Maybe the problem is with you (no offense) if ALL these other smart and respectable people find Hendrix so amazing?
You might consider that. Not trying to start an argument but I did want to comment.
PS Jimmy Page said he never saw Jimi live, so I don’t think he was in attendance wherever you said he was.
Sincerely,
Pete Von Sholly
It seems that every new reader who discovers our Jimi Hendrix piece feels it necessary to take a swipe at me for being the ignorant SOB who wrote it ... when, in fact, I acknowledge all along that for so many others to feel differently about the music of Hendrix, the problem must be on MY end because I just never really "felt it".
As for "Little Wing", "The Wind Cries Mary" or "Angel", I suppose we can find exceptions to ANY rule. Fair to say The Beatles weren't only about "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" or "You Know My Name", right? They DID do some other music, too ... that most of the world felt important enough to make them the musical gods that they became.
As for the Jimmy Page comment, I don't remember specifically what you're referring to (and clearly you don't either since you brush it off with simply "wherever you said he was") ... but the research that went into this piece came from reading and referencing SIX Hendrix biographies (also mentioned in the piece) so all I can tell you is that it must have been documented SOMEWHERE in one of those volumes.
Scanning my piece (written many years ago when Forgotten Hits was still an email-only newsletter), the only Jimmy Page reference I could find was regarding the recording of Donovan's hit "Hurdy Gurdy Man", originally written with Hendrix in mind to record it. Hendrix passed on the opportunity and then never showed up the day he was supposed to lay down his guitar licks on Donovan's track ... so once again my article clearly states that Page (who WAS in the studio that day) and Hendrix failed to cross paths. (kk)
Speaking of Jimi Hendrix, we recently caught word of a brand "new" Hendrix release featuring some early tracks from 1965, just before he was launched into super-stardom. Check it out here:
EXPERIENCE HENDRIX L.L.C. AND LEGACY RECORDINGS TO RELEASE
YOU CAN’T USE MY NAME: CURTIS KNIGHT & THE SQUIRES (FEATURING JIMI HENDRIX) THE RSVP / PPX SESSIONS ON MARCH 24
1965 - 1967 Recordings Showcase Hendrix’s Brilliance Just Before His Ascent to Stardom
February 18, 2015 – New York, NY - Experience Hendrix L.L.C. and Legacy Recordings are releasing You Can’t Use My Name: Curtis Knight & The Squires (Featuring Jimi Hendrix) The RSVP / PPX Sessions – the first in a series that presents these recordings in their original context. The specially priced fourteen-track collection, taken from sessions in 1965 and 1966 [plus one July, 1967 recording], will be available on CD and 150 gram LP on March 24.
In the mid 1960s, before launching a solo career that has profoundly influenced and altered the course of popular music, Jimi Hendrix was a little known sideman, working for short periods with a variety of artists including the Isley Brothers, Don Covay, Little Richard, and the Harlem-based R&B combo Curtis Knight & The Squires.
Ed Chalpin was an entrepreneur and record producer who founded PPX International, Inc. in 1960. He had created a lucrative business by recording cover versions of top US hits for foreign record companies, who then overdubbed translated lyrics. In addition to creating remakes for foreign markets, Chalpin had begun to produce original material at his New York recording facility Studio 76 that he would license to various record labels. Chalpin auditioned Curtis Knight in 1965 and agreed to manage and produce him.
In October 1965, Knight introduced Jimmy Hendrix to Chalpin. After their initial recording session yielded Knight’s “How Would You Feel,” Chalpin signed Jimi Hendrix to a notorious three-year recording contract for $1.00 and a 1% royalty. Hendrix had thought he was signing a release as a backing musician, later noting, “I took it as an insure of getting paid for the session…” In 1966, Chalpin licensed two singles from Hendrix’s sessions with Curtis Knight to RSVP Records, a New York based independent label owned by Jerry Simon. “How Would You Feel” b/w “Welcome Home” and “Hornet’s Nest” b/w “Knock Yourself Out.” The latter two instrumentals were composed by Hendrix and stand as the first ever commercial release of his own music. Both of these efforts missed the charts entirely and, as a result, Simon’s interest in the group waned and RSVP did not issue a third single.
Hendrix would continue to intermittently perform as a member of Curtis Knight & The Squires in 1966. He had also formed his own group Jimmy James & The Blue Flames in Greenwich Village. It was there where Animals bassist Chas Chandler spotted Hendrix performing “Hey Joe” at the Café Wha?. He offered to take Hendrix to London to record a version of the song and serve as his producer.
In September, 1966, Chandler escorted Hendrix from New York to London to make good on his promise. Under his guidance, Hendrix formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience with drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding. Chandler rushed them into the recording studio, pawning his bass guitar to help fund the group. Chandler’s faith was rewarded in December, 1966 when “Hey Joe” became a hit in England and soon throughout Europe. “Purple Haze” and “The Wind Cries Mary” followed in quick succession and were even more successful. In a matter of months, Hendrix had transformed from a struggling, little known sideman to the brightest new star in popular music.
Ed Chalpin had learned of Hendrix’s international success via reports in industry trade journals. Beginning in May, 1967, Chalpin had begun notifying every company he could identify as doing business with Hendrix that his company PPX had previously signed the guitarist to an exclusive three year contract covering the term between October 1965 and October 1968.
Beginning with December 1967’s Get That Feeling, Chalpin began to compile and license albums featuring the master recordings Hendrix had recorded as a sideman to Knight. Get That Feeling was followed by October, 1968’s Flashing. Hendrix’s burgeoning fan base was confused by the lack of liner notes or accurate cover imagery [Get That Feeling featured a photograph of Hendrix performing at the Monterey Pop Festival] as these albums gave full artist billing to Jimi Hendrix.
Jimi Hendrix was hamstrung throughout his career by litigation over these recordings in the US and UK and these fights continued until his family ultimately prevailed in litigation against Ed Chalpin and PPX in 2003. Experience Hendrix has since acquired all of the recordings controlled by Chalpin and PPX and this compilation stands as their first attempt to present this music in its original context.
You Can’t Use My Name kicks off with “How Would You Feel,” a 1966 single based in part on Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.” “How Would You Feel” tackles sensitive race issues, pre-dating by a few years the explosion of popular R&B acts latching onto the thriving Black Power movement. Its B-side “Welcome Home” is also featured on the collection. These tracks represent a musical touchstone, as Hendrix (listed as “Jimmy Hendrix”) received his first ever label credit as an arranger of both songs. Also included is the instrumental “Hornet’s Nest” and its B-side “Knock Yourself Out [Flying On Instruments],” both of which were composed by Hendrix.
Capping off You Can’t Use My Name is the August, 1967 track that spawned its namesake. Heard for the first time is the fascinating section of studio chatter that precedes a take of “Gloomy Monday,” wherein Hendrix repeatedly requests that Chalpin not use his name in the marketing of the recording, and Chalpin agrees, albeit, ambiguously. Already months deep into litigation, it can only be theorized that Hendrix continued to participate in sessions with Chalpin as a gesture of goodwill in the hope that all would be forgiven. It didn’t pan out that way, and the dialog is an interesting footnote to the complicated history between the two parties.
“We are extremely delighted to now be in a position to offer these rare, historic recordings,” commented Experience Hendrix President and CEO Janie Hendrix, sister of Jimi Hendrix. “What makes them so special is that they provide an honest look at a great artist during the pivotal time when he was on the cusp of his breakthrough ... a time when Jimi’s number one priority was playing and recording, and this set captures him doing just that, both as a collaborator and an innovator. They are more than just recordings, they represent a significant segment in the timeline of Jimi's musical existence.”
Original Jimi Hendrix Experience recording engineer Eddie Kramer recently went to pain-staking lengths to maximize the audio quality on the collection. “We’ve taken every single performance as far back as we could go in terms of source and we came up with the best original performances, stripped them back and re-mixed them and made what we feel is the best representation of those recordings,” says Kramer. “It’s a continuing archeological sound dig which is to say you sweep away the dirt with a fine brush and find the gem hidden therein. It’s what I call ‘forensic audio’ where we use every available piece of outboard gear and plug-ins and whatever tools are available to us. It’s been hours and hours of intensive work but it’s truly been fun to find the best performances and to make sense out of them."
These recordings made for PPX and RSVP are part of Jimi Hendrix’s extraordinary legacy. They neatly align with those other sessions Hendrix participated in during this same era as a sideman for other acts. Absent the confusion as to Hendrix’s true involvement, these recordings provide a snapshot of his development immediately prior to his discovery by Chas Chandler. “I was a backing musician playing guitar,” Hendrix explained in a 1967 interview. “I was always kept in the background, but I was thinking all the time about what I wanted to do.” Enjoyed in this context, these Curtis Knight sessions showcase his evolving technique and emerging brilliance.
You Can’t Use My Name: Curtis Knight & The Squires (featuring Jimi Hendrix) The RSVP/PPX Sessions tracklist:
1) How Would You Feel
2) Gotta Have A New Dress
3) Don’t Accuse Me
4) Fool For You Baby
5) No Such Animal
6) Welcome Home
7) Knock Yourself Out [Flying On Instruments]
8) Simon Says
9) Station Break
10) Strange Things
11) Hornet’s Nest
12) You Don’t Want Me
13) You Can’t Use My Name
14) Gloomy Monday
re: Barry Manilow:
Seriously ... where else on EARTH are you going to go from Jimi Hendrix to Barry Manilow?!?!? Man, you've just GOTTA love Forgotten Hits!!! (even if we do picture our readers naked from time to time - lol!)
Saw Manilow about '79 or so at Pine Knob in Michigan He called his back up singers an "oreo cookie" ... two girls were black and one was white. LOL
Sanvtoman
That was Barry's running gag early on ... that he was going to name his trio of background singers "The Oreos" as they stood black, white, black behind him. Ultimately they settled in on "The Flashy Ladies" and even released a few singles of their own, as "Lady Flash". Debra Byrd would go on to be a vocal coach and background singer on American Idol for many years to come. (kk)
I truly enjoyed this review. The fact that a reluctant fan gives Barry a thumbs up and the audience a thumbs down shows the review was given in an honest frame. Barry IS quite the entertainer and performer. I feel the pain that a deserved standing ovation was lost. Sometimes people cannot release their "proper" and just be grateful for the freedom allowed in music.
Shelley
First time I saw Barry Manilow was way back in the 70's. I was working at the Auditorium Theatre. He was the pianist for Bette Midler and she appeared for three consecutive nights. She introduced him to the audience and said that he was going to be a big star some day. He soloed by playing a few commercial jingles that he had written at that time. Who would have ever guessed what he would soon become? I sure didn't. I remember thinking, "This guy will never be a star unless he gets that nose fixed!"
Aside from that, on the second of the three nights, a strange looking group walked in. It was eight young guys, all wearing trench coats. They had tickets in the very center of the front row. Early in Bette's performance, they dropped their pants while sitting down. They then stood up, all at the same time, and they peeled off their trench coats. They shouted in unison, "We love you, Bette," while standing totally naked. This was a tribute to Bette's beginnings as a singer in New York's famous gay bath houses. She saw and heard the men and totally broke up, stopping right in the middle of her number. She was laughing so hard she couldn't go on. She said, "I love you, too," regained her composure and carried on.
Thank you
Steve Sarley
Awesome! The Full Monty BEFORE there even was such a thing as The Full Monty!!! Love It! (kk)
Here's my favorite story about Barry Manilow, and some of you in Chicago might remember this. I was working for his show a few years ago. He had broken his foot or something, so he was brought out on stage in a wheelchair. Well, the music started, then suddenly transitioned into something more lively, and Barry threw off the lap blanket and jumped up out of the chair and began to sing - 'It's a Miracle'! It was pretty funny, and definitely got the show off to a great start! Regardless of whether or not you like his music, he's definitely a great entertainer!
Marlene
re: Clip Of The Week:
FH Reader Alex Valdez sent us this one ...
You gotta wonder how long it took ... and how many bottles had to be consumed ... to come up with THIS one!!! Pretty cool actually.
