“Oh, Move Over POLLER, And Let Jimi Take Over!” – ILX Artist Poll #101 – Jimi Hendrix – Voting Thread

I've only ever owned Are You Experienced, but I may as well take a dive into his catalogue.

Dunno how much I'll be able to contribute to the side polls. Is there a list of cover versions anywhere?

i've heard bob dylan does a pretty solid version of all along the watchtower

XP https://www.whosampled.com/Jimi-Hendrix/covered/

https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D0BAQF0xpjlfjfjLA/company-logo_200_200/0?e=2159024400&v=beta&t=qfWoLlevFyNGJEE3EOQnPPXfcRGwLuwOpJj-kG5EArs

the whosampled list doesn't have the rotary connection's version of burning the midnight lamp, which is sooooo goood.

Hendrix joins Joplin in a category for me that may not make sense: I'm awestruck by them but don't listen to them all that much. (I did listen to Smash Hits all the time in high school.) I should be able to get a top 10 together.

You could make a case for Jimi Hendrix top ten live tracks? His shows are a bit hit and miss at times, but there are just some insane live takes out there that i don't think have really been compiled the best.

Voted. Knew instantly what my #1 would be (it's an obvious pick that I expect to do very well). Lots of outtakes and leftovers from that purple box set and other posthumous compilations on my tracks list, but my albums ballot was all albums released during his lifetime, except one.

I’m looking forward to the rollout. I haven’t listened to him in years, partly because m’wife hates him. I would probably just vote for everything on Smash Hits plus “Who Knows”

Boning up on the sessionman stuff I hadn't heard before, the Curtis Knight stuff (collected on a recent-ish official comp called "You Can't Use My Name") is pretty dope.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0Bx7N2P0X4

"Strange Things" is Bo Diddley-esque number that would have slotted in seamlessly on a Nuggets comp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfE-tDMmMvU

"Hornet's Nest" is groovy & hyperactive organ and fuzz guitar duel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6MikLeSs0s

"Gotta Have A New Dress" is this kinda goofy Motown rant about fashion w/a killer high-stepping R & B guitar line from Hendrix.

All of these sound better on the comp BTW.

And for those who can't get enough of Jimi going HAM on the guitar, I urge you not to forget "Jam Back At The House" from Woodstock 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C643HA4YgA

You could make a case for Jimi Hendrix top ten live tracks? His shows are a bit hit and miss at times, but there are just some insane live takes out there that i don't think have really been compiled the best.

I thought about doing this. The thing is since there's a fair number of tracks that are most known in live versions (Band of Gypsys stuff in particular) that it would probably skew the results. If voters want to cite so hot live takes I'd be more than happy to include them (if I can find them) in the rollout.

I included the source album on my ballot, to draw attention to live performances vs. studio takes. But I think most of the ones I voted for were live-only, like I don't think he ever recorded "Wild Thing" in a studio.

Fuck yeah. Never voted in one of these, but here we go.

One of my favorite Hendrix live moves is the Spanish Castle Magic with Sunshine of Your Love instrumental in the middle. I am a basic bitch.

A couple fun sideman tracks: the instrumental of the Curtis Knight track Hush Now is available on bootlegs and it is one of my favorite wah wah tracks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNZXqeZMmHM

Jayne Mansfield doing the boogaloo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80TJYcmWrOE

Might have been interesting to treat the Noel and Buddy sung songs (apart from Who Knows) as part of the sideman poll. Little Miss Strange is awesome but not what I want to hear when I am in a Hendrix mood.

I'm surprised "Blues" has not been deleted from the catalog, it's probably my favorite posthumous release. One of the best slow tracks Hendrix ever cut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wQAMdDvT6Y the pacing and bass hum are awesome, and for once the harmonica feels important on a hendrix track rather than a strange 60s vestigial gill. Also the opening track, the 12-string solo Hear my train, is just so unexpected and plaintive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P701paKEMXs The instrumentals on it are great too - Bad Sign and Jam 242 (dooji wooji). A couple good might-have-been side polls would be all his instrumentals, and all his covers not on the big 3 lps.

Hard to cut some of the big hits from my ballot i didn't have room for, and some of the favorites that sound a lot like other favorites (one rainy wish is pretty similar to wind cries and castles made of sand; ain't no telling is awesome but reminds me of fire...), and some of the groovy slow instrumentals on all the posthumous comps. Could easily have voted for 30 or 40.

Driving South from the BBC sessions

> Driving South from the BBC sessions

Yep voted for that. Can never remember which of the three I like best (the second, I think)

Eeriely prescient info about the lyrics to "Third Stone..."

In 1967, Hendrix told the journalist Keith Altham that "Third Stone from the Sun" is about a visiting space alien who, upon evaluation of the human species, decides that people are not fit to rule Earth, destroys their civilization, and places the planet in the care of chickens.

Just finished rewatching The Dreamers (not good...)--"Third Stone" is used twice, beginning (long camera-glide down the Eiffel Tower) and end.

only three covers? how the hell am i supposed to find room in there for dylan's take on "dolly dagger" :(

I know it isn't the most extensive catalogue we're dealing with, but isn't one week an awfully short voting window?

It's a rainy shelter-in-place day here in the bay area. Good time for some Jimi. Ballot sent.

XP I was figuring for shelter in place, and also for keeping it open through next weekend at least.

7 Ballots In!

combed through the studio albums and have 32 tracks that i would 100% vote for lol

will listen to em again this week and send a ballot by thurs or fri

this was difficult and man do i wish buddy would shut the fug up sometimes. rit-dit-dit-dit doo arit-dit-dit-dit doooo.

When I was 19 I dropped acid for the first time and while waiting for it to kick in drank Bacardi Golden Reserve and smoked pot. About 4 hours in as things were really humming along, I went for a quick ride with a friend, who popped a cassette in. The most incredibly weird music with spooky voices started to assault me from the speakers. I asked my fiend who this was and he told me it was "Whole Lotta Love", but it didn't sound like that to me. After listening further I started to become concerned and told myself, "concentrate, and when you listen again, it will be 'Whole Lotta Love'". Nope! By this point I thought I had done something very bad to my brain. I (desperately) asked my friend again who it was. Anyway, this is the story of why ". . . And the Gods Made Love" will be very high on my ballot.

*fiend was a freudian slip

lol

important to listen to this while making your lists https://open.spotify.com/album/7beUcSYoZ4MQxIAV1YyEq9?si=UJ5lQ1pGQOOBcwEtalC-0g

Have also been enjoying this polish jazz guy's covers https://open.spotify.com/track/2cNzjYRO7EpmDeFukLee6Z?si=JDj2FUWbSjKdUv5pL2a96Q

trying to figure out if i prioritize "songs" or if i prioritize "jams" or if i just want to list songs in order of how much i liked them when i was 15

Do I even need to bother campaigning for Emmylou's stunning take on "May This Be Love" for the covers ballot? Just in case, then:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHiUEjkPh0U

was going to vote for it, but i had already voted for another cover of may this be love.

Forgot Prince did "Purple House" (a cover of "Red House") with Larry Graham on bass. Released in 2004 on a Hendrix tribute album but speculated to have been recorded in 1999.

He's done it live as well, but here's that studio recording:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whbewejw-g8

They played this at a couple of those Temple of the Dog reunion shows
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mVZyPSaYug

my favorite Hendrix covers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ax9weO7lrU&list=OLAK5uy_mNfyZr6-XPinEVqK0ZI9FkRHZgpNFsRQ4

Bah, that's The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix

https://open.spotify.com/album/0lBWV41v8qCOq4goLvPUw8

9 ballots in so far!

Today's sideman pick, Jimi joins up with King Curtis* in 1966 and hotwires "Gloria" for Ray Sharpe's "Help Me (Get The Feeling) Pts. 1+2"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAq5BrYIcms

Who'd later reuse the backing track three years later for his "Instant Groove" single.

Any chance the deadline can be extended to Monday? I was planning on doing my list this weekend.

cosign

Today's sideman pick, Jimi joins up with King Curtis* in 1966 and hotwires "Gloria"

― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain)

the first hendrix tape i heard was a dub of "the essential jimi hendrix", which had that _other_ time he hotwired "gloria" on it. i don't know how "essential" it is but it's worth a listen!

Deadline is definitely extended through the weekend.

do Sweet!

I should rep for this, my favorite jimi cover
https://youtu.be/d86Ca3Rb-cM

I am probably going to put Voodoo Child (Slight Return) very, very high on my ballot, but had thought I wasn't going to put Voodoo Child on my ballot at all. Just listening to it again, but damn if that isn't great as well.

it really is

stretched out, confident, utterly assured

even hollywood hogan air guitar cannot ruin that song

scatting drummers and whistling guitar players

I'm so into "Crosstown Traffic" I voted for it twice, meaning I get to redo this and there will be an Axis song (an obvious one) on my ballot.

Voted. Could have fiddled with this until the end of time.

Redid my ballot with the one Axis song but, listening to that album more closely the other day, I was thinking more about everything that's going on sonically and I've definitely been underrating it.

there's a lot of emotion in his voice. it always sounds really heartfelt and sincere to me even when what he's singing is bullshit.

Don't disagree with this btw; I don't even mind the bullshit! My point earlier was just that the dragonfly business doesn't stand out to me as exceptionally bullshit.

wait, you only rated one song on axis?

i would also direct dragonfly haters to ursula k. leguin and todd barton's "dragonfly song" and to dutch band dragonfly's monster fuzz jam "celestial empire"

Yeah, like I was saying, Axis was the one I just never had until my 20s and so I never really developed the same connection to it as to others. Not its fault and I will be listening to it more.

what's your take on castles, bold as love, and little wing as guitar pieces? Are they simple? Does most of your love for jimi come from feeling rather than technical guitar playing?

xxp kate, i have been loving your dragonfly recs. I still hate the lyrics of spanish castle magic, though.

idk, i like the lyrics. the stuff he says, it's interestingly off-kilter. like, after the "dragonfly" thing he feels the need to assure us that it's not _actually_ spanish, that's just, like, a figure of speech, or an architectural descriptor, or i don't know, something. it's totally groovy, there are, like, candy clouds, all hanging over the blood-soaked ground... grooooovy!

I was just trying to imagine Jimi covering Leonard Cohen, lol. Please no. Give me dragonflies every time.

Also, I like how concerned Jimi is that his darlin' is going to fall off the dragonfly, which, you know, you should be.

Wasn't the Spanish Castle a club in Washington state or something like that?

Yup.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/5oY108Zb1Nnjrv3sTg9_SQmZvMHlcuDOeeS1Q8qQXHvYOJwalvSrmAVkbWxdQcYSiJQzc00CElkCpy4ksUeZvRTiiXa6

what's your take on castles, bold as love, and little wing as guitar pieces? Are they simple? Does most of your love for jimi come from feeling rather than technical guitar playing?

Good question. "Little Wing" was the one I voted for and I do really like the melodies in all three. Leslie speaker effect in "Little Wing" and backwards track in "Castles" are great. I never really tried to break those down or play them before. I just tried to work out the intro of "Little Wing" by ear before double-checking it. It's pretty straightforward imo, mostly pentatonic stuff that lies under the fingers, harmonized using basic chord shapes. He played it with a real fluidity and fluency in the idiom, though, bringing out something like a dialogue between two voices.

So I think that's what you mean by feeling rather than technical guitar playing?

Yes, that's a good answer and is otm.

I think the fluidity works particularly well with the lyric and melody on castles. Jimi seemed to be so good at recognizing what the sound and feel of chord shapes implied in a song structure and for the lyric. I think that's also why spanish castle magic bugs me. The riff seems a bit too heavy for the dragonfly imagery.

Suppose spanish castle magic has a bit of a Showman feel in the chorus.

The man was also excellent at making his solos collections of melodic ideas, almost never feels like aimless wankery.

Lots of these most recent posts super otm

Quick question: "Castles" & "Run Run Run"--are they the first examples of that sort of "Waterfalls"-style omnibus song, where each verse has a brief story with a different character, and then the chorus ties them all together with some kind of underlying principle. I can't help but think there's gotta be earlier instances of this technique--like no way Dylan never did this--but I am drawing a total blank atm

"Four Women" by Nina Simone comes to mind, but it doesn't have a chorus.

"Highway 61 Revisited" also.

Ah there it is

Eleanor Rigby, though she returns in the final verse.

I was listening to the Hendrix "Wild Thing" from Monterey and never realized he quotes "Strangers in the Night" briefly in the final solo. Badass.

Looking forward to the rollout so I can hear all the cool tunes not on the major releases

Okay, I've got 29 ballots in. If you've received an email saying "Received!", your votes have been counted. I have one ballot that the ranks need to be adjusted on, and I've got one yet to be counted that has a minor issue to be addressed with the voter. I'll keep this open for another couple days in case anyone else wants to vote.

In other business, is there anyone open to doing images for the main rollout?

Thanks! I did not see a reply, so sent a note to be sure.

hi! i am going to submit a ballot today :)

DO IT!

xp I haven't heard that version of "Wild Thing" in over 20 years but the notes in the solo unexpectedly matched the melody of "Strangers in the night" as it was playing in my head just now so that was weird lol

Okay, I've got 29 ballots in. If you've received an email saying "Received!", your votes have been counted

haven't had an email, I'll resend mine now just in case

I am in serious need of Jimi Hendrix Poll results.

They're coming!

To be nice, I'm keeping the beach polls open through the weekend, after which they'll be closed. I've come up with an idea for the tracks images that I'll work on over the weekend. On Monday we'll get into the side polls and hopefully on Tuesday the tracks rollout will begin!

Thanks C. Grisso/McCain!

mind if I send in a separate email with side polls? I forgot to include them

No problem!

Oooh I just started digging into First Rays & I might end up resubmitting my ballot

Looking forward to the roll out ... still on for Monday start?

xpost, no pressure BTW, just wanting something to look forward to on another quarantine Monday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTL231cgCSA

Looking forward to the roll out ... still on for Monday start?

Still looking to start w/the side poll reveals on Monday.

excellent and thank you.

POLLS ARE CLOSED!

We'll have a Top 50 Tracks rollout, and I'll start with the results of the side polls later today.

Thanks To All For Taking Part!

"Not Necessarily POLLED, But Beautiful..."– ILM Artist Poll #101 – Jimi Hendrix – Results Thread