Retro Reviews: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland

    I decided to launch a new series to imagine myself as a critic at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s, and to rectify certain reviews from Rolling Stone magazine and Creem. This not meant to be contrarian, but to offer a more balanced perspective. All the albums reviewed are indeed classic albums.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland (1968)

*****

Producer: Jimi Hendrix

Musicians: Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell, Al Kooper, Dave Mason, Steve Winwood, Jack Casady, Freddie Smith, Mike Finnigan, Buddy Miles, Larry Faucette, Chris Wood, Brian Jones, Cissy Houston, Slyvia Shemwell, Myrna Smith, Estelle Brown

Songs and music: “And The Gods Made Love”, Have You Ever Been To (Electric Ladyland), Crosstown Traffic, Voodoo Chile, Rainy Day Dream Away, 1983… (A Merman I Should Turn To Be), Moon, Turn the Tides…Gently Gently Away, Little Miss Strange, Long Hot Summer Night, Come On (Part1), Gypsy Eyes, Burning Of The Midnight Lamp, Still Raining Still Dreaming, House Burning Down, All Along The Watchtower, Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

Reviewed by Matthew Anthony Allair

    This album is epic in scope and scale, along with his band, Hendrix has redefined not only the guitar but song rock song writing as well. Aside from the core band of Redding and Mitchell, he has assembled an all-star roster of talent to appear on various numbers. Some of the album feels very ‘live’, but most tracks have a dense, layered sound, and there’s evident craft involved here. Are You Experienced? was a dazzling debut, but Axis: Bold As Love was just as impressive as an evolution. Other than The Beatles, I have seen few acts evolve so quickly as Hendrix in a narrow space of time. There’s a flute that weaves and glides through a certain track, and this sensibility of gliding is fitting for this album, perhaps due to the psychedelic guise, or perhaps not. Hendrix has gotten his share of criticism, if not the occasional scorn. I still remember his appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival, an increasingly seminal moment, and the criticism of a few pears*, which had the odious tone of racial bias from them. I have a long memory, I don't forget the slight. Jimi is far more gracious than I am.  

    Let’s address the claims from other peers about the album, one that is it too long, this is a ridiculous point, the song choices are perfect, as far as the length of certain numbers, Hendrix had already been long form improvising on the stage, he just now has the freedom to explore on record. Second, that this is a ‘concept’ album, I don’t see it. As much as some could claim that Sgt. Pepper is a concept record based on the framework of a few songs, the only valid point oof that claim would be the connecting tracks on side three, which we will get into later. This album is important, will be seen as important and helps to define music going into the next decade – of that I am certain. Some of the credit must go to recording engineer Eddie Kramer, who has, like he did with the prior albums, helped to broaden the sound palate for Hendrix.

    With “…And The Gods Made Love’, the album opens with a sound collage of backwards voices, echoes, and various effects to set the tone, and honor The Beatles streak of experimentation, this nicely segways into “Have You Ever Been to (Electric Ladyland)”, a lovely RNB ballad with some lyrical lead guitar and chordal work, but what is impressive is Hendrix’s background vocals and their falsetto, quite love. Then next track is the already released “Crosstown Traffic”, a clever fun number with the interplay between the piano and rhythm guitar, and the duel scat like fuzz guitar and Kazoo. This leaves away to the first big surprise, the singularly song “Voodoo Chile” featuring Jack Cassedy and Steve Winwood sitting in. The track seems to have been recorded ‘live’ in the studio with an audience, which leaves it with the feeling of a small club performance.

    Side two is no less dazzling, but from a different fashion. Redding’s “Little Miss Strange” opens the side, a driving acoustic guitar, and Noel’s rolling bass drives it along. Hendrix offers some harmonized fuzz guitars, Wah, and rhythmic fills to help it along. The inventive “Long Hot Summer Night” has some whimsical piano to support Hendrix, once again Jimi’s background vocals are quite good. The cover of “Come On (Let The Good Times Roll)” has a fresh groove that connects to his past, the Wah solo takes this to a new level. Mitch’s driving groove sets up the layered “Gypsy Eyes”, the lead has a sonic freshness that I no doubt others will emulate, there’s some great harmonic interplay as well. The mid-tempo ballad “Burning Of The Midnight Lamp” has some incredible interplay between a harpsicord and his Wah guitar, there’s also a lifting, angelic female choir, all of which makes this feel like another classic single in the making.

     The loose concept theme of side three begins with “Rainy Day, Dream Away”, the groove is set up with an organ, sultry saxophone, and Jimi’s guitar, Organist Mike Finnigan manages some equal leads with Hendrix. Buddy Miles takes the drum chair on the number. The epic “1983 (A Merman Should I Turn To Be) feels innovative, a minor blues with a futuristic fable. There’s a moment early on where it sounds like you are getting a bass and guitar playing in unison. The second longest track as it moves in different directions, but the goal seems to be to place the listener in a certain mental state, a mind cinema, if you will. A free form flute adds to the second half. The image of descending into the depths is very effective The whole structure is very similar to a jazz piece, but under the guise of an RNB number , Noel’s bass work is impressive and that is none the less true with Mitch’s drumming. The abstract “Moon, Turn the Tides, Gently, Gently Away” closes the side, it ends as it begun with the album opener.

    “Still Raining, Still Dreaming” continues the grove set up before with the side four opener, but there’s a little more freedom with the jam aspect. One could argue there’s a loose, self explanatory concept to that group of songs, boredom setting in on a bleak day, and concocting an ambitious fantasy. “House Burning Down” is no less impressive than “Gypsy Eyes”, the track takes several dynamic turns with some great interplay between the trio. The stunning cover of Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” is no less impressive, it had already been a single, the interplay between Hendrix and Dave Mason’s acoustics gives it a dramatic edge, and Hendrix’s lead work is as imaginative as you can expect. But the tour de force might very be the closer “Voodoo Child (Slight Return0” brisk lead work will likely best any other player. This is playing at an elevated level.

    Everything before with Are You Experienced? and Axis: Bold As Love felt like prelude, Hendrix may have hit his apex. Recommended. 

* Jann Wenner and Robert Christgau 

Retro Reviews: The Rolling Stones: Between The Buttons

  I decided to launch a new series to imagine myself as a critic at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s, and to rectify certain reviews from Rolling Stone magazine and Creem. This not meant to be contrarian, but to offer a more balanced perspective. All the albums reviewed are indeed classic albums.

The Rolling Stones – Between The Buttons (1967)

****

Producer: Andrew Loog Oldham

Musicians: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Nicky Hopkins, Ian Stewart, Jack Nitzsche, Art Greenslade – arranger

Songs: Let’s Spend The Night Together, Yesterday’s Papers, Ruby Tuesday, Connection, She Smiled Sweetly, Cool, Calm & Collected, All Sold Out, My Obsession, Who’s Been Sleeping Here?, Complicated, Miss Amanda Jones, Something Happened To Me Yesterday

Reviewed By Matthew Anthony Allair

    Probably one of the rock scene’s favorite bands, The Stones, has a new album out. Last years Aftermath was a great release, and the team has brought back Andrew Loog Oldham as producer. Oldham’s role as producer is similar to The Who’s Kit Lambert, a manager and cheerleader who guides the band but may not have the most objective ears, this is why the engineers from Olympic and IBC Studios are always so important. Their roles are very different from George Martin. There’s often a lot of comparisons with the Stones and The Beatles, but they are very different bands, and both bands play a dance around the chart positions, yet it’s a friendly joust. There’s a lot more emphasis on Piano based material on the album, and less around the dual guitar interplay between Richards and Jones, yet that interplay still creeps through. Often the vocals by Jagger and Richards have a ragged quality. 

    With this album, the band sounds relaxed and authentic, the real problem with some past recordings is the fact that The Stones seem to self-consciously imitate their peers, namely the before mentioned Beatles, and they are at their bast when they forge their own sound. The US opener is the perennial single, “Let’s Spend The Night Together”, A driving piano romp and persistent groove with the backing, and it’s no surprise with it’s success. The companion single, The ballad “Ruby Tuesday” has some intricate Piano work from Hopkins and a recorder by Jones, and Wyman may even be playing a bowed double bass in places. I could see “Night” and “Ruby Tuesday” being staples on the radio soon enough. They are effective at pulling the listener in and offering that statement of purpose albums need.

    “Yesterday’s Paper’s” is a close to a perfect pop number with an interesting percussion introduction, Harpsichord, and vibes, and a comment about the press. With “Connection”, a track that harkens back to their sound from a few years earlier, I believe Keith plays the piano, the guitar has a playful feel. An organ set’s up “She Smiled Sweetly” with something close to a soul ballad for them, a gospel type piano augments the second half. Another piano opens this music hall blues of “Calm, Cool and Collected”, there’s also a treated guitar that has an Indian raga like quality, a kazoo, and harmonica for good measure, some good bass work from Wyman on it, a clever tempo shift near the end before it descends into chaotic reverb, the track with the most amalgamation of anything in here, another sardonic piece about an opportunistic woman, The band hasn’t lost its snarl. 

    “All Sold Out” features their more classic dual guitar sound, and it’s nice to see the Richard’s / Jones interplay hasn’t completely gone yet. Ian Steward, known as a blues player, many have played the pop piano, hard to say on this. Stewart definitely seems to play on “My Obsession”, another track that seems to reference their past sound while adding an extra edge. The mid-tempo country ballad “Who’s Been Sleeping Here?” takes a nod to Dylan with its sound with a somewhat freewheeling feel. It’s possible that Hopkins plays the piano on it. Some playful organ augments the pop sensibility of “Complicated”, another dose of the common Stones flare. The Country rocker “Miss Amanda Jones” has some great interplay between the players and Mick sounds his most whimsical. The closer, “Something Happened To Me Yesterday” is back to true music hall blues and takes a final nod to the Dylan sound of late, Mick and Keith trade the vocals and a Dixie land swing band creeps in through the track. The song seems to be about an encounter with a certain chemical enhancement, they certainly seem to know how to offer up a clever wink. A good start to the year, we shall see soon what is offered up. 

Retro Reviews: King Crimson: In The Court Of The Crimson King

    I decided to launch a new series to imagine myself as a critic at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s, and to rectify certain reviews from Rolling Stone magazine and Creem. This not meant to be contrarian, but to offer a more balanced perspective. All the albums reviewed are indeed classic albums.

King Crimson – In The Court Of The Crimson King (1969)

*****

Producer: King Crimson

Musicians: Robert Fripp, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald, Michael Giles, Peter Sinfield

Songs: 21^st Century Schizoid Man (including “Mirrors”), I Talk To The Wind, Epitaph (including “March For No Reason” and “Tomorrow and Tomorrow”), Moonchild (Including “The Dream” and “The Illusion”}, The Court Of The Crimson King (including “The Return of the Fire Witch” and “The Dance Of The Puppets”)

Reviewed By Matthew Anthony Allair

    This feels very important; the debut of the new band King Crimson has produced material that may usher in the next decade. You had a sense of change at the start of the year with the debut of Led Zeppelin, and word is out the next Zeppelin album is moments away. Sure, people will argue that the summer release of the Crosby, Stills and Nash album was a part of that new direction, but they are - for all intensive purposes - a super group that reflected many established acts of the decade. One can sense a new vanguard is on the way, I can’t say what the next fresh act may be. Other acts that may set the future are Santana, Humble Pie, and even a brash act like The Stooges.

    There are several unprecedented things with this band, one that they self-produced, the other that they are self-contained and offer so many colors. Guitarist Robert Fripp has a good foundation between Jazz, folk and classical statements. Bassist and vocalist Greg Lake is very skillful as a player and there’s a somberness to his vocal delivery. Multi-instrumentalist Ian McDondald expands the sound well, and with drummer Michael Giles, you can hear he has a very adept background with Jazz. Plus, there’s the thoughtful and dark lyrics of Peter Sinfield. The end result is rather impressive for a debut act. Fripp had been involved with another act that hadn’t gotten much attention, and the others seemed to be a new find. There’s a juxtaposition with this album between soft and loud, and there’s a richness of details, if you pay attention, this is not easily digestible if you looking for something superfluous, this might lose those type of listeners. But the rewards are great if you look for it.

    The opening “Mirrors” sounds like a train whistle before the very loud and brash opening lines set in, “21^st Century Schizoid Man” is a frightening, dark starter for the album, but it’s rather brilliant. The beginning line sounds like any heavy rock riff, but as it progresses, it becomes obvious Fripp and the team are really just using hard bop jazz riffs in a new setting, the opening section acts as a head for the fierce middle section. The track ends with someone nearly apocalyptic. The somber “I Talk To The Wind” shifts the mood, and McDonald offers either flutes or recorders in a tasteful fashion to enhance the acoustic pastoral setting. “Epitaph” broken into the sections ‘March For No Reason’ and ‘Tomorrow and Tomorrow’ McDonald’s String Mellotron is in heavy use as well as Piano for ‘March’, It’s a broken piece tonally as it shifts to ‘tomorrow’. McDonald’s use of Bass Clarinet, and Clarinet allows the band to be a self-contain unit that compared to an act like The Moody Blues was never allowed to utilize such independence due to their reliance on orchestras.

     “Moonchild” is a rather simple, hymn like piece before it shifts into the introspective “The Dream”, some good free form interplay from the guitar and keyboard and Giles is pretty attentive to what is needed. This morphs into some found audio as “The Illusion” stretches things further. This is about as Avant Guard Jazz as one can find before the major key resolution. The closer, “In The Court Of The Crimson King” features a moody string mellotron, harpsicord, flute, and layered Greg Lake vocals, this has an epic scope that I don’t always hear. The flute transitions into “The Return Of The Fire Witch”, before the closing lyric edges into “The Dance Of The Puppets”, a pretty scathing critique towards careless leaders. A pipe organ playfully restates the idea before the full band resolves abruptly with a strange mechanical coda.

    The impact of this album will be hard to see for good or for ill for some time. But I look forward to their next release.

Retro Reviews: The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour

     I decided to launch a new series to imagine myself as a critic at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s, and to rectify certain reviews from Rolling Stone magazine and Creem. This not meant to be contrarian, but to offer a more balanced perspective. All the albums reviewed are indeed classic albums.

The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

*****

Producer: George Martin

Musicians: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and many more.

Songs: (American edition) Magical Mystery Tour, The Fool On The Hill, Flying, Blue Jay Way, Your Mother Should Know, I Am The Walrus, Hello Goodbye, Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, Baby, You’re A Rich Man, All You Need Is Love

Reviewed by Matthew Anthony Allair

    Following up earlier in the year with the release of the seminal Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, a new Beatles album has come out that is a tie-in to an odd, surreal movie for Television. The UK issue was an E.P. of the first side in a different running order, The US version includes all of the important singles released for the year. I haven’t seen the TV movie so I can’t comment, but I have heard it’s rather odd, the quality of the album with production by Mr. Martin, and engineered by Geoff Emerick is equal to the quality of the Sgt. Pepper material, but it is still something new here, not a repeat. What is striking for me, objectively, is how introspective the whole album feels especially the first half. I don’t not know if that was by design or a mere accident, but it does place you in a certain mood. Setting aside the psychedelic trappings that many in the counterculture will embrace, their growth as composers is still surprising and invigorating. The packaging features a comic book telling of the television film.

    The opening title track is the most vibrant and set’s up the tone for a road-based carnival barker, experience, yet the ride out has some jazz piano that ends with a cryptic feel. Paul’s ballad “The Fool On The Hill” has a reflective, child like coloring due to the flute arrangement. The band instrumental “Flying” has a blues based whimsy to it. George’s “Blue Jay Way” has a somber feel to it with an unsettling quality. Paul’s “Your Mother Should Know” has a self-aware music hall quality to the proceedings, sort of his take off on “Sixty-Four”. John’s “I Am The Walrus” is one of his most musical and lyrically complicated numbers and Mr. Martin just about outdoes himself with the orchestral track.

    When it comes to the second side of proverbial singles, I don’t know what else to be added. That introspection is even reinforced in the second half. Paul’s “Hello, Goodbye” has that playful string quartet, a song about duality. John’s “Strawberry Fields Forever” is already profound in its self-aware meaning. The first verse remains the most direct, while the rest of the lines play on surrealism, the blending of rock, orchestration, exotic timbers will have a significant impact for years. Then there's the mellotron, a tape looped keyboard that is already allowing musicians a new freedom, the development is similar to the way the B-3 Organ liberated certain types of players. Paul’s “Penny Lane” isn’t any less profound in its child remembrance and reflection, while the pianos and orchestration dance around each other. “Baby, You’re A Rich Man” brings things down a little with a relaxed, playful feel and an instrument that I assume is the mellotron again. John’s profound “All You Need Is Love” is a dazzling execution of backing and orchestration, and already embraced by the counterculture, but I think the lyric may be getting misunderstood, it is more than just about loving your neighbor or brother, his point is about self-acceptance, you can’t love others until you love yourself.

    Let me speak about the band’s use of Orchestrations, it isn’t used for mere ornamentation, the use of strings, woodwinds, horns and exotic instruments enhances the framework of the songs. Their tactics are very different from when Buddy Holly used strings and a saxophone on “True Love Ways” or just look at the string orchestrations of Roy Orbison. Often the use of Orchestration is done in an off kilter or unsettling way, there’s always a wrinkle to it. This team knows what they are doing and why it is likely that this material may transcend the era it exists in. The Beatles exist in a rarified space compared to their peers. It will be interesting what direction they go into next year. There’s almost nothing to complain about with this album once you understand it’s stated aim; the band carries the mantle well of a band that represents the best their peers have to offer.