YOU DON'T MESS AROUND WITH JIMI

Right now could be a good time for hardcore Hendrix fans to cover their ears and close their eyes .... but for the rest of us let’s look back 25 years to an interesting experiment that has never really gained the credit or audience it deserved.

Beautiful People was a UK-based collective of electro / trance musicians who somehow (apparently “Jimi Hendrix Jnr .... was a friend of the band”) gained permission from the Hendrix family to sample his recorded catalogue and use it as they wished.

As we know, many musical crimes have been committed in similar circumstances – in particular the unreleased Hendrix legacy has been plundered many times with a seemingly complete lack of respect until the Hendrix family took a more active role in managing it.

The resulting album ‘If 60s were 90s’ expectedly received mixed reception, and failed to set the world on fire - although it had the disadvantage of not really having a clear target market. A review at the time of release described it as “an inspired bit of grave-robbing” but generally “done with a judicious ear and keen humor”. The serious Hendrix fan probably viewed it the same way as Beatles worshippers saw ‘Stars on 45’ , but the general public basically took no interest at all (while the cafe-style electro-sampling concoctions of artists like Enigma sold millions of albums.)

‘If 60s were 90s’ is more than simple sampling or cut & paste – the Hendrix elements used to create the ‘songs’ are a mix of guitar parts vocals and between-song comments from live recordings. Given his unique and innovative approach to music, it’s intriguing to imagine how this project might have turned out if it had been supervised by Hendrix himself, sampling his own back catalogue 25 years after he originally recorded it. It’s difficult to think that Jimi was spinning in his grave when he heard this - more likely turning up the volume on the big stereo in the sky to hear what was happening .....

  

So to the wider world it remains an unheard treasure – ask the question “Have you heard that thing with has lots of Hendrix  samples on a sort of trip hoppy dance backing ?” and 9 out of 10 answers to begin with ‘What?’ or ‘Why?’ ... and these days people can sit at home computers in their bedrooms and do very similar things.  It’s not mind-blowing or groundbreaking, but it is definitely worth hearing – it’s surprisingly less gimmicky than you might expect, and does bear repeated enjoyable listings. It’s good to see that various postings on You Tube generally receive positive comments.

WANT MORE ?

The CD is fairly easy to track down and isn't expensive. Check that it includes the original chart that details every sample - which Hendrix recording it came from, and which track it's used on. 

The original review by Jim Washburn in the LA Times can be read here.