'I try'

On another fun-filled occasion Artie Kornfeld and I went to Electric Lady Recording Studio, owned by Jimi Hendrix at 52 West 8th Street in Greenwich Village... When I arrived, I heard strange sounds coming from an adjoining studio. I slowly crept into the room. There he was Jimi all by himself, making guitar-like sounds with his voice and his fingers replicating those very sounds on his guitar. I could not tell one from the other. Different than songs you expect from him, this one had a slow jazz feel. He must have felt my presence. he looked at me, nodded his approval of my existence, and kept right on playing. Not knowing what to do next, I nervously said, "You were great at Woodstock."
"I try," he politely answered.
That reminiscence comes from Frank & Charli: Woodstock, True Love and the Sixties by Frank Yandolino. Quite understandably the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival will be receiving considerable media attention this summer. Among the celebratory releases is Woodstock 50: Back To The Garden: The Anniversary Collection. This is a 38 CD set containing 432 songs, 267 of them previously unreleased, with the bonus content of what is described as ‘sonic memorabilia’ from the Festival including the infamous brown acid stage announcement. This release from Warner Music can be pre-ordered for £624.99 ($789). One Woodstock classical connection worth exploring is cellist Matt Haimovitz's electrifying rendition of Jimi Hendrix's "Star-Spangled Banner" from Woodstock. Listen and trip via this link; no added ingredients - brown or other wise - are needed. As Ravi Shakar, who also played at Woodstock, told us: "Get high on the music, it is enough".

Photo of Jimi Hendrix at Royal Albert Hall, London by David Redfern is via RollingStone.a New Overgrown Path posts are available via RSS/email by entering your email address in the right-hand sidebar. Any copyrighted material is included for critical analysis, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s).

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