OFF: Ziggy=Jimi?

[Paul Mather]

On Tue, 28 May 1996, Jerry wrote:

> Duane,
>
> >3.  He came on so loaded man, well hung and snow white tan
> >    known to arrive and play in a wasted state,

No more wasted than anyone else of that era.  And for someone who played
in a "wasted state" he was inordinately fastidious about keeping in tune
during gigs.  (Listen to the "Paris 68" CD from the _Stages_ box set; he
tunes up between just about every song---he even sort of embarrassingly
apologises to the audience about it.)

The Hendrix "wild man" image is something of an urban legend.  It
actually became a noose around his neck.  By all accounts, those that
actually met him always described him as a gentle, quiet man.

> I thought 'loaded' could also mean to have a lot of money, or a lot of
> talent. But since English is not my first language I could be very wrong.

Loaded does also have those connotations, but in the context of the lyric
it means "stoned."

> Somewhere else I read that a musician (forgot his name) entered the Plaster
> Caster exhibition, saw the Hendrix mould, looked at it, and left.

Last I heard about the Plaster Casters collection was that its ownership
was under litigation (involving none other than the notorious Herb Cohen!).

> >5.  Then we were Ziggy's band - Jimi became larger than the Experience, and
> >    then left them behind for his Band of Gypsies.

Yes, but the Band of Gypsies (Gypsies, Suns, and Rainbows, etc.) was also
short lived.  In fact, Jimi returned to The Experience (admittedly sans
Noel Redding).  Besides, The Experience were put together as a vehicle
for Hendrix.  The line "*Then* we were Ziggy's band" implies they were a
name band in their own right beforehand, and then slipped into the
background as the frontman became more prominent.  In that case, the line
would be more applicable to, say Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the
Holding Company, for example.

> Could also mean the growing group of people he invited to the studio. Take a
> look at the list of guest musicians on Electric Ladyland, for example.
> At the end of his life, he expressed the wish to leave behing the trio
> format. He wanted to create more music than play - rather conducting a very
> large group of musicians.

I think it was more a case of them "inviting" themselves into the studio
than vice versa.  I don't think Jimi ever conducted "a very large group
of musicians."  I think the Gypsies, Suns, and Rainbows incarnation was
the largest, personnel-wise, and there was only, what, six of them (two
of them were percussionists, in addition to Mitch Mitchell on drums).

> Is it prohibited to have some OFF discussion?

No, it is strictly verboten!

;-)

> Jimi said something like people raising him, although he was mereley a
> messenger. Many did not understand the message he had - 'blowing our minds'.

I don't know about all this "blowing our minds" stuff.  I think he just
hungered to give vent to the music inside him.  Personally, I think the
song "Manic Depression" says more about him than anything he ever wrote.

Cheers,

Paul.

obBook: Shapiro & Glebbeek, _Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy_

obLifeIsGood: Finding copies of Kyuss, _And the Circus Leaves Town_ and
        Sundial, _Acid Yantra_ in the used CD bins today!

e-mail: paul at csgrad.cs.vt.edu                    A stranger in a strange land.