The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Saturday, January 11, 1969
Musikhalle, Hamburg, Germany
1st show
1 Are You Experienced
2 Johnny B. Goode
3 Spanish Castle Magic
4 Hear My Train A Comin'
5 Fire
6 I Don't Live Today«Third Stone From The Sun
7 Red House
8 Sunshine Of Your Love
9 Voodoo Child (slight return)
AUDIO:
° audience recording; 66 minutes, fair quality (1-9)
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This is ATM#147, the first disc in the five-disc Jimi In Germany set. Notes for that set say: "All recently re-transferred from the masters; 1st gen for most - Master > reel to reel > CDR - Hamburg may be 2nd gen though"
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From Chris Dixon's 30th Anniversary Series © C S Dixon
January 11th, 1999 marks 30 years since The Experience's appearance at the Musichalle in Hamburg, Germany. Two shows on this night - now up to eight shows in four days (in three countries!). A tape survives from the first show. The sound is pretty awful on this one, folks - distorted, muddy, cut between songs, constant hum with almost zero vocals and even the *guitar* struggling to arise from the muck! Too bad, as the show sounds like a good one. A bit hard to discern a whole lot of fine points here, but worth a quick look....
(setlist): Are You Experienced; Johnny B. Goode; Spanish Castle Magic; Hear My Train; Fire; I Don't Live Today; Red House; Sunshine of Your Love; Voodoo Child (SR)
'AYE' makes it's first recorded appearance since the run as the show opener on the fall 68 US swing. Great soloing (ah, as far as I can tell!).
A very welcome 'Johnny B. Goode', making the first of only three recorded appearances (though there is anecdotal evidence of other, and earlier, renditions). A ripping version, too! The other two versions don't appear appear until '70 (Berkeley amd Philly).
'Spanish Castle' gets a typically intense solo which switches abruptly to a drum solo (maybe a broken string, but who can tell from this tape !?). Mitch's solo has a feel similar to the 'Little Miss Lover' intro. Jimi returns soon and does a section similar to the previous night, alternating fills with high 9th chords.
'Hear My Train' fares a little better sound wise, at least during the quieter sections. Jimi slips in the riff from 'I Feel Fine', traditionally used during 'Hey Joe', not once but twice after 2 vocal lines during the first verse!
'I Don't Live' gets a fair piece of '3rd Stone' thrown in during first solo. Longer final section than previous couple of shows.
'Red House' also sounds better during the quieter sections. As usual, the vocals here are more audible since the guitar drops out for the words. Turns back to relative mush of course as he cranks it for the opening of the solo section but a nice free-time solo excursion ,after the 'slapped' chords, again shines.
'SOYL' is massively cut, mercifully I suppose, jumping from the bass solo to (literally) the last *three notes* of the slow-down ending!
Some great playing here, and a prime example of the need to separate recording quality from musical content (there will surely be others like this- ah, the things we do...).