Forty Years Ago: The Most Significant Music Album Ever and Unfortunate Questions of Blackness
August, 1967 was the height of the summer of love. It was, too, the crowning month of an amazing year of music. In sixty-seven Pink Floyd released their first album. The Stones would release their 7th, 8th and 9th albums. The Monterey Pop Festival redefined live concerts. Plus there was a little album from the Beatles that was dropped to, oh, a bit of notice.
Also, the most significant music album ever was released in the US.
On August 23rd of that year America was introduced to the absolutely astounding debut record from 24-year-old Johnny Allen Hendrix. Jimi, to the world. At a time when both musicians as artist, as well as studio recording techniques were evolving at an accelerated pace, Hendrix possessed a singularity. As a self-taught guitarist -- left-handed, no less, on a flipped Fender Stratocaster as opposed to a true left-handed guitar -- he was an unparalleled virtuoso. Beyond his sheer ability, what made Hendrix Hendrix was the absolute fearlessness of a nuke scientist he owned when it came to mixing and blending styles. Rhythm and Blues, free Jazz, Soul, Rock... A cocktail he called the melding of Earth and Space -- Earth being the music itself, Space being a psychedelic approach to phrasing, playing and recording. Added to all that was Hendrix himself -- the hair, the clothes, the casual attitude toward life and the obsession for creating perfect music.
Hendrix's musical philosophy is put on raw display in an album that is track by track nearly flawless. On the US version (the tracks and track order are different on the UK version) the album opens with "Purple Haze," does a hard tumble into "Manic Depression," slips into the most famous rendition of Billy Robert's "Hey Joe" . . . Side Two begins with the soulful "Wind Cries Mary," then launches into what is the greatest straight ahead rock piece ever written: "Fire." The album closes with "Foxy Lady" and "Are You Experienced." In between and among all that is a tour de force by a man who was born to invert expectations of music and who played what how.
And that is the prime significance of Are You Experienced and Jimi Hendrix. There were, of course, no shortage of black music stars particularly at that time when Motown was in full flower. However there were few, if any, prominent black rock stars. To the contrary, the modus operandi of rock had been for white acts -- be it Pat Boone or Elvis, the Beatles, or the Stones -- to lift from black R&B, repurpose the music and sell it to white audiences. Hendrix flipped the script, took the rock format, re-infused it with Soul and Funk and gave a visage of color to Rock and Roll.
The influence of his artistry was powerful and pervasive. A direct line can be drawn from Hendrix to nearly ever guitar icon of the era: Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend and Eric Clapton (who would remain close friends with Jimi for the remainder of his life). It was Paul McCartney who got the Jimi Hendrix Experience -- Jimi's ultra-lean band with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell -- into the Monterey Pop Festival. At the festival it was Stones' Guitarist Brian Jones who introduced The Experience.
Unfortunately, no matter that Hendrix "stole back" black music and openly acknowledged and credited countless R&B legends as being of influence to him, like many blacks who live how they please Hendrix was often accused of not being "authentically" black; of being a sellout for his style of music, for not having black band mates and for dating white chicks. Basically he was given crap for being himself rather than the kind of black that others perceive and dictate black should be.
You'd think in forty years such puerile questions of "authentic" blackness would have been long answered, then consigned to the Potters field of racial identity. Take a look at what nonsense Barack Obama still has to put up with, and you see that sadly they have not.
Perhaps even someone as unique as Hendrix could not change racial politics for all time. We'll all have to be satisfied with his having changed music forever.
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I also offer the number of times Cheap Trick has entertained me right down front.
The first time was a week after ther debut came out and WCOL in Columbus did a free show at the Agora on High Street, what, 1976? 1977?
I have never seen them when Rick Nielsen hasn't showered me with picks.
The last time was when they opened for Aerosmith mid naughties in Dayton and Tom Petersson talked to me from the stage into the front row between every song.
We talked about their debut tour.
Rick, Robin and Tom sang in my girlfriend's face on "The Flame"
Yeah, it was Chicago cool.
Those guys slam.
And the picks are all over the floor and in your face.
Real nice personalized with charicature and signature.
A Cheap Trick pick is solemn.
I have personal experience with the subject of this article. I was gently ridiculed by my friends in High School for liking Hendrix. I was "crazy" for liking that weird music.
Having grown up in San Diego and not being directly impacted by racism, I guess made me "not Black enough" in my thinking and relationships. Since that time I have learned alot and understand both sides of the argument. I think it is sad we are not past this but I also know only time will change the situation.
Experienced was indeed a fine album but due to my personal experience with LSD contemporarily with the release of Electric Ladyland, it was that album which will be first, now and always the jewel in the Hendrix crown. Jimi was the trip guide par excellence and his trendsetting recording techniques combined with his unique musical sensibility straddling the realms of black music and psychedelia culminated in that gem. The subsequent offerings never measured up, in my opinion. He became diverted from what I thought his natural direction should have been when he got involved with the Band of Gypsies. Sign of the times, I guess.
I saw him live in '68 and he was far and away the coolest cat out there. In an interview before his death he had mentioned that he was planning a future project he dubbed, "Western Sky Music". I have never completely gotten over the loss of his potential and the particularly tantalizing musical imaginings conjured by that phrase. I'm thinking Axis Bold as Love on steroids.
I took my daughter to Seattle in 1995 to visit his grave. I've never done that with another celebrity, musician, athlete or anything. Long live Jimi Hendrix.
The genetic affinity of Barak Obama and the AA population is fallacious:
1) No slaves came from Kenia
2) the genetic diversity in Africa is 95% of the total human genetic differentiation.
3) 20% of the AA genome is from white males
4) Most of the slaves from Africa were not allowed to reproduce and most were male.
5) the genetic of africans is heterogeneous and the genetic of AA extremely homogeneous and is Artificial; the result of slavery no natural selection.
So most probably the genetic similarities of Barak and a black american will come from his white mother, aint that curious?.
I love this thread. Lots of great opinions, lots of great memories, and good political discussion.
Seems like Hendrix is still making the world a little better.
Just think, if Obama were Micheal Vick, there'd be no white folks beating their chest about his multicultural background. No sir, there would be absolutely no confusion about his "blackness".
Rapper Ice T fronted the heavy metal band "Body Count," too. Nice article, John. Funny how white people have become "the black police" after years of having us do it to ourselves.
Ice T was very bold about expressing his love for rock music. All the members of Body Count were black as well. I hear he sometimes still tours with them.
I wasn't a fan of Body Count's music, but I did like seeing him cross the line between rock and rap at will.
I remember listening to "Are You Experienced"
in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean while in
the Navy on my final trip home from "The Med".
No one had heard anything anything like it
before. Every song was unique. It seemed with
groups like "Cream", "Pink Floyd" and Hendrex
that the impossible would be an everyday occurrence. I found out that the rest of Rock
music was very commonplace with rare exceptions.
Mr Ridley, we would like to hear more of what
YOU think of Obama. We have heard from
Debra Dickerson in Salon about Obama's
blackness or lack of same. She unintentionally said more about herself than about Obama.
What does a black republican like yourself
think of the unique candidacy that is Barack Obama?
There is not going to be a black president in this country until AA can support a black that the whites like. Obama like Hendrix will be rejected by the AA community because he is liked by many whites.
Want to put money on that?
Obama is not rejected by the "black community" but Hillary already has some amount of support amongst black people that Obama is not going to get simply because he has darker skin than Hillary.
Believe it or not, many black people (like myself) actually are concerned with the actual issues far more than they are about race.
Again -- Hendrix was not "rejected" by the black community because he was liked by whites; it was simply that many blacks preferred to listen to things like Motown at the time.
OK. I lied about the best bands I've seen.
Have you ever seen Springsteen do "The Angel" from twenty feet away?
While at Ohio State in 1976 a guy from Cleveland - Terry Tarrentino - (He runs a restaurant up there now) bought a bunch of second and third row seats for Spingsteen at Vets Memorial.
It was the second leg of the "Born to Run" tour.
The first time Bruce was clean shaven and he had just fired Mike Appel.
We bought tickets off Terry (who we called "Honcho").
Bruce jumped into the orchestra pit and into the audience during "Spirit in the Night".
We peed ourselves and sang along. "All Night".
Miami Steve wailed.
Jimi had already opened for the Mamas and the Papas at the Hollywood Bowl so John Phillips knew what was up before Montery Pop ever happened.
Jimi Hendrix was the best rock guitarist ever. Listen carefully to "All Along the Watchtower" and you'll hear what I mean. As for early rock, Chuck Berry was certainly the best. He's African American (still going in his 80s) and inspired such bands as the Beatles and Beach Boys. He put on a great show in his day too.
With that greatest album ever tag you must be prepared to receive a lot of contrary feedback. I'll leave that alone although I do agree it's a worthy candidate. Racism was alot more widespread in 1967-69 and I do remember some really red-necky dudes, who had no Black friends, lovin them some Jimi. I think Jimi had the lowest % of Black fans of any Black #1 Billboard artist. Remember very few Blacks had #1 lps back then and Jimi had 3. I wish Obama could have Jimi's crossover appeal. "Black enuff" is all a media bore. I haven't meant one African American who even considers it worthy of discussion. It's about who is gonna help the community not how light is he? No one ever brought up Luis Farakan's color.
Yeh man, and what about the YOUNG BLACK TEENAGERS ... they get no love, that's wack!
The best BANDS I ever saw were the Romantics, the Ramones and the Rubinoos. (Beside Captain Beyond).
The best ACTS I ever saw consisted of homosexuals and negroes.
Guess we need to decide what we think we want and what the Sky Wizard offers.
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