STRAIGHTER HEAD
I have always been troubled by Jimi Hendrix's death and the struggles he had towards the end. Something was clearly wrong. In the months leading up to his death he seemed terribly unhappy. This gives me the opportunity to mention another brilliant blog of specialist pages focusing on a few artists namely Jimi and Pink Floyd and specifically Dave Gilmour alone, rather than the shotgun spattered eclecticism of my pages here so check out over at Prochedelic Music and I think I found it through the auspices of Floppy Boot Stomp and/or Voodoo Wagon thanks to Silent Way and Jobe and the gang (where else?!).
Now Prochodelic Music has posted an attempt to interpret Jimi's proposed fourth album before his tragic and untimely death at a mere 27. It is a fascinating read and worth checking out for the liner notes if nothing else (see below) but is well worth the listen too. Now I have a problem with his work post Electric Ladyland and so did he it would seem. I blame his management and specifically Mike Jeffrey who ensured Hendrix's touring schedule was chaotic, seemed unplanned, hectic and guaranteed to exhaust the star. This was of course the industry standard at the time and bands were sent with little to no logic on tours without the meticulous eye for detail we expect these days. It is my belief he was close to nervous exhaustion around the time he died and if you check his itinerary and the photos of him before he passed away you may ending up agreeing that he seems to have become far from happy with his lot. Electric Lady recording studio looked like costing him a fortune and probably not capable of recouping his investment before several years were to pass but we will never know now.
There is quite a lot of evidence that Prochodelic is correct in his tracklising (see Jimi's notes on illustrations 4 below) and Jimi had definitely had begun working on it when he died. Listening to it worries me. It sounds unformed at best and untidy somehow. It seems to reflect his mood and frustrations what with the arguments with Chas Chandler who left him by now and with Noel (Reading) effectively being sacked but he also seemed less than happy with his chosen replacements in Billy Cox and Buddy Miles and others to boot. The album as it might have been has a sound that we don't find upon Electric Ladyland. It has a discordant note to me. There is no Red House, no beauty of Little Wing no magic jam of Voodoo Chile 15 minute album jam with the joyous peak of working with Steve Winwood, Jack Cassady and guests [sic] or the vision of reinterpreting Dylan's All Along The Watchtower. His attempt to continue and cover another Dylan song in the cover of 'Drifter's Escape' has none of the re-arrangement or vitality that Watchtower must have made Bob sit up and take notice in shock and awe at what Jimi had wrought. It is lacklustre and uninspired. But then much of the work is in my humble opinion and I know there are Hendrix fans who will disagree with this and cite Ezy Rider, Cherokee Mist and especially Roomful of Mirrors but in my view these are nowhere near the excellence the artistry, the beauty if you will of his previous albums.
Check it out and see if you agree . . . . . or not and look at these cover notes here to whet your appetite
Jimi Hendrix - the missing fourth - STRATE AHEAD
