Review of The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live At Monterey (The Definitive Edition)

Introduction

Jimi Hendrix is widely recognised as one of the most influential guitarists ever. Even as a synth fan I know all about Hendrix`s short-lived career in the limelight, one of the many rock martyrs of the 70`s. One of the most powerful recorded performances of Hendrix`s career was his set at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, a 3 day festival for charity organised by the Mama`s and the Papa`s.

An American by birth, Hendrix had by this time already hit fame in the UK after being `discovered` by ex-Animals bassist Chas Chandler, who managed him for the next few years. Hendrix had a penchant for theatrics and feedback, the latter a sound that was not popular at the time until Hendrix himself made it seem much more acceptable. Maybe it was the fact he could play guitar with his teeth, play it behind his back or just the fact he took simple pop songs like Hey Joe or Like A Rolling Stone and turned them into huge rock numbers.

Despite fame in the UK, Hendrix and his band The Experience (Noel Redding, guitarist-turned-bassist and Mitch Mitchell on drums) had not broken through in his home country. The opportunity came when Paul McCartney suggested that Hendrix and The Who played at this festival as the representatives of English music. The two bands knew each other well and there was a minor argument between Hendrix and Pete Townsend as to which band would follow the other. Clearly both recognised the talent of the other as neither really wanted to be last on, in what would be the last act on the last day. Townsend won the argument and Hendrix vowed that he would pull out all the stops in his performance.

He wasn`t wrong. Suddenly America sat up and took notice.

The latest release of the Monterey set sees the running order restored and as complete as you`re likely to see it. There`s apparently a track missing from the set called Can You See Me, missing because film maker DA Pennebaker didn`t actually film it; still that`s a minor point for all but the most die-hard Hendrix fans I guess. The important thing surely is that Hendrix`s original sound engineer Eddie Kramer has created new soundtracks for this set and brought them to life in a way that could only be imagined before.

Video

The picture has been remastered so we`re still left with the original 16mm camera film. The picture is a very soft, a bit grainy and also has some glare on it in places. That said, it`s still in relatively good condition when you consider the age of it and it`s eminently watchable when you consider what it is. Would have been much better if it had had a frame by frame restoration considering just how important a document this is, but maybe the budget didn`t stretch that far.

I doubt this will improve on the HD-DVD either…

Audio

New soundtrack remixes in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, 5.1 and DTS by Eddie Kramer, Jimi Hendrix`s original recording engineer. The Stereo soundtrack sounds a little flat compared to the surround mixes, but it`s perfectly fine and is the same mix as on the accompanying CD release of this set. This was made to play in surround though.

Subtitles in various languages, but only for the dialogue so no subtitling for the songs themselves.

Features

American Landing - new documentary that charts Hendrix`s beginnings through to his meteoric rise after his appearance at Monterey. It lasts around 25 minutes in total and is in two parts, bookending the Monterey live set.

Second Look - multiple camera angles of 6 of the songs included. Some of the footage is better, some not so good. Still, better to have it than not in this case, I think.

Never Before Released Live Performances - Part of a TV programme that starts with a look at the fashion shop Lord Kitchener`s Valet, the owner wearing the same Hussar`s jacket that is synonymous with Hendrix. The live performance consists of two tracks, Like A Rolling Stone and Stone Free, in front of a packed audience in Chelmsford in February 1967. The sound quality on this is not that great.

Music, Love & Flowers: The Monterey International Pop Festival - a brief 7 minute look at the festival, it`s aims, impact and how it was put together. Main contributor is Lou Adler, co-founder of the Festival as well as being a composer and producer in his normal day job.

Gallery - various photos and archive material from the Monterey festival including a copy of the telegram sent from Hendrix`s management team confirming their appearance at the festival.

Booklet - a well put together booklet with extensive liner notes from John McDermott

Conclusion

I know of Hendrix, I`ve heard a couple of his tracks, seen the iconic images, but I`ve never actually seen him play. Wow. I quite like some rock but I`d never admit to being a rock fan or knowing the much about the scene. So this performance pretty much floored me. This was Hendrix in his prime and bursting onto a stage in his homeland with a nonchalance belied in his performance. I was floored some 30 years after the event, I watched the open mouthed stares of some of the audience featured, and admittedly some of that was stimulated by drugs, but the audience that day was in total awe in the presence of a true rock god. They`d never seen or heard anything like this before and they loved it.

His on stage banter was a mixture of shyness and modesty, full of sixties slang about digging it and meeting up with some cool cats. It`s pretty endearing when you consider the brashness of some of rock`s later frontmen who couldn`t hold a candle to Hendrix. More astonishing was the sight of Hendrix setting fire to his guitar. I`ve seen the picture and it`s used on the cover here, but seeing it `live` was something else. The sounds that he managed to drag out of his guitar are something special as well, something that Lenny Kravitz tried to emulate a couple of decades later to some success.

This DVD is a nice piece of Hendrix history. Oddly the short set is probably just the right length to ensure replayability and will allow non-Hendrix fans like myself to sample his work without being bogged down in a huge setlist that could try our patience. The documentaries are interesting but you won`t need to see them that often, still it all adds to the mystique and legend of Hendrix and gives you some history and story around the festival where Hendrix history was formed. First time of viewing the bookended American Landing documentary is a must, but you can play the set in isolation after that via the scene selection menu.

OK, it doesn`t look as good as it could but it sounds fantastic, especially the DTS track. I can see this in many a dad`s Christmas stocking this year alongside the accompanying CD, which uses the same Stereo mix.

Good stuff.