Jimi Hendrix
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
May 16, 1970

Quality: B

aud>4th.gen.cassette>SonyTCWE435>PioneerPDR-O4>CDR>EAC>WAV>Trader'sLittleHelper>FLAC


Sgt Pepper's Lobely Hearts Club Band
Johnny B. Goode
Machine Gun
Lover Man
Foxy Lady
Red House
Freedom
Fire
Hear My Train A Comin'
Purple Haze
Voodoo Child


Notes from http://www.digitalhighway.co.uk/axis/index.htm: This was Jimi's first 'festival' style gig of the '70 tour and other acts on the bill included The Grateful Dead, The Steve Miller Band and Cactus (in what was said to be their first gig, having been formed from the ashes of frequent Jimi gig-mates Vanilla Fudge) - all for $6.50, which wouldn't even cover the ticket's service charge these days! Apparently the 20,000+ seat stadium was only about half full and the promoter took a bit of a financial bath, but 10,000 people is still a big crowd! Jimi headlined the all day show, going on around midnight. There are a number of fine pics from this gig, with Jimi resplendent in a star spangled shirt (which, I believe, is not seen at any other gig) and an Indian feather in his headband (the shirt design is ironic, as this is one of very few '70 tapes that does not include 'Star Spangled Banner').

The tape of this show is primitive but at least the whole band can be heard fairly well. There's a marked lack of high end, with Mitch suffering the most from it, but I suppose I'd rather have it come that way and add my own treble, rather than have someone try to equalize it somewhere in the food chain. The main problem with this one is that there are many cuts, some of which severely truncate the music for a frustrating listen. Still, like most Jimi tapes, there are some 'diamonds in the dust'. The Grateful Dead were always meticulous about documenting their shows, but a look through Dead tape listings shows no soundboard tape for their set at this show (nor audience tape, for that matter). Too bad they didn't record themselves *and* Jimi here but, then again, the Dead had played a late show the night before at the Fillmore East so it was probably all they could do to get to Philly at all, never mind set up their own PA system/ recording rig.

As if to pre-emptively excuse the tape's shortcomings, Jimi's set begins with a couple of the sort of surprises that make one thankful that someone was rolling tape at all! Jimi mentions evil forces making the "crack in the Liberty Bell their symbol"...After hearing a strange percussive sound that could be Jimi drumming with his hands on the face of the guitar, we hear Mitch take up the beat and Jimi lead the band into a brief cover of the Beatles 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'. Jimi pulled this one out periodically with the Experience, but we have had no documented performance of it since 11/27/68 (Jimi's birthday) and would only have one more recorded version, at Isle of Wight. Jimi just does one vocal verse then a short solo, Billy dropping out and Jimi finishing with a few more riffs, one of which is (p)reminiscent of a line from 'Straight Ahead' (a song which would make its stage debut two weeks later in Berkeley)...

...segueing right into Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B. Goode'! We only have 3 recorded versions of Jimi doing this rock n' roll standard, one from the 1/69 German tour, this one, and the celebrated 'In The West' version from Berkeley two weeks later (there is, however, firm anecdotal evidence of other performances of the song). Jimi starts it a step low then moves it up and they're off. A spirited version, comparable to the Berkeley though of course nowhere near as good a recording. Two 12 bar rounds of solos in the middle, the second featuring some cool hammer-on riffs, and two more at the end, plus an unaccompanied coda and big ol' crashing 'showband' ending- what more can ya ask for !?

Time to get serious as Jimi prefaces 'Machine Gun' with a dedication to "..the memory of all the cats that spilled blood...(and)..cats fighting wars within themselves...". MG gets a very brief free-form intro here, starting with some multi note pull-offs which speed up and slow down and a few of Jimi's flamenco-style runs, going to the regular intro at about :40. Main solo starts around 4:25, Jimi revisiting the sequence with the whammy bar bent trills at 5:10. At 6:45 they do the last verse, followed by more soloing during which we hear a hint of the Octavio as well as Jimi manipulating the speed control on the UniVibe (all between the 8 and 9 min. marks). At 9:30 they pull back and he does the 'wobbly' vibrato sound. At 10:25 he does a few rat-a-tats and a brief but very dense feedback section before the guitar cuts out quite suddenly at about 11:15, ending the song.

The tape suddenly jumps (the first of *many* such cuts) to midway through 'Lover Man', just as the 'Flight of the Bumblebee' section is ending. It plays to the end (about 1:30 total), which features a wild 20 second solo coda from Jimi, so at least there is some payoff...

Tape cuts again and we're part way into the opening note of 'Foxy'. Unusually, this rendition does not get a solo tag at the end.

We join 'Red House' during the opening riff, the sound of the Gibson is unmistakable, and this time we are treated to 3 verses of middle solo, the third a quieter one reminiscent of the early '69 shows. He adds the wah near the end of this one and uses it to the end of the song.

'Freedom', sadly, is butchered more than any other song here. When the tape cuts in we're already to the middle section and, nice though it is for a few fleeting moments, it's just plain frustrating when it gets cut off just as it's about to go back to the main riff. Only about :55 in all. Arrrgh....

...and arrgh again when we join 'Fire' in the middle of the solo! We at least hear some nice pull-off riffs in same, and after he does the by now standard 'Outside Woman Blues' quote he slyly tosses in another old Cream riff, 'Sunshine of Your Love', before going back to 'Outside' then to the last verse.

Jimi's spoken intro to 'Hear My Train' also gets interrupted by a tape cut, and we hear him turn on the UniVibe. Some very clean, twangy riffing to start, sticking mostly in the lower registers. The main solo starts pretty clean toned at 3:05 but no telling where/how long it went as, about minute into it, the tape cuts to the last vocal verse, just before the 'HMT' chorus. At 5:05 he mimics that vocal line on guitar, then the tape cuts yet again at 5:30 and suddenly we're hearing Jimi sing the 'Keep On Groovin/ Midnight Lightning' words that we hear him drop into the '70 sets now and then (though it's more often done during VC(SR)). Winds it up shortly after, at 6:10.

Yet another tape cut puts us into the beginning of 'Purple Haze', so it's entirely possible that 'Star Spangled Banner' was played this night but not recorded. An unusual ending for PH in that the coda that's usually 'full shred w/ teeth' is actually very clean, even flirting with the flamenco riffs..

...Jimi segueing straight to VC(SR). The main solo includes some sliding jazzy octaves at 2:30. At 3:10 Jimi throws in a cool little climbing hammered-on run with wide string jumps. Goes to the "..give me all your sweet time..." verse at 3:50, with the last solo visiting a number of riffs from the ELL studio version. Restates the main riff at 6:00, adds a little teeth work and hits the last crashing chord...which the taper can't help but cut off a little early! Ah well, some good stuff here anyway. "Jimi Jam!" someone yells in the crowd.