Bought It For The Cover

Many years ago, my girlfriend (now wife) and I would buy records specifically for the covers then hang them on the wall in our living room.  Generally, it was for the killer cover art but, occasionally, it would be for the high weirdness factor.  Sometimes, the music on the record in that cover would be good but, most often, this was not the case.

Over the years, I’ve gotten extremely picky about what records get to stay in the collection. A lot of this comes down to limitations of space.  I only have so much room for records so each one has to earn its keep.  If something is just terrible, why keep it around?  If the vinyl itself is heavily damaged, it’s got to go.  I do a sort of ongoing culling of undesirables and, finally, the time has come to address some of these records we bought for the covers.

A case in point is this Pickwick release:

REVOLUTION!!!

How awesome is that cover?  Pretty freakin’ awesome.  And some of those songs are great, too!  “Love Her Madly” from The Doors, Ray Charles’ “Booty Butt,” the T. Rex tune “Hot Love.”  Nice!  Sadly, Pickwick engaged in the practice of having studio musicians cover hit songs, generally in a hideously insipid manor.  The Street People are no exception.  As much as I want to love this record, it’s truly impossible.  The liner notes state:

“Somehow, the music of the people has always been a special kind of communication.  It’s an eternal dialogue that wails and throbs out on hot tenement fire escapes, candy stores and beach blankets.  The cigarette smoke these turbulent days is not just hanging in the air between long pauses of silence or whistles at chicks in tight shorts.  These days the people are rapping about how to change the system.  Our young people (including myself) are approaching problems with a hard thinking intellectuality.  And the problems are much more than their own.  They are the world’s.  These days, people are concerned with people.  POWER TO THE PEOPLE.

The songs in this album are more than just tunes, they are special messages for everyone.  They are what’s happening right now, this second and they cannot be ignored.  Songs like John Lennon’s “Power To The People” and the driving rhythm of “Put Your Hand In The Hand,” originally made famous by Ocean.  Read the contents of this disc, buy it for a few measly pennies, put it on and play it.  You’ll be satisfied and I’m not putting you on.

P.S. – Our group, The Street People, stand on their own musical feet.”

Really?  Are you kidding me?  Can you imagine the young revolutionaries of yesteryear buying into that crap?  Even if they did and took it home and played it, can you imagine the disappointment they must have felt hearing some pretty great songs watered down and robbed of their fire?  How many copies of this record sailed out the windows of those tenements?  I don’t know if Ocean’s version of “Put Your Hand In The Hand” had a “driving rhythm,” but the only driving the Street People manage is driving me crazy.

Pickwick had a subsidiary called Design Records.  You can read more about Design here:

http://www.bsnpubs.com/pickwick/designstory.html

Design compiled recordings they owned and packaged them as cheaply as possible.  They would also lease songs from famous artists but these were rarely anything approaching hits for those artists and made for some pretty lackluster compilation LPs.  They did, however, have a great design team because their covers were outstanding.  Take this 1965 gem, for example:

I don't think they understand what "action" means.

Where the action is!  Yeah!  Look at this cover!  The action’s gotta’ be right here!  But, no, it’s not.  If the list of artists doesn’t hip you to the lack of action, a spin on your turntable will.  Nothing against Barry McGuire, but there ain’t much action going on in “So Long, Stay Well” and that’s the opening track!  In fact, the most rockin’ track here is Neil Sedaka’s “Ring-A-Rock.”  That’s incredibly telling.

The cover from 1965’s The In Crowd is a little closer to the truth:

Hey, lady, your hat's crooked.

It would be the whole truth if the in crowd were into mellow, more or less substandard songs from big name artists.  It’s not that there aren’t good songs on these Design Records releases, it’s just that those songs are too few and far between.

Pickwick and Design were clearly aiming these albums at a respectable demographic that wanted to appear a little edgy and with it, but weren’t exactly into edgy, with it sounds.  Like I said, though, their design team was on point.  These are all great covers but these LPs are on their way out to make room for records that I’ll actually listen to. 

Fun fact: Lou Reed was a writer at Design for a while in his pre Velvet Underground days.

No Bill Ward? No Black Sabbath.

Following his departure from Black Sabbath in April 1979, Ozzy put together a new band consisting of Randy Rhodes, Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake.  Not wanting to be the Ozzy Osbourne Band, they insisted on a band name, choosing the Ozzy-centric Blizzard Of Ozz.

Just so you know who I'm talking about.

They recorded the first LP, only to discover upon its release that their agreement to release the album as The Blizzard Of Ozz had been cast aside in favor of releasing it as an Ozzy Osbourne album called Blizzard Of Ozz.  This was a taste of thing to come.

See?

To make a long story short, though Daisley (and Kerslake to a lesser extent) co-wrote or wrote in their entirety every song on Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman (except “Dee,” obviously), they were forced to take Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne to court in order to receive royalties for their work.  Once an initial royalties payment was made, subsequent payments were not, instead being directed into the Osbourne’s bank accounts.  More litigation ensued, resulting in an order for the Osbournes to pay Daisley and Kerslake their proper dues.

This is the second LP.  It's as killer as the first.

What did the Osbournes do?  THEY HIRED ROBERT TRUJILLO AND MIKE BORDIN TO RE-RECORD DAISLEY AND KERSLAKE’S DRUM AND BASS PARTS SO THEY WOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY THEM FUTURE ROYALTIES ON THOSE LP’S.

Wardrobe, hair and makeup courtesy of Dailsey/Kerslake.

I’ve heard these alternate versions.  I can’t say they’re worse, though that is my opinion, but I can say they sound different.  I mean, of course they do.  I won’t go into the heresy of changing the original, classic recordings, either, because those recordings are readily available and, again, calling heresy is my opinion.  I do, however, advise you go for the unadulterated versions.

Is there another way to interpret the Osbourne’s action as anything other than greed?  I can’t think of one.  Daisley and Kerslake were there from day one.  They poured their heart and soul into the songs/recordings that would make up Ozzy’s first post-Sabbath LP’s.  How do they not deserve compensation?

According to entertainment lawyer and entrepreneur, Steven Machat:

“Blizzard of Ozz came out in 1980 in the UK and 1981 in The US, where it would eventually sell more than four million copies. Although it would be billed as Ozzy's first solo album, the real creative power behind the throne lay with a trio of musicians: guitarist Randy Rhoads, Rainbow bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake, who was with rock group Uriah Heep. I made sure CBS signed Ozzy on a solo deal because I didn't want to waste my time negotiating with the lawyers representing other members of Blizzard. The irony was that CBS made this easy for me because they didn't realize where the creative drive lay.

Sharon wasn't happy that Kerslake, Rhoads and Daisley had such a large creative input into Ozzy's music. More accurately, she wasn't happy for them to share the credit. I found this kind of funny, because the truth was that Ozzy was barely capable of making the studio recording sessions, he was in such a bad state. At the time it was too much drugs and booze for Ozzy. He depended on his bandmates for much of the creative input.”

"I'm Steven Machat, dammit!"

Never mind that Ozzy wrote almost none of the music or lyrics for the songs on those albums.  This isn’t an insult to Ozzy.  It’s fact.  He didn’t write but a line or two (or three) for Sabbath, either.  Of course, it doesn’t denigrate Ozzy’s contributions to either of those bands, because what he brought to those songs and recordings in inimitable.  His voice is instantly identifiable and his style, vocal inflections, phrasing, choices of melodies and, indeed, his very personality all combine to take what would have been good songs and make them not just great but stand the test of time classics.  As it turns out, he’s written very little of the music or lyrics of any of the songs on any of his solo records.  Would it hurt the guy to pay back those who wrote the songs he sings?

"La, la, la, I can't hear you!  SHAAAAARRRON!!!"

All of the above is well documented.  What is to follow is not.  Speculation may occur.

Fast forward many, many years to, oh, say, right now.  Black Sabbath is on tour.  Sort of.  Osbourne, Butler and Iommi are there.  Iconic original drummer, Bill Ward, is nowhere to be seen.

Lack Sabbath

Now, granted, Black Sabbath has toured often with few original members, often just ol’ Tony Iommi (who’s guitar playing is one of the key reasons I took up guitar myself) and a bunch of other people.  A BUNCH of other people.  A cast of thousands.  Well, tens, actually.  A cast of several tens.  One can easily argue this latest incarnation is no different.

They call him Black Sabbath...

But this was promised, initially, as a reunion of the original, hallowed and in my humble opinion, best Black Sabbath lineup.  And I was stoked.  I’m not big on big concerts but this was one I would go to!  But when rumors on the wind whispered rumors of war between Ward and Sabbath, I started to lose that sense of elation.

This is where the hearsay comes in.  Apparently, an agreement could not be made between Bill Ward and Black Sabbath regarding the financial compensation for Ward’s involvement in the reunion, recording and tours.  Apparently, Ward asked for an even split and was more or less laughed out of the band he helped start and make legendary.  Apparently, the Osbourne’s don’t have enough money.  Apparently, Butler and Iommi have no consciences or balls.

Since the falling out, the statements I’ve seen from Ward are very level headed and (if what we know about the negotiations are true) honest.  Ozzy, on the other hand, has delivered insults and back handed compliments:

“Here’s the bottom line: being a drummer is the most physical part of any band and when Bill turned up, he looked like an old guy.  I don’t think he had the stamina to play for an hour or so on stage.  If I’d had a heart attack like Bill had, I’d go, ‘F*ck, I’m going to lose some weight.’  I train; I work my arse off.  So you can’t expect someone who’s been sitting on their f*cking arse, eating sh*t, to come along and go, ‘Equal split.’  It’s insane.  I honestly don’t know what went down with that deal, but I suppose it’s something along those lines.  There wasn’t any other reason.  We didn’t gang up on him.  And it wasn’t like, ‘Bill’s just the drummer.’  I didn’t go, ‘Oh, if Bill’s not here, I get more money.’  I don’t f*cking need any more money, man.  I’d be a f*cking liar if I said I’m glad Bill never made the [new Sabbath] album.  It’s kind of a Sabbath album to a point, but it would have been great if Bill could have worked on it.  But if we’d had Bill, I honestly don’t think we’d have been this far up the road.  It was time to sh*t or get off the pot.”

"WE'RE not old, BILL'S old!"

 The thing that Ozzy has said that bothers me the most, personally, is that Ward doesn’t deserve an equal split.  Ward was definitely responsible for at least one quarter of what made Black Sabbath great.  If they’d had a different drummer, they’d have been a different band.  This is true for each of the other members, as well.  They were all well above average at what they did and they each brought something vital and uniquely their own to the table.

Just so you know who I'm talking about.

To say Ward doesn’t deserve an even split because of his perceived physical condition is lame, but coming from Ozzy…  I mean, c’mon, Oz.  What the f*ck?  You may be the prince of darkness or whatever but you managed to gain a lot of weight, gobble piles of drugs and still do okay.  I’ve seen the footage.  Hell, you were high as a kite and carrying a few extra pounds but you still managed to run and jump and tell everyone you loved them.  Comes off as pretty hypocritical to me.

"I'M not f*cked up, BILL'S f*cked up!"

Also, Ward has been playing drums and recording for the last several years.  It’s possible he would have been physically unable to participate in the reunion but who knows?

Alright, FINE!  Bill may be looking a little old.

Then there’s the part about how Ozzy doesn’t know what went on with the negotiations.  That stopped me in my tracks.  Are you kidding me?  It’s.  Your.  Band.  I don’t buy for a second that, at any time, any of the other three couldn’t have said, “No, to hell with that, Bill’s in” and not made it happen.  I’m speculating, but I see Sharon’s hands all over this deal.  It’s speculation so I won’t even bother supporting that, but that’s how it seems to these eyes.

I love Ozzy.  I do.  And I can’t help but like Sharon based on her television career and I respect her for taking care of her crazy husband.  What we hear about Sharon from former associates and employees, however, does not paint a pretty picture.  Given the Daisley/Kerslake debacle (and various and sundry other legal skirmishes involving the Osbournes and those who helped make them money), this whole thing stinks of boardroom bullsh*t, something for which Sharon has proven to possess quite a talent.  Remember, I'm specualting...

I love Butler and Iommi, too.  I love Black Sabbath.  Well, the first lineup, the Dio lineups and the one record with Ian Gillan.  After that I lost interest.  It's just that I’m disappointed.  Like finding out The Ramones hated each other and Johnny was a jerk, this flies in the face of childhood myths about childhood heroes and our ideas of what it means to be a band.

Disclaimer: I am well aware of my obvious bias in Bill’s favor.

NEVER Pay To Play

This is Bon Von Wheelie:

AWESOME!

She is AWESOME.  Not only does she plays drums for the inimitable Girl Trouble, she also runs a fantastic and important website called Never Pay To Play:

http://neverpaytoplay.com/

The concept of pay to play is simple.  From Never Pay To Play:

"The transfer of money from an artist to a promoter before playing. The term pay-to-play is used to describe a performance where an artist (primarily applies to musicians) turns in money before taking the stage. This payment can originate either directly from the artist or be collected from the artist through the sale of tickets (aka pre-sale). All or the majority of the collected funds go to an independent promoter or to a pay-to-play club."

In other words, you are paying the promoter to allow your band to play a club.  Companies like Gorilla and Afton (and many, many, many more) are essentially using bands to do all the dirty work while they sit back and collect a paycheck.  It's disgusting, demeaning and degrading.  They twist everything around to make it look as if they're doing the bands a huge favor when they're really victimizing bands for profit.

What's worse is these companies are total *ssholes about it.  Check out this email from an Afton employee to a kid whose band didn't play the game the Afton way:

Hey (name withheld),

I'm not happy. IF you want anymore of my shows you need to reply back about this immediately. If you want me to remove you permanently than just say so.

You agreed in writing to do two things:
1. Show up to Perform
2. Sell the number of Tickets you agreed to sell when you activated Tickets & Confirmed this show.

Not only did you fail to sell the amount of Tickets you agreed to sell, but you had a low door draw and your total draw ended up being very low. It is not ok for you to be so unreliable.

You directly breached the terms of the written contract agreement you and I had with each other. Until you explain what happened I cannot book you for anymore of my shows - and I have to "Blacklist" you. Is that what you want?

IF YOU WANT ANOTHER SHOT:
1. Reply and explain yourself.
2. You must verify in writing that you will Sell enough Tickets next time.
3. I will hold you to your written word if I give you another chance.

Tell me how to proceed. Should I remove you? Or do you want one more chance to show me you can be a person of your word and do what you say you'll do?

Amy Cordy
Booking Representative
AFTON, LLC

Are you kidding me?  The arrogance is mind boggling.  You can tell the attitude is that the bands are working for the promoter, which is not at all the way it's supposed to be.  See, they're called promoters for a reason.  Their job is to line up bands to play shows then PROMOTE those shows.  That's why they're called promoters.

And some promoters in the pay to play game do promote their shows.  That's true.  But it is indisputable that pay to play hurts bands and only benefits promoters.  I can't stress this enough; you are paying the promoter for the privilege of doing their job for them.

The problem is, a lot of young bands come out the gate wanting shows real bad and they get the impression this is the only way they're going to get them.  These jerks are capitalizing on the desire a band has to play their music for people.  If there are venues that will book you without a pay to play policy, play those venues!  If not, look into renting a venue with some other bands or do it yourself and put on your own show.  It's easy!  You can do it!

When you're in a band, doing business with crooks is no different than in any other industry.  Ultimately, you will get burned.

I've been playing live shows in bands for over twenty years and I have never done a pay to play show.  The first time I was approached for a pay to play show I literally laughed in the guy's face.  I couldn't believe someone was asking me to pay them to have my band play a venue.  The idea is so penultimately opposite of the way it's supposed to work.  You want me to advertise and promote the show, load up our gear, bring it to the venue, set it up to play the songs we worked hard on, break down our gear, go home and pay you to do it?!?  How about I pick up your dry cleaning, make your dinner, raise your kids and f*ck your wife while I'm at it, you f*cking leach?

All of these submorons have the same bad attitude that they're doing you a favor.  They climb up on that high horse, talk down to you and act like they know how to help you succeed if you just play the game their way.  Check out this do and don't list from Bmore Bandbooking's Facebook page:

How to make a promoter happy at your expense.

Don't buy your own tickets?  There shouldn't be any damned tickets in the first place!  If you want tickets sold, you sell the damned things, promoter!  How do the other bands benefit from you not selling tickets?  How does anyone but the promoter benefit from you selling tickets?  And buddy, don't tell me what a band is or isn't.  Sure, there's work involved but if it wasn't fun, I wouldn't bother.  The tone of this rules list is condescending and the logic is twisted.

Back to Bon:

Y'know, the awesome one.

She and Girl Trouble were actually sued by Gorilla after she posted her opinion of their predatory practices.  What did Bon do?  Fought like hell and won.  You can (and should) read the whole story here:

http://neverpaytoplay.com/Lawsuit/&GorillaLawsuit.htm

If you're in a band, stay away from any pay to play situation.  It's bad for your band.  If your friend's band is going to do a pay to play show, let them know they're making a mistake and hurting the music scene.  Direct them to Never Pay To Play or Musicians Against Pay To Play on Facebook (www.facebook.com/groups/403653866123/).  Don't be a victim!  Spread the word!  Let people know!

Return Of The Rat

My buddy brought me his ProCo Rat distortion pedal for repair.

I smell a Rat...

It wasn’t working at all; with the pedal off, he had signal but, with the circuit engaged, he got nothing.  That sounded to me like the switch had failed so I decided to go ahead and start there.

I swear, nine times out of ten, if your stomp box is crapping out, it’s the switch.  The good old heavy duty Carling switches last a long, long time, but the trend towards converting pedals to “true bypass” has introduced a lot of cheap, low quality 3PDT switches into the market.

New switch installed, done deal!

That wasn’t the case here, however.  This was an older Rat pedal; I haven’t seen inside of a newer one but these were built like tanks!  Nice, solid engineering and assembly.  Changing out the switch was a cinch and solved the problem.  Case closed (oooooh, bad one…).

A Reminder From Oxxbridge Galleries

'Remember, you never actually own a record.  You merely look after it for the next generation."

-Oxxbridge Galleries (410 Park Ave, New York City, NY)

Roger Miller Feelin' Tight On Opry Almanac

According to one Youtube viewer, 'Roger Miller was an unparieled genius.'  I have no idea what that means but, as a singer, songwriter, entertainer and all around character, he was certainly unparalleled.

It's more than likely I'll write more about Roger Miller another time because I am a major fan.  This entry, however, is regarding Miller's appearance on a show called Opry Almanac.

That's Charlie Louvin's guitar!

This episode was shot Tuesday, March 8th, 1966.  Miller is clearly "feeling good" in spite of his "laryngitis."  He smokes, cracks jokes and takes the lord's name in vain (but apologizes for it immediately).  His brilliance, talent and humor are highlighted even more when conversing with super square Ralph Emery.  In fact, the interplay between all these folks is often dryly hilarious.  This footage is awesomely weird and weirdly awesome.

The house band was Beegie Adair on piano, Jimmie Colvard on guitar, Buddy Rogers on drums, Bobby Dyson on bass and Bob Olson on the weather.

Guitarist Thumbs Carlisle (Nice shirt!) and drummer Jerry Allison (Formerly of The Crickets!) from Roger's band sit in and there's a little pickin' and grinnin' (and singin') from Charlie Louvin!

 

I was the drummer in The Crickets!  Peggy Sue's my wife!

Here are the links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc5WLLjsd7c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhlJseiAWRk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO3O_PhNCIs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00RmNikczWo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBG0MgRWHew

To me, this footage is a fascinating and hilarious window into another time and a fantastic opportunity to see Roger Miller in action.

Not to mention the great Thumbs Carlisle!

And remember, folks; every day is Saturday to a dog.

Band Of Gypsys

My introduction to Jimi Hendrix was via The Experience and those three amazing LPs.  Later, when I heard Band Of Gypsys for the first time, I didn’t take to it immediately.  Reminiscent perhaps in parts to Electric Ladyland, it was still too out there for me.  Soon, though, as I continued to listen to it and take it in, it became a very special record to me.

The Band Of Gypsys really only existed for several months between October 1969 and January 1970.  Having split from Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, Hendrix put together this new band with a couple buddies he knew before his career took off.

L - R: Buddy Miles, Jimi Hendrix, Billy Cox.

Hendrix met bassist Billy Cox in 1961 at Fort Campbell during his stint in the Air Force.  The two performed together with ensembles and formed The King Casuals after leaving the service.  Like Hendrix, Cox played with some of the finest R&B killers of the day including Sam Cooke, Rufus Thomas, Etta James and Little Richard.  After Noel Redding jumped ship, Cox came on board.

Lookin' sharp, gentlemen.

Buddy Miles met Hendrix in 1964 at a show both were performing at in Canada, Hendrix with The Isley Brothers and Miles with The Ink Spots.  Miles played with The Delfonics and Wilson Pickett, among others, before starting The Electric Flag with Mike Bloomfield in Chicago in 1967.  After The Electric Flag broke up, Miles started his own band, The Buddy Miles Express.  Miles had played on some of the sessions for Electric Ladyland.  When Hendrix asked Miles to join Band Of Gypsys in October 1969, he said yes.

The Electric Flag.

Bill Graham booked The Band Of Gypsys for a four performance engagement over the course of New Year’s Eve, December 31^st 1969 and January 1^st 1970.  These concerts were recorded and six of the songs were ultimately released as the Band Of Gypsys LP.  Following Hendrix’s death, an LP called Band Of Gypsys 2 was released.  This was misleading in that Band Of Gypsys only played on the A side, performances of “Hear My Train A Comin’,” “Foxy Lady” and “Stop.”

Recently, I paid my hard earned money to download Live At The Fillmore East, which consists of sixteen recordings, fifteen of which were not released on Band Of Gypsys.  “Hear My Train A Comin’” and “Stop” are included, but not “Foxy Lady,” which I find odd.  It includes the same recording of “We Gotta’ Live Together” as can be found on Band Of Gypsys, though this one is unedited, coming in at 9:56 compared to the 5:46 version found on Band Of Gypsys.  I know bootlegs exist, but I would very much like to see all four sets remixed, remastered and released with truckloads of liner notes.  I’d love to be able to listen to each set, complete, start to finish, without edits.

The recordings from those concerts reveal a band on fire, fully in control of their formidable talents, firing on all cylinders, swinging HARD and rocking harder.  Hendrix joked about their limited repertoire (‘We only know about six songs right now… seven… nine…’), but this band only needed a handful of tunes to blow the doors off the Fillmore East.

This is what righteous rock looks like.

Hendrix finally had a rhythm section he had no personal problems with and with who he felt a sense of newfound freedom.  Perhaps it is the sound of relief and of sheer joy that we hear coming out of Hendrix on these recordings.  He was more excited about the music he was making than he had been in a long time and was playing with musicians who shared his background and roots to a much larger extant than Mitch Mitchell or Noel Redding.  If anything, Jimi’s confidence must have been soaring, his enjoyment of this lineup eclipsing his struggles up to that time.

But within the joyful release of the music lies the dark underbelly of the times.  Vietnam, the Civil Rights movement, the Black Panther party, Kent State, Altamont and a lot of ugly confrontation between the old guard and the new counterculture.  Hendrix was experiencing turmoil with his management and his career.  These were dark times, as much as the period is associated with peace and love.  Hendrix knew it and felt it.  You can hear it best in “Machine Gun”, where Jimi sings, “Evil man make me kill you, evil man make you kill me.”  If his “Star Spangled Banner” at Woodstock was Jimi’s commentary on the violence and war going on at the time, “Machine Gun” was that frightening vision put to words.  The versions from those Fillmore East concerts were downright scary, the band providing the soundtrack to the scenes everyone was seeing every day.  Explosions, napalm, gun shots, bombs, Molotov cocktails, death.

Perhaps the times were also reflected, somehow, in the direction Jimi’s life and career took after these recording were made.  One more Band Of Gypsys concert, back to unsure lineups, unsure situations, complete disillusionment and, ultimately, death. 

But, for those two nights at the Fillmore East, Jimi was very, very much alive.  The chemistry and interplay between these three musicians is so powerful and such a joy to listen to.  The gospel roar of “We Gotta’ Live Together,” the killer version of “Stone Free,” the slow burn of “Hear My Train A Comin’,” the beautiful little figure that acts as the intro to “Changes.”  There is a sense of uplift, of positivity in the music and the message.  ‘With the power of soul, anything is possible’ seems to be the point and the evidence is in the magic of the music.  For two nights, four sets, The Band Of Gypsys ROCKED.  I love listening to these recordings, getting inside them, closing my eyes and trying to really believe I’m there, in the middle of the crowd, experiencing this incredible testimony to the power and glory of music.

The Band Of Gypsys would perform only one more show, a charity event at Madison Square Garden later in January.  According to Buddy Miles, Hendrix’s manager, Michael Jeffrey, wanted Hendrix back with Redding and Mitchell and purposely sabotaged the show by giving Jimi bad acid:

‘Jeffrey slipped [Jimi] two half-tabs of acid on stage as he went on ... [Jimi] just freaked out. I told Jeffery he was an out-and-out complete idiot and a fucking asshole to boot. One of the biggest reasons why Jimi is dead is because of that guy.’

Hendrix ended up having a breakdown and walking off stage, effectively disbanding The Band Of Gypsys.  I’ll let you do your own research on this one, but I agree Jeffrey was instrumental in guiding Hendrix to an early grave.

We’re left with a wonderful catalog of work and the aftermath of a revolution in guitar playing.  Hendrix is like the Bruce Lee of music (or maybe Bruce Lee is the Hendrix of kung-fu); no one can touch them, not only because they were the best at what they did but because they’re gone.  Gone too soon.  The wonder and marvel I feel when I hear Hendrix has not diminished over the decades, the inspiration is as strong as it ever was.  I’d have loved to see him live but he was gone before I got here.  I have to make due with videos and visions in my head.  Band Of Gypsys remains one of my absolute favorite Hendrix LPs and The Band Of Gypsys was one of the best lineups he ever got down with.