riff is one of, if not the best. There was another song called Voodoo Chile that was recorded, but it is a different song.

This song was recorded by The Jimi Hendrix Experience in May 1968, during the sessions for Hendrix’s third and final studio album, Electric Ladyland. The day before this was recorded, Jimi, Steve Winwood, Jack Casady, and some others had a jam in the studio called Voodoo Chile. This song was almost an accident after they built this song with a riff from the previous day.

A camera crew from ABC-TV came by to film Hendrix for a documentary. Hendrix, always the showman, wanted to give them something great. So, he grabbed his guitar, and the Experience basically created “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” on the spot. It was a stripped-down, turbo-charged echo of the longer “Voodoo Chile” jam from the previous day. This time built around that now-iconic riff.

Unfortunately, that footage from this day is said to be stolen. The footage of the previous day’s jam was left alone. Did the thief die and leave the unattended films to rot into dust? Are the reels locked away in some forgotten vault or stashed in an attic? Were the films destroyed in a fire, deliberate or accidental? Is some private collector viewing them at this moment? We may never know.

The readers of Music Radar voted this the very best rock riff ever. That is saying a lot, but I can’t fight that much at all. If you are wondering, Guns N Roses’ Sweet Child O’ Mine came second in the poll and Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love” third.

Voodoo Child (Slight Return) was released in the UK after his death. It peaked at #1 in 1970. It was his only number 1 hit in the UK.

Joe Satriani: “It’s just the greatest piece of electric guitar work ever recorded. In fact, the whole song could be considered the holy grail of guitar expression and technique. It is a beacon of humanity.”

Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

Well, I stand up next to a mountain
And I chop it down with the edge of my hand
Well, I stand up next to a mountain
And I chop it down with the edge of my hand
Well, I pick up all the pieces and make an island
Might even raise a little sand
Yeah

‘Cause I’m a voodoo child
Lord knows I’m a voodoo child, baby

I want to say one more last thing

I didn’t mean to take up all your sweet time
I’ll give it right back to you one of these days, hahaha
I said I didn’t mean to take up all your sweet time
I’ll give it right back one of these days
Oh yeah
If I don’t meet you no more in this world, then
I’ll meet you in the next one
And don’t be late
Don’t be late

‘Cause I’m a voodoo child, voodoo child
Lord knows I’m a voodoo child, baby

I’m a voodoo child, baby
I don’t take no for an answer
Question no
Lord knows I’m a voodoo child, baby

Oddest Concert Pairings

I have always liked odd mixtures. Anything out of the norm and I pay attention. That is why I blog about the past more than today. I liked the 60’s and 70’s era because houses, cars, and music were for the most part unique. I couldn’t tell a Ford from a Chevy today. A lot of new houses look just alike in cloned neighborhoods.

I would have loved to have been at one of these concerts.

Jimi Hendrix / Monkees 1967 – This is number one on my list. Can you imagine the young Monkee fans hearing the sonic volume of Jimi Hendrix? Jimi had to play while a bunch of 12-year-old girls screamed “We want the Monkees” and “We want Davy. ” It was the sixties and Peter Tork said: “It didn’t cross anybody’s mind that it wasn’t gonna fly.”

The Who / Herman Hermits 1967 – Smash your guitar and drums. Hope I Die Before I Get Old and then Mrs Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter?… You can imagine Peter Noone tripping over shards of guitars every night.

Lynyrd Skynyrd / Queen 1974 – This one is a head-scratcher. The theatrical Queen and the southern boys from Florida just don’t seem a great match. It was a European tour and Lynyrd Skynyrd got a lot of recognition from it. They were probably more popular in the UK than here at one time.

Bruce Springsteen / Anne Murray 1974 – This one is baffling. Anne Murray’s managers demanded that Bruce open the show for Anne in NYC! They argued she was more successful and she was…but this was New York and Bruce Springsteen…what a fatal mistake…halfway through Bruce’s set Anne’s managers regretted their decision. Many of the audience had left by the time Anne took the stage.

The Ramones/Toto 1979 – This one doesn’t make sense at all…what promoter thought this through? The laid-back ToTo fans sat through the Ramones but Toto singer Bobby Kimball came out and apologized to the crowd for the “horrible band” they had to sit through. Nothing against Toto but give me The Ramones!

Cher/Gregg Allman 1977 – Yes they were married but what an odd concert to go to. You have Gregg who was one of the best blues singers at that time and Cher…who was Cher…Gregg Allman mentions in his book “My Cross to Bear” that the audience was mixed…some with tuxedos and some with denim jackets and backpacks and there were fights at each show on the tour between the two sets of fans.

Gregg Allman

“It was right after that—the tuxedos against the backpacks, because I think the Allman Brothers outnumbered the Sonny and Chers—that Cher came to me, and the poor thing was just crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she told me, “We’ve got to cancel the rest of the tour, because I can’t stand the fighting.” So we ended it right then, which was about halfway through it. We went home the next day, and that was the last time I ever played with her.”

The Ramones / Ted Nugent, Aerosmith 1979 – Bottles and debris were thrown at The Ramones from the crowd as Johnny Ramone was shooting birds at the audience.

Johnny Ramone about this concert…

“About five or six songs into the set, the whole crowd stood up, and I thought it had started to rain. Dee Dee thought the same thing, but they were throwing stuff at us – sandwiches, bottles, everything. Then, all of a sudden, I broke two strings on my guitar in one strum. I thought it was a sign from God to get off the stage, because I’d rarely break a string, maybe once a year. So I just walked to the front of the stage, stopped playing, and gave the audience the finger – with both hands. I stood there like that, flipping them off, with both hands out, and walked off. The rest of the band kept playing for another ten or fifteen seconds until they’d realized I was walking off, and then they did too. I wasn’t gonna stand there and be booed and have stuff thrown at us without retaliating in some way. We had to come off looking good somehow, and there was no good way to get out of that.”

Jimi Hendrix – The Star Spangled Banner… Happy 4th of July

Happy Independence Day!

This is the second year I’ve posted this on the 4th. I hope you liked the previous post on The Blasters. Hendrix did a great version of The Star Spangled Banner in my opinion. He had served as a paratrooper in the Airborne Division at Fort Campbell in Clarksville Tennessee in the early 60s.

Yes, this is my favorite version of the song. The poem that formed the basis of the lyrics was penned in 1814 during the War of 1812 by Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old lawyer who was sent to negotiate with the British in an attempt to gain the release of an American prisoner they were holding.

Later, Key watched the bombardment of Fort McHenry from a ship he was on. The next morning he saw the Americans take down the battle-torn US flag at the fort and replace it with a larger one.

Key’s poem was published on September 17, 1814, the day after he returned to Baltimore. The poem was sung to the music of a popular British drinking song called “To Anacreon in Heaven, ” attributed to John Stafford Smith.

Any time someone does an unusual approach to this song…there is always a lot of complaining from people. Once when Jose Feliciano did the song in Game 5 of the MLB World Series in 1968 on guitar and singing…all hell broke loose. Some listeners thought he had “desecrated” and disrespected the national anthem but when asked about it, Feliciano explained that the reason he offered a non-traditional rendition of the anthem was to get people to pay attention to it. It was a great version of the song.

Hendrix took the stage at Woodstock at 8am…only around 30,000 were left out of the huge crowd there. He had been warned not to do the anthem when he toured but did it anyway. He even recorded a studio version and after his death, the takes were put together and released but the Woodstock performance is the one that is best known. What amazes me is when he is imitating bombs dropping…he suddenly goes right back in on time and doesn’t miss a lick.

He didn’t get as much flack as Feliciano did…I think because it wasn’t on prime time during a World Series.

Max Picks …songs from 1966

1966

This may be the best year ever in pop music. So many choices but as Ricky Nelson said “You Can’t Please Everyone…” so here it goes.

There are so many Beatles songs this year like Day Tripper, Eleanor Rigby, Paperback Writer, and more. My two favorite Beatles songs of this year would be And Your Bird Can Sing and this one…the B side to Paperback Writer…Rain. The bass in this song is incredible. The song was credited to Lennon/McCartney but it’s more of a Lennon song.

Now we have The Beatles arch-rivals…just kidding. Actually, they were friends who worked together and made sure their releases didn’t overlap each other. The Rolling Stones in Paint It Black. Personally, I like this one better than Satisfaction. Paint It Black was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Wild Thing…you make my heart sing. That’s all that needs to be said by this band. They were not a one-hit wonder though. I’ve been a fan of The Troggs since I bought their single as a kid in the late seventies. Their hits included Wild Thing, With a Girl Like You, and the song that has been covered many times…Love Is All Around. They were punk rock before punk rock. The song was written by Chip Taylor.

Let’s go to the American band The Lovin Spoonful who scored huge with this single. The song was written by John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian, and Steve Boone.

This man would change rock guitar forever and some still consider him the best. Hey Joe was released in December of 1966. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was making its debut. The song’s songwriting credits have been disputed. Here is what Wiki said: Public Domain (1st pressing), Dino Valenti a.k.a. Chet Powers (2nd & 3rd pressings), and Billy Roberts (copyrighted)

Jimi Hendrix – Castles Made Of Sand

I’ve always liked Jimi’s mellow songs. The song moves so well because of his guitar playing and the futility of life lyrics. The song originally appeared on the Axis: Bold as Love album released in December of 1967.

Jimi Hendrix and his mother Lucille Hendrix

He never liked talking much about his past, but he reveals some in this song. Sarita Cannon has written a book that explores Hendrix’s identity as a Black Cherokee. Hendrix’s Indigenous ancestry has never been documented by blood. His grandmother, a vaudeville performer from Vancouver, British Columbia, passed along Cherokee traditions to him. incorporated Indigenous themes in his music, including this song, the instrumental “Cherokee Mist” and the 1967 anthem “I Don’t Live Today.” His mother had stated that she was part Cherokee.

Many believed that this song is an instance of Hendrix reflecting on painful memories from his childhood, including his parents’ tumultuous separation and his mother’s illness, Hendrix himself never confirmed the inspiration behind the song. Leon Hendrix, Jimi’s brother, has said the lyrics were about their father’s alcoholism and their family. He said the soldier in the song is Leon himself. At one time Leon was taken away by Child Protective Services.

Castles Made Of Sand was not released as a single and did not chart although the album peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 Album Charts in 1968.

This album was his second studio album to be released. His third and last album Electric Ladyland was released in October of 1968. Since Hendrix died in 1970…a glut of albums have been released. The man must have recorded in his sleep.

Castles Made Of Sand

Down the street you can hear her scream you’re a disgrace
As she slams the door in his drunken face
And now he stands outside
And all the neighbours start to gossip and drool
He cries oh, girl you must be mad,
What happened to the sweet love you and me had?
Against the door he leans and starts a scene,
And his tears fall and burn the garden green

And so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually

A little Indian brave who before he was ten,
Played war games in the woods with his Indian friends
And he built up a dream that when he grew up
He would be a fearless warrior Indian chief
Many moons passed and more the dream grew strong until
Tomorrow he would sing his first war song and fight his first battle
But something went wrong, surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night

And so castles made of sand melts into the sea, eventually

There was a young girl, whose heart was a frown
‘Cause she was crippled for life,
And she couldn’t speak a sound
And she wished and prayed she could stop living,
So she decided to die
She drew her wheelchair to the edge of the shore
And to her legs she smiled you won’t hurt me no more
But then a sight she’d never seen made her jump and say
Look a golden winged ship is passing my way

And it really didn’t have to stop, it just kept on going…

And so castles made of sand slips into the sea, eventually

Jimi Hendrix – The Star Spangled Banner

Happy Independence Day! Hendrix did a great version of The Star Spangled Banner in my opinion. He had served as a paratrooper in the Airborne Division at Fort Campbell in Clarksville Tennessee in the early 60s.

Later, Key watched the bombardment of Fort McHenry from a ship he was on. The next morning he saw the Americans take down the battle-torn US flag at the fort and replace it with a larger one.

He didn’t get as much flack as Feliciano did…I think because it wasn’t on prime time during a World Series.

Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced Album

On March 9th of this year Dave at A Sound Day published this post I wrote for his Turntable Talk series. Dave stated: Let’s look at an artist whose debut really impressed you. It can be one that just knocked you out first time you heard it when it was brand new, or one you went back & discovered later.

I went through some debut albums before I came to this. I already wrote up Big Star’s debut for another blogger but the other that came to mind was The Cars. For me, that was their best album although they had some great albums later. I then thought of Jimi’s debut…and that was that. There is more than one version of Jimi Hendrix’s debut album released. I will go by the one I first owned when I was around 11…the US version.

I think about 1967 and what people must have thought when they heard this strange new artist. It must have sounded like an alien coming down from another planet. Being at the ripe old age of 4 months old…I don’t quite remember it. His guitar playing was first felt by other guitarists. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, and the other huge guitarists back at that time. They were shocked when they saw him perform on stage. He was “found” by Animals bassist turned manager Chas Chandler in New York. He took Jimi to England and formed a band around him…it didn’t take long after that.

Jimi’s debut album was released on May 12, 1967. The tracklist is incredible. A lineup of songs that still get played over 50 years later on the radio. To make it even stronger…Hendrix wrote all of the songs but one…Hey Joe, his breakout hit in the UK.

Purple Haze
Manic Depression
Hey Joe
Love or Confusion
May This Be Love
I Don’t Live Today
The Wind Cries Mary
Fire
Third Stone from the Sun
Foxy Lady
Are You Experienced?

The album had many now-rock classics. They were not rock songs easily accessible to the audience as other performers. He mixed experimental technics along with well-written and performed songs. Before Zeppelin came along, Hendrix gave rock its sonic boom. The album peaked at #5 on The Billboard Album Charts, #15 in Canada, and #2 on the UK Charts in 1967.

I’ve never heard a guitar player take the guitar to a far-off place like Hendrix. It wasn’t just his playing which was some of the best…it was his vision and the sounds he got out of the guitar that was so amazing. Every guitar player that came after him would get unfairly compared. He wasn’t just a guitar player though…he was a singer/songwriter who created 3 classic rock albums that still are revered. He was the complete package…not a traditional voice, but he got his point across and wrote his songs to fit him…and it worked.

He also evidently had a huge backlog of recordings and live concerts that keep being released. The man must have recorded in his sleep.

The “new” Jimi Hendrix tag has been unfairly placed on many guitar players. From Stevie Ray Vaughn to Eddie Van Halen, many more faded out. Hendrix would mess with this guitar…changing pickups and recording techniques. He had a sound all his own…when you hear a Hendrix record you know it’s him by just his guitar playing. Now when I listen to him…I hear the guitar players that followed…from the finger tap from Eddie to the straight-in-your-face riffs of Stevie Ray Vaughn…Jimi had done it all before.

Like Janis Joplin and Bruce Springsteen…they would let themselves go on stage. They would take it as far as they could and if they messed up…they messed up but the fans got to see an electrifying performance. When Joplin and Hendrix left us…they left a huge hole in rock performers and when both were peaking in making albums. Both Hendrix and Joplin left and their last studio albums peaked at #1. Jimi’s came two years before his death and Janis just a few days after she passed.

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Welcome To Graceland

My son had never visited Graceland and his girlfriend is visiting so I thought it would be time to go. I’ve been 2 times before…once in the 80s and again in the mid-nineties. We stayed in the Exchange Building in Memphis…a building that is 112 years old. If you are looking for a place in Memphis, it’s listed under Air B&Bs…I would recommend this place…love the architecture.

We got to Graceland on Saturday and it was crowded of course…and the price has more than doubled in the past 10 years from what I read. It’s now $77 (80 with tax) dollars per person for a house visit plus the planes and different exhibits. Compared to the 90s…it’s enough items to keep you busy at least 2 1/2 to 3 hours easy…still that is steep when you have a few people.

You get through the house in 30 minutes or so…at least we did. It’s the huge new complex they built to house most of his items that takes a lot of time.

I’m going to show as many pictures as possible but two exhibits surprised this Beatles fan. They had a section called “Icons” and the artists that were influenced by Elvis. They had many things on loan from The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. I got to see the piano that John Lennon wrote a lot of Double Fantasy on and a vest and Marshall amp from no other than Jimi Hendrix. Also a James Brown outfit, KISS items, Joe Perry, Buddy Holly, and a leather jacket from Bruce Springsteen.

You can google Graceland and get most of the pics inside the house but here are a few…I like the yellow man cave. After this, we took a walk on Beale Street which was really cool. Next time I’m allowing more time. Sun Studios and Buford Pusser’s place in McNairy country are places I wanted to see also.

You should be able to click on the pictures and see all of them one at a time if you want.

Here are some of the exhibits

Last but not least…Elvis’s outfits…it looked like a giant doll’s house.

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Rock Star Hologram Tours

It’s gone past simple holograms…they are now avatars (the ABBA reunion). For the sake of this post… I’ll call them holograms. This post is basically me arguing with myself and wanting some input.

I’ve thought about the subject of the dead rock star hologram tours off and on. I apologize for putting it so bluntly but that is what it is. Something in me just tells me there is something inherently wrong about this. So I hate to ask myself this…but would I want to go to a Jimi Hendrix show playing near me? Uh…yes I would and I feel bad about saying that. I would probably go and then hate the decision later. How could they capture Jimi Hendrix? I don’t see how someone could capture a performer like him…who was different every time he played.

I was surprised at my answer that I would even go. On the other hand, we have laser shows with bands’ music…so what is the big difference? We also have duets with Paul McCartney singing with John Lennon right now on Paul’s tour. When I saw The Who, there was Keith Moon singing “Bell Boy” in a film from a concert in the 70s while the current Who was playing. I also got to see Beatlemania with artists dressed up as The Beatles…somewhat different than this but is it really?

It’s something that I think will happen in the near future for different stars no matter if we like it or not. Holograms have been around for a while. In 1977 The Who presented a promotional event just for their fans with this Keith Moon hologram (with the real Keith Moon in attendance) and in another event in 2009…obviously without the real Keith in attendance.

Keith is near the end of his life in this version…you can tell it’s older with the greenwash all around. The big difference is now …the holograms sing, move, and play their instruments or rather they appear to do that. There have been shows now built around Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Elvis, Ronnie James Dio, ABBA (who are very much alive), Whitney Houston, Tupac, Billie Holiday, Wilson Pickett, and more.

The families are in control now and will decide. I’ll ask myself again…would I want to see the Hamburg or Cavern Beatles? The 1972 Rolling Stones? the 1969 Who? The 1950’s Elvis? AC/DC with Bon Scott? 1970 Janis Joplin? The Doors?

Yes to all the questions I asked but…I’m not sure how I would feel.

What do you think? Would it be unsettling to see a long-gone performer in their prime again a few feet from you? Would you go see a show (not really a concert) of your favorite deceased performer?

Now, on the other hand, there is another angle. If Bob Dylan, who is very much alive, would announce tomorrow that a 1966 version of himself was going on tour…would I go? Oh yes, I would and I would not feel bad at all. ABBA just did this also. So why do I think I would feel different about seeing Jimi, Lennon, Janis, or someone else that has long been gone?

Before you answer…now, current bands can play in Washington and be projected as holograms in London simultaneously…so it’s taken a huge jump. See the bottom video. No traveling in stuffy vans….just play at your local pizza joint and be somewhere else also. So our band could play in my garage and be on stage at Carnegie Hall and interact with the audience. I have to wonder how far it will go?

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Derek and the Dominos – Little Wing

Damn…this is such a great song. Duane Allman came into the Derek and the Dominos sessions and made a suggestion to record a Jimi Hendrix song, Little Wing. This is what he did in the Wilson Pickett sessions with the song Hey Jude.

After the Layla sessions were completed, Clapton returned to England with a rare left-handed Fender Stratocaster, a gift for Jimi Hendrix. He wanted him to hear the Dominos’ recording of Hendrix’s Little Wing, a tribute he and Duane had recorded for him. They both greatly admired Hendrix and Duane planned to meet him when Jimi came back from Europe. On the morning of September 18, 1970, Jimi Hendrix was found unconscious in a Notting Hill apartment in London. He died that afternoon at the hospital, having apparently suffocated while under the heavy sedation of sleeping pills.

The album peaked at #16 in 1970 on the Billboard 100. Although Derek and the Dominos were poised to record a follow-up album in 1971… tensions and drug abuse among the band members, along with the tragic death of Duane Allman ended that idea.

Jimi wrote this song and it was inspired by the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, a concert held for 3 days in 1967. It was attended by around 200,000 music fans, it happened 2 years before Woodstock. Jimi wrote about the atmosphere at the festival as if it was a girl. He described the feeling as “Everybody really flying and in a nice mood.” He named it “Little Wing” because he thought it could just fly away.

The song was on Axis: Bold as Love released in 1967. The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard 100 in 1968.

Bobby Whitlock keyboard player: We had two leaders then. We had Eric and Duane. Eric backed up and gave Duane a lot of latitude, a lot of room, so he could contribute up to his full potentiality, and Duane was full of fire and ideas. He’d just go, “Hey, how about we try ‘Little Wing’?”—that was completely his idea and he came up with the intro by himself. He just started playing it.

Duane was very, very good in the studio. Working with the finest musicians and engineers on the planet really paid off for him. When he had the opportunity to be thrust into that environment, he absorbed what was right and righteous and then used it to killer advantage.

Little Wing

Well, she’s walking through the clouds
With a circus mind that’s running around
Butterflies and zebras and fairy tales
That’s all she ever thinks about

And when I’m sad, she comes to me
A thousand smiles she gives to me free
Said it’s all right, take anything you want from me
(Anything you want, babe) (Anything)

Well, she’s walking through the clouds
With a circus mind that’s running around
Butterflies and zebras and fairy tales
That’s all she ever thinks about

And when I’m sad, she comes to me
With a thousand smiles she gives to me free
Said it’s all right, take anything you want from me, baby
(Anything you want) (Anything)

Whoo…
Fly on little wing
Baby, baby

Howlin’ Wolf – Killing Floor

I just posted a song by Howlin’ Wolf a week or so ago but I’ve been listening to him lately so here is another. This song comes with an interesting story between Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton.

When Jimi Hendrix came to England he made a huge impression right away. At a Cream gig he requested a chance to jam with the band. No one in those days asked to do this because Clapton was “God” on guitar to many people…plus Cream as a unit were super talented. Jack Bruce later said that Jimi was a brave person to do that because Cream were all top notch musicans.

Jimi plugged into Jack Bruce’s amp and broke into Killing Floor. Clapton was blown away by it because he never mastered the song. Jimi was ripping right through it at breakneck speed. According to Chas Chandler…Clapton just dropped his hands and was shocked.

Wolf released his version in 1964 and it was written by him.

Hubert Sumlin played guitar on the original version. He said that Wolf played the field, with several ladies in his stable. One of them, a woman named Helen, was so fed up with his philandering that she got a shotgun filled with buckshot and fired at him from a second-floor window.

So, the killing floor is a metaphor for depression, in Wolf’s case triggered by a woman who was so mad she was literally trying to kill him.

Led Zeppelin later used this song as the basis for The Lemon Song.

Eric Clapton:

“I remember thinking that here was a force to be reckoned with. It scared me, because he was clearly going to be a huge star, and just as we are finding our own speed, here was the real thing.”

“It was amazing,”“and it was musically great, too, not just pyrotechnics.”

From Songfacts

In this song, Howlin’ Wolf sings about how he should have left his woman a long time ago, imagining how much better he would have it if he went to Mexico when he had the chance. Now, he’s down here on the killing floor.

Wolf wasn’t the first to use the phrase “killing floor” in a song; the Mississippi blues musician Skip James recorded “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” in 1931. James’ version was re-released in 1964, a year before Wolf recorded his “Killing Floor.”

Artists to cover this song include Albert King, Jimi Hendrix and Otis Rush.

Killing Floor

I should have quit you, a long time ago
I should have quit you, babe, long time ago
I should have quit you, and went on to Mexico
If I had-a followed my first mind
If I had-a followed my first mind
I’d been gone, since my second time

I shoulda went on, when my friend come from Mexico at me
I shoulda went on, when my friend come from Mexico at me
But no, I was foolin’ with ya, baby, I let ya put me on the killin’ floor
Lord knows, I shoulda been gone
Lord knows, I shoulda been gone
And I wouldn’t have been here, down on the killin’ floor
Yeah

Jimi Hendrix – 1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)

I have a confession…every time I look at this song my mind wants to read “Morman” not Merman. It’s an interesting song by Hendrix. Anything he did I will listen to…even songs still coming out to this day. The guy must have lived permanently hooked up to a recording console.

This song is basically a scifi story. A merman is a male version of a mermaid. In this song, Hendrix sings about how he wants to escape the war-torn world and all the horrible things going on.

This song was recorded in 1968 for the Electric Ladyland album and it featured Chris Wood of the band Traffic.

Sometimes Hendrix would play bass himself and he had many guests such as drummer Buddy Miles of The Electric Flag, Traffic’s Dave Mason, Steve Winwood, Al Kooper and Jefferson Airplane bassist Jack Casady amongst others into the mix.

The went into the studio in February 1968 and the album was released on October 16th of that year. The final complete studio album ever recorded by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and their only one to top the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Electric Ladyland is Hendrix’s most experimental album and most musically varied.

Jimi Hendrix on going into the studio for Electric Ladyland: “We’ve been doing new tracks that are really fantastic and we’ve just been getting into them…“You have these songs in your mind. You want to hurry up and get back to the things you were doing in the studio, because that’s the way you gear your mind….We wanted to play [the Fillmore], quite naturally, but you’re thinking about all these tracks, which is completely different from what you’re doing now.”

Jimi Hendrix – 1983… (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)

Hurrah i awake from yesterday
alive but the war is here to stay
so my love catherina and me
decide to take our last walk
through the noise to the sea
not to die but to be re-born
away from a life so battered and torn….
forever…
oh say can you see its really such a mess
every inch of earth is a fighting nest
giant pencil and lip-stick tube shaped things
continue to rain and cause screaming pain
and the arctic stains
from silver blue to bloody red
as our feet find the sand
and the sea is strait ahead..
strait ahead…..
well its too bad
that our friends
cant be with us today
well thats too bad
“the machine
that we built
would never save us”
thats what they say
(thats why they aint coming with us today)
and they also said
“its impossible for man
to live and breath underwater..
forever” was their main complaint
(yeah)
and they also threw this in my face:
they said
anyway
you know good well
it would be beyond the will of God
and the grace of the King
(grace of the King yeah yeah)

so my darling and I
make love in the sand
to salute the last moment
ever on dry land
our machine has done its work
played its part well
without a scratch on our bodies
and we bid it farewell

starfish and giant foams
greet us with a smile
before our heads go under
we take a last look
at the killing noise
of the out of style…
the out of style, out of style

Jimi Hendrix – Hear My Train A Comin’

In Jimi’s short life he must have stayed hooked up to a recording console 24/7. So many albums have been released posthumously.

The only Jimi Hendrix Experience studio recording of this song crops up on the 2010 Valleys of Neptune album. The documentary film Experience (1968) features the only version released during Hendrix’s lifetime.

The song was inspired by earlier American spirituals and blues songs which use a train metaphor to represent salvation. Hendrix recorded the song in live, studio, and impromptu settings several times between 1967 and 1970, but never completed it to his satisfaction.

It was also known as “Getting My Heart Back Together Again,” Hendrix often played this song live.

Hendrix first played it in studio on December 19, 1967. During a photo shoot session, he was given a guitar and asked to play something for the camera. The original tape was re-discovered in 1993 only and remastered by Eddie Kramer.

Hendrix producer/engineer Eddie Kramer: “It shows a complete at-oneness with his instrument. Jimi had a thought in his mind, and in a nanosecond it gets through his body, through his heart, through his arms, through the fingers, onto the guitar.”

From Songfacts

The version on Hendrix’s posthumous album, People, Hell & Angels, was drawn from Jimi’s first ever recording session with his old army pal, Billy Cox, and drummer Buddy Miles. He would later record the groundbreaking album Band Of Gypsys with the powerhouse rhythm duo. Co-producer John McDermott commented to Digital Spy: “Billy and Buddy understood how to set the tempo. If you listen to this recording, they play it the same way as they did on the Live At The Fillmore East album. They knew intuitively that the song should have a great, menacing groove; it shouldn’t be old-school, old-tempo, four-bar stuff. They wanted it to have a totally different feel, and that’s what makes it exciting.”

Hear My Train A Comin’

Hear my train a comin’
Hey
Wait around the train station
Waitin’ for that train
Take me
Take me away
From this lonesome time
A whole lot of people put me through a lot of changes
And my girl done put me down

Tears burnin’ me
Burnin’ me
Way down in my soul
Way down in my heart
It’s too bad you don’t love no more, child
Too bad you and me have to part, have to part baby
Have to part

Hear my train is coming
Hear my train is coming
Hear my train is coming
Hear my train is coming

Gonna make it bigger
With all that’s still in my heart
Gonna be a magic boy ooh child
Gonna come back and buy this town
An’ put it all in my shoe
In my shoe baby
You make love to me one more time girl
So I give a piece to you baby
Hey hey hey

Hear my train is coming
Hear my train is coming
Here come the rest of my soul
Movin’ through the washer baby
Hear my train a comin’ yeah yeah

Famous Rock Guitars Conclusion

This is the conclusion of the famous guitar series. I want to thank everyone who read these and the response was much more than I ever expected. I hope you enjoyed it.

This is the last edition of this series. We covered:

Today we feature one guitar…and it’s a big one!

Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock Stratocaster (Izabella)

This guitar is a 1968 Olympic White Fender Stratocaster, with the serial number #240981, that he bought from Manny’s Music music store in New York. Its body was made of alder and has a maple neck/fretboard setup.

Hendrix played the Strat at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, including on his famous rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner”. Hendrix purchased the guitar in 1968.

Jimi Hendrix gave the guitar his drummer Mitch Mitchell who had been with Jimi since he broke through with the Experience.

Mitch Mitchell: ‘I had given him a drum kit as a present some time before and I said to him “I’ll have that guitar before you break it up” (I do not think that he would in fact have broken this particular guitar). He said, as was his way “You got it” and he then gave me the guitar. In retrospect I think it was by way of a gift as my daughter had just been born a few days previously’

Mitchell decided to auction the guitar off in 1990. Mitch had kept the guitar in the case and it never left his possession. The guitar needed to be cleaned up. Neville Marten who worked for Fender at the time did the job. This is what he said:

Taking the guitar to my workbench I checked the neck for straightness and it needed a slight tweak of the truss rod. That done, I cut off the strings and threw them in the bin. Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing? Today they alone would probably be worth £50,000 (with Jimi’s DNA all over them)!

At an auction in 1990, it was bought by Gabriele Ansaloni for the sum of around $300,000. Ansoloni kept it for two years before selling it on to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen for a sum believed to be north of 2 million dollars (some sources also say $1.3 million and $2 million).

Paul Allen housed it at The Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington, the museum he founded to showcase the history of rock n roll music. And it’s on display there to this day…see below…

below that is Kenny Wayne Shepherd playing it.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd got to play the guitar on the Jimmy Fallon Show.

Fender made an exact re-production of Izabella…it can be yours for around $6000 dollars.

Fender Custom Shop Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster Izabella Limited Edition Olympic White

Build-A-Band

Remember Build-A-Bear? Well this is the rock edition. I think this post may go under…” looked great on paper but…” but lets give it a try. Have you ever thought about if you could have a pick of any musicians living or dead and bring them together in their prime…what combinations would you come up with?

Who would you pick if you could pick anyone? We have a time machine so don’t worry…Jimi Hendrix is just a trip away. This is a discussion my friends and I have once in a while. I always wondered what a band with Keith Richards and John Lennon together would have sounded like…probably as raw as you could have sounded…a band with Big Star’s Alex Chilton and the Beatles Paul McCartney? It would be interesting.

There are many musicians I have left out…most likely they were here in previous editions that I’ve gone through in the past few weeks.

Now… I would want to make at least two or three different bands…a rock, hard rock, and a pop/rock band. Now I could go on and on…Soul, Blues, Funk, Country/Rock, and even Heavy Metal. Who would you pick? What would your “dream” band be? If I had time I would have listed around 10 different kind of bands…but these 3 will do for now.