Saturday, November 25, 2017

Song Of The Week: 11/26/17







Song: "Red House"

Artist: Jimi Hendrix

Album: "Are You Experienced"

Year: 1967

Place Of Origin: Seattle, Washington

Years Active: 1963 - 1970



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Red House" is a 12-bar blues song written by Jimi Hendrix. The song's meaning is a common theme in old blues songs. A man comes back to find his woman is no longer there. The twist is at the end where he says that he can go back and get with her sister since she has left him. "Red House" probably has it's roots in the 1961 Albert King song "Travelin' To California". Jimi started adding to it when he offered the song "California Night" to the band he was playing with at the time, Curtis Knight and the Squires. The first official recording of "Red House" was in 1966.

JIMI HENDRIX DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

1967 - Are You Experienced (Reprise Records)
1967 - Axis: Bold As Love (Reprise Records)
1968 - Electric Ladyland (Reprise Records)
1970 - Band Of Gypsys (Capitol Records)

*After Jimi Hendrix died, there were a slew of post-humous releases, some good, some bad. Producer Eddie Kramer and drummer Mitch Mitchell finally got the chance in 1997 to make what they felt would have been Jimi's proper fourth studio album when they put together "First Rays Of The New Rising Sun". There are several other compilations and live releases that are out there but I would say "First Rays" is the definitive one to get.

CURRENT STATUS OF JIMI HENDRIX:

Born in Seattle, Washington, Jimi Hendrix began playing guitar at the age of 15. After a brief stint in the military, he moved to Tennessee. After performing in several bands, he got a gig as the guitarist for the Isley Brothers and later worked with Little Richard. Jimi, however, was getting sick of just being in a backing band and had visions of being bigger than that. He moved to New York and formed a band called Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. At one of his performances, Linda Keith, girlfriend of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, told Chas Chandler of Animals fame to come and see Hendrix perform. Chandler had Jimi's ticket. And that ticket was to go to England. While in England, Chandler helped Hendrix form a band, The Experience, with Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums. Before The Experience even had an album out, Hendrix convinced Eric Clapton to let him join Cream on stage to which Clapton agreed. Hendrix jammed with them on a ripping rendition of Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor" that literally blew Clapton away. In 1967, The Experience dropped their first album, "Are You Experienced". The album took off in England, with top singles like "Purple Haze", "Hey Joe" and "The Wind Cries Mary". Jimi's success in the States took a bit longer. It wasn't until his masterful performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival that Jimi became a legend. His blistering set ended with what Jimi described as sacrificing the thing he loved when he set his guitar ablaze. It's an iconic moment in rock and roll history for sure. When Jimi dropped his second album, "Axis: Bold As Love", he wanted to continue being creative in the studio but felt cramped by time constrictions and an ever growing studio expense. This led Jimi to think about creating his own studio which he would in 1970, called Electric Lady Studios. For the recording of "Electric Ladyland" the album, the relationship between Jimi and Chas Chandler was basically on the outs. Chandler stepped down as producer on that album and Jimi handled the board with the help of Eddie Kramer. "Electric Ladyland" was Jimi's most experimental album to date and it also featured his first top 40 hit, a cover of Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower". "Electric Ladyland" was also Jimi's only album to reach #1 on the charts. The Experience as a band was beginning to falter however. Redding would eventually quit and Mitchell was eased out. Jimi began performing with Buddy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums in what Hendrix would call the Band of Gypsys. This band would release a live album to fulfill an old record deal which featured the epic "Machine Gun". All the songs on that album were recorded from four different shows at the Fillmore East in New York. By January of 1970, the Band of Gypsys were no more and the plan was to reunite The Experience. Hendrix, however, decided against bringing back Noel Redding and the band moved on with Mitchell on drums and Buddy Cox on bass. Sporadically, Jimi was working on new material for his fourth studio album. He only spent four days at his newly designed Electric Lady Studios before having to depart to England. In those four days, he recorded the song "Night Bird Flying". Jimi was not too happy to be touring in Europe at this time and longed to create music in his new studio. The tour was marred with bad performances and cancellations. Jimi's last concert was performed on September 6, 1970 at the Isle of Fehmarn Festival in Germany. The band travelled back to London after that show. Jimi's last public performance would be when he jumped on stage to jam with Eric Burdon and his new band War at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in Soho. Jimi would die less than 48 hours after this jam session. On September 18, 1970, Jimi's girlfriend at the time, Monika Dannemann, woke up to find Jimi breathing, but unresponsive. He was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead about an hour and a half after she called emergency. Autopsy results showed that Jimi Hendrix aspirated his own vomit and died of asphyxia while intoxicated with barbiturates. At just 27 years old, Jimi Hendrix had left this world. Jimi Hendrix is a virtuoso in every sense of the word. He changed the way electric guitar would be played. Before Hendrix, guitarists used to try to avoid feedback. Hendrix embraced it. Hendrix was innovative when it came to incorporating wah pedals and phase pedals. Hendrix could be as gritty a blues player as there ever was yet he could play beautiful, rhythm and blues at the same time. He could go psychedelic or he could stomp you with the heaviest of hard rock songs. He was an innovator, a genius and a musical mastermind. Rock and roll history would not be complete without some of Jimi's signature moments. Stealing the stage from a legend like Eric Clapton at a Cream show. Setting the bar as high as it can go with his performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Playing Sgt. Pepper's live at a show in which Beatles members Paul McCartney and George Harrison were in attendance. Sgt. Pepper's came out just 3 days before that performance and Jimi nailed it! Closing the infamous Woodstock Festival in 1969 with a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner with enough feedback to make it sound like rockets were blasting across the morning sky! Jimi Hendrix is a legend. The greatest rock guitarist ever! It's amazing how big his impact is on rock and roll when you consider most of his material was created in a four year span. It makes you wonder how much more Jimi had to offer and what other creative grounds he could have broken if he had not died so young.

TEN JIMI HENDRIX SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
2. Purple Haze
3. All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan cover)
4. Little Wing
5. Fire
6. Red House
7. Castles Made Of Sand
8. Bold As Love
9. Highway Chile
10. Like A Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan cover)

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