Published on May 24, 1999
The world of the arts is littered with people who,
metaphorically speaking, color inside the lines.
Most gifted artists begin by learning from those who went before
them – observing styles, techniques, basic avenues of expression.
Most then settle into a niche – maybe an interesting or quirky one
that skirts the edges of the current scene, but for the most part,
a niche that still lies within the boundaries of their own learning
and experience. They find the lines they’re most comfortable with,
and they color inside them.
What the great, truly landmark artistic figures do is to say
“Those lines are good, those lines are valuable, and I respect them
— but now I’m drawing my own.”
For four incredible and all-too-quickly-gone years, Jimi Hendrix
drew lines that changed the world of popular music forever.
A true rock and roll devotee probably needs all three of the
studio albums Hendrix completed during his lifetime; each is a
remarkable accomplishment that shattered untold barriers in its
day. But for the Hendrix beginner (which I’m not, but I’m hardly an
expert),
Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix is a great
place to start.
Hendrix’s music is, at its core, blues music. In the early ’60s
he had served his apprenticeship as a sideman for rhythm and blues
acts that included Little Richard and the Isley Brothers. He could
draw inside those lines like a master, but his prowess with a
guitar was so far beyond what was asked of him that neither he nor
the acts he worked with were comfortable with his role.
When Animals bassist and fledgling producer Chas Chandler came
across Hendrix, he was a barely-known solo club artist blowing away
small crowds in New York with his virtuoso playing. Distortion,
feedback, bizarre amp settings, behind-the-back playing, lightning
runs on the fretboard, astonishing shifts in tempo and mood — all
were part of his mainly self-taught repertoire before he ever
recorded a song of his own.
Moving to London in 1966 at Chandler’s behest, Hendrix recorded
the first of his three studio albums, 1967’s
Are You Experienced? Seven cuts from that astonishing debut
are featured on this 20-track compilation, seven cuts that grabbed
the music world by the lapels and shook it until it was dizzy.
The jagged, angular hook that kicks off “Purple Haze” was like
nothing ever heard before in popular music – the banshee wail of an
incredibly potent new voice being born. It and its companion “Manic
Depression” are arguably the first heavy metal songs in music
history, all pounding backbeat under grinding guitar pyrotechnics
that would turn Jimmy Page, Tony Iommi and a thousand others on to
the bone-shaking power of the fully amped, thoroughly unleashed
electric guitar. (Even one of the chief themes of heavy metal is
established here — how far is it, really, from “Manic Depression”
to a “Communication Breakdown” that leaves you “Paranoid”?)
Still, “Hey Joe” was the first single, and here Hendrix’s blues
roots are on wide display. His gruff, sometimes shaky vocals aren’t
yet a match at this point for the sensitivity and fire of his
playing, but the total effect remains remarkable. The same goes for
“The Wind Cries Mary,” another of the gentler, bluesy numbers that
helped Hendrix break out as a singles artist. They came out of a
recognizable genre, yet made it over with panache.
The songs that propel the first part of this disc, though — and
the ones I personally could listen to for days on end — are the
pulsating Chuck Berry-on-acid numbers “Fire” and “Stone Free.” The
combination of a driving backbeat and some of Hendrix’s most
aggressively rhythmic playing and singing is stunningly powerful.
These thunderously amped soul grooves would ultimately offer
inspiration to artists as diverse as Led Zeppelin and
Parliament-Funkadelic, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Frank Zappa. They
were the template for a new vision of music that erased all
boundaries between blues, soul, pop and rock, and threw open the
doors of invention for all those who followed.
Highlights from Hendrix’s other two complete studio albums are
also featured here, four tracks from
Axis: Bold As Love (1967) and three from
Electric Ladyland (1968). Both albums saw Hendrix’s musical
palette expanding still further, bringing exceptionally creative
arrangements and experimentation of all sorts into the picture.
Take for example “Crosstown Traffic,” one of Hendrix’s
deceptively simple compositions that’s actually dense with
inventive touches when you break it down — clever lyrics,
call-and-answer vocals (featuring guest Dave Mason of Traffic
fame), a stuttering, dynamic beat, and a guitar line that he
doubles on, yes, a kazoo. And it works. Other memorable tracks
include the terrific blues ballad “Little Wing,” the
uncharacteristically playful “Foxey Lady,” and the delirious
psychedelic jazz-funk jam “If 6 Was 9.”
Among Hendrix’s crowning achievements, though, has to be his
adaptation of Bob Dylan’s gritty, soulful “All Along the
Watchtower” into a hurricane of churning acoustic rhythm guitar
(Mason again) and simply astounding electric soloing. To admire a
seminal artist is one thing, to cover his work and top him at it is
testament to the reach of Hendrix’s talent.
Be prepared to collect your jaw off the floor a few more times
before your 73 minutes are up, though, because this 20-track
collection never lets up. Near the 3/4 mark, just as you begin to
fear the highlights of Hendrix’s all-too-brief catalogue may be
about to peter out, a fresh burst of energy kicks in, beginning
with the smoldering “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return).” Oft-cited by
those who would know as the electric guitarist’s ultimate
challenge, the solos Hendrix shreds here are so consistently
unpredictable and staggeringly complex as to defy description.
The next four cuts comprise the heart of the album Hendrix was
working on at the time of his death, to have been titled
First Rays Of The New Rising Sun, and they belong right here
with his best work.
“Freedom” is a driving R&B number that puts the rhythm
section in a killer groove even as the lyrics take their
inspiration from both 1970 socio-political currents and traditional
African-American spirituals. “Night Bird Flying,” by contrast, has
an almost country-rock feel to it, as if Hendrix had invited the
Gram Parsons-era Byrds to sit in. Both feature more exceptional
soloing. Meanwhile, the striking ballad “Angel” is awash in the
dreamy tones created by another of Hendrix’s sonic experiments —
amping his guitar through a Leslie organ speaker.
The set closes, appropriately enough, at Woodstock, with
Hendrix’s immortal kamikaze assault on “The Star Spangled Banner.”
While this wasn’t his finest moment artistically, the
out-of-control passion he invests in this rendition helped to seal
his legend, and thus it belongs here beyond a doubt.
A review of this disc would not be complete without mentioning
the excellent packaging and liner notes. Every song is fully
annotated with just the right amount of background on its
composition and recording, and the photos and design are
top-notch.
All in all, this is a package in every way worthy of the artist
it celebrates, an artist whose vision exceeded everything he saw
around him, and who dared to make his vision real — to draw his
own lines.