Jimi Hendrix: His Revolution In 27 Songs
Latest MOJO magazine examines the pioneering singer-guitarist's sonic landmarks and plumbs the emotional depths of his oeuvre.
JIMI HENDRIX GRACES the cover of the latest MOJO magazine, on UK shelves from Tuesday, June 27. And 27 is the magic number in more ways than one, as we home in on 27 songs – one for every year of the ’60s singer-guitarist’s cruelly truncated life – that represent the full depth, breadth and scary potential of his iridescent talent.
MOJO maven Mat Snow goes deep into the Jimi catalogue to unearth insight into the creations and motivations of a man whose 1967 breakthrough is commemorated, 50 years on.
“Of all the reasons Hendrix was revered in his day and ever since, chief is the intensity and range of emotions his music inspires,” writes Snow. “At times it’s music that summons the raging chaos of the cosmos in fireballs of feedback, at others ‘feeling sweet feeling drops from my fingers’ in playing of a lyrical beauty few instrumentalists in any genre have ever approached, never mind matched.”
Compare our Hendrix highlights against your own, and enjoy an in-depth interview with Jimi’s producer, Eddie Kramer, who saw many sides of Hendrix – the guitar daredevil who turned almost mouse-like when the studio’s vocal mikes were switched on.
“Jimi thought he had the worst voice in the world.”
Eddie Kramer
“Jimi was so funny in the studio,” Kramer tells Snow, “cracking jokes all the time, sending himself up, taking the piss out of me, Mitch [Mitchell, drums] and Noel [Redding, bass]. He was so confident, except with his vocals when he got very shy. He thought he had the worst voice in the world. I had to build three screens and turn all the studio lights down so no one could see him, and gave him a little lamp on a stool, his mike and a music stand for his lyrics.”
Also in the latest MOJO: The Clash take punk to the provinces in spring ’77; Roger Waters picks another fight; Dan Auerbach says The Black Keys will have to wait; The Selecter relive their 2-Tone travails. Plus: U2, Father John Misty, Depeche Mode, Steve Earle, Radiohead, Warren Zevon, Scott Walker, The National, Dylan in ’63, MC5 in jail, Ride, Chris Cornell, Gregg Allman, Saxa, and more