THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE V THE BAND OF GYPSIES

The Jimmy Hendrix experience was formed in 1966 in London with two Brits - Mitch Mitchell (from Ealing) on Drums and Noel Redding (from Kent) on Bass and of course Hendrix on Guitar. The Band stormed the Rock scene and established Hendrix' reputation with seminal hits "Hey Joe", "Voodoo Child", "Cross Town Traffic", Foxy Lady, "Purple Haze" etc from Three albums- "Are you experienced", "Axis: Bold as love" and "Electric Ladyland"This Band also featured as part of the Monterey Festival in 1967 (apparently Paul McCartney sorted out the gig, so he can't be all that bad), making History with an incendiary performance - especially a cover of Dylan's "All along the Watchtower". The Band's concerts at this point were characterised by Jimi's extravagant stage act, playing the Guitar with his teeth, behind his back and famously thrashing the Guitar or setting it alight as he did at Monterey amongst other places. Also cogent was his popularisation of the Wah Wah effects pedal (a Pedal was named after him) and his exorbitant use of the Distortion Fuzz effect.

The Band in its original form split up in late 1969, as Noel Redding felt the need to express himself -forgetting he had auditioned for the Band as a Guitarist, pretty unwise as Hendrix had no rival- and that he had been forced to learn to the play the Bass in the absence of any other angle. He was in any event a pretty basic but competent Bassist, and owed any unique style to tips from John Entwhistle of The Who. It is of course necessary to mention that Mitch Mitchell was one of the world's best drummers at the time.

Redding's departure meant he would not be part of the performance at Woodstock (and arguably Jimi's most popular) on August 18 1969, his place was taken by Jimi's old Army Buddy - Billy Cox . The performance being under the heading of the band- Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, though it had Mitch Mitchell on Drums. We all remember the rendition of "Star Spangled Banner". Some however argue that the Band was poorly rehearsed- whatever- it was a great performance and the vacuous will probably prefer to remember only the stray Cat from the crowd who jumped on the stage and attempted to play the Conga's- apparently everyone was so laid back-after three days of intense performances in the mud, music and mayhem- he was ignored completely and eventually left the stage on his own.

The Band of Gypsies was formed after the break up of Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, with Jimi, Billy Cox and Buddy Miles. Buddy Miles was in his own right an exceptional Drummer and Singer who had a massive following in the Black audience in America (having been part of the Delfonics, The Inkspots and Electric Flags, as well as Wilson Picketts Band). This Band rehearsed intensely for two weeks in a studio and the Band of Gypsies was born. The Band went ahead and recorded some studio material which was released only after Jimi's death in 1970.

This Band's highest point being the two day concert at Fillimore East in New York. This unarguably is the most intense and electric live performance by Jimi Hendrix, the chemistry between what were three exceptional musicians was so explosive it was almost physically tangible. Three masters in their element and probably at their peak. A lot has been written about this concert, but some people would use the audience reaction as a simple indicator of the power of the performance. The audience unlike what you would expect at a Rock concert listened in almost pin-drop rapt attention and only broke the silence to applaud rapturously between songs- in fact a situation more apposite to a Classical Concert. The most intense performance being the Anti-War song Machine Gun, alongside others like Buddy Miles- "We gotta live together", "Changes", "Power of Soul" and many more including some Experience tracks . Critics argue that Jimi had never and would never perform with that level of intensity and inspiration till his death. The Concert was recorded both on Video and released as a Live Recording - Jimi's only live recording, being that his previous live performances had been released under the Concert headings (eg Woodstock, Greenwich Village and Monterey).

The Band didn't last long and famously split up after Hendrix Manager fired Miles and Cox after a gig wherein Jimi walked off the stage spaced out. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was reformed (with Mitchell and Redding) after this concert but Jimi insisted that Billy Cox be returned, however the Band never recorded again till his death.

Comparison between the The Jimi Hendrix Experience and the Band of Gypsies? This would be completely unfair on the artistes. There is no doubt that they were all exceptional musicians - with the exception of Noel Redding, who was to be honest, average and whose job was merely to provide steady rhythmic accompaniment to Jimi's pyrotechnics. He was no John Entwhistle ( for speed and tonality), James Jamerson (the Bassist behind all the Motown hits of the 60's/early 70's for flair and Interpretation), Larry Graham (Sly and the family Stone- for Innovation) etc. He was a competent journeyman- and thats it. However the rest- Mitchell, Cox, Miles were supermen and played their part in what was Rock history by providing the foil for Jimi Hendrix's heroics.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience exposed Jimi's great talents to the world and whilst it may be said that it almost took away his true essence by some emphasis on crass commercialism (the extravagant stage shows et al), without the Experience we may never have heard of Jimi Hendrix. On the other hand few would argue against the fact that the Band of Gypsies enabled Jimi reclaim his Soul and get back to his musical essence i.e to really play music and also enabled a return to his Bluesy roots. The Filimore East Concert has left an indelible chapter in Rock history, but then so did the Experience Albums. So its more a case of no victor no vanquished, Hendrix wasn't about competition and comparison anyway.

Jimi died on September 18th 1970, exactly a year and a month after the Woodstock performance ostensibly from a Drug overdose, however what is clear is that he had a large amount of sleeping pills (not Heroine) in his system after death and an eye witness account was to the effect that he was alive when taken away by the ambulance i.e his zonked out girlfriend, who probably wasn't a reliable witness). Its necessary to mention that contrary to wild speculation, Jimi Hendrix was not a Heroine addict. He admittedly smoked Marijuana regularly and also experimented with LSD and Stimulants (obviously no angel) but never used Heroine as speculated. He was charged with, tried and acquitted of possession of Heroine when it was clear that it belonged to someone else who had placed it in his luggage. Alcohol was another matter, it obviously didn't agree with him as he would often fly into violent, paranoid rage. Otherwise a gentle, sensitive though eccentric guy. He often had a spaced out look and thrashed a few cars, not as some speculated under influence but largely because he was very short sighted and refused to wear glasses. It would have been interesting to see him in Horn rims.

So, a sad end for the prodigious talent, musical pioneer and ex -paratrooper of the 101st Airborne . A pity the greed and commercialism he abhorred plagued his estate after his death, with his siblings fighting over his enormous estate and the profits of his musical legacy till today.

Jimi had expressed a wish to be buried in England, unfortunately this didn' t happen and he's buried today in an uncompleted grave monument in Seattle Washington, uncompleted because the Trustees haven't quite gotten round to it, being somewhat distracted with milking the estate.