Here's a batch of covers from the alternate universe of import bootleg LPs. Most of these are Korean boots that servicemen would bring back from tours of duty during the Vietnam War era. Growing up in such a huge Navy town, many of my friends' fathers and uncles had these peppered throughout their collections. Occasionally referred to as kimchi pressings, these LPs feature covers that are thin paper covered in plastic, though not to be confused with legitimate South American pressings that also feature this cover design. The bootlegs often feature lovely looking colored vinyl that is notorious for its poor sound quality. However, most feature alternate artwork and there's a small but fervent collectors market for big bands like the Beatles and Stones.

Thanks to my DJ buddy Frank O"Toole for forwarding me the "Jimi Hendrix goes for a job interview" comic clip on the left, which got me thinking about the late guitarist and how influential his music continues to be to this day. It also got me thinking about how both Hendrix's music and his image seem to consistantly remain at the forefront of popular culture, even all these years later-- close to four full decades since his tragic death at age 27.

The 1967 album Are You Experienced was the debut by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the power trio rounded out by bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell. Offering up a frenzied feast of feedback and distorted guitar, the album delivered rock music unheard of up until that point -- music that managed to be both experimental and accessible at the same time.

The album would be instrumental in propeling the Seattle born Hendrix, who had relocated to the UK, to international stardom. Besides the title track, among the other great eleven tracks on the debut LP (which can be found readily in CD and vinyl format at Amoeba Music) were "Foxy Lady," "Red House," "Fire," and "3rd Stone from the Sun." The album, which was released with different cover art on each side of the Atlantic, was hugely successful all over, including in the UK, where it premiered. There the album reached #2 on the best selling charts, right behind The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

If you are a gigantic music fan, you've probably already listened to and absorbed Jimi Hendrix' music to the point where you might think you never ever need to hear it again.  I know the feeling-- when I was in high school Jimi was one of the primary artists I listened to, over and over and over again to the point of oblivion.

So to you, the jaded, I say, hold up!  Just when you think you've seen and heard everything (and maybe you have, but this was new to me...), here comes the fairly recent reissue of the 1973 documentary Jimi Hendrix, which was directed by Joe Boyd, John Head III and Gary Weis.  I read about it in Joe Boyd's White Bicycles, and finally got my hands on a copy of the movie. 

Producer extraordinaire Boyd was heartbroken by the bumps that came along with putting together this film.  One thing he was dead on about, and what really makes this film compelling above all others about Hendrix, is that the interviews were conducted only 3 years after Hendrix' death, and both his contradictory and brilliant presence and the awe he inspired in his fellow musicians is extremely palpable.  Heck, you can see it written all over Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend's still-freaked-out faces! 


Roadies and managers are also interviewed, folks I had never seen in other documentaries.  Their memories are fresh:  a roadie recalls having to stand behind the amps and hold them up while Jimi humped and flailed away on the front of the Marshall stack; a manager remembers landing in London in 1970 to a pack of paparazzi and moving aside, only to have his arm firmly grabbed by still-shy Jimi, who didn't want to be left alone with the press.