For rock guitar freaks, (you know, the type that live for just one more Jimmy Page, David Gilmore, Brian May or Jeff Beck solo (or who also will be the first to scream ‘Free Bird’ at any rock concert)), Jimi Hendrix is at least a demi-god. It’s said that when Pete Townsend, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Lennon and McCartney all went to see Jimi perform at a club in England, the consensus was they all might just as well quit.
I’d always listened to Hendrix through the lens of just his guitar playing, and never really paid much critical attention to the band around him, nor the overall sound of the music. I really hadn’t analyzed just how much the individual members of his bands contributed to his sound and the mood and tone of his songs. Until now. The Band of Gypsies sound was so blues/funk oriented, with the bass line really being laid down in a soulful manner. To my less than discerning ear, it sounded “more black” and very authentic. Then you listen to the straight ahead rock of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and you get a second dose of authenticity connected to the guitar rock tradition. An amazing feat, achieving authenticity in two different sounds. The difference a musician makes.
-- Loren Preuss
