Hendrix: Band of Gypsies
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DVD details
Artist: Jimi HendrixBrand: Hendrix,Jimi
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 130 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-07-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Experience Hendrix
DVD Reviews of Hendrix: Band of Gypsies
DVD Review: 4.5 stars for a flawed documentary and B&W concert video
Summary: 4 Stars
I originally wrote a somewhat negative review of this album and after watching the DVD again I realized that I was very wrong.
The DVD is divided into an hour plus documentary and an hour of black and white concert footage from the first of the Fillmore shows. The documentary offers a good deal of information about the Band of Gypsys, its formation and what the impact of race played on the music scene and Jimi's music and management. There are no interviews with Jimi on this subject, although excerpts of Jimi's interview on the Dick Cavett show is shown along with some of the live performance. We do get interviews with Lenny Kravitz, Slash and Vernon Reid of Living Color to explain what Hendrix and the BOG meant to them as musicians of color. Vernons interview and opinions, in my view, hold more weight than either Kravitz or Slash simply because I respect him as a musician. But I have to say I could have done without any of the interviews with contemporary musicians. I would rather more interview time was given to people who actually knew Hendrix. There are some very good interviews with people that knew and played with Hendrix such as Buddy Miles, Billy Cox, Mitch Mitchell, The Ghetto Fighters, and Noel Redding. Not to mention Jimi's road manager Gerry Stickells and Mike Jeffrey's assistant who gives the management perspective on the Band Of Gypsies. None of the interviews are especially in-depth with the exception of Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer. He has a lot to tell and is very informative as to how Billy Cox, Buddy Miles and Jimi worked togther in the studio. The documentary does present a good deal of good information regarding the dissolution of the Experience and the formation of the Band of Gypsys and it's cultural and musical impact. But little information as to why it broke up. I want the dirt dammit! On the plus side there are many excellent stills, TV show appearances, and color movies of the Experience playing.
The most compelling reason to buy this DVD is to see about an hours worth of B&W concert footage videotaped at the first Fillmore show. There are great versions of Power of Love, the stunning Machine Gun and Them Changes, and the best version of Foxy Lady I've ever heard and I've heard a lot of versions. Its facinating to Hendrix really play and in a different and much funkier context than with the Experience. It's worth the price of the DVD to watch Jimi play the version of Machine Gun from the Band of Gypsies album. You get to see some comical asides and between song patter with the audience. There's one humorous part where Hendrix fluffs the lyrics to Power of Love and starts to laugh, he catches Buddys eye and they both crack up.
Which is fantastic, but the black 'n white is just such a tease, especially when the camera dork focuses on the light show going on in back of the band. "Um, its like, um, in black and white man." Gray blobs just aren't that interesting.
The quality of the videotape is at best primitive. There are ghosts a plenty, out of focus camera work and really only two angles: one from Jimi's side and one from Billy's. Of course the sound quality varies and is poor at times. Why didn't they dub in the proper recorded live versions of these songs? It sometimes sounds as though they used a different source tape than from the Band of Gypsys album. Which is odd since several of the songs from that album are what was filmed. My biggest complaint though is that the video is not always in sync with the sound. This is the 21st century folks, I could have syncronized the material on my home freaking computer. Also, the concert footage is entirely in black and white, however during the documentary several songs are shown in COLOR. Why didn't they include those songs in their entirety in a different section? Even if it were only two songs it would have been worth it. The color shots are stunning and very psychedelic, while the black and white footage is drab and somewhat depressing looking. What a huge difference between the two.
Ah well, I'll take what I can get but "Band of Gypsys (Live at the Fillmore East)" is somewhat flawed. The special features are scanty. I was disappointed the photo stills section wasn't bigger and that the color concert film wasn't given its own section: you can see it only in the documentary. But the good far outweighs the bad. The documentary is fairly informative and the live footage of the Band of Gypsys is very interesting. The guys really play well together. Recommended.
Description of Hendrix: Band of Gypsies
Mint condition disc, and cover of the legendary guitarists performance with the Band of Gypsies at the Fillmore East on New Year's Eve 1969 and New Year's Day 1970. Region 1 (USA & CANADA)Classic Rock Music CDs
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