Hartford (Bushnell Memorial) : 24 août 1968

Hartford (Bushnell Memorial) : 24 août 1968



THE HARTFORD COURANT by Henry B. McNulty:

“Jimi Hendrix bore a marked resemblance to a witch as he played Saturday night at Bushnell Memorial. For one thing, he is thin - pencil-thin - and he was dressed in black with silk cuffs a foot around. For another, he wails like a witch, and stalks mysteriously around the stage.
But the greatest point of resemblance is that his music totally charmed the standing -room-only Bushnell crowd. As Jimi played his well-known hits. . . and other standards..., the audience sat and stared, many bug-eyed. Saturday’s night’s was a mature audience
- nary a teeny-bopper in the house - and Jimi knew it. He played deliberately and unsmilingly and refused to clown with the audience. He didn’t have to.
Jimi’s two fellow witches are Noel Redding, bassist, and Mitch Mitchell, drummer. They are solid and as competent as can be reasonably expected, but Hendrix is the star, and the others are the sorcerer’s apprentices. It is they who give Jimi a beat and richness but it is Hendrix who has the magic potion to turn Mulligan stew into a bewitching brew.
Who else but the great Jimi Hendrix can hold a guitar at arm’s length and still keep playing with one hand? Who else can slide a guitar against a microphone stand and have as a result good music? Who else can play ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ with his teeth?
‘Sunshine Of Your Love’ was sensational Hendrix-style. Jimi claimed he forgot the words, and indeed he didn’t sing, but vocal singing was unnecessary. The use of his wah-wah made the guitar sing for him.
After a generous hour-and-a-half [sic] performance, Jimi off handedly smashed an amplifier, tossed his guitar backstage, and went off to thunderous applause”

THE HARTFORD COURANT - interview] by Henry B. McNulty

HBM: “While Noel and Mitch ate chicken with.. .two girls, Jimi Hendrix sat in a chair smoking and chatting. He was dressed in a flowing black shirt with drooping cuffs and black bellbottom trousers with a silver design on one side. Jimi spoke in a voice barely louder than a whisper. He spoke earnestly, especially about his music.”
Jimi: “Any kind of an audience is the right kind so long as they can listen... I do the best I can even if they don’t care. But a really good audience - one that listens and understands - turns me on.”
HBM: “Jimi said he listens to all types of music. He declined to state any preference for artists, though he said he had enjoyed organist E. Power Biggs playing Bach. Then he began talking with a young man about music. They discussed guitars, amplifiers and special devices such as wah-wah and fuzz tone... “
Jimi: “Those things used to be crutches, but not any more, now they’re useful tools.”
HBM: “If they are tools, Jimi is a master artisan....
Seven-eighths of the time he is on stage, Jimi stands virtually still, his eyes closed, his mouth slightly open. At a particularly moving moment, he will grimance [sic] slightly, but the wild histrionics don’t appear until the last numbers... He smashes an amplifier (behind which a stage hand makes sure nothing tips over) and tosses the guitar over the amps. The curtains come down.
Jimi lit up a cigarette and drank Coke. He cautiously fingered the smashed amp to see how much damage was done. He peered over the amp at the stage hand, who was picking up the guitar. ‘What happened?’ he asked. ‘Not much,’ said the hand. ‘Mmmm.. that’s why I threw it into the curtain and not on the floor,’ Jimi said... Then Jimi finished his Coke and gently floated offstage, leaving almost 3,000 fans ‘experienced.”