Fact #157239
When:
Short story:
The Jimi Hendrix Experience plays at Will Rogers Auditorium, Fort Worth, Texas, USA, supported by Soft Machine, The Chessmen and Moving Sidewalks. Meanwhile, in the UK, Disc and Music Echo publishes its annual readers poll, showing Hendrix as Best Musician In The World.Full article:
Neville Chesters (roadie, JHE) : Jimi smashed all his Sunn gear up. He made a terrible mess of it.
Roger Mayer (sound technician) : These Sunn amplifiers, you know, the transformers were falling off the chassis. I was rebuilding these and it was a completely wrong design. Jimi was most unsatisfied with these amps. In fact, I actually had to go out to the factory to see if we could do anything about it … they were constantly burning up.
Hugh Hopper (Soft Machine) : Most of the violence in Jimi's act was confined to the last song, and was completely controlled. Before the last number, which was usually Wild Thing, Jimi would strap on his most elderly Stratocaster, the one with the battered paintwork, and at the climax of the song would attack one of his speaker cabinets (also an old one). From the audience it looked like a savage animal attack or a rape, but both guitar and speaker lasted out the tour without serious damage. A few broken strings and a few more scars on the speaker cover were the usual result.
He would never damage his favourite blues guitar, the Gibson Flying V, unless he was pissed off, which was seldom at this stage of his life. And Gerry Stickells was always standing behind the speaker in the last song, applying his substantial weight to steadying it against Jimi's attacks. It was all worked out and very controlled.
Usually. But on one occasion Jimi ignored the speaker routine in the climax and strode forward to the edge of the stage. On the last howling feedback chord he ran along the line of footlights, popping every single one with the head of his guitar. The band withdrew from the stage in a cloud of smoke and to rapturous applause.
After the show I was clearing away the gear with Neville. An old stagehand looked at the wreckage and said with a sad shake of his head "That's not necessary, is it?"
(Source : Hugh Hopper, September 19, 1980, Melody Maker]
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Roger Mayer (sound technician) : These Sunn amplifiers, you know, the transformers were falling off the chassis. I was rebuilding these and it was a completely wrong design. Jimi was most unsatisfied with these amps. In fact, I actually had to go out to the factory to see if we could do anything about it … they were constantly burning up.
Hugh Hopper (Soft Machine) : Most of the violence in Jimi's act was confined to the last song, and was completely controlled. Before the last number, which was usually Wild Thing, Jimi would strap on his most elderly Stratocaster, the one with the battered paintwork, and at the climax of the song would attack one of his speaker cabinets (also an old one). From the audience it looked like a savage animal attack or a rape, but both guitar and speaker lasted out the tour without serious damage. A few broken strings and a few more scars on the speaker cover were the usual result.
He would never damage his favourite blues guitar, the Gibson Flying V, unless he was pissed off, which was seldom at this stage of his life. And Gerry Stickells was always standing behind the speaker in the last song, applying his substantial weight to steadying it against Jimi's attacks. It was all worked out and very controlled.
Usually. But on one occasion Jimi ignored the speaker routine in the climax and strode forward to the edge of the stage. On the last howling feedback chord he ran along the line of footlights, popping every single one with the head of his guitar. The band withdrew from the stage in a cloud of smoke and to rapturous applause.
After the show I was clearing away the gear with Neville. An old stagehand looked at the wreckage and said with a sad shake of his head "That's not necessary, is it?"
(Source : Hugh Hopper, September 19, 1980, Melody Maker]