Ok, Lets do a poll

[Big_Rob]

Jimi's best song ever???

Machine Gun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV74PsUo1dc

 

[Tone2TheBone]

I've always like Jimi's humor and his little inside jokes. Machine is pretty dang close to being his "best" I would also agree.

 

[Big K]

Gypsys were a tight little group, heck of a sound man......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band_of_Gypsys

 

[Jimi75]

Oh Big Rob,

What a poll.....Jimi had so many best songs, but machine gun is a very very good one. I used to listen to it over and over when I was training for a marathon some years ago. At that time I still had a walkman with casettes and I put machine gun on a 90 minute tape - means it was full with machine gun....enough said?

 

[ShortBuSX]

Im hardly wanna touch this topic...But, the song starts out beautifully...but then the hammer happy screatching solo looses all that raw emotion at the beginning...it harshes my mellow dude.

Now Little Wing...thats his BEST!
But what do I know? I wouldnt know good music if it bit me in the butt.

 

[Big_Rob]

No one wants to vote in my obviously biased poll? That makes me a saaaad panda.

 

[Ro3b]

Maybe it's his best song, but it's not my favorite. They're two different things. My fave would probably be Little Wing, or the insane cover of Rock Me Baby he did at Moneterey Pop. And during my Hendrix phase when I was in high school, I worked long and hard to master the intro to Castles Made of Sand; I still love the delicate balance between poignance and funkiness that song has. Machine Gun is pretty damn cool, though.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

I'm with R03B, I've always been a Little Wng fan.

 

[M29]

Back when I was playing drums in the early 70's we were opening a club on the beach in Ft Lauderdale for Robert Conrad (the actor). There happened to be a telethon in town and Buddy Miles was staying there and he would come down and set in with us. This guy was big as you know and I will never forget how he used to keep knocking my cymbals over. I remember tying microphone stand weights to the bottom of my cymbal stands to keep him from knocking them over. He could really lay it down though. He had a bunch of stories of Jimi, I remember him saying he had one of Jimi's Srats.
On the weekends we would play out by the pool beside the beach and he would jam with us. I think I still have a picture around here somewhere. Ahh the good old days

It is a tough one trying to pick out a favorite Hendrix song, it would be easier to pick the one I didn't like...Ahm...let me see now...ahm........ahm...

M29

 

[Big_Rob]

M29, what club was it?

@ everyone else, Little Wing is awesome, but I like Machine Gun better hencefor the the biased poll

For real, I really cant pick his best song because Jimi was so awesome he had tons of killer songs.

One of my favorite albums from him is the Radio One sessions. Although the Sotheby masters are right up there on the kick *** factor.

Has anyone heard the Apartment Tapes? Even though they too were awesome, they showed how sloppy of a guitarist he was.

 

[ShortBuSX]

For real, I really cant pick his best song because Jimi was so awesome he had tons of killer songs.

Seriously...have you tried listening to other artists?

 

[Big_Rob]

Seriously...have you tried listening to other artists?

With over 50 gigs of music on my comp at home and about 11 gigs here at work, I'd have to say naaah,,,

Ive actually been getting more into older jazz players as of lately.

The guys (Leon McAuliffe on steel and Eldon Shamblin on 6 string) from Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys were always kick *** and furthermore huge inspirations on southern rock guitar pickers

 

[M29]

Hello Big_Rob,

Bob Conrad and a former Miss America had just opened up a club called (The Wild Wild West Saloon) man this was back in 1972 I think. From what they told us Conrad got kicked out of all the other bars in town and had to open his own to have somewhere to go. This was what I was told, sounds kinda flaky to me. At any rate there were a lot of musicians at the beach front condo that had this club in it. They were staying there for the Muscular Dystrophy telethon in town. Some of the Allman Brothers where there and I remember some of Sly and the Family Stone. as well.

Lots of fun!

M29

 

[Big_Rob]

Hello Big_Rob,

Bob Conrad and a former Miss America had just opened up a club called (The Wild Wild West Saloon) man this was back in 1972 I think. From what they told us Conrad got kicked out of all the other bars in town and had to open his own to have somewhere to go. This was what I was told, sounds kinda flaky to me. At any rate there were a lot of musicians at the beach front condo that had this club in it. They were staying there for the Muscular Dystrophy telethon in town. Some of the Allman Brothers where there and I remember some of Sly and the Family Stone. as well.

Lots of fun!

M29

Man, I bet Ft. Lauderdale was a blast in the early 70s

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Seriously...have you tried listening to other artists?

Big Rob digs up ol' cowboy artists & I believe Zappa n' such. Name an artist you think he should listen to, maybe he already has.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Ive actually been getting more into older jazz players as of lately.

The guys (Leon McAuliffe on steel and Eldon Shamblin on 6 string) from Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys were always kick *** and furthermore huge inspirations on southern rock guitar pickers

You've stumped me with the McAuliffe & Shamblin...jeez I gotta get me 50 gigs & another 11!

 

[Big_Rob]

I was wrong, Ive got almost 58 gigs at home R (hells yeah!!!)

 

[SuperSwede]

*ahem* Aria Giovanni - AVI... ?

 

[Big_Rob]

*ahem* Aria Giovanni - AVI... ?

On the other side under the properties window is celebrity sex tapes

Gotta admit, Aria is one hell of a woman

 

[ShortBuSX]

I heard Red House again yesterday...even thats waaaaay better than Machine Gun.

 

[Big_Rob]

I heard Red House again yesterday...even thats waaaaay better than Machine Gun.

Hmmmm, I dont know about way better, but you might be right. Catfish Blues is up there as well

 

[ShortBuSX]

Hmmmm, I dont know about way better, but you might be right.

No, I said "waaaaay" better.

 

[Big_Rob]

Heres an awesome version of Red House

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08oVRtpjQLw

 

[marnold]

Here's an admission: I've never heard "Machine Gun" all the way through.

Having said that, I tend to prefer his bluesy stuff like the aforementioned "Red House" than the more psychedelic stuff.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Heres an awesome version of Red House

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08oVRtpjQLw

Right you are!

 

[R_of_G]

One Miles fan for Machine Gun

"Machine Gun" has long been my fav of Jimi's songs. Primarily, he is able to tell an amazing story with few words, mostly with that guitar. Aside from the massive solo, MG is based on a super-cool and super-tight groove that allows Jimi to do what he does. No offense to the late-great Noel Redding, but I def prefer Billy Cox on bass with Jimi [actually, I prefer Billy Cox to any bass player, ever, but that's another thread]. My fav incarnation of Jimi's music is that 1970 configuration of Hendrix, Cox and Mitchell [Band of Experience? ]. Again, no offense to Buddy Miles, he can hit that straight funk groove like a locomotive, but I prefer Mitch's diversity.

The other reason MG means so much to me is that it is almost single-handedly responsible for a major shift in Miles Davis' approach to music. Miles' ex, Betty Mabry [who had an affair with Jimi] was the first to play Jimi for Miles [along with playing him Sly and the Family]. Miles understood when he heard Machine Gun how percussive a guitar can be. When asked about Hendrix, Miles would gravelly moan something about how he loved Machine Gun. Listen to how his sound changes after 1969/70 or so [then again in 72/73]. Sonny Sharrock, Pete Cosey, Reggie Lucas, Dominique Gaumont, all very percussive and/or feedback driven players. All adding to that whole band as percussion kit sound miles could get. All thanks to Machine Gun.

 

[ShortBuSX]

I know its all subjective and all...but even Pali Gap(which I recently discovered for myself) is BETTER than Machine Gun

Listen to it...its soooo much smoother.R

 

[R_of_G]

A Machine Gun is supposed to be smooth?

Comparing Pali Gap to Machine Gun? It's like comparing apples to satellites. I agree with your suggestion that PG is "smoother" than MG, but I ask you this, why would you expect a machine gun to sound smooth? it's supposed to be a song about the actual experience of being on a battlefield in a guerilla war [specifically Viet Nam, though it transcends specifics]. from what i have heard and read, this is not a particularly smooth experience [despite what GW Bush likes to tell people]. Now does "smoother" make a song better? Only if the question is which is the better "smooth" song. IMHO, Machine Gun is a story told musically, not a song, and as it is one unpleasant story, i never expected it to sound "smooth" or "pleasing." a listen to a run through machine gun is draining, and shouldn't it be if hendrix is really achieving what he wanted with that one?

I know its all subjective and all...but even Pali Gap(which I recently discovered for myself) is BETTER than Machine Gun

Listen to it...its soooo much smoother.R

 

[ShortBuSX]

why would you expect a machine gun to sound smooth?

Cause it does sound smooth(with great tone) at first...and well, thats the only "great" part of the song. If it maintained that throughout, Id agree with all of yall that it is truely a great masterpiece or "Jimis best"...and I full understand that its called "Machine Gun", and that its about war and such...but let me remind you of The Firm's "Live In Peace" was about war also but that didnt mean the song had to sound like crap towards the end to make an impact.

You are obviously a HUGE Jimi fan...are you really going to say that this is his "BEST"????

[edit]Heres a sample of Live In Peace by The Firm(some guy playing drums along with it) for those of you who may have forgotten the song(for reference sake)

 

[R_of_G]

War is a bit more complex

That two songs are "about war" doesn't mean they should sound in any way alike. As for the two specific songs, one is about war, as far as why do we have it and why can't it be peace, the other about the actual experience of being in a war live right then and there. one is conceptual while one is experiential.

as for my question, it wasn't why do think the song should sound smooth, but why do you expect an actual machine gun, the weapon not the song, to sound smooth? they don't and this was the sound he both sought for and achieved on this song. it's not supposed to be pretty, or smooth or necesaarily "fun" to listen to. it's supposed to be a musical intepretation about what it's like to be in a firefight with a mahcine gun in your hand and all around you. again, not a pleasant experience so not a "pleasant" song. do songs have to be pleasant? can't we expect more than one flavor from a war-related song? i am curious, do you think it "sounds like crap" after the intro bc it gets harsh or because you just don't think it's any good? bc it sure seems like the former, which, as you can see makes no sense to me.

and yes, i am a huge hendrix fan, and if i wasn't clear enough earlier when i stated it outright, YES this is both my favorite and my vote for his best song for all the reasons i have given and so many many more.

lastly, i never in a million years thought i'd be comparing and contrasting machine gun with a song by the firm, who, IMHO sucked.