Message-ID: <3916FC02.308AF65E@javanet.com> Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 13:40:18 -0400 From: csdixon Reply-To: csdixon@javanet.com Subject: JH+30 (For all you'll ever need to know about the circumstances surrounding the Norman, OK show, see the link Dave Byers (hi Dave!) posted this week : http://www.normantranscript.com/) 30 years ago today, on May 8, 1970, Jimi played the field House art the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. Unrest at American college campuses on this week was at an all-time fever pitch, with the protests over the escalation of the Viet Nam war having boiled over into the killing of 4 students at Kent State University in Ohio at the beginning of the week (as a paperboy in nearby Cleveland, I remember delivering the headlines the next day). The Univ. of OK was no exception, with protests, marches and confrontations taking place up to and surrounding Jimi's shows. It would be a mistake to presume exactly what was on Jimi's mind at any given point but there was undeniably some urgent music made this night, and the mood of the week surely played a part. There were two shows by Jimi this night, a relative rarity at this point in his career. The second show was recorded on reel to reel by a Lee Agnew. Copies of the tape had circulated for years in varying quality, some quite dire, but only in the last couple of years was the original master located and digitally copied for a *vast* improvement in quality to most collections - yet another example of the need to constantly seek out and share Jimi tapes! The tape is quite good as period audience recordings go, with some tape speed variations (especially later in the show, common as a recorder's batteries begin to fade) and a few cuts. The mix is good with vocals clear and the guitar not overpowering, so the taper must've been off axis of the Marshalls and back a bit as there are some boomy hall acoustics evident. There's nice solid bass (could've been equalized on remaster, if so it was a good call IMO) and Mitch is well heard except during the very loudest sections. (Setlist): Fire; Spanish Castle Magic; Machine Gun; Lover Man; Foxy Lady; Hear My Train; Message To Love; Red House; Star Spangled Banner; Purple Haze; Voodoo Child (SR) - -'Fire' begins a bit unusually with Mitch setting up a drum pattern and Jimi repeating the first two chords a couple of times before starting the song proper. He may be having a bit of guitar trouble- nothing obvious, but he skips some words on the chorus before the solo and fluffs a couple of notes at the modulation. He slips in the quote from 'Outside Woman Blues' during the stops after the solo then drops out altogether, perhaps to sort out something with his gear. Mitch continues with a good 4 minutes of drum solo. Jimi re-enters with the same 'Outside Woman' riff then does a little more soloing before hitting the last verse. The drum solo makes this version over 8 min long, unusual for 'Fire'. - -Jimi is heard to introduce SCM as "..a little Spanish Castle (makes sound as if hitting a joint, then in a choked voice as if holding it in)...Magic", immediately hitting the opening riff! The solo atypically starts with some longer sustain/feedback notes then gets faster at 2:15 with the wah added just after (this is a spot where Mitch gets lost a bit in the din). Short solo leads to final verse at 3:15 and a little more soloing to end at 4:20 for a fairly short version. - -Jimi asks the crowd "...forget about the hogwash and bullshit..." and dedicates 'Machine Gun' to "...the soldiers fighting in Chicago, Berkeley...Kent State (meaning the street 'soldiers' no doubt), Oklahoma (the last two amid cheers)...". Jimi then plays an off-the-cuff 1:30 intro that is one of the most haunting things I have ever heard! All of Jimi's music reflects his genius, but sometimes everything just falls into an even deeper place, and this is one of those times for me (every Jimi fan has their own, of course). Somewhat silly to try and pick apart such organic flows of imagination, but just to describe it in general; he starts with some lines from his 'Bolero' piece, moves to some sliding intervals ala 'Castles Made of Sand', segues to some flamenco style lines, then finishes up with an absolutely brilliant chord progression that mixes some *very* high-on-the-neck notes with open strings, every note ringing out perfectly and the tension setting things up for the release of the familiar 'Machine Gun' opening. Again, we can never know what Jimi was thinking but I've always thought of this unique piece as a chilling eulogy for the Kent State victims, perfectly conjuring the mood of the moment. After this one-of-a-kind intro, Billy pushes the groove over Mitch's military rolls as Jimi gets into about a minute of soloing before the vocals enter, including a very Spanish-sounding run at 2:40. The main solo starts at 5:00 with some long wailing notes, then Jimi lets his own bullets fly like rain with some intense faster playing. At 7:00 they do the secondary riff and Jimi sings of a mother weeping and crying for her son in the war. At 8:25 we get a mini feedback 'symphonette' then some more high speed soloing, leading to 'Taps' at 9:00. Billy's bass is especially resonant, the low E note acting as a sort of low tolling funeral bell. At 10:00 Jimi does the 'rat-a-tat', then does a bit of quieter playing with the 'wobbly' whammy vibrato, back to the rat-a-tats and trails off with a final feedback tail, saying what sounds like "...right back to home..." at the end. A standout rendition. - -Jimi lightens the mood with some sort of joke about funny "cigars" going around, to much laughter, then intros 'Lover Man' with a crack about a 300 lb guy "coming up the street" to surprise the protagonist. Features some offbeat (literally and figuratively) playing coming out of the 'Flight of the Bumblebee' section! - -"Foxy' starts to show some extreme tape speed fluctuations. Since it's about the midpoint of the tape the reel apparently runs out, the tape cutting in and out then stopping altogether prematurely at 2:15. Unfortunately the speed fluctuations continue throughout the second half but aren't too distracting for the most part. - -'Hear My Train' starts this time with Jimi singing the chorus line acapella. Sounds like he sneaks in a little tuning during the opening riffs. He does some clean playing with the wah, leading to the vocals. He goes to the main solo at 2:45. At 4:00 we hear some held trills bent up and down with the whammy ala the BoG 'Machine Gun'. He hits the last "gonna leave this town" verse at 4:35 and stretches it out, with longer sections of soloing between the vocal lines. A nice little climbing fill after the last stop. More soloing leads to a slightly abrupt ending at just under 8:00. - -'Message of Love' sees Mitch getting them into a double time feel coming out of the solo. This and 'Machine Gun' are the only 'new' songs at this show, with 'Roomful of Mirrors', 'Ezy Rider' and 'Freedom' conspicuously absent. Not many shows featured *all* the newer songs, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were performed at the early show as Jimi often seemed to treat double headers as one long show of sorts. - -we hear the buzz of guitars being switched and 'Red House' again features the familiar 'quack' of the Flying V, Jimi having gotten it the previous weekend (on reflection, maybe he took delivery of the custom made V directly from a Gibson factory rep since he'd been in the upper midwest and Gibson at that time was in Kalamazoo, Michigan?). He toys with the opening triad again at the start of the second verse. Some sweet blues bending leads to the vocals at 1:50. Mitch's rimshots during the verses are plainly audible, a type of detail lost on many audience tapes! Middle solo is a full three 12-bar verses long, Jimi's tone pretty clean throughout even while the playing gets more intense. Adds wah for the 3rd round and slips in some nice sliding intervals. A cool little arpeggio at the very end. - -Tape cuts to Jimi introing 'SSB' with some words about how "we used to have to sing it all pretty" but now they're gonna do it the way it is! We hear him briefly toy with a 'Bolero' type phrase with the UniVibe then dedicate the anthem to "...all who have died for various causes, all the ones who will, all those that fight in the streets...". This version features some extra feedback effects at the start and a few more embellishments on the melody lines. Right after the "flag was still there" line we hear a nearby firecracker, the gunshot-like sound startling and a bit ironic on this week. At the end the guitar stops and Jimi says "..in the sprit of the day, dig this.." - -..and launches into 'Purple Haze'. This night "...the pigs put a spell on me". We get a little teeth playing in the main solo and, per usual, in the tag. - -'VC(SR)' follows a brief introduction of the band. The solo here sounds especially piercing and trebly (must've been *loud* in front of those Marshalls!). Some ascending unison bends at 2:30. Unfortunately, the tape runs out for good during the solo at about the 3:30 mark. A good show and well documented. Wish we could hear the early show! Chris ------------------------------