Best Ever Albums

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

RoundTheBend — Wed, 5 Jun 2019 23:43:35 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/06/2019 03:43

Likewise PurpleHazel - great points made and never in a condescending tone which is always a plus. Good discussion making points for sure and more importantly better data to back it up ;).

This was the thread a while back... I only remembered it because it popped up as a related post.
https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6295

AAL2014 - good to see you again mate.

Still interested in anyone's Cox recordings that are amazing bass recordings. I'm likely more ignorant to what he actually recorded.

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

AAL2014 — Wed, 5 Jun 2019 09:50:30 GMT

Author: AAL2014

Posted: 06/05/2019 13:50

Romanelli wrote:

sethmadsen wrote:

You know I've listened to a bit of Jimi Hendrix (in a few different forms) lately, and maybe it was the drugs, but I really think Jimi Hendrix took a decent nose dive after Noel Redding no longer was in the band.

Please internet, shoot all my thoughts down and chew them up as your own distortion field of reality! You are my only hope.

Dude...Noel Redding? He was dropped from the Experience in favor of the far superior Billy Cox, and Hendrix started playing a much more adventurous and complex music that Redding was not suited for at all. And remember that Hendrix picked Redding in the first place because he had a good attitude and GOOD HAIR. Redding also insisted on having junk like this included on Experience releases (held together only by the playing of Hendrix and Mitch Mitchell):

Link

The rest of Redding's career speaks for itself. As for what you hear as deficiencies in the songs released after Redding left?

1) Nothing they did with Redding was experimental in any way compared to pretty much everything he did after he was gone.

2) Redding's impact on Hendrix as a songwriter was pretty much nothing. And Redding's own songs were pretty much the reason he was never a good frontman.

3) Soul? I am not hearing how, in any way, Jimi's white bass player was the anchor of soul in the group...it was Mitchell who provided the jazz beats, Hendrix who provided the soul, and Redding who played the simplest of bass lines in the middle of it all.

4) "We settled"? Remember that much of what you hear of Hendrix post-Experience was either live with a new bassist or material that was released either posthumously completed or unfinished. There were no post-Experience studio albums released while he was alive.

But if you're joking...good one! :D

Have to agree with this whole thing basically, especially as the first thing I thought of when reading Seth's original post was how much I don't really care for Little Miss Strange. No disrespect to Noel, he played with Jimi in the first place after all, but it's hard for me not to think anyone could have made the Experience even more musically interesting. With Hendrix and Mitchell though, Noel was all that was needed.

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

PurpleHazel — Wed, 5 Jun 2019 05:28:36 GMT

Author: PurpleHazel

Posted: 06/05/2019 09:28

sethmadsen wrote:

your point about the whole album being written and parts were just shown to both). Which kind of goes back to me thinking Jimi Hendrix really was more of a solo artist, even if a while back it was the BEA consensus he wasn't in a different thread.

Protecting Hendrix's vision was Chas Chandler's paramount goal after his experience with in The Animals, where he felt everyone's vision ended up being compromised eventually. After the U.S. tracks of Are You Experienced were recorded, Mitchell and Redding were shown songs earlier in the process. It seems like Axis: Bold is Love, the 5 Experience tracks on Electric Ladyland and some of the the non-U.S. Are You Experienced and Smash Hits tracks are the closest thing to Experience band music. And, according to Redding, he helped write "Remember," which is one of the non-U.S. Are You Experienced tracks. Also, assuming Redding's claims are true, Ezy Rider's the most popular track on Cry of Love and Midnight's a badass instrumental, the closest Jimi ever came to metal (wonder if he intended it to have lyrics).

There well may have been more synergy with Redding as well as Mitchell in the Experience, but sometimes there's just no public information -- and since all of the principals are dead, likely no new information's forthcoming.

I'd be interested to read that BEA thread about whether Hendrix was more of a solo artist or collaborative artist.

According to Redding, Hendrix didn't want him to leave when he resigned. On the other hand, Hendrix originally wanted Billy Cox to come with him to England when Chandler offered to be his manager with the plan to launch Hendrix's career in England, but Cox didn't have a fully-working bass at the time and couldn't afford the ticket.

Seth, though there are many nice folks on here, Your genial, diplomatic style while posting frequently is unique and I've always appreciated it. Though I always avoid personal attacks online, I can be a vigorous debater and a little (more than a little?) stubborn.

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

RoundTheBend — Wed, 5 Jun 2019 00:54:59 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/05/2019 04:54

Well that totally changes my mind then.

A few half truths and unfinished recordings totally paint a full picture of my hypothesis, huh? 🤣

Thanks for totally debunking that theory. It was a half baked thought and clearly is wrong (mostly from your point about the whole album being written and parts were just shown to both). Which kind of goes back to me thinking Jimi Hendrix really was more of a solo artist, even if a while back it was the BEA consensus he wasn't in a different thread.

None of that was sarcasm, I really do appreciate you clarifying all those points.

If you can, I am interested in the Cox recordings you dig, even if it's a bit of moot point... the reason the bass was so good (one might argue) actually was because Jimi Hendrix wrote the part and possibly even catered the tone I like so much... and maybe since Cox was an old buddy, he wanted him to have more creative control on tone, etc... I don't know, just speculating.

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

PurpleHazel — Tue, 4 Jun 2019 05:29:23 GMT

Author: PurpleHazel

Posted: 06/04/2019 09:29

sethmadsen wrote:

RE: every recording dun did chronicled
Do they credit each recording for each instrument?

Yes.

Quote:

I was just speaking to the point that many early albums did not credit the artist actually recording. Like, I don't see Carol Kaye on my Pet Sounds record... but I've heard she recorded on it (or most of the Beach Boys stuff). I was just speaking to that point that many session musicians, etc. never got credited. The vocals on the great gig in the sky, for example. Or the hang drum and tabla for any of the Beatles music (I'm 90% sure George Harrison plays the citar, but Ringo or anyone else in the band didn't master any Indian instruments). Heck even Smashing Pumpkins doesn't credit Billy Corgan for all the instruments except for drums on Siamese Dream, but he did it... that's all I'm speaking to... is if "the gospel truth" is from liner notes, you likely are misleading yourself.

BUT - if someone did some source material that was legit (published in a book also doesn't always equal legit), then that's an awesome resource. If it does list each musician and what role they played, and you trust it as a good source, I'd trust that over anything I read on the internet... hehe.

True that being in a book doesn't automatically make something gospel. There's no Hendrix sessionography online that I can find -- pretty shocking -- so this the best I have access to, though there are other books that may be as good or better.

Your Billy Corgan example is similar to the Electric Ladyland situation. Hendrix' bass playing isn't credited in the liner notes at all, but he plays bass on either 5 or 7 tracks.

Quote:

Also, I think this conversation wasn't really what I was going for, but I'll take it. I was speaking to the synergy Noel created in the band as someone who had a hard work ethic and potentially had more creative influence than liner notes give him credit for and I'm basing this off him suing the estate for much of the credit of later songs the Hendrix family released as Jimi's work, but actually was co-written material. Nobody really has spoken to this point, rather the point of if they like Noel or not.

Well, people can only talk about synergy if there's evidence of synergy and people know about it. I know Redding hated disorder, but I don't know if pushing Hendrix to record more in the studio counts.

There's a reason no one has discussed Redding's lawsuit. He threatened to sue, but he never actually did -- he died three months later. The lawsuit threat wasn't close to being widely covered, so most people including me didn't know about it. Since it happened in 2003, it's totally understandable that you didn't remember all the details.

It took some digging, but I think I found as much information as is available online, and Wikipedia provided or pointed me to all of it. Redding threatened to sue Experience Hendrix a year before it released The Experience Sessions, a compilation of unreleased alternate takes etc. It included alternate takes of She's So Fine and Little Miss Strange. It also included an unreleased song, Dream, that Redding wrote and played guitar on. It also has a live version of Red House, which Wikipedia says Redding played rhythm guitar on. However, since he played the bass part on the studio version of Red House on the low strings of a regular guitar, my hypothesis is that he probably didn't play "rhythm" but instead played the bass part on a guitar on the live version too. After all, who else would've been playing bass on Red House during an Experience concert?

I also learned that Redding wrote and played guitar on another unreleased song, Dance, that's not on the compilation, and that Hendrix allegedly used Redding's guitar part as the basis for Ezy Rider. And Redding also felt the riff became the basis for the "Midnight" riff. So that may be what you were thinking of when you said that Redding helped write a song he didn't get credit for. However, those both appeared on posthumous releases, so that doesn't support the idea that he contributed more to the synergy of the Experience's three albums than he's gotten credit for (though it's a good example of how complicated boiling down the creative process into credits can be).

Also found this:

"Redding also believed he deserved compositional credit for what he contributed to 'Remember' and 'My Friend.'"

The same Wikipedia that provided me or directed me to this information also -- yeah, I'm repeating myself here -- also states that Hendrix wrote all the songs on Are You Experienced (the U.S. track version) before showing them to Mitch Mitchell and Redding in the studio (Chas Chandler wanted it that way), and that Chandler "directed" Redding's bass parts.

Quote:

Do you have any tracks to show the bass prowess of Cox that you dig more than anything Noel did?

Let me get back to you on that.

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

RoundTheBend — Mon, 3 Jun 2019 22:29:32 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/04/2019 02:29

PurpleHazel wrote:

Actually, I'm surprised that none of the other members have taken up Redding's cause. If Redding's judged solely by how good the songs he played bass on are, it's not much of a contest. But theoretically, a bass player on a pop album could just be a hired gun and have no control over the creation of the music, just as a bass player could be a major contributor and have a significant tangible or intangible impact on albums, as you propose. Since I'm in the pro-Cox camp, I'm impressed that so many members are knowledgeable about Hendrix' career and have been willing to look beyond the surface of the songs, judge the bass playing on its merits, and take a wealth of different factors into consideration. Didn't mean to pile on -- I didn't see Romanelli's post till after I posted mine (though I do happen to agree with him).

Seth, except for Jack Cassady playing bass on Voodoo Chile, all of my personnel information comes from the Hendrix bio Electric Gypsy by Harry Shapiro and Caesar Glebbeek. It has a 144-page discography that gives detailed information about personnel on the official albums... and over 100 bootlegs. (It's madness that they even attempted to list all the Hendrix bootlegs -- I wouldn't wish that chore on my worst enemy.) It also has appendices that try to list all the guitars and effects Hendrix used and all of his concert dates. Before today, I only knew that Hendrix played bass on 1983: A Merman I Should Turn to Be, but I'd heard he'd played bass on some of the other tracks on Electric Ladyland though he's not credited on the cover. The discography doesn't mention Redding playing guitar on Crosstown Traffic -- though of course Hendrix created a kazoo-like sound using a comb and paper, and Dave Mason's one of the background singers.

I spent well over an hour researching for my post -- I went through the personnel listings of every single track on the three Experience albums in that discography -- so even though that doesn't 100% prove the validity of my information, please don't dismiss it as careless liner notes or internet gossip. I'm not offended, just want balanced treatment.

You haven't commented on Noel Redding only playing on 5 tracks out of 16 on Electric Ladyland. It's usually considered the second best if not the best Experience album, so that's a major reduction of his perceived track record. He didn't dig the disorganized scene at the Electric Ladyland studio and he started Fat Mattress in 1968, so the seeds of his departure were already planted early in the Electric Ladyland sessions.

I like Cox's playing quite a bit better. Think his funky, more fundamentally sound playing adds a dimension to the Band of Gypsys album that's not present on the Experience records. Redding more or less gets the job done, but is basically invisible, which might be appropriate some of the time, but doesn't add much value. Like I said, if the New Experience had been given the chance to jell the way the original Experience did, and Hendrix wasn't beginning to deteriorate as he was during his last European tour, I think they would've become a consistently better band.

Seth, though I don't agree with your proposition, I'm very happy you posted a substantive thread about a pre-90s artist.

RE: internet gossip
I totally wasn't suggesting your post was, rather the talkbass.com forum often is filled with stuff like that. Musicians are the best fibbers. And I did credit you as having a more thoughtful response.

RE: every recording dun did chronicled
That's pretty awesome source material. Do they credit each recording for each instrument? I was just speaking to the point that many early albums did not credit the artist actually recording. Like, I don't see Carol Kaye on my Pet Sounds record... but I've heard she recorded on it (or most of the Beach Boys stuff). I was just speaking to that point that many session musicians, etc. never got credited. The vocals on the great gig in the sky, for example. Or the hang drum and tabla for any of the Beatles music (I'm 90% sure George Harrison plays the citar, but Ringo or anyone else in the band didn't master any Indian instruments). Anyway, I was just speaking to that. Heck even Smashing Pumpkins doesn't credit Billy Corgan for all the instruments except for drums on Siamese Dream, but he did it... that's all I'm speaking to... is if "the gospel truth" is from liner notes, you likely are misleading yourself.

BUT - if someone did some source material that was legit (published in a book also doesn't always equal legit), then that's an awesome resource. If it does list each musician and what role they played, and you trust it as a good source, I'd trust that over anything I read on the internet... hehe.

Do you have any tracks to show the bass prowess of Cox that you dig more than anything Noel did?

Also, I think this conversation wasn't really what I was going for, but I'll take it. I was speaking to the synergy Noel created in the band as someone who had a hard work ethic and potentially had more creative influence than liner notes give him credit for and I'm basing this off him suing the estate for much of the credit of later songs the Hendrix family released as Jimi's work, but actually was co-written material. Nobody really has spoken to this point, rather the point of if they like Noel or not.

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

RoundTheBend — Mon, 3 Jun 2019 22:18:45 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/04/2019 02:18

baystateoftheart wrote:

Bad take Seth. Stephen A. Smith has a message for you:

Link

I didn't have a strong opinion; I just wanted an excuse to post this video. Tough crowd.

Oh I appreciated the weed comment 😉

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

baystateoftheart — Mon, 3 Jun 2019 12:41:45 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 06/03/2019 16:41

baystateoftheart wrote:

Bad take Seth. Stephen A. Smith has a message for you:

Link

I didn't have a strong opinion; I just wanted an excuse to post this video. Tough crowd.

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

PurpleHazel — Mon, 3 Jun 2019 04:19:02 GMT

Author: PurpleHazel

Posted: 06/03/2019 08:19

Actually, I'm surprised that none of the other members have taken up Redding's cause. If Redding's judged solely by how good the songs he played bass on are, it's not much of a contest. But theoretically, a bass player on a pop album could just be a hired gun and have no control over the creation of the music, just as a bass player could be a major contributor and have a significant tangible or intangible impact on albums, as you propose. Since I'm in the pro-Cox camp, I'm impressed that so many members are knowledgeable about Hendrix' career and have been willing to look beyond the surface of the songs, judge the bass playing on its merits, and take a wealth of different factors into consideration. Didn't mean to pile on -- I didn't see Romanelli's post till after I posted mine (though I do happen to agree with him).

Seth, except for Jack Cassady playing bass on Voodoo Chile, all of my personnel information comes from the Hendrix bio Electric Gypsy by Harry Shapiro and Caesar Glebbeek. It has a 144-page discography that gives detailed information about personnel on the official albums... and over 100 bootlegs. (It's madness that they even attempted to list all the Hendrix bootlegs -- I wouldn't wish that chore on my worst enemy.) It also has appendices that try to list all the guitars and effects Hendrix used and all of his concert dates. Before today, I only knew that Hendrix played bass on 1983: A Merman I Should Turn to Be, but I'd heard he'd played bass on some of the other tracks on Electric Ladyland though he's not credited on the cover. The discography doesn't mention Redding playing guitar on Crosstown Traffic -- though of course Hendrix created a kazoo-like sound using a comb and paper, and Dave Mason's one of the background singers.

I spent well over an hour researching for my post -- I went through the personnel listings of every single track on the three Experience albums in that discography -- so even though that doesn't 100% prove the validity of my information, please don't dismiss it as careless liner notes or internet gossip. I'm not offended, just want balanced treatment.

You haven't commented on Noel Redding only playing on 5 tracks out of 16 on Electric Ladyland. It's usually considered the second best if not the best Experience album, so that's a major reduction of his perceived track record. He didn't dig the disorganized scene at the Electric Ladyland studio and he started Fat Mattress in 1968, so the seeds of his departure were already planted early in the Electric Ladyland sessions.

I like Cox's playing quite a bit better. Think his funky, more fundamentally sound playing adds a dimension to the Band of Gypsys album that's not present on the Experience records. Redding more or less gets the job done, but is basically invisible, which might be appropriate some of the time, but doesn't add much value. Like I said, if the New Experience had been given the chance to jell the way the original Experience did, and Hendrix wasn't beginning to deteriorate as he was during his last European tour, I think they would've become a consistently better band.

Seth, though I don't agree with your proposition, I'm very happy you posted a substantive thread about a pre-90s artist.

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

RoundTheBend — Mon, 3 Jun 2019 01:32:38 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/03/2019 05:32

Hendrix's bass players: Noel Redding and Billy Cox. Ok Thread... agree with the OP... the rest you'll find a bunch of people making up stuff... some probably know what they are talking about and some are likely dudes that repeat rumors that aren't true.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/hendrixs-bass-players-noel-redding-and-billy-cox.1142330/

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

RoundTheBend — Mon, 3 Jun 2019 01:03:04 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/03/2019 05:03

Jameth wrote:

It was in bad taste for dude to say white guys can’t play with soul, but that’s not even really germain to the discussion you’re trying to have. Best not to let it derail the thread.

And it’s not that I necessarily agree with your points about Noel Redding. Billy Cox was a more talented bassist than Redding, and I’m sure his inclusion in the New Experience wasn’t an issue. I think it could be that you prefer the psychedelic pop rock style Hendrix performed with Redding to the R&B/funk influences that came with Cox and Miles. Musicians tend to have all sorts of influences on their bandmates, and I’m sure Redding’s influences in the studio and his other varying creative input differed considerably from Cox’s. It could also be that Cox’s playing was too sophisticated to satisfy the idyllic pop stylings recorded with Redding. Maybe the Beatles wouldn’t have been as good with Moon...Maybe Hendrix’s manager saw it your way, explaining why he sabotaged the Band of Gypsies lineup in an effort to reform the original lineup.

I’m just thinking aloud, because I’m still not quite sure what you’re driving at. Hone your thoughts.

And again, the fact that Hendrix never recorded a proper album with either Cox and Miles or Cox and Mitchell really hurts any chance of a fair comparison.

Thanks... this type of conversation motivates me to hone my thoughts. I can just put some facts down that lead me to post this (I almost deleted it).

1) Read somewhere he played rhythm guitar on crosstown traffic (I'm finding this to be false?) and perhaps played more of a role in songwriting we give him credit for... if anyone wants to trust liner notes from the 60s... you probably don't realize how wrong they often are... completely dismissing musicians ALL THE TIME.
2) It felt like for a bit before he left he provided some structure to the band that was desperately needed (trying to motivate Jimi to get to the studio).
3) I actually feel like his bass tone is better fitting to the style of music. I feel like Cox's bass tone wasn't even good for your typical soul music. I don't know much about Cox, but I just looked at his "discography" and clearly isn't anything to write home about. Decent point about the pop side of things, but I suppose I'm also talking about his hard rock, but then soulful basslines. I also feel like he played to the more experimental things. I'm saying this on the basis of him being a good bassist (from someone who has played bass for nearly 20 years and typically bass is what I first pay attention to in music).
4) No I don't think Noel was a musical genius and was the true hero of the Experience, rather, ALONG WITH OTHER THINGS, I think he played more of a role than perhaps we typically give him credit for. There are plenty of solid musicians who move on in life and do other things. I feel it's a bit of a logical fallacy to dismiss him.

Anyway for now that's what I remember my experience being... but not saying my experience is a black and white fact. If interested I can develop this hypothesis into something more tangible.

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

Jameth — Mon, 3 Jun 2019 00:46:44 GMT

Author: Jameth

Posted: 06/03/2019 04:46

It was in bad taste for dude to say white guys can’t play with soul, but that’s not even really germain to the discussion you’re trying to have. Best not to let it derail the thread.

And it’s not that I necessarily agree with your points about Noel Redding. Billy Cox was a more talented bassist than Redding, and I’m sure his inclusion in the New Experience wasn’t an issue. I think it could be that you prefer the psychedelic pop rock style Hendrix performed with Redding to the R&B/funk influences that came with Cox and Miles. Musicians tend to have all sorts of influences on their bandmates, and I’m sure Redding’s influences in the studio and his other varying creative input differed considerably from Cox’s. It could also be that Cox’s playing was too sophisticated to satisfy the idyllic pop stylings recorded with Redding. Maybe the Beatles wouldn’t have been as good with Moon...Maybe Hendrix’s manager saw it your way, explaining why he sabotaged the Band of Gypsies lineup in an effort to reform the original lineup.

I’m just thinking aloud, because I’m still not quite sure what you’re driving at. Hone your thoughts.

And again, the fact that Hendrix never recorded a proper album with either Cox and Miles or Cox and Mitchell really hurts any chance of a fair comparison.

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

RoundTheBend — Sun, 2 Jun 2019 22:16:44 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/03/2019 02:16

The internet did not disappoint. Thank you so much!

Good points ya'll. Especially about the weed and white people with no soul. (Charles Bradley's bassist... muscle shoals, Carol Kaye and countless others just don't exist I suppose).

Synergy is a word. It usually doesn't mean sole ruler of the universe.

I'd have to disagree with some of them and some of them I do indeed agree with - seriously some good points made - thank you!. But usually when I discuss the points I disagree with that's when the interwebs get less human and I'm seeing few if anyone trying to see where I'm coming from (maybe Jameth and PurpleHazel)

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

PurpleHazel — Sun, 2 Jun 2019 20:17:43 GMT

Author: PurpleHazel

Posted: 06/03/2019 00:17

sethmadsen wrote:

I've read some stuff I'm too lazy to quote, but to the point of songwriting/even guitar playing, Noel seemed to carry more in the band than I initially realized.

You don't have to quote anything, but could you be a little more specific? How did Redding contribute to the guitar playing? He only plays guitar on one song, Little Miss Strange, across the three J.H. Experience albums.

Noel Redding's only credited as songwriter on the two songs he famously wrote and sang lead on. I think they're the worst two songs on the three Experience studio albums, though if anyone thinks they have better other candidates, I'd be interested to hear them. The worst part is Little Miss Strange sounds quite a bit like She's So Fine.

Hendrix and Chas Chandler did all the pre-production work on Are You Experienced themselves (U.S. version tracks) without any input from Redding or Mitch Mitchell.

Wikipedia wrote:

When the Experience began studio rehearsals, Hendrix already had the chord sequences and tempos worked out for Mitchell, and [Chas] Chandler would direct Redding's bass parts.

Redding isn't on a majority of Electric Ladyland. Hendrix or guest musicians handled the bulk of the bass playing. Redding's not on 69% of the album. He only plays on one track of the whole second LP!

Redding doesn't appear on 11 of the 16 tracks:

...And the Gods Made Love (duh!)
Have You Ever Been (to Electric Ladyland) [Jimi - bass]
Voodoo Chile (15 minute track; Jack Cassady - bass)
Long Hot Summer Night (Jimi - bass)
Gypsy Eyes (Jimi - bass)
Rainy Day, Dream Away & Still Raining, Still Dreaming (Jimi probably plays bass; since Buddy Miles, not Mitch Mitchell, is the drummer, I'm putting these in the not-Redding column)

1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be) [almost 14 minutes; Jimi - bass]
Moon, Turn the Tides...Gently Gently Away (no bass)
House Burning Down (Jimi - bass)
All Along the Watchtower (Dave Mason - bass)

I personally like Band of Gypsys a lot more than Axis: Bold is Love. But if I try to look at them objectively, they're pretty close, perhaps Axis even has a slight edge (though Gypsys has definitely been more influential). Both flawed albums -- it's just to me, the highs on Gypsys are higher than the ones on Axis. But I realize this may be a minority point of view.

There's no doubt that the Experience in 1968 was tighter live than "The New Experience" with Buddy Cox and Mitch Mitchell. But the Experience toured relentlessly while the New Experience was short-lived. If Jimi hadn't died and Cox hadn't been psychologically damaged by a bad acid trip, there's no doubt in my mind that over time they would've become the (consistently) better band. Also Jimi's soloing improved and got more adventurous over time and when the New Experience was clicking, I like them better.

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

Romanelli — Sun, 2 Jun 2019 17:38:42 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 06/02/2019 21:38

sethmadsen wrote:

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

baystateoftheart — Sun, 2 Jun 2019 01:49:28 GMT

Author: baystateoftheart

Posted: 06/02/2019 05:49

Bad take Seth. Stephen A. Smith has a message for you:

Link

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

RoundTheBend — Sun, 2 Jun 2019 01:17:32 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/02/2019 05:17

oh and to the ways of decline:

Songwriting
Experimentation
Soul
Powerful/emotional playing

honestly some of the tracks I hear have a "we settled" to sound like many others of the time... like a tinge of southern rock can be heard and not in a good way. The soul side of the band changed too.

Now having said all this, there's a few songs that really shine still. But the overall energy, etc. of the band declined drastically.

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

RoundTheBend — Sun, 2 Jun 2019 01:13:09 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/02/2019 05:13

Jameth wrote:

In what way do you think he took a nose dive? It’s kind of hard to compare the two periods, when one features three studio albums and the other features one live album and an unfinished studio album.

That's true. It also is unfair to base my opinion off things like posthumous releases. In the past many commented on Mitchell being the one bringing synergy. I've read some stuff I'm too lazy to quote, but to the point of songwriting/even guitar playing, Noel seemed to carry more in the band than I initially realized. In addition to that, minus a few songs, I felt like the real explosions came through the work done while he was in the band and it feels like a clear demarcation of when things deteriorated.

But yes you are right, it's a bit unfair to compare given the circumstances, and isn't the only driving factor I'm sure.

Re: Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

Jameth — Sun, 2 Jun 2019 01:06:10 GMT

Author: Jameth

Posted: 06/02/2019 05:06

In what way do you think he took a nose dive? It’s kind of hard to compare the two periods, when one features three studio albums and the other features one live album and an unfinished studio album.

Blasphemy! Noel Redding synergy to Jimi Hendrix

RoundTheBend — Sun, 2 Jun 2019 00:25:11 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 06/02/2019 04:25

You know I've listened to a bit of Jimi Hendrix (in a few different forms) lately, and maybe it was the drugs, but I really think Jimi Hendrix took a decent nose dive after Noel Redding no longer was in the band.

The other thought I had is an uncanny resemblance Nirvana's stuff like Endless Nameless sounds a lot like some of their more experimental work. Which is funny because guitar/music snobs would never see ANY resemblance with the two guitarists/musicians. But I feel the two had a similar "noise"/"experimental"/"avant garde" palette.

Please internet, shoot all my thoughts down and chew them up as your own distortion field of reality! You are my only hope.