-- Hendrix, Jimi - Live at the Fillmore East | (Audio CD) MSRP $ 19.98 Amazon Price $ 14.97 Savings $ 5.01 | |  Release Date: 23 February, 1999, Experience Hendrix
TRACK LISTING - Stone Free
- Power Of Soul
- Hear My Train A Comin`
- Izabella
- Machine Gun
- Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
- We Gotta Live Together
- Auld Lang Syne
- Who Knows
- Changes
- Machine Gun
- Stepping Stone
- Stop
- Earth Blues
- Burning Desire
- Wild Thing
Usually ships in 24 hours | | | Varying performances and quality, but good overall! | "Live at the Fillmore East" was one of those long-awaited purchases for me. After having heard "Band of Gypsys" almost 20 years ago on cassette and again on CD, I was excited to hear about the release of more footage from one of my favorite concerts ever.
When I finally did get it, I felt disappointed at first. Edits sounded clumsy, the microphones are way off on some tracks (because of technical problems, I learned later), and the performances are variable or take some getting used to, at least.
Highlights: my favorite is the jam on "Auld Lang Syne", even though the sound quality is bad and takes some getting used to, Jimi and company bring the 1970`s to New York in style. "Hear My Train A Comin`" is the most intense version I`ve heard yet of Hendrix`s deeply personal song, and "Izabella" has more life than his version from Woodstock. "Who Knows" takes some getting used to if you`ve heard the excellent version on the "Band of Gypsys" CD, because it departs quickly into a jam session, with Jimi even apologizing to the crowd. But on its own, no apologies are necessary, and you call tell that the band is tight and having fun. "Stepping Stone" also translates well with vibrant intensity on stage.
Indifferent: Two versions of "Machine Gun" are interesting to hear, and good performances, but nowhere near the version on Band of Gypsys. (Then again, how can you come close to that definitive version?) "Earth Blues", "Stop", "Voodoo Child" and "Changes". The last one ("Changes") starts and sounds almost identically to the "Band of Gypsys" CD version until it reaches a part where Buddy Miles improvises vocals. I prefer the other version with fewer vocals.
Not so good: Sound quality and the remaining tracks. Even the weakest songs aren`t that bad though.
Overall, I have to say that I prefer the Band of Gypsys ensemble over The Experience. Nothing against Noel Redding or Mitch Mitchell, but Billy Cox and Buddy Miles provided a more cohesive sound and I always got the impression that Hendrix-Miles-Cox love the blues, which is a must if you were to play with Hendrix. In addition, with the Band of Gypsys group, the music is more `simple` (if you want to call it that), but it is the music, rather than showmanship, that take center stage. I think that Buddy Miles made an excellent foil to Hendrix, with the additional talent of having lead and backup vocals that worked well with the music, allowing Hendrix to focus more on his guitar.
I`d recommend this to fans of later Hendrix, but I`d recommend people to get the "Band of Gypsys" CD first, since it contains the definitive performances and is also less expensive, being one disc versus two. Only then should you venture into "Live at the Fillmore East", and with the strong caveat that the sound travels into uneven territory that is unexpected from a digitally remastered release. | | | | No Need to be Wary At All! | I put off buying this CD because of the negative reviews I had read. What a load of rubbish.
Band of Gypsys is one of the great live recordings released in the 60`s and 70`s. I always loved the Gypsys rhythm section as opposed to the Experience and always wanted to hear more from this line-up. On these Fillmore concerts, Buddy Miles is right there on the beat, there`s no hesitation, no pussyfooting around, he`s commital and right there on the beat, rock steady - folks in the Hendrix circle used to call him "the funky cememt mixer". Anyway, I figured if Band of Gypsies was so stunning, how bad could the out-takes from these concerts be?
I`m really amazed that it took until 1999 to get this material out to the public, especially considering all the marginal material that was peddled off to the fans. This is a great, great find for Hendrix fans. If you enjoyed Band of Gypsys then you definitely want to purchase this. I really have no criticisms at all. I am "tickled" that this is so good. Sure, Machine Gun isn`t quite up to the same standard as the landmark version that appeared on Band of Gypsys, but both versions are still good. Stone Free is incredible, the "New Rising Sun" material sounds great live and the band is very tight. The Gypsys are a far tighter sounding band than Experience sound on their live releases. This is not just a jam band folks. Michael Jeffries was a complete idiot for working to destroy this lineup.
Let`s face it, Jimi`s live releases, apart from Band of Gypsys, are very much hit or miss affairs, track back track, CD by CD. Band of Gypsys is the fantastic exception and Live at The Fillmore isn`t that far off the mark. It`s grrrrrrrrreat! Buy at once! | | | | Essential if you already have Band of Gypsys 1 | I don`t understand some of the low votes for this great album, even if some just don`t like the editing. As others have said, bootlegs exist for those who want the shows in their entirety but this more commercially viable 2 CD set provides a sensible alternative. Because it is so much longer than the original classic, which also has a version of `Machine Gun` which is undisputably better, it does not seem to have the same impact as that one does, but the music`s just as good, if unsurprisingly with a different, but equally good sound mix. I`m surprised at complaints about sound quality. I have hundreds of live music CDs from this era and the sound quality is up there with the best. To anyone considering getting this, first try the original Band of Gypsys, preferably the 3 track extended version if you can track it down without paying too much. As it`s a matter of taste, and many people who enjoy plenty of other Hendrix concerts may not like this one, see if you enjoy the single disc first before investing in this one. And if you`re not outraged by the sound quality of the 3 bonus tracks (I believe `Hear My Train` was lifted from videotape) of the original, you`ll be more than pleased with the sound quality here.
I`m astonished that some people criticize the fact that some songs on the first album are not on this one. I would have been annoyed to find too much overlapping of songs on the 2 releases, and the choice as to whether to put an unheard version of a song on the album as opposed to a classic version available everywhere for over 30 years should be a no-brainer.
Whatever one may say about Buddy Miles, whose singing personally I find great but vocal scat singing and screaming intrusive, the fact is that there is far greater, more sophisticated playing from Hendrix here than on many earlier Experience concerts like Monterey for example, which were really exciting visual experiences but whose audio tracks may not contain as much great playing as a show when he was focusing more on the audio than the visual side. Even the version of `Wild Thing` presented here has more in it musically than the early ones.
Whatever problems some people might have with Experience Hendrix, one must admit that their releases have been light years ahead of most of those released since Hendrix died. Remember the awful mixes and edits of the Alan Douglas era, the space cadet liner notes of Michael Fairchild, Douglas`s sidekick who wrote a book that pulls quotes out of Hendrix songs to prove that Jimi was on a mission to Earth to warn us of our impending destruction by a giant asteroid, and even some of the weird cover art. Now we have great clean mixes, no horrible echo or obtrusive studio effects, sensible informative liner notes, and great photos and overall artistic sensibility, extending also to their Dagger Records range of releases. So thank you Experience Hendrix, you`re doing a great job, and are criticized only by those who have forgotten or have no memory of how the Hendrix legancy was handled in the past. | | |
-- zzzz
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