H.E.L.P.

J'ai plusieurs fois lu qu'il aurait été question d'une collaboration d'Hendrix avec Keith Emerson (le Hendrix de l'orgue), précisément avec le groupe Emerson Lake and Palmer. Comme le nom de l'ensemble aurait pu être H.E.L.P., ce bruit peut aussi ressembler à un fantasme de journaliste.

Dans le livre d'Ayler, je n'en ai pas trouvé trace, ni réelle ni projetée.

Mais en ouvrant le livre d'Aymeric Leroy (Le Rock progressif, page 19), la rumeur est là.

Quelqu'un a-t-il des indices plus documentés pour établir la réalité du projet?

A ma connaissance, Hendrix n'a jamais évoqué publiquement ce projet. Mitch Mitchell semble être à l'origine de cette rumeur, évoquée par Keith Emerson sur son site officiel :
http://www.keithemerson.com/MiscPages/RememberingMitchMitchell.html

Un entretien de Keith Emerson où il évoque le sujet :

Is it true that you and Mitch Mitchell almost formed a new band with Jimi Hendrix?

Back in early 1970, Greg and I — we’d met originally in San Francisco when Greg was in King Crimson and I had the Nice. Back in London, around about early 1970, we were looking for a drummer and it was always my intention to carry on the trio format because I liked the freedom of that. The added attraction of working with Greg was that he wasn’t only a bass player, but a guitarist, so we could really stir things around. So, we were looking for a drummer and Mitch was an obvious choice. Mitch came to Greg’s place and we didn’t actually get to play together, but Mitch, during that conversation, suggested that if he joined Greg and myself that he could possibly persuade Jimi to come in with us. Anyway, for some reason, there was some mention of guns that Mitch brought in, and Greg thought that was a little too much over the top. So, he had second thoughts about working with Mitch because he had, at that time, a couple of heavy guys always with him. Whether or not this was Mitch’s paranoia, I don’t know. Greg didn’t feel comfortable about it, so that kind of fell through.

Did you ever jam with Hendrix?

Yes, I jammed with him on what they called a package tour, back in 68 or 69 — Pink Floyd, the Move, and the Nice. And then later after that package tour, Jimi wanted the Nice to support him at the Marquee Club. So, yeah, we did get to play, but mainly at sound checks. There’s a biography about Jimi written by John McDermott, and when he was interviewing Chas Chandler, he came up with a surprise — a surprise for me, at least — that Jimi was considering using me on Axis: Bold As Love. But it was around Christmas time when the record company wanted to get the record done, and I was off touring, so that never came about.

To be really honest, Jimi was such a powerhouse on his own, and I was young enough and pretentious enough to say, “I want to be heard.” I’m afraid with Jimi, it would have been an interesting competition (laughs). And of course, what happened was after we found Carl Palmer and it was ELP, the media somehow got the story and they knew that Jimi could have been involved, and if he would have been involved, it would have been called HELP. That appealed to the media.

Source : http://www.vintagerock.com/kemerson_interview.aspx

Voilà qui est clair.
Merci Ayler.

Ayler a écrit:

the media somehow got the story and they knew that Jimi could have been involved, and if he would have been involved, it would have been called HELP. That appealed to the media.

C'était bien quelque chose comme un fantasme de journaliste...

Vu le vacarme qu'ELP avaient créé, je dirais bien HELP!

A ce sujet :
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/greg_lake_how_would_jimi_hendrix_fit_elp_had_he_joined_the_band.html?no_takeover

HELP > HELM

Excellent. Merci!

Ayler a écrit:

A ma connaissance, Hendrix n'a jamais évoqué publiquement ce projet. Mitch Mitchell semble être à l'origine de cette rumeur, évoquée par Keith Emerson sur son site officiel :
http://www.keithemerson.com/MiscPages/RememberingMitchMitchell.html

Un entretien de Keith Emerson où il évoque le sujet :

Is it true that you and Mitch Mitchell almost formed a new band with Jimi Hendrix?

Back in early 1970, Greg and I — we’d met originally in San Francisco when Greg was in King Crimson and I had the Nice. Back in London, around about early 1970, we were looking for a drummer and it was always my intention to carry on the trio format because I liked the freedom of that. The added attraction of working with Greg was that he wasn’t only a bass player, but a guitarist, so we could really stir things around. So, we were looking for a drummer and Mitch was an obvious choice. Mitch came to Greg’s place and we didn’t actually get to play together, but Mitch, during that conversation, suggested that if he joined Greg and myself that he could possibly persuade Jimi to come in with us. Anyway, for some reason, there was some mention of guns that Mitch brought in, and Greg thought that was a little too much over the top. So, he had second thoughts about working with Mitch because he had, at that time, a couple of heavy guys always with him. Whether or not this was Mitch’s paranoia, I don’t know. Greg didn’t feel comfortable about it, so that kind of fell through.

Mitch et des flingues (guns), entouré de mecs balèzes (heavy guys)...
Quelqu'un connait la paranoia de Mitch début 1970 ?
Je croyais que c'était après la mort de Jimi que Mitch était devenu parano.


Source : http://www.vintagerock.com/kemerson_interview.aspx