adorshki
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Tough Job Touring With Jimi Hendrix
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Drugs, alcohol, car wrecks and plane crashes -- the four horsemen of the apocalypse with respect to famous musicians.
PreacherBob
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fronobulax
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wileypickett
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I believe that's Gerry Stickells on the left (in the first photo), Hendrix's roadie / stage manager for four years.
Here's a photo of the two of them together (name misspelled):
And his obit:
www.nytimes.com
Here's a photo of the two of them together (name misspelled):
And his obit:
Gerry Stickells, Who Helped Make Rock Shows Big, Dies at 76 (Published 2019)
His skills as production manager were invaluable to Queen, Paul McCartney and others as the logistics of touring and performing grew increasingly elaborate.
davidbeinct
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I think he also (as noted above) knew what Pete Townsend was going to do later. I remember reading somewhere that the Who were quite adamant that they were the biggest stars and had to finish the show. Supposedly Townsend watched Hendrix’s finale in horror knowing there was no way they were going to top that.
Prince of Darkness
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I did read somewhere that, for Pete Townshend, it started as an accident. Apparently The Who were playing a venue with a very low suspended ceiling and he unintentionally pushed the headstock of his guitar through the ceiling, breaking the headstock off. In frustration, he further smashed the guitar and got a reaction from the crowd!Probably just the shock and attention getting element like Pete Townshend of The Who smashing Rickenbackers on stage
I once saw the 1970s southern rock band Black Oak Arkansas who would end their show with a song called "The Big One's Still Comin'" about California earthquakes. Two of the band's three guitarists, Harvey Jett and Stanley Knight, would swing what looked to be Gibson 335 semi-hollow bodies over their heads and smash them together at center stage for a huge rumbling to come forth from the amplifiers and the spectacle of guitar smashing. I later read that they were smart enough not to smash their 335s and had swapped in some inexpensive look-alike semi-hollow bodies for the smash-up. They were the guitarists at far left and far right in this photo.
Why burn or break a perfectly good guitar when some kid could have their life inspired by having it given to them?
Here's a take on the issue by John Hiatt with his song "Perfectly Good Guitar" . I saw this version of Hiatt's band The Guilty Dogs back then and Michael Ward's live sound was just huge and mind-blowing. The night I saw them he was playing a Gibson SG.
As Hiatt sings: "It breaks my heart to see those stars / smashing a perfectly good guitar"
adorshki
Reverential Member
Except that they preceded Hendrix, he came on after them. There's a legend that neither wanted to follow the other and it came down to a coin toss. Jimi won, getting to follow 'em.
Nonetheless Townshend had been on Hendrix in London from the get-go as having ripped off the Who's act. And the Who btw were no where near as big as they were after "Tommy", they were barely a blip on American pop charts, although they'd at least charted there whereas Hendrix hadn't yet, his first US single was released the day after Monterey Pop.
Hendrix had already charted 3 UK top-10's between late December '66 and mid-May '67, which the Who took 3 years to achieve.
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adorshki
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That's how I remember it.
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davidbeinct
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I guess I heard that story wrong. As far as Hendrix ripping off The Who, much as I like them there’s just no way Townsend was in Jimi’s league as a guitarist.Except that they preceded Hendrix, he cam on after them. There's a legend that neither wanted to follow the other and it came down to a coin toss. Jimi won, getting to follow 'em.
Nonetheless Townshend had been on Hendrix in London from the get-go as having ripped off the Who's act. And the Who btw were no where near as big as they were after "Tommy", they were barely a blip on American pop charts, although they'd at least charted there whereas Hendrix hadn't yet, his first US single was released the day after Monterey Pop.
Hendrix had already charted 3 UK top-10's between late December '66 and mid-May '67, which the Who took 3 years to achieve.
Westerly Wood
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Pete discussing Jimi in 1973:Except that they preceded Hendrix, he cam on after them. There's a legend that neither wanted to follow the other and it came down to a coin toss. Jimi won, getting to follow 'em.
Nonetheless Townshend had been on Hendrix in London from the get-go as having ripped off the Who's act. And the Who btw were no where near as big as they were after "Tommy", they were barely a blip on American pop charts, although they'd at least charted there whereas Hendrix hadn't yet, his first US single was released the day after Monterey Pop.
Hendrix had already charted 3 UK top-10's between late December '66 and mid-May '67, which the Who took 3 years to achieve.
adorshki
Reverential Member
It was about the feedback and stage antics, the first burned Strat at the Astoria was only a couple of months prior. As a kid btw the first Who single I heard was "I Can See for Miles" and I loved it to death. And still think "Live At Leeds" is one of if not the single best live rock album of all time. Bought it within 2 weeks of its release.
Didn't really "get" Jimi until I was already a soph in high school.
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davidbeinct
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Yeah I figured feedback was probably part of it. Jimi’s use of feedback was light years ahead of Pete’s.It was about the feedback and stage antics, the first burned Strat at the Astoria was only a couple of months prior. As a kid btw the first Who single I heard was "I Can See for Miles" and I loved it to death. And still think "Live At Leeds" is one of if not the single best live rock album of all time. Bought it within 2 weeks of its release.
Didn't really "get" Jimi until I was already a soph in high school.
fronobulax
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Except that they preceded Hendrix, he came on after them. There's a legend that neither wanted to follow the other and it came down to a coin toss. Jimi won, getting to follow 'em.
Why did Jimi Hendrix and The Who’s Pete Townshend battle it out at Monterey Pop Festival? - Far Out Magazine
Amazing storyfaroutmagazine.co.uk
If you'd lite to cite the previously mentioned article I don't think you have to say "legend".
adorshki
Reverential Member
Yeah, was about 99% certain of the story but didn't feel like searching it. (I did search the Monterey set list to confirm that my memory of the sequence was correct, since if it hadn't been then the legend obviously would have been false as well.If you'd lite to cite the previously mentioned article I don't think you have to say "legend".
)Also was using "legend" in the sense of the subject of a legend. Granted it's also defined as "unauthenticated" but in this case the real question wasn't whether there was a coin toss but whether Jimi went on first. The coin toss is merely colorful background, if true, which it turned out to be, and thus is in fact a "true legend".
Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic has assumed legendary status but it's managed to avoid a lot of embellishment in the re-telling. One thing I do deplore is the amount of mis-information that's grown up around Jimi. He's generated a ton of myth since his death. I suppose it's inevitable for such popular figures and likely the information dissemination systems of the time didn't help.
Is the photograph shot in such a way that it makes think that the amps are about to fall (when they are not), or are the amps actually bent in a very dangerous way ? If Jimmy is 'grinding' the guitar against the amp to get some sonic effect, he doesn't need to push the amps down the way they looked to me (unlesss he is angry, drunk, getting wild or loosing his balance...).
adorshki
Reverential Member
They're top heavy, so any slight displacement from vertical tipped 'em easily. I mentioned to Chaz: "The grinding was for the sound effect of strings rubbing on cabinet edge and simultaneous feedback."Is the photograph shot in such a way that it makes think that the amps are about to fall (when they are not), or are the amps actually bent in a very dangerous way ? If Jimmy is 'grinding' the guitar against the amp to get some sonic effect, he doesn't need to push the amps down the way they looked to me (unlesss he is angry, drunk, getting wild or loosing his balance...).
You can see in the photo the axe's fretboard is just coming off the edge of the cabinet and his strumming hand is positioned to hold it for that action. It's not that he was trying to push 'em over, and in fact it caught 'em by surprise. They had to rush to catch 'em.
PreacherBob
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I would have to require RHP (Roadie Hazard Pay)
wileypickett
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In addition to being an almost supernaturally gifted player, Hendrix was flamboyant and devised his own version of "stagecraft." Remember he worked with Little Richard, the Isley Brothers and many others in his early "chitlin circuit" days. He knew how to put on a show and how to impress an audience. This came back to bite him later when he just wanted to play without resorting to the tricks that had first established his notoriety -- destroying guitars, playing with his teeth, etc.
When he first came to the UK, all the "hot" guitarists lined up to see him, including Clapton, Beck and Townsend. Townsend recounted running into Beck leaving a club where Jimi was playing just as Pete was arriving. Beck said to Pete, "He's stealing your act, man!"
Townsend was prepared to be pissed till he saw Jimi play, later saying something along the lines of, "He wasn't stealing from me -- hell, there was nothing I could teach him."
When he first came to the UK, all the "hot" guitarists lined up to see him, including Clapton, Beck and Townsend. Townsend recounted running into Beck leaving a club where Jimi was playing just as Pete was arriving. Beck said to Pete, "He's stealing your act, man!"
Townsend was prepared to be pissed till he saw Jimi play, later saying something along the lines of, "He wasn't stealing from me -- hell, there was nothing I could teach him."