A column dedicated to great songs, old and new.
July 5, 2005
Written by Bob Dylan
From Otis Redding/The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Historic Performances,
Reprise Records, 1970 (Out of Print)
When I was a kid, the Tower Records in the San Jose area had an adjoining store called Tower Posters, which was sort of a cross between a head shop and concert merch booth. I now look back and recognize its vibe as quintessentially 70s: blacklight posters, bongs in glass cases, "Keep On Truckin'" t-shirts, hippie-nudie posters, "Gas, Grass, or Ass" stickers, and other commodified counterculture symbols. It was there, as a little boy, where I first encountered images of Jimi Hendrix, and heard people talking about him. Though I understood that he was revered as a rock icon, I didn't hear his music until I was a teenager, mostly because the music I encountered as a youngster, via my older siblings, was more in the R&B and pop vein.
Historic Performances
Otis Redding/The Jimi Hendrix Experience
In my early teen years, as my interest in songwriting grew, and my tastes expanded beyond funk and R&B, I regularly read magazines like Creem, Record Review, and Musician. Jimi was constantly referenced in reviews and feature articles in those magazines, and it soon became obvious to me that I needed to acquaint myself with his music. I went to the local video store and rented Jimi Hendrix, a full-length documentary with lots of footage of Jimi (released on DVD last week). There are countless memorable moments in the film, but the most important for me was Jimi's unique, soulful version of "Like a Rolling Stone".
Jimi's "Like a Rolling Stone" opens with a bit of a tease, or a false start, or something. It's unclear what he's actually going to play, and whatever it is, it certainly doesn't sound anything like Dylan's original. Jimi's take on this classic song is shot through with (of course) deft guitar work, as well as a knowing, passionate investment in the lyric and vocal (though he does omit one verse). The inventive lyrical imagery and mastery of language astounded me, and inspired many long-winded imitations on my part during my teen years. I laugh when I look at my song notebooks from that time, as they are filled with wanna-be Dylan lyrics, minus the imagination, skill, and shrewd sense of prosody.
I won't go on and on about Dylan here. His work is the subject of many books (including his own excellent memoir), the focal point of much rock-songwriting mythology, and the center of an upcoming documentary by Martin Scorsese. I tend to believe Dylan when he says he just kinda sees himself as a guy who writes songs, not as a prophet, or "voice of a generation." He is simply an artist, finding his way with each new work. To me, Dylan is very much like his fellow Minnesotan, Prince, in the way he boldly and bravely traverses new paths and byways, with or without a crowd in tow. "Like a Rolling Stone" is simply one of those instances when Dylan's powerful, unique vision also profoundly resonated with those who were listening--- in an almost epic, historic sense. It's not suprising that Jimi Hendrix, a fellow musical adventurer, would want to shape his own version of the song.
Shortly after viewing Jimi Hendrix, I became a complete Jimi convert. I ended up buying the Historic Performances LP from the Tower Records in San Jose, and a mammoth Hendrix poster from the next-door Tower Posters. These days, p-tac often performs a funked-up version of "Like a Rolling Stone", and I consider it an homage to both Hendrix and Dylan. We usually omit the third verse, just like Jimi.
pcm
Purchase:
Jimi Hendrix: Deluxe Edition DVD
at Amazon.com