Jimi Hendrix - Live at the Isle of Wight 1970

December 11, 2004

Rated: NR(somestr Runtime: 56 min Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The first thing I asked myself before viewing this video is of course “Where the hell is the Isle of Wight”. You can find out more than you ever really wanted to know, right here. I’m probably not going to visit any time soon.

The footage on this video was recorded about a month before Hendrix’s death. While not his most stellar performance, it definitely doesn’t suck. It looks like there may have been some “technical difficulties” that slowed him down a bit in this one. Purple Haze and Fire aren’t on this DVD so if that’s all you like, pass this one up. His version of Dylan’s All Along The Watchtower is quite up to snuff but his playing of Voodoo Chile really seems to be lacking something. I was pleasantly surprised by a song called Dolly Dagger” which I hadn’t heard before (I’m not a huge Hendrix nut so I’m sure there are plenty of others I haven’t heard either). The most redeeming track on this video is Red House. It almost makes up for the lack of warmth, power, and soul that you would expect to hear earlier on. I would have just put this track last so every viewer would be guaranteed to go away happy.

I thought Mitch’s drumming was surprisingly sloppy on most songs. Maybe he was having a bad day, or maybe something had happened after the left the Jimi Hendrix Experience and came back later. He just didn’t seem to be with it. Billy (Buddy) Cox seemed to be right on the mark most of the time. They should have show him on camera a little more IMHO.

The DVD itself is pretty no-frills. There is song selection from them menu but that’s about it. No extras. No notes. No nothing. Might as well have been a VHS tape. I’d still have to give it three stars though. The video is good and the audio is good. If you’re a big Hendrix fan you’d definitely want to add this one to your collection.

Posted by Hank Reed | Filed Under 3 Stars, Buddy Cox, DVD, Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchel, Music, NR(somestr