Jimi Hendrix

This documentary will give you the heart and soul of James M Hendrix, from the people who loved him to the thoughts and performances of the man himself. The performances are predominately taken from The Monterey Pop Festival, widely regarded as the best set Jimi ever played. Unlike most music biopics that seem to be afraid of the music they chronicle, this one gives you nice long stretches of performance, never cutting off a solo to give some little pearl of wisdom. Songs are played in their entirety.

The interviews are engaging and sometimes enlightening; such as The Who's Pete Townshend explaining how the appearance order at Monterey was decided, and Jimi's long-time girlfriend Fayne Pridgon retelling tales of Jimi turning her on to such new experiences as LSD and a strange little folk singer named Bob Dylan.

I HIGHLY recommend this movie to anyone who loved Hendrix for his amazing contributions to the halls of rock history. He truly was the impresario of his generation, and maybe all others, before and since. Turn the speakers way up, sit back, and ENJOY! You will not be disappointed.

Made several years after the death of Jimi Hendrix, this film looks back at his career through the eyes of his family, peers, friends and fans. Recollections and anecdotes are broken up by various live performances and interviews with Hendrix himself.

I have never taken the time to find out whether I am a fan of Hendrix or not; sure I like everything I have heard but that is different from being a fan. However watching this film made me more interested in hearing more from him because of how well put together it is. Ignoring the subject for a minute, the strength of the film is in the structure and delivery. The film is not trying to factually capture Hendrix from cradle to grave but rather look at him as an entertainer and a man. To do this we get live footage of him mixed with plenty of contributions from others who knew him. To make the point that these contributions are good, the edit overlaps several people telling the same stories and I liked the way this worked.

The film also manages to keep focused while also allowing the contributors to speak personally and from their own experiences of him – not in glib sound bites but mostly in natural chatting and recollections. These are worked well to produce a narrative flow, building on what we know about the man and his music. Structure wise it is an impressive biography and you could nearly watch the film for this alone. Of course the film itself is not about the way it is put together but rather about the title character. Here the film is also strong as we see him on stage and instantly get what it was that people like/liked about him. He has a great stage presence and is recognisable as being a creative force. However the use of interviews etc also shows him to be quite a quiet and shy type and I liked this aspect of his character and the way the way the film brought it out.

For fans then, it is a given that you will enjoy this but it will also work for the casual viewer with a passing interest in his music; this is what I was and the film drew me into the man more than I had been. I think it is unlikely anyone would watch it for structure alone, but I must comment that it is this that is another reason why the film works as well as it does.

I'm not even a Hendrix fan. I'm probably a cloth-eared nincompoop but his records always sounded like jam-session guitar paired up with atonal screeching.

But when a musical documentary cold opens with Pete Townshend, I'm hooked. What follows are interviews with Hendrix himself, other musicians, a roadie or two, a former girlfriend, various hangers-on, and countless others. This is the 70s so most of them are higher than a kite, of course. We also get some tender reminiscing from his dad.

Hendrix was basically a mild-mannered busker with other-worldly guitar-playing talent and a sharp sense of giving the audience a show. The concert footage captures just how dynamic a performer he was. Even as a non-fan I always enjoy this documentary. What a waste to have lost him so soon.

Jimi Hendrix chronicles the story of the man, the myth, the legend, the left-handed dude with a love of the blues and Bob Dylan, and who took rock and roll almost to another planet (just listen to some of the tracks off Electric Ladyland and see how he goes into music like the equivalent of a crazy science fiction writer). He was also, as described by Eric Clapton, "guillible", and susceptible to the leeches that lay around him that, by way of the drugs, led to his very sudden downfall. Had he lived there's no doubt he could have had an output that for his genre would be the equivalent of one of those great 18th century European composers or even 20th century Jazzmen. There's been so much written about him that he's been elevated to the status he's at today, so it's a welcome thing to see this documentary so soon after his death.

Welcome, though also one can see the pain in some of the interviewees under the surface. Many on screen, his fellow ex-band-mates like Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell, and some of his own family and close friends, still have the memory of Jimi fresh in their minds, and so their recollections, both loving and even critical, comes at a time when there's still a lot to ponder. Through this and various concert clips (some well known like Woodstock and Monterey Pop clips, some more obscure like Band of Gypsies and Isle of Wight), and a superb interview conducted by Dick Cavett, portray Hendrix as a smart guy who could play a guitar like, as Townsend describes, "an instrument." In truth- and even for those who may just admire him as opposed to outright love and cherish his music- he was reaching into territory that was far surpassing anything done in the late 60s.

He had the basics down for the best in blues (maybe my favorite scene in the film, maybe exclusive just to this documentary, has him in a white room playing a 'Train' type of blues song that is so invigorating to see what he comes up with, begging the cameras to keep rolling). He also was a kind of wild man about his imagination, and so didn't hold back with an audience. He appealed to white and black, rock and blues, soul and (as might be the case years later) heavy metal, and without ever making himself into a commodity - that was done after he was dead and buried. What A Film About Jimi Hendrix portrays is a confident man, at peace with himself, but as is described by those around him someone who had such extraordinary things about him that his few flaws made his undoing. And it is a near perfect treat for die-hard fans.

When I worked backstage at the Fillmore East almost half a century ago, I thought a lot of the musicians were jerks. Oh, Virgil Fox would show up with his ministry occasionally -- "Johann Sebastian Bach loves you and you should love him or you will be be eternally damned" -- but I witnessed far too much of Jim Morrison to accept any of the idiotic sungod movie.

Jimi Hendrix was another matter. A man of such ability that..... I don't know. Everyone was young, everyone thought we were immortal and were going to be A-bombed anyway. All I know is I wish I knew what became of that reel-to-reel my brother made of that set, must be almost fifty years ago.