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Jimi Hendrix Minus the Experience

Guitar lovers beware, today’s blog is about one of the most influential guitarists ever to pick up the instrument. We’re going to talk about Jimi Hendrix’s live album recorded after disbanding the Experience.

Few people know that after the album Electric Lady Land, Hendrix formed a new group known as the Band of Gypsys. The Band of Gypsy’s first only real record is a self-titled live album preformed at Filmore East in New York City in 1970. The group had only been together for a short time before the performance. Some critics say that you can hear it in their performance, but I think it still sounds good.

I first heard about this album when I was about fifteen. I was diving deep into any Hendrix I could find, because I had just recently started playing guitar and that’s what you do when discovering the guitar. So, when I first heard the song “Machine Gun” it BLEW MY MIND!

The sounds Hendrix was able to achieve were just out of this world. “Machine Gun” is a twelve-minute song that flat out just rocks. The solo is a master piece, but I especially love the end when he makes the guitar essentially howl. Another song to check out is “Power to Love”, it’s a shorter song but when it comes in its powerful.

Performance-wise, Band of Gypsy’s was a change for Hendrix because he was not the focal piece of the band. In songs like Who Knows, and Changes Hendrix is just a lead guitarist while drummer Buddy Miles takes over on some vocals. Don’t get it twisted though, Hendrix is still the heart and soul of this group. Sound-wise the Band of Gypsy’s were a mixture of funk, blues, and soul. The record also becomes slightly political with the song “Machine Gun”, which is about soldiers in Vietnam, and racial riots in other parts of the country.

Fast forward to 2014 when I started to get into collecting records. I saw a used vinyl copy at a store close to my house. As soon as I saw it, I had to grab it. It was fifteen dollars, which was the most I’d spent on a record at the time. I have spun this thing by far the most out of all my records.

If you are a fan of Hendrix, I highly recommend checking the album out. The sound Hendrix is able to achieve is outer-worldly and is some of Hendrix’s best work. If you’re interested in Jimi Hendrix or Band of Gypsys go to https://www.jimihendrix.com/music/band-gypsys/ to learn more.