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Jimi Hendrix's Legacy Continues With The Electric Church
by Rich and Laura Lynch
Many consider Jimi Hendrix one of the most influential and innovative musicians of the 20th century. Jimi pioneered controlled distortion, feedback and fuzz, yet he played with so much feeling. Interestingly, Hendrix could not read or write music. Jimi also played a right-handed guitar left handed - so although his strings were in the correct order it appeared that Hendrix was playing the instrument upside down. This only added to his uniqueness. Hendrix penned vibrant, visual lyrics and he dressed just as flashy as he played so it's no wonder that he rose to stardom rapidly.
The Jim Hendrix Experience's first single, "Hey Joe," spent ten weeks on the UK charts, topping out at spot No. 6 in early 1967. The debut hit was followed by the release of a full-length album Are You Experienced a psychedelic pageantry featuring now classic songs such as "Fire", "Purple Haze" and the title track. With the band's success in the UK it was time to conquer the states. In June of 1967, Jimi ignited the crowd at the Monterey International Pop Festival with his fiery performance of "Wild Thing." Literally overnight, The Jimi Hendrix Experience became one of the most popular and highest grossing touring acts at that time.
Jimi was on the top of the world when he performed at the Atlanta Pop Festival on July 04, 1970 which made his untimely death weeks later on September 18th all the more tragic. However, the passion and power of Jimi Hendrix lives. He continues to influence new peers of guitar players. In fact, many Hendrix followers pay tribute to the "Master of the Stratocaster" by taking part in the Experience Hendrix Tour.
Conceived in 1995, Experience Hendrix is a collective of axe man from Billy Cox to Zakk Wylde who perform the music of Jimi Hendrix in a way that CDs simply cannot offer," explains Janie Hendrix, President & CEO of Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. "We felt strongly that a live presentation of the music that Jimi Hendrix created and which inspired him would be an exciting and unique way of conveying his relevance to today's audiences".
In addition, Abramorama in partnership with Experience Hendrix L.L.C. and Sony Legacy Recordings has released Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church in select theaters around the globe in 2019 along with a DVD. Janie Hendrix commented on the Electric Church partnership with Abramorama, "It's thrilling on so many levels. Seeing Jimi re-introduced around the world through this platform is something of a rebirth." She added, "The moments captured in the film are timeless. Jimi's music and his showmanship are born again for new generations in his Electric Church. It's very exciting".
Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church tells the story of the Experience's role as the headliner of the Second Atlanta International Pop Festival. The audio soundtrack includes stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes by Hendrix's recording engineer Eddie Kramer, taken directly from the original master tapes. The footage has some limitations because of 1970's technology but it still has multiple camera angles and most importantly conveys the energy of the aptly named Electric Church. Jimi looked and played gloriously.
The film opens with commentary about the Festival and Jimi's influence. A point that we had not thought about before was that although Hendrix was not a political figure he helped moved things forward during the Civil Rights movement by bringing all types of fans together under the banner of music. The majority of the documentary focuses on the live performance and the Atlanta concert is historic capturing one of the most magical and mystical artists ever performing his voodoo at the highest level.
Unquestionably, one of the greatest rock musicians, Jimi Hendrix mesmerized with his innovative stylized approach to blues guitar. Electric Church includes an interview with Paul McCartney who admits to worshipping Hendrix, commenting, "We all played guitar. We all knew a bit. But he seemed to know more than us." The film also features commentary with Hendrix's Experience band mates Billy Cox and the late Mitch Mitchell as well as Steve Winwood, Rich Robinson, Kirk Hammett, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, festival organizer Alex Cooley and many others. So pick up your copy of Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church to experience Jimi in one of his most electrifying moments.
Related Links:
For more information on JIMI HENDRIX and the other organizations mentioned please visit the following links --
Jimi Hendrix |
Electric Church |
Experience Hendrix
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