Daily Prog Rock Update

John Watt

Member
White Knight! I was just going to comment about your first Jimi posting,
but I see you got to "Electric Ladyland" by yourself.
Jimi was extremely aware of his image and musical output.
The first albums you mentioned weren't his product, but "Electric Ladyland" is.
I hope you're laying back and grooving on headphones, listening to the extended overdub symphonette.

But as far as my daily Prog update, I was arguing about Genesis again.
Everyone seems to think everyone likes them, me too, but I only really liked "Carpet Crawler".
Yes, Gentle Giant, King Crimson, The Flock, Manfred Mann Chapter 4, kept my rock interest going as jazz increased.
Trying to win me over by playing them on a cell phone isn't going to work,
and might not rate a listening mention here.
 

White Knight

Spectral Warrior con passion
John, I did in fact listen to Electric Ladyland on a nice set of headphones and it simply blew me away! Not only for its particular time, but for the ages, this will remain a pioneering work. If I'm not mistaken, on one of the cuts {I believe Rainy Day, Dream Away} he was using overdubbed electric saxes and strings in a way which would presage some of what Stevie Winwood with Traffic would do on some of their albums later on down the road. The man was an out and out genius, no doubt about it; too bad he had to die so damn young!
 

John Watt

Member
Yeah, I still get sad in September, remembering the day he passed away.
I came home from the annual fair where I actually bought an Apache style hat like Jimi wore,
having fun wearing it around, the only hat I've ever owned. I'm a hand-knit tuque kinda guy.
When I was having a hot bath after, the little transistor radio was playing "Rainy day, dream away",
and I was thinking that's a strange song to put out as a single on a.m. radio, a five minute instrumental,
and it kept going, playing the whole side, until the d.j. said the tribute to Hendrix would continue.
I knew what that meant. Yes, my blues first began with Jimi Hendrix,
being sad that I couldn't afford the same guitar and amp with effects like him, right away.
And it only got worse after he passed away.
I've even still got a little residual anger about why he never got a left-handed guitar built for him,
leading the way that way for all us lefties.
Yes! Jimi! Jimi! I know you're half-phasing around out there wherever you desire to be,
but why didn't you get a left-handed guitar built for you?
I always thought "Rainy Day, Dream Away" and "Still Raining, Still Dreaming",
were just jams, guitar, organ, bass and drums, with studio party sounds overdubbed afterwards.

I'm still looking at your avatar, getting into it. Very detailed, yet highly suggestive. Nice!
 

John Watt

Member
I was lying in bed thinking about this thread last night, wondering about calling Jimi a genius.
You got me going on that, White Knight.
When Jimi was alive I was also a big George Benson fan, and that's who I called a genius.
George Benson played a Gibson L5 and was instrumental, just scatting along with guitar solos, when I saw him.
He was a faster player, used more elaborate chords, just sat while he played, and he was a showman too.
I see George Benson as a genius on electric guitar, playing it all right in front of you, live and very alive.

I see Jimi as sitting there fixated on his mixing board, using tapes of recording to create his overdub symphony.
Someone sitting playing with technology, no matter how effective he was, isn't a live performance bringing it all.
Jimi didn't have as fast fingers, but his style did use more strings, being more bass heavy, than George Benson.
Jimi also held his hand up and around the bridge and tremolo arm, not being able to palm mute at all, a huge technique.
Jimi did so much you didn't really miss it, but it kept him from the kind of circular sweeping and muting that gives great tones.

What Jimi had that is still so enchanting, is his mixings of various guitar tones in a wide enough range to achieve, okay,
not symphonic, but orchestral depth. And it was interesting, very interesting, when he came out, having new tones.
I can't say I'm bored with Beethoven, or John Coltrane, but Jimi keeps the interest up in ways they never thought of.
It's headphones that make the biggest difference, and technologies those musicians didn't have, but that's not genius either.

What drives this for me today is an open mike performance I gave last night, surprising even me.
Everyone thought I was going to show up with my acoustic guitar and do a few tunes, but I wasn't feeling that way.
Standing at the back, I got into a couple of guys taking turns doing rap stuff, mostly imitating beats and making boombox beats,
and after being prodded enough to want to get up, I thought I'd try something new for myself, not just singing, but boomboxing it, if I could.
I wasn't even thinking songs, tapping my foot to give me a basic four-four, and subconsciosly getting my left foot like it was on a wah-wah.
I started breathing some beats, and started singing the lead guitar wah-wah for "Voodoo Chile", getting into a mix of percussion and lead guitar.
Then I threw in some lyrics, keeping beats going, and got more wahs happening, really getting into it.
Hendrix was so easy to translate this way, the beat, the fills, the melody, I kept going, and someone yelled "We created a monster".
That made me smile, and fall to the floor, moving my arm around like Jimi would wave his guitar, singing a wild wah lead solo.
I could have let the mike sit on the floor so I could sing into it and use that hand to make more beats, but I got up first,
starting to wonder what I was doing, until I looked around and saw everyone leaning over to watch.

Boomboxing Voodoo Chile convinced me of the basic structures of Jimi's music as being sound overall,
and enlivened me in a new way, strange as that is, listening to Jimi since 1968, seeing him in '69.

Maybe Jimi is a genius, and I'm not suggesting a choice between him and George Benson,
but, uh, is any of this worth further discussion?
"If I don't see you no more in this world, I'll see you in the next world, so don't be late, no, don't be late".
 

White Knight

Spectral Warrior con passion
On Spotify:

Robin Trower--John Peel Session {5th March 1974} and Bridge of Sighs
 
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White Knight

Spectral Warrior con passion
On Spotify:

Squeeze--Argy Bargy. I had quite forgotten how much I liked this group; what a fantastic album!
 

White Knight

Spectral Warrior con passion
Procol Harum--Broken Barricades. Some 41 years on, this is still cutting edge stuff, especially Trower's piece, which he dedicated to Jimi Hendrix, who had just recently passed away {"Song For A Dreamer"}.
 

White Knight

Spectral Warrior con passion
Yet again, I listened to Broken Barricades by Procol Harum. I just can't seem to get enough of Trower's inspired, Hendrix-like playing and Brooker's haunting and plaintive vocals.
 
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