Ended 2005 and started 2006 watching this - legendary performances by Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding and many others. I'd been wanting to get this set for a long time. It's the original Monterey Pop film by DA Pennebaker, plus another two hours of outtakes, and two other short films - Jimi Plays
Monterey and Shake! Otis at Monterey. I couldn't wait to see Jimi, so I dove into that disc first. It's a little documentary about Hendrix, basically being an unknown in Greenwich Village, then getting whisked away to England by Chas Chandler. Monterey was the first US performance by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was also the first US appearance by The Who. Neither Hendrix nor The Who wanted to follow each other. There was a coin toss and The Who won and got to appear at the festival first, complete with their guitar- and drum-destroying act. Hendrix needn't have worried. The Who were still two or three years away from Tommy and the more polished performances they would give on Live at Leeds, at Isle of Wight and on the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. Hendrix on the other hand had his shit together. Technically, he was superior in every way. His choice of material went over better -- Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone over the Who singing about plastic macks and sacks. Then Hendrix did Wild Thing. I've been listening to the performance, but this was my first time seeing it - Hendrix basically fucking his Marshall amp and making love to his guitar. Then he grabs some lighter fluid and torches it up. Then he smashes it. What really blew me away, though, was Shake! Having just visited Memphis about a month ago and steeped myself in the whole rock 'n' soul thing, I still wasn't prepared for the energy and charisma that Otis carried himself with. His whole schtick wasn't all that polished, but he had it. Whatever it is. He had it. Plus he's got Booker T and MGs and the Mar-Keys horn section. It was a nice tight band, that contrasted to all the hippie acts at Monterey. But they were still playing rock 'n' roll. I watched Shake three times in a row, to get in the two commentary tracks by author Peter Guaralnick. I think I'll watch it again.
January 2, 2006
