Hendrix Trib Concert DVD Arrives

News for all you Hendrix freaks from Experience Hendrix, LLC… but don’t you already have bootlegs of this anyway?

By Blurt Staff

Experience Hendrix is the continuing concert phenomenon that brings together contemporary guitar greats to celebrate the music and legacy of Jimi Hendrix.  It is also the title of the first-ever DVD release that chronicles blazing concert performances by top name artists in tribute to Jimi Hendrix.  Experience Hendrix, released through Image Entertainment this month, features highlights of two star-studded concerts featuring such notables as Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Double Trouble, Living Color, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, Indigenous, Robert Randolph, Mick Taylor, Kenny Olson of Kid Rock’s band, Hubert Sumlin, Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers, Buddy Guy, Mitch Mitchell, Buddy Miles, Billy Cox and others.

Fourteen of the performances seen in Experience Hendrix were filmed at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, Jimi Hendrix’s home town. Three bonus songs were filmed at San Diego’s annual Street Scene.

The connection between the participating artists and the legacy of Jimi Hendrix is undeniably direct.  According to Kenny Wayne Shepherd, “Without the music of Jimi Hendrix, I might never have been so inspired to explore the music possibilities and push the envelope of the guitar.”  

Billy Cox the bassist, who met Jimi Hendrix in the U.S. Army and performed and recorded with Hendrix with both the Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Band of Gypsys, stated, “It’s a thrill for me to play Jimi’s music for audiences now as it was in the past.  The Experience Hendrix shows illustrate just you how timeless this music really is.”

The Experience Hendrix cast includes musicians who performed or recorded with Hendrix during his lifetime including the aforementioned Cox as well as original Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell and the late Buddy Miles who was, with Cox, the rhythm section of the Band of Gypsys.  Before going on to join the Rolling Stones, Mick Taylor jammed with Jimi Hendrix while still part of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.  Likewise, before he worked with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Double Trouble’s Tommy Shannon enjoyed a friendship with Hendrix and once lent his bass guitar to him so that he could join a late night jam session with Johnny Winter and Stephen Stills at New York’s famed Scene Club.  Hendrix’s love for the blues and the critical role it played in his sound was acknowledged by the participation in this special DVD by two of his favorite guitarists, Hubert Sumlin and Buddy Guy.  Sumlin, whose distinctive lead guitar served Howlin’ Wolf for three decades, joined Jimmy D. Lane, the son of fellow Chess Records blues giant Jimmy Rogers to perform “Killing Floor” a signature song Hendrix loved and had selected to open his American debut performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop festival.  Hendrix had also admired the work Buddy Guy had done for Muddy Waters and as a solo artist for Chess Records.  Guy and Hendrix also enjoyed a friendship.  Hendrix, says Guy, explained to him that “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” came from his love for Muddy Waters and desire to take the blues into new, uncharted territory.  Guy, whose version of Hendrix’s “Red House” has long been a staple of his repertoire, can be seen on the new Experience Hendrix DVD performing a version of “Hoochie Coochie Man”, a Muddy Waters staple Hendrix loved [Hendrix’s own version can be heard on his BBC Sessions album]

Produced by Janie Hendrix and John McDermott for Experience Hendrix, LLC, the family run company charged with preserving the legacy of Jimi Hendrix, the DVD was mixed by Eddie Kramer.  Kramer, one of history’s most lauded recording engineers was a long-time associate of Jim Hendrix’s who worked on every one of his albums from Are You Experienced? onward as well as numerous live recordings including Woodstock. Kramer mixed portions of the Experience Hendrix DVD at Electric Lady Studios, the Greenwich Village recording studio he helped construct for Hendrix in 1969.

Janie Hendrix, CEO of Experience Hendrix, LLC commented, "Everyday, we see how Jimi's musical legacy continues to transcend generational and cultural boundaries.  This DVD release reflects the genius of his unifying spirit."

Experience Hendrix track listing:

Seattle Paramount

Kenny Wayne Shepherd & Double Trouble: "Come On (Let The Good Times Roll)"

Kenny Wayne Shepherd & Double Trouble: "Voodoo Chile"

Kenny Wayne Shepherd & Double Trouble "I Don't Live Today"

Indigenous: "Hear My Train A Comin"

Living Colour: “Power of Soul”

Living Colour: “Crosstown Traffic”

Eric Gales: "Purple Haze"

Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy D. Lane & Double Trouble: "Bleeding Heart"

Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy D. Lane, Mike McCready & Double Trouble: "Killing Floor"

Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox & Andy Aledort: “Freedom”

Paul Rodgers, Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Andy Aledort & Kenny Olson: "Stone Free"

Buddy Guy, Andy Aledort & Double Trouble: “Hoochie Coochie Man”

Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin, Andy Aledort & Double Trouble: "Five Long Years"

Ensemble: “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”

San Diego Street Scene

       1. Robert Randolph & Double Trouble: "Purple Haze"

       2. Mick Taylor & Indigenous: "Red House"

       3. Eric Gales, Billy Cox & Buddy Miles: "Foxey Lady"