January 26, 2013

"Buy yourself a shotgun"... maybe not a real shotgun, maybe something metaphorical.

So, yeah, there's Jimi Hendrix, on TV in 1965. Can you even hear him? I want to concentrate on Buddy & Stacy. I'm surprised they got away with dancing like that on television:



Those were different times.

85 comments:

Bob_R said...

It's the trousers.

Shouting Thomas said...

Hendrix was such an oddity.

Musicians love him because he was an instrumental virtuoso.

But, he's very hard to listen to. Few of his songs really work with an audience. Too noisy and metalic and grinding.

I love Hendrix, and at one time I studied his music very closely. My girlfriend, who is a rather casual and normal music fan, can't stand Hendrix. Wants to turn him off the moment he comes on the radio.

About the only Hendrix tunes that I've played more than once or twice for an audience are "All Along the Watchtower" and "Little Wing." And, that was when I was in a house band for a jam session. The guitar heroes who sat in wanted to show their stuff.

The Dawgz have been talking about doing "The Wind Cries Mary," but I have doubts about that one, too.

bagoh20 said...

OMG! And don't pretend like you didn't see it too.

deborah said...

Oh hell yeah...shweet. Vids like this give me hope that we'll come out alright in the end.

Probably most people then were too innocent to see what we see now. Now Elvis could be downright lewd :)

deborah said...

ST, why are you doubting 'Mary'? Can you all not make it your own?

Shouting Thomas said...

No, I love "The Wind Cries Mary" and I've been playing my own version at home for years.

The lyrics and melody are among Hendrix's best.

I'm not sure it will go over with an audience.

deborah said...

Don't see how it could not. What is your genre?

madAsHell said...

The guitar isn't plugged into an amp. Yes, you cannot hear him.

I expected to see Jimi's name on the Junior Walker wiki page. Jimi must have been short term player.

Bonus question: Which one is Junior Walker??

Shouting Thomas said...

Rock n Roll and blues.

deborah said...

Rockabilly, sometimes?

Shouting Thomas said...

We've been doing "Get Rhythm," but more the NRBQ version than the Johnny Cash version.

No, we're primarily blues and blues based rock.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

No amount of lewdity could undo the effeminacy of those high heels.

Shouting Thomas said...

Just to illustrate my point, listen to Stevie Ray Vaughan's version of Little Wing, and Hendrix's version and tell me which one you like best.

McTriumph said...

Love Hendrix and my bet is that this version of "Shotgun" is only relevant because he's playing. One is reminded of all the re-releases of shitty albums where he played studio guitar and after he found his own magic.

This version of "Shotgun" barely holds a candle to Jr Walker and the Allstars version.

I guess 1965 regional TV was different, where I grew up this wouldn't have been censored.

Sydney said...

After Elvis, it was all just a slippery slope. Are we at the bottom yet?

AllenS said...

I think Junior Walker is on the sax farthest on the right.

Wince said...

Yeah, thank you very much for showing up man, you all look really beautiful and outta site and thanks for waiting. It has been a long time, hasn't it?

That does mean peace, not this... Peace. Okay, give us about a minute to tune up all right...

It's so good to be back in England. We'd like to... start off with a thing that everybody knows out there. You can join in and start singing. Matter of fact, it'll sound better if you'd stand up for your country and your beliefs and start singing.

And if you don't, fuck you."


Jimi Hendrix addresses the festival crowd with Into to "Good Save the Queen" - Isle of White Festival Monday, Aug. 31, 1970

AllenS said...

I think Junior Walker is on the sax farthest on the right.

Ipso Fatso said...

For those of you who can't read this is Buddy & Stacy follow the link Althouse provides. It is not Jr Walker & The All Stars.

bagoh20 said...

I love STR, but I think I prefer the Hendricks version - more organic (whatever that means). Plus, writing the thing in the first place is just awesome.

Here is Monte Montgomery showing how to play "Little Wing" using every possible note on an acoustic guitar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjpkVv9OrZQ

AllenS said...

Ipso is right, I was just going to remove my comment.

chickelit said...

Shouting Thomas said...
Just to illustrate my point, listen to Stevie Ray Vaughan's version of Little Wing, and Hendrix's version and tell me which one you like best.

The Hendrix version of course! Both Hendrix and Vaughan were virtuosos who knew and built on their peer's work. In this case, Hendrix conceived the song, and so SRV's version will always be derivative. Embellished, improved but still derivative. Better to judge the brilliance of SVR by picking apart one his originals, IMHO.

FWIW, I've always like Hendrix's work with Band of Gypsys link

madAsHell said...

For those of you who can't read this is Buddy & Stacy follow the link Althouse provides. It is not Jr Walker & The All Stars.

Well that explains why Hendrix isn't listed on the Junior Walker wiki page!!

Now, who in the hell are Buddy & Stacy??

My cousin has a couple of goldens named Buddy & Stacy.

bagoh20 said...

"Stacy"? Well that explains some of the dancing.

Ann Althouse said...

Why this video is an occasion to talk about Hendrix, I don't know. You can't hear him. He's just there. We've talked about him endless times. I feel like people aren't even looking at the video. Let's talk about Buddy and Stacy and that dance. Jeez, I could have just put up a post that said, let's talk about Jimi Hendrix! That would have been dumb.

Ann Althouse said...

"My cousin has a couple of goldens named Buddy & Stacy."

Does he dance with them when you're not around?

virgil xenophon said...

EDH@12:33pm/

Isle of White Festival? LOL! I was there! (Was stationed in the UK in USAF at the time)

chickelit said...

virgil xenophon said...

Isle of White Festival? LOL! I was there! (Was stationed in the UK in USAF at the time)

That is interesting. One day I'd like to meet someone here who went to those Hendrix shows.

virgil xenophon said...

@ST/ How about "Crosstown Traffic?" Best lyric?

"Tire tracks all across your back
I can see you had your fun." LOL

AllenS said...

I saw Hendrix at Madison Square Garden in 1969.

Chip S. said...

I think Buddy and Stacy's dancing toward the end of the clip might have been the inspiration for Ed Grimley.

Carol said...

Oh yeah? well I saw him at the Shrine Auditorium in 1968. Got stuck in the LA bus terminal all night trying to get back to Pasadena.

McTriumph said...

Professor in 1965 did you not know any black people? I've seen more suggestive dancing earlier than 1965 at black rural Mississippi church festivities.

chickelit said...

AllenS said...
I saw Hendrix at Madison Square Garden in 1969.

Very cool! I was too cryptic in my wish though--I meant the Hendrix shows at the Fillmore east, linked earlier: New years Eve, 1970.

AllenS said...

I'm not sure why their dancing is getting away with anything. No different than Chubby Checker and the Twist.

virgil xenophon said...

chicklit/

FYI, The Brits spell it Isle of Wight. I should've also but was looking at EDH's post. There were some 600,000 there (check out wiki) I had gone the year before when
Dylan was there as well. I also was at the Rolling Stones free concert in Hyde Park (500,000+) LOL Those are the ONLY "mega" concerts I ever attended, I actually much prefer small venues. I rarely attend Jazz-Fest here in New Orleans unless there is someone that I think I'll never get a chance to see again. Hell, half of the artists play the small nightclubs in N.O at night each day after the Jazz-fest is over for the day anyway..

Robert Cook said...

The best Hendrix album is BAND OF GYPSYS, recorded live at the Fillmore East. With a really good bass player in Buddy Cox, Hendrix really explores funky grooves and his guitar voicings were very soulful and human. He deployed less of the "flash" feedback and distortion and just played!

Ann Althouse said...

"I think Buddy and Stacy's dancing toward the end of the clip might have been the inspiration for Ed Grimley."

And his pants.

Ann Althouse said...

"I'm not sure why their dancing is getting away with anything. No different than Chubby Checker and the Twist."

I'm not even going to say what I saw. If you didn't see it, bless you.

bagoh20 said...

OK.

At one point they do most of the Macarena in correct sequence.

That's all I got. Oh yea, and didn't people wear underwear back then?


HendrixHendrixHendrixHendricksBoyGorge

Robert Cook said...

I'm sure this was broadcast on a UHF station reaching small markets with primarily black viewers. This wouldn't have caused a ruckus.

It MIGHT have aroused reaction if this performance had been on the Ed Sullivan Show...but it wasn't.

I can remember when our town got a new tv station--a UHF station, around 1965--and its broadcast lineup consisted of a lot of old movies and syndicated material...including a black music show called NIGHT TRAIN. It would have featured acts like this. To me, at age 10, it seemed like it was beaming from another solar system.

Chip S. said...

And his pants.

I think you're right, I must say.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

I saw the Macarena. And then a little bit of Prince.

bagoh20 said...

"And then a little bit of Prince."

That's saying a mouthful.

Robert Cook said...

Yes, well...ahem.

Robert Cook said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Robert Cook said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rob said...

It was good to see Dr. King at the end of the clip.

Chip S. said...

Was the tv show named after the wine, or vice versa?

Robert Cook said...

"Was the tv show named after the wine, or vice versa?"

My guess is they were both named after the song.

deborah said...

ST @ 12:24...impossible to choose. The original is a place in time; a man, a soul. The SRV is excellent, but I must out myself as someone not cool enough to sit and listen to that genre, or at least at that pace. My jazz needs a little more kick and swing. Bago's link at 12:44 is friggin' excellent.

Still not quite getting why Mary would not work...it's definitely accessible.

Charlie Currie said...

Were they wearing cut off pantyhose?

They both dressed left, ICYMI.

Cheers

chickelit said...

deborah pointed out: Bago's link at 12:44 is friggin' excellent.

Thanks for pointing that out and making my comment a couple minutes later look completely derivative. Of course, I will argue that I was actually distracted and didn't see that bagoh20 actually made the same point about originality but hey, we all can learn from the masters.

McTriumph said...

"They both dressed left"

They are both right handed.

chickelit said...

They are both right handed.

How is that not skewed logic?

Ipso Fatso said...

"http://www.youtube.com/embed/yUYW2iwimBw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

For the heck of it, here is another interesting video from that same Nigh Train show in 1965 featuring Jackie Shane, a transexual singer.

deborah said...

y/w

Ipso Fatso said...

Sorry I screwed up the embed. If you are interested go to utube and search Jackie Shane Walkin' The Dog.

Gary Rosen said...

Wow, lots of idiocy on this thread. Of course Hendrix is plugged in, his cord is wrapped through the shoulder strap to keep it out of the way. And I can hear him plenty - no solos but lots of licks and rhythmic embellishments, especially the ones where he goes way up the neck and are obviously not coming from the other guitar player whose hand stays mostly in one position - the song is a one-chord jam. Junior Walker is not in this video of a minor act covering his big hit.

Gary Rosen said...

I have had a copy of this video for many years.

Gary Rosen said...

Wow, lots of idiocy on this thread. Of course Hendrix is plugged in, his cord is wrapped through the shoulder strap to keep it out of the way. And I can hear him plenty - no solos but lots of licks and rhythmic embellishments, especially the ones where he goes way up the neck and are obviously not coming from the other guitar player whose hand stays mostly in one position - the song is a one-chord jam. Junior Walker is not in this video of a minor act covering his big hit.

john said...

The important question here:

Was there a greater proportion of 60's era rock stars who dressed left?

Steve Koch said...

Buddy and Stacey and Jimi were performing as part of Little Richard's ensemble group. Maybe Little Richard was the choreographer for Buddy and Stacey.

Synova said...

Well... at least their pants are PULLED UP!

(I ride the bus... I'm not sure I need to say more than that.)

john said...

Oops, sorry Chuck, you noted that earlier.

Basta! said...

Somehow this reminds me of Leo Steinberg's art history book, "The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art". It's full of reproductions of older paintings in which Jesus is depicted with an erection, which no one seems to have noticed before --- or, if they did, they politely refrained from mentioning it.

As for Buddy and Stacy, they epitomize the phrase: pushing a basket.

Steve Koch said...

Shotgun was (probably still is) also a way of smoking marijuana. One person would hold the lit end of the joint in their mouth and blow while the other person would suck from the other, unlit end of the joint (summary: one was sucking and the other was blowing).

Anonymous said...

Re: Ann's "Those were different times."

Ridin' in a Stutz Bearcat, Jim,
those were different times.
And the poets studied rows of verse,
and all the ladies rolled their eyes

Anonymous said...

"Ridin' in a Stutz Bearcat, Jim": Ann is subliminally urging us on the Gatsby threads...

RobKleine said...

Anyone else channeling Spinal Tap?

Chip S. said...

I don't think those are cucumbers.

McTriumph said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
McTriumph said...

"Was there a greater proportion of 60's era rock stars who dressed left?"

Yes, most of the population is right handed.

McTriumph said...

Spinal Tap or Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev

Anonymous said...

Ohhhhh myyyy....:)

Bob_R said...

Iris Mountbatten: Well, he told me that he'd been to see these young men in a dark cellar.
Narrator: Yes.
Iris Mountbatten: He was always very interested in young men.
Narrator: Oh, yes.
Iris Mountbatten: Youth clubs, Boy Scouts, that sort of thing.
Narrator: Yes.
Iris Mountbatten: But these, he said, were different.
Narrator: In what way?
Iris Mountbatten: Their hair, and... their presence... and their music...
Narrator: He liked it?
Iris Mountbatten: No, he hated it.
Narrator: What did he like?
Iris Mountbatten: Well, em... the trousers.
Narrator: What about their trousers?
Iris Mountbatten: Well, they were, eh, they were very, em... tight.

WSilentThree said...

Jimi Hendrix did a lot of studio work, and if he was plugged in you definitely heard him. He always drove the song. I hear him, I think they may have lip-synched a pre-recording.

Chase said...

This is what happens in the bedroom of gay couples every night in America.

Jim in St Louis said...

I am SO using "obidachoius" in a sentence at work on Monday, I may answer my phone that way all day.

AllenS said...

My God! There's something in that man's pants!

Conserve Liberty said...

There's something just wrong when a man's trousers zip in the back.

Shorts are worse though. When seated a man in shorts can be just a touch too revealing.

Conserve Liberty said...

RE: Shotgunning pot, at University of Virginia in the 70's it was said the song was about robbing a gas station for the money to take a girl to a gin mill downtown.

But at University of Virginia in the 70's we were nice young men and nice young ladies wearing khakis and LaCoste shirts and TopSiders. We danced to Jr. Walker.

We knew about Johnnie Walker, Jim Beam and Jack Daniels. We didn't know about shotgunning.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
eddie willers said...

Took a long time for The Rutles bit to show up.

Isaac Horwedel said...

you can definitely hear him if you listen closely. he's doing a little vamp and lead thing. you can already hear his voice even as he backs them up.