“Fans were stunned into silence. As Jimi Hendrix bellowed ‘Lord Have Mercy’ from his alter on the Pavilion stage at Bath [20 February] last night, and his worshippers gazed in silent adoration from below. I echoed his sentiments as my ribs reverberated with the intolerable volume of electronic sound.
His appearance was almost as awesome as the noise. His long, tousled hair fell about his face and over the collar of his gold spangled jacket, which must have come from a certain boutique in Soho, whose military merchandise recently landed a young man in court.
The power of his delivery stunned the fans into silence and they were able to produce only conventional applause, punctuated by a few exhausted squeaks in place of screams.
Jimi – whose full title is Jimi Hendrix Experience, and he is an experience – exploded on to the pop scene with ‘Hey Joe,’ which is quite a pleasant easy going number, at present rated No. 7 in the charts.
Why he needs to create horrific wailing effects on his guitar, and turn the amplifiers to full strength, I cannot imagine. His voice, when it can be heard, should be adequate to transmit his message. The personality that accompanies it is even more forceful.
He has a new single due for release next month, which is apparently freakish. Perhaps someone should tell him that the ‘freakier than thou’ competition is over and music is on the way back.”
Source : Josephine Bayne, Barh & Wilts Evening Chronicle
Sujet: Bath (The Pavilion) : 20 février 1967 
Jeu 8 Juil 2010 - 19:52
