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jimi hendrix live at the isle of wight | Year: 1970 Classification: Music Video - Pop/Rock Directed: - Murray Lerner Actors/Actresses: - Jimi Hendrix James Marshall Hendrix, Unparalleled Rock Guitar Genius The concensus among fans seems to be that this is far from Jimi Hendrix's best filmed performance, and I would concur with that assessment. If you are only going to buy one Hendrix concert on DVD, you will be much happier with "Jimi Hendrix Live at Woodstock." On the other hand, if you are a true Hendrix fan, or a collector, "Live at the Isle of Wight" will be a valued addition to your collection because you know that any opportunity to see the most talented rock guitarist ever to sling an axe across his shoulder on film is a delight, if only for the part it plays in the documentation of rock history. Keep in mind that this is the guitarist who probably inspired more than one of a circle of British artists then widely considered guitar gods to contemplate giving up playing guitar as they sat in the audience, slack-jawed and wondering how this genius got those sounds to come out of his guitar, when they saw Hendrix perform in the UK. They knew they would never be as good as Hendrix.<BR> Though they have their moments of brilliance, the performances on this DVD are routine at best, lazy and lackluster at worst and, as has been stated so many times before, the concert was plagued with equipment problems. But a routine performance by Jimi Hendrix would be rated phenomenal if turned in by any other artist. You can see Jimi, several times, trying to tell someone that he can't hear his vocals adequately over the stage monitor, which causes some of the singing to be off-key. Though he does a decent job on it, he forgets the words to "Spanish Castle Magic," one of his masterpieces, and does some on-the-spot improvising. But Hendrix still shines in numerous places on this disc, and it is those places that redeem the concert. Jimi flat-out rips it up, playing his guts out on the solos and bridges of both "Voodoo Chile" and "Red House." My opinion is that "Machine Gun," as it appears on the album 'Band of Gypsies,' is the best live rock recording in the history of music. Another unparalleled musical genius, Miles Davis, expressing his sorrow and regret over Hendrix's death, said he was deeply disappointed at never having had the opportunity to jam with Jimi during his brief but meteoric career. When asked what song he would have liked to collaborate with Hendrix on, Davis replied, in his gravelly voice, "that #%%(*& Machine Gun." But Jimi's performance of that song here suffers because it is abbreviated, lackadaisical, and misses the contribution made by Buddy Miles on the album. Even so, "Machine Gun" features some decent solo work. Other highlights of the show are "Freedom" and "In From the Storm," two very good songs that found their way onto the posthumous release "First Rays of the New Rising Sun." <BR> A rock genius of this magnitude only comes around roughly once every 25 years. After Jimi left the planet, we had to wait until Kurt Cobain came charging onto the scene with Nirvana before such an ingenious knack for rock was displayed by a sim For hard core Jimi fans only This is a must have for all hardcore Jimi fans like myself. However, this is not really one of his best performances. He went on stage at 2AM in the morning, and looks very tired by the middle of the set. He was plagued with equipment problems, and clearly not happy with his playing on many tunes. Many of these were new songs,not fully worked out, and it shows. That said, however, when it clicks, it's Jimi The Master shining through. Red House is the stand out track,proof that Jimi was a master blues player.Machine Gun and Voodoo Chile have some stunning soloing as well. If you are a novice Hendrix fan, I would recommend you get Jimi at Monterey instead, which is easily his best filmed performance. It's OK...but Blue Wild Angel is better... for YEARS this was all we had of Jimi's appearance at the Isle of Wight. It's a shorter, lo-fi version of Wild Blue Angel. Unless you lived with this version, and don't care otherwise, buy the newly released Blue Wild Angel DVD instead, it has MUCH better sound, and the complete performance. Well, almost complete. The CD has two or three tracks, like "Hey Baby/New Rising Sun" that you won't find here. Buy Jimi Hendrix Live At The Isle Of Wight at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Jimi Hendrix Live At The Isle Of Wight Search with the Priority Search Engine on Jimi Hendrix Live At The Isle Of Wight This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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