Live at the Monterey Pop Festival

by

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

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When Jimi Hendrix walked onto the stage at Monterey he was relatively unknown in the United States. When he walked off the stage, popular music had been completely transformed. The American debut of the Jimi Hendrix Experience at Monterey isn't just the most exciting live rock concert ever recorded; it's also one of the most significant moments in the history of modern American music. Hendrix took the music world completely by storm and turned it on its head. His influence today is greater than ever, 41 years after the fact. Days after the mind-boggling "set the guitar on fire" stunt, Hendrix was a household word.

The set kicks off fast and hard with Killing Floor, one wonders how Mitch Mitchell (drums) could keep up without injuring himself. Next up, Foxey Lady, soon to be a standard. The treatment of Bob Dylan's beautiful ballad, Like A Rolling Stone, is compelling and soulful. Rock Me Baby is simply beyond belief; it throws off heat like a jet engine. A hard-edged version of Hey Joe comes next; it's blues all right, but psychedelic blues. By the time Hendrix gets to Can You See Me? it's clear that he and his cronies are all settled down and solidly in the groove, this one speeds past like a bullet. The Wind Cries Mary is handled gently and carefully, it's a great song and provides a welcome break from the mayhem.

Purple Haze has never sounded ruder, more demented, and incoherent - it is riveting. If you have any imagination at all, think about what this music must have sounded like to people who'd been nursed on The Platters, The Four Freshmen, and The Beach Boys. We are now completely accustomed to the influence Hendrix has had and it's easy to forget that when this was recorded what Hendrix was doing wasn't merely new, it was earth shattering. As to the closer, Wild Thing, I remember the Troggs version, sort of a frat house crowd pleaser. Hendrix takes it into the stratosphere; in many ways it's the highlight of the performance. Burning the guitar was theatrical genius, really, after you've just invaded the greatest nation on earth and conquered it in one night, what else is there to do?

I'm always interested in having the best audio version of any recording. Therefore, when this new version was released, I picked it up and compared it to an older edition, the fourth disc of the Rhino Monterey Pop Box, released in 1992.

I was very unpleasantly surprised and dismayed to find the new disc does not have the clarity of the Box CD. The drums & cymbals especially sound muffled.

From a historical standpoint, it's interesting to hear the small snippets of Hendrix' conversation in between songs that do not appear on the Box disc, and yes, the new CD packaging & photos are excellent.

However, it's no fun, after listening to the Box CD for the past 16 years, hearing a new version that has less clarity.

I haven't heard the other versions of this show, released after the Rhino Box, but I sure can't recommend this one.