Jimi Hendrix in 1967, England, fair use photo © 1967 Fred Muddit/Fietschers Fotos/ the U. S. Post Office
Why no Fastfilm photos of Hendrix? I was too young to go see him without pre-arranged rides (L.A. did not and still has no reliable after hours public transportation.) Plus the one time I was supposed to see him live at the Shrine Auditorium's all ages show, my date showed up doing a wasted, face first pratfall into the doorstyle, emerging groggily to my parents intoning "We're going to see a hot ----!" We needless to say went nowhere and I was grounded (which merely translated to my sneaking out the second story by chimney-climbing down a 3-cornered eave when restless.) And we wouldn't have seen Hendrix that night anyway even without the pratfall: wasted date had gotten the night wrong any how.
I actually liked All Is By My Side. One has to approach it as a bio-flick with real rock and roll heart, not cast-in-cement accuracy, then it's a quite enjoyable account how the major guitar titan of the 1960s got his rags to riches start, which should remain of interest to any aspiring musician. Plus you get Waddy Wachtel going crazysickwild playing Hendrix' almost impossible combo of licks, feel and innovation.
Below, here's my favorite scene in the film with God ("Eric Clapton is God" was a common graffito of the 1960s) sweating bullets backstage asking "is he really that fucking good?" Lastly, even if considered superannuated for the role, Andre 3000 gets Hendrix' persistent humor dead right; i.e., "Let's play the unreleased as yet song 'Sgt. Pepper' tonight!" and promptly doing so perfectly with 3 minutes' impromptu band rehearsal backstage. You never saw any photograph of Hendrix not smiling offstage unless specifically posed to do so. It was fun being that fucking good!
video link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc_tuTxtCE4
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