HENDRIX AND THE BAND OF GYPSY
346294
This DVD should have been more concert material. Instead its more about interviews with people like Lenny Kravits, also Eddie Kramer. This DVD covers some concert material I think the CD was alot better than the DVD. I rated it 3 stars and no more because its an average DVD. The Band Of Gypsys were powerful the footage includes Machine Gun, Foxy Lady, and a few others ENJOY!!!!!!!
4259654
Five stars: A must for the fans not familiar with the"off the beaten Hendrix" Lo track. Many pieces already came in other foot-wear, often sounding better. But on this 4th of July Cherokee Mist/America The Beautiful... the extended thoughtful Three Little Bears. Some pieces you've heard faded off, here you get to the end. The cover: Jimi Indian Chief Spiritual Psychedelic definitely would please the artist. Two CDs. Wish Kramer and Janie and McDermott et al. would have been on board: with technical equipment and know-how. We are getting older - and some of the footwear out there is outstanding.
Prepare also for uneven sound. Hopefully soon the Real Axis outtakes will come brilliantly out.
1197504
This album was my introduction to Jimi Hendrix. Buddy Miles on drums and Billy Cox on bass. Great and classic Jimi project.
2716863
This is a classic album in all sense of the word. Are you looking for a scale of Hendrix albums to compare it to forget it. Every Hendrix album you would buy and listen to sounds completely different and not a rehash of the last one. While the "Are You Experienced?" album is a must have in your collection otherwise don't bother listening to music but let's not forget the most overlooked album in the Hendrix EXP catolog Axis:Bold as Love. This album(Hey we're in the CD and MP3 age but I like saying album.)was put together with great care by mixing engineer Eric Kramer and Jimi Hendrix himself. Meaning Jimi was behind the mixing boards and saw to it that the sound of the live EXP was translated to source tape.(What you just thought he played guitar and sang?) So when you listen to "Axis" it is definitely as Jimi intended. This album has indian influences which is a good thing.(Jimi was part Cherokee.)  1st track "EXP" will delight your eardrums as Jimi and his UFO fly from your left & right speakers and beyond. "Up from the skies" plays smoothly and blast right into "Spanish Castle Magic". "Wait until Tomorrow" a funny blues track which is one of my favorites. "Little Wing" is short beautiful and gets to the point. "If 6 was 9" and "You got me Floatin" has the blueprint of funk music all over it. "Castles made of Sand" tells 3 stories everybody can relate to. "She's so fine" is a song with Noel Redding on vocals and Jimi only to glad give Noel the guitar solo his song needed. "One raining wish" is the calm before "Little Miss Lover"(My Favorite on constant repeat.)my comment on this song is this;turn your stereo knob all the way up and break it off!!! Final title  track "Bold as Love" tells you that love is just like the axis that holds and rotates the planet earth guitar solos included. Jimi Hendrix on vocals and guitar,Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums. It is not very often that you have albums that are good from beginning to end so do yourself a favor and  BUY THIS ALBUM and keep yourself floating!!! Now if you excuse me I must be onn myyy wayyyy!!!!! \m/
1969644
And Hendrix's legacy lives on.

As the first album to have been released after Hendrix's unfortunate death, it's no surprise that an album would be so satisfying to listen to, even if the artist has died. Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Noel Redding, Juma Sultan, and Buddy Miles have made an astonishing achievement. These songs are, as usual, first-rate. Songs such as "Freedom," "Ezy Rider," "Night Bird Flying," and "Straight Ahead" are typical of the Hendrix experience: hypnotic music and hard-hitting lyrics. "Astro Man" is pretty weak in some parts, but even this song doesn't prevent this album from being worthy of second place. The Cry of Love is a definite classic, and it's in the same level as Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold as Love.

Grade: 9.8 out of 10

Also from Jimi Hendrix
Are you Experienced (10 out of 10)&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Are-You-Experienced-CD-DVD/dp/B0033AGPEO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Are You Experienced CD/DVD</a>
Axis: Bold as Love (9.9 out of 10)&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Axis-Bold-As-Love-CD-DVD/dp/B00328G4Y8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Axis Bold As Love CD/DVD</a>
Electric Ladyland (9.7 out of 10)&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Electric-Ladyland-CD-DVD/dp/B00328G4XY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Electric Ladyland CD/DVD</a>
Band of Gypsys (10 out of 10)&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Band-Of-Gypsys/dp/B000002UVX/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Band Of Gypsys</a>
2528986
I grew up listening to this album and Carlos Santana Buddy Miles Live!  This is definitely my favorite Hendrix album.. The performance of  "Hear My Train A Coming " never gets old.
3499425
In those days, it was hard making a rock album. In 1968, Jimi Hendrix's second album was released. He named it Axis: Bold As Love. By this time, Jimi was experimenting with lots of sounds and instruments. My favorite songs on this album has to be Castles Made Of Sand and the jazzy, Up From The Skies. This album really sounded gentle and if you ever hear Are You Experienced? and Electric Ladyland, you will notice that they had a harsh and loud sound to it. This is maybe one of his weakest albums in the Hendrix catalog, but it is a classic. Axis is as far as you can go for a gentle and kind, Hendrix album (for the exception of that experimental tune, EXP). Buy this if you're starting a Hendrix Experince collection.
3871126
Jimi Hendrix was an ideal guitarist to lead a power trio, and he thrived in that format.  He inspired other groups to attempt it, with varying degrees of success.  But the Experience was a unit, able to soar on stage in extended live versions of Hendrix's compositions. Had it not been for the demon of discontent within the trio itself (that curses so many otherwise excellent bands), the Experience might have created several more inspired albums than it did before falling apart.

The album BAND OF GYPSYS was jarring upon its release to those of us looking for Hendrix to continue to maximize the potential of the Experience.  At the time, loosely associated groups that traded off lengthy lead parts in a more or less generic old-style blues format were common and certainly not original -- much less cutting edge.

It's true that Jimi does some respectable work on this record against the backdrop of the blues grooves supplied for him, but there's an odd and unwelcome shift in the balance.  Buddy Miles became a kind of intrusion into the world Jimi had fashioned in his previous work.  On a Hendrix album, songs sung by Buddy Miles didn't move the bar; they did not elucidate Jimi's universe.  Buddy's drum work was simply not in the style of Mitch Mitchell, and that was a large step down from the Experience's innovative grooves in songs like "Fire," for example.  Listen to "Fire," and then listen to any cut on "Band of Gypsys."  Listen to Hendrix's wild half-sung, half-wailed vocals on the previous albums, and then listen to Buddy Miles sing "Changes."

You can't reconcile the two styles, and that would not be quite so bad if it weren't for the obvious fact that Band of Gypsys, under Buddy Miles' unfortunate influence, were not a step backward toward traditional blues rather than another reach into the future already painted by Jimi's previous work in tracks like "Are You Experienced?" and "Third Stone from the Sun."  Jimi's guitar work put him several steps ahead of the blues in terms of making his instrument perform overdriven rock tone poems and distorted rock concertos on his behalf.

Band of Gypsys turned Jimi backward into a lead player in a blues band, which one might even have mistaken as being headed up by sideman Buddy Miles. That's not what people bought a Hendrix album for.

It just didn't work very well as a release from what people still considered the Hendrix Experience.  Jimi seemed to have gone off track somehow, and the effect was to make him seem a little less what he had been up to that point.

No doubt people got smoked up and enjoyed portions of the album that seemed like an intimate studio groove, but the cohesion of the Experience, the clear creative identity of the Hendrix Experience was not there.  You can say it was as simple as the fact that we missed Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, and that may be true.  But whatever the line-up, people were not entirely ready for Jimi to share his stage with any other would-be featured players.
68511
I'm kind of mixed about how to review this book. It is very insightful to the musician and hard core Hendrix fan on what it took, and what it still takes to be successful in music. It can be summed up in this fact; It takes COMPLETE dedication. This book shows this; that Jimi Hendrix was completley dedicated to the craft of playiing guitar. It would be impossible to chroncicle all the time he practiced and jammed but this book chronicles as accurately as possible all of his performances and recording sessions(which was almost every day when he wasn't touring) and alot of his jam sessions. The detail is absolutely fantastic, you can't help but be impressed with the amazing amount of research that went into this chronological record of Hendrix' musical activites. As a musician and Hendrix fan I was fascintated by this book and couldn't put it down. Of course the story's sad ending was clearly portrayed, and even seemed more tragic when you read of the progress Hendrix was making on his next record and the promising futre he had with the realization of his dream of Electric Ladyland Studios. Just as a side note I hope even people today can learn the lesson that the lifestyle of moral lack of restraint and a godless lifestyle (to lack of a better way to put it) can only end badly... Ok that's my plug for God for now..
I do wonder if one was just a casual Hendrix fan or not aspiring, recording musician as I am would find any relevance or interest in this book. So to summarize, I'd say that this book is exremely well researched and well written, but it would have a very limited appeal, probably interesting to musicians and/or hard core Hendrix fans only.
1614849
This is Gary Moore playing Jimi Hendrix his way.  He is not as delicate and textural as Jimi.  He is not as psychedelic as Jimi.  On the other hand, his is a first rate shredder and a powerful player.  This is not a bad or a good imitation - it is a completely new way of listening to the Hendrix canon.  Certainly not better, just different.  There are moments when I wish he would swing more and rock less, but Gary cranked it to "11" and was playing hot that night.  When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail!  I doubt it would  have been released without his untimely passing, but I am glad it was.  It may actually appeal to newer guitar enthusiasts who are a little confused by the Hendrix legacy in the age of power players like Vai, Morse, etc.  FTR - I am a huge Gary Moore fan, but if this was the first thing I had heard of him, this would not have convinced me that he was as special as his more nuanced blues playing indicates, or his homage to Peter Green, Blues for Greeny, where he really does inhabit the spirit of the man.
1789376
I am a huge fan of Jimi Hendrix. I listen to his music every day, and it never gets old. I've listened to all of the essential albums (and many more) but have never actually read any book on him and his music. I saw this book in the music part of the book store. I quickly looked through the pages, and was very intrigued, since I'd never heard where he got his inspiration from. And I must say this book will intrigue you as well. It really fills in the gaps on some of Jimi's songs, such as on Castles Made of Sand. I didn't know that the first verse was about Jimi's mom and dad fighting and eventually splitting up. Or the second verse was about his troubled brother Leon. And the third verse was about Jimi's mom dying. These interesting facts and more are in this book. If you own a lot of Jimi Hendrix CDs out there, and you're asking yourself: How did he do that? Where did he get that idea for a song? or Who is that song about? Then buy this book. It's a very informative and an interesting read.
3353044
The book ends with some incredible on stage photos of Hendrix, Buddy Miles, Eric Burdon, and others at the Newport Pop Festival of 1969.  I was there that sunny Sunday afternoon when Hendrix came back to the festival to atone for a dismal performance by the Experience Friday night, during which Hendrix continually berated the crowd.  The jam session was undoubtedly the highlight of the whole three days, which included outstanding sets by Spirit, Creedence, Ike & Tina Turner, and Three Dog Night.  The photos and text finally provide proof that Janis Joplin was NOT part of the jam, as many, including two of the people I was with that day, have claimed.  I always said it was Tracy Nelson of Mother Earth.  I'm sure certain herbs and the passing of time have contributed to this case of mistaken identity.  Janis was there, but it was a brief walk on to say hello on Friday's opening night.  Caraeff captured some seminal moments in the brief time he followed Hendrix and there are some outstanding performance shots in this photo-heavy coffee table book.  Highly recommended for Hendrix fans.  One last thing for those of you who know the song "We've Got To Live Together" from the Band of Gypsy's album: The genesis of it was created that day on stage at Devonshire Downs as Buddy Miles led the crowd in singing the line over and over.  It was quite an afternoon.
3834496
JIMI HENDRIX CONTRIBUTED MORE TO MUSIC IN HIS SHORT 28 YEARS THAN 90% OF MUSICIANS WILL IN THEIR ENTIRE LIFETIMES.  IF YOU ARE A MUSICIAN OR A MUSIC LOVER; THIS MAN MUST BE A PART OF YOU OR YOU HAVEN'T DISCOVERED WHAT MUSIC  IS ALL ABOUT YET; IT IS THAT SIMPLE.
MY FAVES HERE ARE: HEY JOE, PURPLE  HAZE, FIRE, IF 6 WERE 9, ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER, VOODOO CHILD (SLIGHT  RETURN) AND THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER (LISTED IN RANDOM ORDER; HOW DOES ONE  CHOOSE THE BEST FROM THE BEST?)
SIMPLY STATED JIMI HENDRIX IS THE ONE. IF  YOU DON'T OWN AT LEAST ONE OF HIS CD'S YOU DON'T HAVE ALL THE PIECES OF THE  MUSIC PUZZLE.
231441
Axis was originally released in 1968 and is the second of the three studio albums released in Hendrix's lifetime.  For my money Axis is the Experience at their peak.  Its better recorded than the debut "Are You Experienced?".  The drums sound MUCH better and the guitar much more alive and richer in tone.  And Axis is less rambling, more focused and less broad in scope than "Electric Ladyland".  The songs flow better than either of the other studio albums and both the recording and song writing are more consistant.  Not neccessarily better.  Its just that Axis is more unified in sound than Hendrix's other studio output.  It's his tightest and most psychedelic album.  Jimi and his engineer Eddie Kramer really got some facinating sounds in the studio and used phasing among other tricks to great effect.  Just check out the track list:  Its got the live staple "Spanish Castle Magic", its got "Little Wing", its got "If Six Was Nine" "Im gonna wave my freak flag HIGH!" Its got the jazzy soul of "Up From the Skies" and the metal edged funk of "Aint No Telling" to the acid tinged 4 minute pop symphony of the title song "Bold As Love."  Not to mention the beautiful Dylanesque rocker "Castles Made Of Sand."  It doesn't get any better than this. One of the true psychedelic albums of the sixties.  Just Beautiful.
3563228
This album was recorded live at the Fillmore East on New Year's Eve, 1969.  Jimi Hendrix had disbanded the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and formed a new band with Buddy Miles and Billy Cox.  The sound of Band of Gypsys is a lot less accesible to the general public then the Jimi Hendrix Experience.  I personally don't enjoy this album as much as any of the Jimi Hendrix Experience albums, although it's still quite good.  It has a rambling, shambling bluesy feel to it.  Buddy Miles wrote and sang two of the songs here, including his most famous composition, "Them Changes" (which is mistitled "Changes" here, despite the fact that Jimi introduces it as "Them Changes").  This is Jimi's least popular album, although it's some people's favorite.  If you like Hendrix, give it a listen.
1547817
A late 1971 posthumous "soundtrack" for a ludicrous movie that got into theaters much later if I recall, the tracks have been dribbled out in various collections since Janie got control in 1997.  Just maybe Hendrix would have approved the release of the lead track (Eddie Kramer thinks so, although Hendrix pulled an earlier single release in 1970).  It's hard to imagine why Hendrix would have objected to the live "Hear my Train" with its stupendous intro.  Otherwise these are works in progress and "Hey Baby" isn't anything more than a demo, although a very spooky one after Hendrix's passing.  Even so, Rainbow Bridge is a long time favorite and perhaps a few are left who will care about the running order.  Guitar splendor all over the disk and I have no idea how Hendrix recorded his version of the national anthem, which previously has only been available in the purple box set.  While that recording is little remarked it was highly regarded by the late Mike Bloomfield and always seemed a great late night stereo side closer.
151033
This cd has a good collection of the good ole' songs by jimi hendrixIf you're looking for a wide variety of aongs, this is the one for you.