Jimi Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington. Various articles linked below commemorate the 70th anniversary of his birth.
Unlike some artists who died young, it is not too hard to imagine Hendrix around today still playing relevant music even though he died more than forty years ago on September 18, 1970. His music like “Hey Joe” was timeless in that he could be both cutting edge while being steeped in the history of the blues too.
Some features about Jimi Hendrix’s birthday provide interesting quotes. San Francisco Weekly Blog has a collection of 13 quotes from Hendrix, including a quote from his final interview (“I don’t feel the need to dress up so much now I see others doing it”). ABC News has quotes from other rock stars remembering Hendrix.
Some other articles feature cool photos. ABC News Blog has a collection of photos from Hendrix’s life and career (make sure to check out Hendrix in a tie with Curtis Knight and the Squires in 1965). Huffington Post has a slide show of items from a new Jimi Hendrix exhibit at Seattle’s EMP Museum. The Albany Sun Times Blog remembers Hendrix’s one year in the military with photos of excerpts from a deposition by Hendrix’s not-too-happy sergeant.
But it is not just about the past. Rolling Stone magazine discusses a new album from Hendrix — People, Hell & Angels (released March 5, 2013). Antimusic has a track-by-track description of the twelve previously unreleased studio recordings on the album. The Future Heart also has a track-by-track description, along with other stories about Hendrix including a video of The Experience’s May 3, 1969 concert in Toronto.
Happy birthday Jimi.
What is your favorite Jimi Hendrix performance or song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Darrell Scott is a talented musician who has written some popular country songs, so even though you may not know his name, you might know some of his songs. He has released his own albums, including Long Ride Home (2011), but you might know him best for songs covered by other artists.
“It’s a Great Day to Be Alive,” written by Darrell Scott and recorded by Travis Tritt. Here is Scott singing his version of the song.
Here is the cover by Tritt:
“Long Time Gone” and “Heartbreak Town” were written by Darrell Scott and recorded by the Dixie Chicks.
Here’s the Dixie Chicks singing “Long Time Gone.”
Those are some catchy country tunes. While I like the glossy covers, Scott does a nice job in the small live performances too. Scott continues to write and perform, and he has a new live album out with Tim O’Brien, We’re Usually A Lot Better Than This. What do you think of Darrell Scott’s songs? Leave your two cents in the comments.
If you are planning on deep frying a turkey this year, take some cautionary advice from William Shatner, set to music, of course. Check out “Eat, Fry, Love: A Cautionary Remix.”
The musical tale is based on a real experience that Bill Shatner had, so he teamed up with State Farm to make the video.
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
Do you have any frying turkey stories? Leave your two cents in the comments.
As rockets land near Jerusalem and more violence and fighting seems imminent, it seems like a good time to revisit Steve Earle’s song, “Jerusalem,” the title song from his 2002 album.
During the summer of 1963, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez were driving on a trip to perform together. During the trip, an incident occurred that would inspire one of Dylan’s great songs, “When the Ship Comes In.”
A Hotel Stop
On the road, Dylan and Baez were in ragged clothes when they stopped at a hotel for the night. At this point in their careers, Joan Baez was the more famous of the two nationally. Dylan, however, still was highly regarded in the folk community, had recorded two albums, and had his songs covered by several artists.
The motel clerk recognized Baez and gave her a room, even though she was not wearing any shoes. But the clerk refused a room to Dylan because of his scraggly appearance. Baez was angry and stepped in on Dylan’s behalf, persuading the clerk to give a room to her unkempt companion.
It must have been difficult for Dylan to face the rejection and then have to be saved by Baez. His embarrassment must have been magnified because he was just starting — or hoping to start — a relationship with her.
When the Ship Comes In
For someone with Dylan’s talents, though, the best revenge was his music. That night, in his hotel room, in his anger and humiliation, Bob Dylan sat down and began writing the following words:
A song will lift As the mainsail shifts, And the boat drifts on to the shoreline; And the sun will respect Every face on the deck, The hour that the ship comes in.
When the Ship Comes In (live) – Bob Dylan (press play)
His new song, “When the Ship Comes In,” was a song of revolution that came out of a personal slight that evening. And Dylan was not in a forgiving mood. He sang about the forthcoming change where chains will bust and fall to “be buried at the bottom of the ocean,” elevating his slight into something Biblical:
Then they’ll raise their hands, Sayin’ we’ll meet all your demands; But we’ll shout from the bow “your days are numbered,” And like Pharaoh’s tribe, They’ll be drowned in the tide; And like Goliath, they’ll be conquered.
The March on Washington
Not many weeks after the motel incident, Dylan and Baez performed “When the Ship Comes In” at the March on Washington in August of 1963. So the song born out of pique at a hotel clerk took stage alongside Martin Luther King Jr. when he gave his “I Have a Dream” Speech.
Thus, Dylan’s song framed MLK’s speech with the warning, “The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.”
Revolution
Revolutions are often borne out of personal slights. But personal slights are often symbols of the system, so there is nothing wrong with such a genesis.
One instigation for the American Revolution was a tax on tea, but the tax was symbolic of something deeper. The Occupy Wall Street movement was fueled partly by people fed up with a system that had slighted them individually. Similarly, one can look at recent protests around the world to see movements that started small and grew into something unfathomable.
The year after Dylan wrote “When the Ship Comes In,” the song appeared on Dylan’s The Times They Are A-‘Changin’ (1964) album, his first album of all original songs. Some of the themes of “When the Ship Comes In” are echoed in the title song of the album: “There’s a battle outside ragin’;/It’ll soon shake your windows/And rattle your walls.”
Maybe the battle does not rage in the U.S. like it did in the 1960s, but it still continues here and around the world.
Bonus Source Information: In Martin Scorsese’s documentaryNo Direction Home, Baez tells the story about the hotel and the “devastating” song, not Dylan. So he may have a different perspective on the night. In Keys to the Rain, Oliver Trager, who calls the Live Aid version above “botched,” notes that Dylan once explained that “When the Ship Comes In” was less about sitting down and writing a song than being a type of song “[t]hey’re just in you so they’ve got to come out.” A better live version of the song was recorded at Carnegie Hall on October 26, 1963, two months after the March on Washington performance. It is included on the soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese documentary on No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (The Bootleg Series Vol. 7).
Jimi Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington. Various articles linked below commemorate the 70th anniversary of his birth.
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, Baez tells the story about the hotel and the “devastating” song, not Dylan. So he may have a different perspective on the night. In 
, Oliver Trager, who calls the Live Aid version above “botched,” notes that Dylan once explained that “When the Ship Comes In” was less about sitting down and writing a song than being a type of song “[t]hey’re just in you so they’ve got to come out.” A better live version of the song was recorded at Carnegie Hall on October 26, 1963, two months after the March on Washington performance. It is included on the soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese documentary on 
.