{"id":24035,"date":"2022-11-14T05:30:40","date_gmt":"2022-11-14T10:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=24035"},"modified":"2022-11-14T13:22:52","modified_gmt":"2022-11-14T18:22:52","slug":"take-five-pre-fame-jimi-hendrix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/14\/take-five-pre-fame-jimi-hendrix\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Five: Pre-fame Jimi Hendrix"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Woodstock Music and Art Fair took place 53 years ago this August. A list of the festival\u2019s highlights could fill volumes; chief among them was Jimi Hendrix\u2019s incendiary reading of \u201cThe Star Spangled Banner.\u201d While Woodstock served as a coming-out part for a number of new groups (Santana and CSN&amp;Y among them), by August \u201869 Hendrix was a well-established major star.<\/p>\n<p>When the Jimi Hendrix Experience released their debut single in the UK in December 1966, the music world changed. But it took awhile before anyone noticed: it would be six months before Hendrix broke through in his native U.S. And while Hendrix seemed to appear out of nowhere, he had been working as a journeyman guitarist for several years, quietly honing his skills. Here are five recordings featuring the legend \u2026 before he became one.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Isley Brothers \u2013 \u201cTestify\u201d (1964)<\/strong> The Isley Brothers\u2019 music always transcended genre, encompassing soul, funk, r&amp;b, gospel and rock. While they\u2019re best known for the original versions of \u201cShout\u201d and \u201cTwist and shout\u201d (both later covered by The Beatles), their catalog is filled with classics. This powerful shouter showcases the group\u2019s gospel roots. Listen closely for Hendrix\u2019s sharp chording.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FUdYp-6a4RA\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Little Richard \u201cI Don&#8217;t Know What You Got (But It&#8217;s Got Me)\u201d (1965)<\/strong> This track is stuffed to the limit with future legends. On guitar is Jimi Hendrix; the organist is a young player formerly with Ray Charles\u2019 band, Billy Preston. Ubiquitous session drummer Bernard Purdie is on hand as well. Despite all that firepower backing Little Richard, the song wouldn\u2019t become a hit.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Egx1WYG0g_o\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Owen Gray \u2013 \u201cHelp Me\u201d (1965)<\/strong> The backing track for this recording features King Curtis\u2019 band with Hendrix on guitar. A standard cost-saving practice at the time, the same track was used on several recordings including one by Ray Sharpe. Produced by Island Records head Chris Blackwell, this release features Jamaica-based vocalist Owen Gray and was released only in the UK.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AejmmyNXYuA\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Jimmy Norman \u2013 \u201cThat Little Old Groovemaker\u201d (1966)<\/strong> A solid slab of soul, this dance floor raver kicks right off with some stinging licks from Jimi Hendrix. His metallic yet fluid texture adds to the excitement of an already superb arrangement.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Jg9jY7Tf3TY\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Curtis Knight \u2013 \u201cHornets Nest\u201d (1966)<\/strong> While the performance and production values suggest that this side was a rushed, single-take affair at the end of an album session, there\u2019s no denying the power and ferocity of Hendrix\u2019s playing. The guitarist co-wrote the instrumental, a hint of where he was heading musically. The Jimi Hendrix Experience would debut just months after this single\u2019s release.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6PkYW93tjbY\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Woodstock Music and Art Fair took place 53 years ago this August. A list of the festival\u2019s highlights could fill volumes; chief among them was Jimi Hendrix\u2019s incendiary reading [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1152],"class_list":["post-24035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","tag-jimi-hendrix","cat-27-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24035"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24259,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24035\/revisions\/24259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}