The Axis Rises
Essay and review by Matthew Anthony
Allair
Personal
Connection
The
timeframe for certain events gets a little hazy, pardon the pun, but I first
became aware of Jimi Hendrix through my dad in my first year of High School as
a freshmen in the mid-eighties. My dad made a point of giving me a copy, on
Vinyl of the Smash Hits compilation, which I found fascinating. I
already school myself on a lot of rock music in Jr High School, but I was on a
journey, and I admit to being pretty floored by what I heard with the
Experience. Soon afterward he got a copy of the Are You Experienced?
album. Of course, Smash Hits didn’t include any of the Axis material, no
“Little Wing, Castles Made Of Sand” or the title track, but later that year I
somehow got the cassette for Axis: Bold As Love.
It didn’t have quite the impact on me that the album would later have, but Axis was a slow burn affair as far as the listening experience, what always stood out for me were the quieter ballads. I remember learning the guitar tab for “Purple Haze” by my sophomore year, and when my High School cross country team was on one of their pre-event excursions, I played it on my acoustic guitar one night, some were suitably impressed. I learned to play “The Wind Cries Mary” before I could handle anything from Axis, it just seemed beyond me. I kept listening to Axis, in spite of the audible tape hiss, if felt like you were working out a puzzle.
It wasn’t until 89, after the advent of the CD in 87, when I could pick up a quality edition of Axis on disc. It just lingered in my mind for years, but I couldn’t articulate why it had an impact. I think this was, in part, due to the significant growth of Hendrix as a player and song writer. People like Yngwie Malmsteen are incredible players, but I don’t feel he resonates for me as a song writer. Stevie Wonder is an incredible keyboard player, but people remember him for his incredible song writing. Hendrix was not only a great technician, but he was also a great composer as well. How he got to the journey of what became Axis: Bold As Love is an interesting story.
The
History
James Marshall Hendrix was born November 1942, the day after Thanksgiving to Lucile Jeter Hendrix, who was only seventeen, and the twenty-three year old Al Hendrix, who was serving the Army and stationed at Fort Rucker, Alabama. The father asked for paternity leave to visit Seattle, but he was denied furlough and jailed. His superiors assumed he would go AWOL to attend the birth. Al and Lucile had married by March of 1942. Jimi was described ‘the cutest baby you would ever want to see, he was darling.’ From the outset Jimi’s uncanny magnetism was evident. Al and Lucile’s marriage would be rocky and troubled, the one thing they both had in common was a shared love of dancing. Lucile had trouble raising Jimi with the absence of Al and often had to rely on the help of family to raise him. After Al was honorably discharged in 1945, he struggled to find work.
Impoverished, both parents struggled with alcoholism and would have violent outburst under the influence. Lucile became pregnant again in the summer of 1947, and had their second son Leon, in January 1948. But their marriage would end in divorce by 1951, and Al was granted custody of Jimi and Leon. Teachers recognized Jimi’s interest in the guitar, in Elementary school of the early 50s, but could not get him one, Al refused to get a guitar until 1957 when Jimi was able to get strings for his first guitar, it wasn’t great, but it worked enough. Jimi was born. Jimi had been born left-handed, but his father insisted he learn to write with his right hand, that principle applied to the guitar as well. “Dad thought everything left hand was from the Devil.” Leon would recall.
The blow
from the divorce of his parents was deep for him. Both brothers learned that Lucille
had remarried by January 1958. They did see their mother, but Lucille died
unexpectedly by February of 58. Jimi, already shy, became much more withdrawn
and distant after her death, and his relationship with Al became strained. During
this period, the brother Leon was sent into foster care several times. Jimi and
Al were able to rent a two-bedroom home in the spring of 1959, Jimi co-founded
his first band, The Velvetones, that year on an acoustic, he eventually had to
graduate to an electric that his father bought. By 1959, Jimi turned 17 and
started to date Betty Jean Morgan, he briefly had a newspaper route that didn’t
last and Al had Jimi mow lawns for extra money Jimi guitar was stolen at a Club
and Al gave him the riot act about the loss. His band mates in the Velvetones
pitched in and got Jimi a new guitar to continue in the band.
In the
middle of pining for his girlfriend - Betty Jean Morgan - and trying to ask her
to marry him - at the start of May of 1961, Jimi was arrested by the Seattle
Police for riding in a stolen car. He was taken to a juvenile detention center,
when his father came and bailed him out, Jimi insisted he didn’t know the car
was stollen, Al believed the matter was quickly settled, four days later, Jimi
was caught again and arrested in riding in another stolen car, there wasn’t
going to be leniency for the second attempt, Jimi spent eight days in a
Juvenile jail, and then Jimi had his court appearance. The Seattle Police
department was commonly criticized for the over prosecution of black males in
the late 50s and early 60s.
Jimi’s
experience was similar to what happened to Miles Davis in 1959 when he was
standing in front of the New York jazz club Birdland. He was the headline act
and taking a cigarette break on the street, a police officer harassed him,
which lead to an altercation and arrest, Miles was already a celebrity, and the
bad press helped Miles to be acquitted in 1960. The court date led to one
option for Jimi; whom had already expressed an interest in joining the Army - the
prosecutor agreed to a two-year sentence that would be suspended on the
condition that Jimi joined the Army, although his conviction remained on his
permanent record.
At the end of May of 1961 Jimi arrived at Fort Ord, California for basic training, he had asked for a position as a clerk and requested to be assigned at the 101st Airborne, he often wrote many letters to his family, due to homesickness and to ask for money when his Army pay was late, he was disillusioned fairly quickly by the experience, by August he was made a private, and after some delays, he reached his goal by the end of October, Jimi as assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. That September, he had visited his family in Seattle on leave, and showed off his uniform, “He looked so handsome in that uniform,” Cousin Dee Hall noted: “He was so proud to show it off to everyone.’ Jimi also revealed at the time he qualified as a sharpshooter, the second highest to qualify with an M-1 rifle.
Jimi, via
letter correspondence, was determined to not quit the training, they started by
jumping out of 34 feet towers, by that winter he started to jump out of planes,
which he described the jumps as “outta sight”, during further jumps he borrowed
a camera and photographed some jumps. By January he described his feelings to
his cousin via a letter: “I’m in the best division: 101st Airborne.
That’s the sharpest outfit in the world. If any trouble starts anywhere, we
will be the first to go.” Of course, Jimi would be out before America got
involved with Vietnam, he would dodge a proverbial bullet.
Jimi’s
time in the Army would be short lived, while he had joined to avoid prison time
for riding in stollen cars, enlisting in May of 1961, he was known for
obsessively playing his guitar in the barracks rather than training, he was
often caught sleeping while on duty, his meeting of Billy Cox would be
fruitful, and they even formed a band called the King Casuals and would play at
local clubs. On a rainy November Cox first heard Hendrix at the service club
number one, the army had musical instruments to rent. Cox described his
impression that Hendrix sounded like a cross between “John Lee Hooker and
Beethoven”, before he added “This was a sound I had never heard before.” Their
meeting was quick and their friendship would endure for nearly a decade.
After his initial
pride in achieving his goal, Hendrix grew disillusioned fairly quickly and
spent every spare hour playing the guitar. Surprisingly he was honorably
discharged early, due to a lack of interest in the Army, and described by
superiors as having ‘no good characteristics’ and in need of constant supervision.
The more interesting story behind what led to the discharge was a ruse, Hendrix
knew he couldn’t quit the Army, and going AWOL could lead to a prison sentence.
Between April and May, he went to the Army psychiatrist and made-up wild
stories he had homosexual tendencies and pined for his Army bunkmates. It was a
real risk, if it had backfired, he could have been ostracized by his peers and
made a target – yet it worked. The army gave in and he was discharged. His
later claim when asked about his discharge that he broke his ankle on his
twenty sixth leap was a ruse. His army records show no indication of an ankle break;
Hendrix was a clever hustler.
Once discharged, Jimi stayed in Clarksville for many months until his Army mate Billy Cox was discharged in September 1962. Both went into music full time but had trouble getting jobs due to their race. While in Indianapolis they participated in a ‘battle of the bands’ where their rival band won, but one member of that band was impressed enough to join Jimi and Billy in a new band titled The King Kasuals, this eventually lead to a club gig a few nights a week in Nashville, but it was all still a segregated environment, at the time Jimi started to grow out his hair and style it.
Jimi’s guitar skills kept improving.
They tried out a recording session of a Frank Howard and the Commanders; hut
Hendrix wasn’t used on the date after all. Hendrix became friends with Johnny
Jones of the Imperials while in Nashville, but Jones helped to show him the
ropes as a player, they would jam and Jones bested him, but Jimi really grew as
a player. Eventually Hendrix became part of the Chitlin circuit between 1963
until 1965, he learned how to be a showman. Hendrix was a sideman for many
acts, but his most notable was Solomon Burke in 1963. Some jobs were backing
the Motown act Marvelettes, or a bad experience with Bobby Womack.
By 1963,
Jimi’s interest in King Kasuals waned and they replaced him. Jimi moved to New
York at the start of 1964, after staying with a new girlfriend, and having
little luck, Hendrix heard that the Isley Brothers, he auditioned and got the
job, but he grew to hate the conformity of the job, and Jimi quit the bend when
they arrived in Nashville. Jimi got to audition for Little Richard in Atlanta
and got the job. But Hendrix and Richard frequently clashed, and yet it was
seminal for Jimi. In a little interview Al revealed that “Jimi Idolized
Richard. He would eat two yards of shit to join his band” Yet some of the
future road tales could be fascinating. One night Jimi grew tired of the
standard band uniform, wore a satin shirt, he was berated by Little Richard,
stating: “I am the only Little Richard! I am The King of Rock N
Roll, and I am the only one allowed to be pretty. Take that shirt off!”
Hendrix
kept getting fired and rehired by Little Richard’s band and grew disillusioned,
after migrating from job to job, by the Summer of 65, Hendrix was back in New
York. He offered his services as a session player and was determined to make
his mark with his own work. Hendrix wrote to his father and commented:
“I am starting all over again. When you’re playing behind other people, you’re still not making a big name for yourself. But I went on the road with other people to get exposed to the public and see how business is taken care of, and mainly, just to see what’s what.”
Hendrix
had dreams of putting out a record, he explained to his father, little he could
have known. By October of 65, Hendrix met Curtis Knight, who asked Hendrix to
join his band the Squires, at the time Hendrix was forced to pawn his cherished
guitar to make rent, and Knight lent him a guitar – it was a form of control on
Knight’s part. Knight put Hendrix front and center in the band with promises to
make him a star, Knight had a deal with producer Ed Chalpin who ran PPX
Productions, Chalpin was known for doing cheap covers of current singles for
the overseas market, they did a cover of Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” under
the title “How Does It feel.”, Chalpin recognized that Hendrix had talent, and
signed him to a deal, but Hendrix didn’t read the fine print, he would play and
record for PPX Productions for three years, a problem that would haunt him soon
enough.
The
Squires didn’t go anywhere, so Hendrix joined the Starlighters, which was a
more successful band and with stable wages. At the start of 1966, Hendrix
shared with friends that the year would change his life: “I used to dream in
technicolor that 1966 would be the year that something would happen to me.”
Hendrix joined King Curtis and his All Stars at the club, Small’s Paradise in
Harlem. Hendrix learned the material quickly as noted by the band’s drummer Bernard
Purdie: “In all my years, I had never seen another guitar player pick up the
material like that.”
Let’s
address the elephant in the room – racism, as we had done with The Ike &
Tina Turner revue. Just because Hendrix was seen as part of the psychedelic
hippie counterculture, didn’t mean he didn’t face the same issues. When Hendrix
would gig with his Army buddy Cox in 1962, he saw a significant amount of
racism in Tennessee that he didn’t notice in Seattle. Not only was the Chitlin
circuit segregated, but it was also compartmentalized to the African American
culture - the idea of crossover appeal didn’t happen for everyone.
Keep in
mind that in the late 1950s when Little Richard and Chuck Berry started to
cross over and break big, there was an industry rush to have white singers
cover those same songs, it was all transparent to any savvy person. The
treatment by Ed Chalpin as far as business deals was all too common with Black
musicians, Ike Turner had been burned as well as cited in that piece. Even
though, when Hendrix soon broke in the UK, the counterculture was more
inclusive, it was far from perfect. As much as Hendrix’s brief scuffles with
Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend may have only been due to competitive rivalry,
there was always an element of bias. But let’s continue…
Around
this same period Jimi renamed his new band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. He
also met Steve “The Cornel” Cropper and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter. When Hendrix
performed songs from a John Hammond Jr album, So Many Roads, it led to
Hendrix meeting him, Then, Hammond offered Hendrix a two-week slot at the Café Au
Go Go, and that much close to the Greenwich Village Circle. After a tumultuous
affair with a woman who was a prostitute, Hendrix had the good fortune to meet
a woman professionally that would shape his career. Linda Keith was the then
girlfriend of Keith Richard’s, prior to the Stones upcoming 66 US tour, Keith
had come to check out the New York club scene, when Hendrix was back playing
with the Squires. When she visited the Cheetah Club in late May, she focused in
on Hendrix, Keith recalled: “He had these amazing hands. I found myself
mesmerized by watching him play.”
Keith and her friends invited him to their table for drinks and lavished him with compliments and then invited him to an apartment on sixty-third street. This was the moment the work had been building up to, the work put in. Hendrix became an example of the ten-thousand-hour rule, if not the poster child for it. All lead guitar players, since then, that are exceptional have done the same thing. You must really work at your craft to stand out.
Prior to this evening Hendrix had taken few drugs due to poverty, but it was his time using LSD. Keith and Hendrix had long, open discussions, and she offered to give him a new guitar, Hendrix was also getting exposed to Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde, which had a huge impact. Keith became that needed advocate. But there would be a price for it soon enough, Linda and Keith Richards had already been deteriorating even before she met Jimi, when rumors began circulating that she was seen associating with a “Black Junkie” from New York, Richards became ugly, called her father, and got him to intercede and bring her back to England, but this event would happen a little later.
Linda
tried to get the interest of Andrew Loog Oldham, but he passed as much as he
also agreed there was ‘star power’ with Hendrix. Then just around the corner,
Linda crossed paths with Bryan “Chas” Chandler, the bass player of the Animals.
Linda barely knew him, but she was bold enough to talk about Hendrix in early September,
a day later she and Chandler showed up at the Café Wah for a Wednesday
afternoon show, after the set, they all had a private meeting at a corner of
the club, It turned out that both Hendrix and Chandler has a affinity for “Hey
Joe”. Chandler was pretty much stunned that no one had signed him up before.
Their meeting was significant; it took some work for Chandler to convince Jimi
uproot everything go with him to England to be managed by Chandler and
co-managed by Mike Jeffries. But by September 23rd of 66, Jimi boarded a PanAm
for England.
Things moved quickly, Jimi would meet his future Girlfriend, Kathy Erchingham, he was in the midst of swinging London, he would start to meet most of the key rock figures. Noel Redding was recruited on bass and vocals, then Jimi met and jammed with Eric Clapton, the man considered a “god’ to some rock fans, at a Cream gig, but when "Killing Floor" was performed, Clapton stormed off the stage, it should be noted that Clapton took off the stage because he was stunned and unnerved with how good Hendrix was. Then Mitch Mitchell was recruited on drums and vocals, and the band played their first show in October. A short time later the band recorded their first single Robert’s “Hey Joe” backed with a Hendrix original, “Stone Free”. That debut album, Are You Experienced? would be one of the most impressive debuts of the era, along with the exceptional work of engineer Eddie Kramer and Mike Ross.
Hendrix toured England in revue type situations. Plans were made to have the Jimi Hendrix Experience go worldwide by his management team soon enough. Hendrix would even impress McCartney at a gig at the venue Bag O Nails by playing their number “Sgt. Pepper” within a few days of its release. Chas didn’t want to wait very long, they had to start working on the next album, and Jimi would gather the material very quickly.
The
Album
The album
that became known as Axis: Bold As Love started off a little slowly. They
started an initial session, but the band had two key festival concerts to
attend first. Jimi, Noel and Mitch had never been to the Bay Area. That Festival
known as “The First International Festival of Music” had been born out of a
conversation that developed between John Philips of The Mamas and The Papas,
Paul McCartney and Lou Alder. The Experience arrived on that Friday, but they weren’t
scheduled to perform until that Saturday, so Hendrix socialized for the first
night and watched the performers, the Monterey audience didn’t know who Hendrix
was that first night, but that was about to change.
The Experience
and The Who were set to go on the same, and The Who’s Pete Townshend didn’t
want to open for Hendrix – he already knew. The Who opened first but Hendrix
was not going to be bested. It was a pivotable night for both bands. Brian
Jones introduced the band, and the Monterey audiences were floored by the
performance, which included, “Foxy Lady, Killing Floor” and “Like A Rolling
Stone”, the band broke big in America after that. The day after the Festival,
Hendrix and Townshend had a tense exchange, but they ironed it out. The band
was booked for a few shows by Bill Graham at the Fillmore, which were also
memorable.
Even
future material for the third record started developing during this period. At
some performances of “Wild Thing”, Hendrix would play a few riffs from the
future “Burning of The Midnight Lamp”, Hendrix and the band recorded a take of
“Burning” on July 20, 1967, of July 6-7, depending on reports. That single
would be released in the UK August on1967 and charted there at No. 23, but it
did not appear until the third album Electric Ladyland.
By the time The Experience opened for the Mamas and The Papas at the Hollywood Bowl in August, they were no longer an unknown act, but they had an album to work on. Sessions for the album started at the beginning of May. “We never stopped”, Eddie Kramer has recalled: “Chas came from the old school of “We’ve got four hours, let’s make the most of it.” Fortunately, Hendrix had a strong work ethic, the sessions went quickly.
In spite of an early start, proper sessions at Olympic
Studios for the album began October 1st 1967, the trust that had
developed between Chandler, Hendrix and Kramer created an atmosphere where
ideas were exchanged freely, but while Kramer was endlessly patient, Chandler
grew impatient during the sessions and irritated with Hendrix’s insistence on
perfection, Chandler felt Jimi was wasting too much too much time on endless
retakes of backing tracks, studio time cost money after all. Yet Hendrix would
increasingly use sessions to introduce new material to Chandler and the band,
rather than perfect tracks.
He also
still toured during the sessions. Hendrix’s tour itinerary, even in the middle
of completing the second album was heavy from October 1967, starting with dates
in England until late Jan 1968 in France. In an interview during this period
with Jay Ruby defined Hendrix’s idea of the blues:
“You can have your own blues. It doesn’t necessarily mean that folk blues is the only type of blues in the world. I heard some Irish folk songs that were so funky, the words were so together and the feel. That was a great scene. We do this blues…called ‘If Six Was Nine.’ That’s what you call a great feeling of blues. We don’t even try to give it a name. Everybody has some kind of blues to offer, you know.”
When the subject of Clapton was brought up by comparison, Jimi replied.
“But like, the blues is what we’re supposed to dig. But you see, there are other things we play too. And we just don’t think alike…. Sometimes the notes might sound like it, but it’s a completely different scene between those notes.”
Aside from Eddie Kramer, the other secret weapon was inventor Roger Mayer, he had already created the “Octavia” which Hendrix had used. Roger would modify Hendrix’s Wah pedals, a new device that would be featured heavily on the new album, Roger would modify the tremolo system and filters to give the Wah a slightly wider range. Generally, wah pedals, by their nature, will slightly overdrive even when you use a clean channel on an amplifier, this gives them a slight edge. The impact on the Wah on the album would be notable, few players knew how to make the guitar ‘talk’ – Hendrix did. Roger and Jimi also shared another quality. As he told Music Radar in 2017: “Both Jimi and I had synesthesia, where we could see colors in sound, we found that fascinating. It’s a useful ability as a sound designer. I was very interested in new sounds for guitar. We would talk about the vision of the sound. For instance: This sounds like what you see when you hold two mirrors in front of each other.’ And that notion became Octavia pedal.” Roger also often modified Hendrix’s Stratocasters.
Jimi was
getting more comfortable with singing, each song was often recorded with the
instrumental backing, then vocals would be added later. Regarding the opening
piece “EXP”, which Hendrix had characterized some of his music as “Rock N Roll
science fiction”, he named dropped his old friend Paul Caruso as a
fictionalized reporter for the UFO themed opener. Recalled Eddie Kramer: “There
was nothing we wouldn’t do, or that we wouldn’t want to try for him. The rules
were there were no rules.”
Often
Hendrix would complain that his band mates Noel and Mitch weren’t offering up
ideas, but then when they made suggestions – they would be rebuffed. There was
a peace offering when Hendrix’s recorded Noel’s “She So Fine”, there would be
tension when Hendrix would show Noel the bass parts he wanted. Jimi would even
re-record bass parts himself. The tension didn’t help when Jimi decided to not
release “She’s So Fine” as a single. The “Octavia” seemed to make appearances
on “Wait Until Tomorrow, One Rainy Wish” and somewhere in “Little Miss Lover”
in the middle.
Jimi’s
exceptional “Little Wing” came from several sources as he explained to a
reporter: “I figured I’d take everything I see around and put it maybe in the
form of a girl… and call it ‘Little Wing’, and then it will just fly away.”
Jimi would later confess to his brother Leon that the song was, in part, about
his mother Lucille. Kramer recorded Jimi’s guitar with two channels, one with a
clean amp setting, and the other put through a Leslie to give it that chorus
effect. Jimi played the Glockenspiel on it.
Hendrix had trouble with the vocals for “Spanish Castle Magic”, at the end of the song about the legendary Northwest Club, he could be heard muttering, “I Can’t Sing a song,” Often when it came time to add Jimi’s vocal tracks, he would insist that the studio be emptied out of the groupies and hanger-on’s milling about. Regarding the instrumental backing, Jimi and Eddie Kramer laid down numerous tracks, while Noel played Hagstrom Eight-String Bass in unison to Hendrix’s Stratocaster. Jimi played the Piano stabs on the track, and Eddie compressed and equalized the piano part to cut through the guitars and bass.
When Hendrix would be asked by reporters about the track “Bold As Love”, Jimi would describe how certain colors matched certain emotions, which he tried to describe. Hendrix tinkered with “Bold as Love” adding Harpsicord and extra bass, but its Eddie Kramer’s sonic invention along with George Chkiantz when they introduced a phased stereo sound. Jimi was thrilled with the results and exclaimed “That’s the sound I’ve been hearing in my dreams!”
In an
interview with Jay Ruby, Hendrix described the Axis like the Christian Cross or
the voodoo peristyle – a link between the Heaven and the earth. The Axis holds
everything together. If The Axis of the Earth was changed – everything would be
different, Hendrix explained:
“Well, like the Axis of the Earth, you know. If it changes, well, it changes the whole face of the Earth like every few thousand years, you know. It’s like love in a human being if he really falls in love deeply enough, it will change him, you know, it might change his whole life. So, both of them can really go together.”
In the middle of the session for the album, Ed Chalpin and his PPX Productions reared its ugly head over the prior contract. Chandler and Jeffries had no idea about this, and legal issues over it would hang over them for a number of years. Chalpin’s company had a distribution deal with Capitol records, at that moment, titles would flood the market with Curtis Knight featuring Hendrix. Eventually, a deal was struck when Jimi had a contract obligation with Capitol and Chalpin for one album – eventually that album would be released as The Band of Gypsies live album, once again, that is another story.
During the
session for “If 6 Was 9” Jimi used Moroccan flute, or a recorder, or toy flute
in the tag at the end of it. Redding, Graham Nash, Gary Leeds, and Chas
Chandler would provide foot stomping on the track. On “You Got Me Floatin’”,
Nash, Trevor Burton, and Roy Wood would provide background vocals on that
track. There was also the exceptional “Castles Made Of Sand”, a song that has
lyrics that are part autobiographical. “That song is about our mother.” Leon
once admitted. Backwards guitar was used for good measure. Chas Chandler
admitted that the song was one of those heavily rehearsed before they went into
the studio as to not waste time.
Hendrix
has commented on the evolution of the slower ballads on the album. Noting:
“I dig writing the slow songs, because it is easy to get more blues and feeling into them. Most of the ballads come across in different ways. Sometimes you see things in different ways than other people see it. So, then you write it into a song. It could represent anything. Some songs, I come up with the music first, then I put the words that fit. It all depends. There is a certain pattern I go by because I don’t consider myself a songwriter. Not yet anyway. I just keep music in my head. It doesn’t even come out to the other guys until we go into the studio.”
Chandler and Jeffries were under pressure to deliver the album for a December release on the Track records label. In the rush to finish, Hendrix, while sharing the tapes with a social circle, managed to lose the mixes for all of side one, during the early hours of Halloween 67. Chandler had recalled, “He went to a party, coming back, he left one of the boxes in a taxi. It was all scheduled for release! So, we rang up Eddi Kramer and went into Olympic the next night and mixed the entire “a” side of the album again – all in one night!”
But one of
the songs, “If 6 Was 9” may not have made it onto the album at all if there
hadn’t been a great save. Chandler recalled: “We kept saying to ourselves, ‘I’m
sure this isn’t the sound we had originally.” To their good fortune, Noel
Redding had a consumer grade tape copy of a rough mix on a small three-inch
reel made the previous June. It was retrieved via a Taxi and work began in
earnest. Regarding the album overall, I have to agree with Abigail Devol that
Redding and Mitchell were sympathetic rhythm section, and more so than Baker
and Bruce from Cream. This benefited the songs, in the same way that the Jones
and Bonham section bettered the Zeppelin songs.
Onto the
songs - After a brief quote from the opening of “Stone Free”, the opener “EXP”
is a humorous bit, a mock interview about UFOs that segways into a barrage of tremolo
guitar dives and guitar feedback to approximate a flying saucer. The science
fiction theme is continued with “Up from The Skies”, since Jimi was a child, he
was always an avid science fiction reader which he had shared an interest with
Chas when they met. Noel and Mitch offer a jazzy shuffle. This is the first
time we hear Jimi’s Wah guitar, which must have been a shock upon first listen.
I have to disagree a little with Abigail Devoe about the first two tracks, the
notion of not opening with guns blazing with a heavy track, such as was the
case with “Purple Haze” from the Experienced album, is actually a savvy
move. It eases the listener into the album.
Everything
works on all cylinders with “Spanish Castle Magic”, Mitch is amazing on the
track and Noel offers some solid work, Jimi’s talk vocals have a playful
quality, Jimi’s solo is nothing more than you would expect. It’s probably all
too short. The next two tracks fall into thew kind of material you might hear
from his Chitlin circuit days. “Wait Until Tomorrow” is a whimsical, and a
little dark tale about a young man is who courting a lady until her father
takes matters into their own hands. “Ain’t No Telling” has backing vocals from
Noel and Mitch, some seventh blues work from Jimi drives the piece. Mitch's drumming helps to drive the number and Hendrix’s leads dance around his vocal.
The
magical “Little Wing” is generally regarded as a highlight of the album, Jimi’s
cordial work which fuses jazz and RNB is so well constructed, and Jimi’s vocal
captures a bittersweet quality, a tribute to woman who sacrifices their well
being over the needs of the artist. Think Penny Lane from Almost Famous. It’s
also one of the most well-constructed ballads ever written. Things take a
heavier turn with the psychedelic blues of “If 6 Was 9”, a defiant anthem for
the Freak counterculture movement that would implode all too soon. There’s a
molten and impetuous quality to the piece, and the middle section allows Noel
to be liberated with walking bass lines, Jimi’s jazz guitar comes in brief
stabs in that section. The track also hints at the Progressive blues that Jimmy
Page spoke of with “Since I’ve Been Loving You”. Why are there the marching
footsteps near the end? I don’t know, but it seems like a reflection of the
growing tragedy that was Vietnam.
The side
two opener “You Got Me Floatin’” is probably the most filler track, but Jimi’s
backwards guitar comes in for good measure. The magical “Castles Made Of Sand’
is the other wonder of the album. The interplay between Jimi’s rhythm guitar
and the backwards guitar has a certain synergy that is masterful. His cordial
work with the overdrive has an evident edge that keeps it fresh. Noel’s song
“She’s So Fine” has a nod to The Who and Creem, Jimi and Mitch provide the
background vocals. Jimi pop lead guitar is fun. Then other magical ballad that gets
overlooked is “One Rainy Wish”, done in ¾ time with a driving chorus. It has a
similar tone to “May This Be Love” or the future “Rainy Day, Dream Away”, Jimi
vocal is pretty exceptional for the lovely quality it exudes. Enchanting.
The
rhythmic and seductive “Little Miss Lover” is the other number where Jimi leans
into the Wah guitar, some great drumming work from Mitch. It many respects,
Noel and Mitch were the secret weapon that helped drive Jimi. Mitch’s jazz drumming
background lends well with the funk infusion, there's a molten and propulsive quality to the number. The closer, “Bold As Love” is
another wonder, and spellbinding, the layers of guitars have a great sense of
composition, and it builds up to an ascension even before the edit, and that
transcendent closing moments with the guitars, harpsicord, and the final fuzz
lead work leads to something ethereal. There have been few albums that have been
as good of a closer as this one.
One more thing, let’s address the narrative about Hendrix’s drug use. Yes, he was a heavy drug user, or became one, but there’s a racial element behind the narrative that I want to address. The subject has become a no win as far as the truth of the matter. There have been eyewitness accounts of people trying to get Hendrix stoned. This is relevant to my point: I believe that Hendrix was probably more sober and lucent during the creative process than not, the narrative that states that “Hendrix was always stoned” dismisses his instincts and talent and it has a racial element behind that meme. Friend Willie Chambers had observed that hangers-on were always trying to get Jimi stoned, they assumed Hendrix wanted to be stoned. Willie had a tale that both were at a bar once and someone walked up and put something in Hendrix’s drink, which Wilie was astounded by this action. Hendrix didn’t always want to be stoned - he just wanted to play. I just don't believe that Hendrix was as chronically stoned as he was made out to be by outsiders.
Axis, at times, has gotten overlooked,
it sits as the middle child between Experienced and Electric Ladyland,
but it is no less important, as it showed a marked evolution, and many of its
ideas would be developed with Electric Ladyland. These were the salad
days of the band, everything was fresh and possible, the pressure and the
momentum for Are You Experienced? hadn’t quite hit yet during the Axis
sessions. Sadly, things would take a turn to break up the unit soon enough.
By early
1968, Jimi and Chas were drifting apart. Chas was engaged to be married and
wanted to return to England, while Hendrix liked being planted in New York.
Mitch and Noel were impatient to return to England as well. Gradually Hendrix
took more control of the next sessions for what became Ladyland, Chas felt left
out, the costs of recording at places like Record Plant would be a problem, Chandler
bought out his deal to Jeffries and left Jimi. Mitch and Noel left the band
around the same that that Electric Ladyland was reaching number one on
the American charts. But that is another story.
Please watch the video for music examples.
The cultural
impact
For an
album that is perceived as ‘overlooked’, when you consider the number of
musical artists who have covered songs from this album. The list is wide
ranging. As of this writing, it is estimated that there are around 50 covers of
“Little Wing” alone. Starting with Clapton’s Derek and The Dominoes recording
prior to Hendrix’s death. Clapton would still perform the song on future tours
in tribute. Jazz legend Gil Evans did
his version in 1974, then years later, Sting formerly of The Police, did his
cover with Gil in 87 for his Nothing Like The Sun… album, Sting and Gil
also recorded “Up From The Skies”. Jazz duo Tuck and Patti did a medley of
“Castles Made of Sand / Little Wing”, Santana with Joe Cocker did a version.
There was Stevie Ray Vaughn’s instrumental cover. Pearl Jam, Jeff Beck, Vitamin
String Quartet, and Hiram Bullock.
Covers of
“Castles” include The Red-Hot Chili Peppers, Gil Evans, The Sounds of
Blackness, Richard Lloyd, Artists who have covered “Spanish Castle Magic”
include Spin Doctors, Yngwie Malmsteen, Monks of Doom, Mark Rivera, Santana,
Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson. Queen’s Brian May did a cover of
“One Rainy Wish” for his Another World solo record, other’s included
Eric Johnson and Randy Hansen Band performing “Wish”. Other’s covered “Bold as Love” including John
Mayer, The Pretenders, Phish, Joan Osborne, Robben Ford, and Black Oak Arkansas.
All of which just validates what a great composer Jimi was.
Just look
at the sonic influence of Hendrix and electric guitar effects and set ups that
became standard. Various types of distortion, controlled feedback, overdrive
and fuzz tones. Echo delay, Chorus, Phasers, Octave effects, Wah pedals. Or
guitarists that will customize their guitars to play better, all came from
Hendrix’s influence. Just look at the number of guitar players influenced by
him, starting with Funkadelic’s Eddie Hazel, including Eric Clapton and Jeff
Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Gary Clark, Vernon Reid, Kenny Wayne Sheppard, Dweezil
Zappa, Zack Wylde, John Frusciante, Slash, Billy Gibbons, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready,
Lenny Kravitz, Matt Bellamy, Orianthi, as well as Hendrix protégé Velvert
Turner, as well a players like Frank Marino, Robin Trower, and the prior
mentioned Randy Hansen and Brian May.
Even jazz
players like Miles Davis and Tony Williams paid close attention to what Jimi
was doing. Current players like Adam Rose, Alex Dante, Antares Flare, Brian Targuin,
Charlie Ballantine, Cliff E. Brown, Dan Lommis, Jacques Bailhe, and Robert
Jukic. You can hear how much Hendrix reshaped music, even in-directly, It’s
difficult when listening to Temple Of The Dog (1991) or Lenny
Kravitz Are You Gonna Go My Way (1993), or Michael Willaims Fire Red,
(2011) Produced by Eddie Kramer, or players like Eric Gales, Philip Weiss. or
artists like Radio Moscow and not hear the treads. even Journey’s Neal Schon
used Hendrix-like riffs on the “Lights” single from 1978. Along with Eddie Van
Halen's on everyone, it’s almost impossible to not hear the Hendrix influence.
Axis: Bold As Love is a real testament to what such a young man was able to achieve, it’s ripple effects on the musical and cultural spectrum is quite wide. I doubt we will ever see such an album like it again.
Producer: Chas Chandler
Composers: Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding*
Lead
Engineer: Eddie
Kramer
Engineers: George Chkiantz, Andy Johns, Terry
Brown
Cover
designs: David
King, Roger Law
Side
One:
EXP
Up From
The Skies
Spanish
Castle Magic
Wait Until
Tomorrow
Ain’t No
Telling
Little
Wing
If 6 Was 9
Side
Two:
You Got Me
Floatin’
Castles
Made Of Sand
She’s So
Fine*
One Rainy
Wish
Little
Miss Lover
Bold As Love
Book sources: “Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix” by Charles R. Cross.
“’Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: The Life of Jimi Hendrix” By Dave
Henderson.
“Hendrix:
An Illustrated Experience” by Janie L. Hendrix and John McDermott.
Online
source: Louder sound, article by Bill DeMain, “story behind Axis album”.
Special
thank you must go towards Agamemnon Andrianos for his friendship, enthusiasm
and support for this piece.
Coming
soon: Derek and
The Dominoes – Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
