Jimi Plays Berkeley
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Movie Reviews of Jimi Plays Berkeley
Movie Review: Good Hendrix DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
I personally liked this DVD. Let's face it, the guy is gone, and you have to grab what exists.Movie Review: Jimi's Best Concert Butchered...AGAIN!!!
Summary: 3 Stars
To be fair to new fans who may not have seen the Berkeley concerts on VHS, there are several definitive songs on this DVD that most will agree are among his all-time best live performances. These include an absolutely smokin' cover of Johnny B. Goode, An even more incredible Hear My Train A 'Comin (his best live blues performance, bar none) and a great version of Machine Gun that rivals the Band of Gypsies version. Admittedly, his performance is not so stellar on the second concert. The versions of Purple Haze, I Don't Live Today, and Voodo Child are erratic and he seems genuinely bored playing these songs, especially Purple Haze. But without a doubt, Hendrix the overworked guitarist is at his best playing in this power trio with nice guy Billy Cox on bass and the indomitable Mitch Mitchell on drumkit. This is Hendrix at his most relaxed (a bit too relaxed on a few tracks) and his creative energy, at the high points, seems to literally pour from his entire body into the guitar, to be chanelled out into the audience vis a vis the good ol' Marshall Stacks. This performance isn't marred by any of the lineup-related problems that make The Woodstock concert disappointing (in my opinion a vastly overrated performance), the lousy film quality that makes the Band of Gypsies less than it could have been (That and Buddy Miles incredibly annoying song), and The technical problems that trouble the Isle of Wight performance. The problem here isn't Jimi or the concert at all, it is the stoned film school hacks who threw this abominable "documentary" together. Fine, I get what they were trying to say with their cobbled-together footage of students rioting and being teargassed. Their original intentions were to make it timely and politically savvy. The problem is, now we just want to see Jimi. He's gone, and these performances are the best archives we have of him as an artist. In this regard, I don't see why the new management that Jimi's estate is under couldn't have completely remastered this concert and reinserted all the old footage that was cut out. As many other reviewers have mentioned, many of the songs are cut in half, including Hear My Train A Comin, one of his best live performances EVER, and the hot intro licks to Johny B. Goode. These omissions are inexcusable, and this is essentially a crappy repackaging of the VHS tape, albeit with better sound. Where's Hey Joe and Stone Free? Can it be that all this footage truly is lost on the cutting room floor forever? Nah, this is just an easy way out for the producers of this DVD to make a buck. Hopefully someday SOMEBODY will resurrect these amazing performances, cutting out all the hokey docu-crap, and finally give Jimi the respect he deserves.Movie Review: Hodge-podge editing and no new surprises here
Summary: 3 Stars
Clocking in at a woeful 56 minutes, this DVD represents only a fraction of the two concerts JImi performed on May 30, 1970. The packaging itself comes with a nice booklet that explains the background on how the concert was filmed, and the events that unfolded with it after JImi's unfortunate demise. The only 'real' bonus footage is a complete 5.1 surround sound audio for Jimi's second concert (which is essentially a different mix to the newly released Jimi Plays Berkeley CD, also available.)In all fairness, the sound for the video has been substantially overhauled. But, the haphazard edits and shaky camera movements that plagued the original documentary (rockumentary?) still exist. One would have figured that today's technology could have at least fixed the 'shaky camera' problems, but I digress.
Pciture quality is clean - though one can clearly see the limitations of the original equipment used to record the show. Given that it's one of only a handful of live Hendrix videos available, one can't be too picky I suppose. Highlights include Jimi's screaming rendition of "Johnny B. Goode", "Star Spangled Banner/ Purple Haze", and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", only because these songs are more or less complete. The other songs on the DVD are all significantly edited down from their original length.
One interesting tidbit gleaned from the accompanying booklet is that Experience Hendrix was not able to include any outtakes because they haven't been turned over 'by the previous administration' that controlled the guitarist's legacy. Which probably means that Alan Douglas or Michael Jeffery's estate is probably sitting on the rest of the film.
Jimi's performance itself warrants 5 stars, but given the sheer lack of extra material, my rating stays firm at 3 stars for this release. Mildly recommended.
Movie Review: The Short Jimi Plays Berkeley!
Summary: 3 Stars
Jimi Hendrix plays berkeley is a short 49 minute concert that is by means uncomplete. If you saw the orginal berkeley concert then their is no reason to get this one because their the same content only on DVD. I would have thought Experience Hendrix (hendrix family company) would have researched more for good footage other than releasing the orginal Berkeley footage. The orginal footage is real bad they cut most of the songs including Hear My Train A Comin, Lover Man, I Dont Live Today, Machine Gun. The only complete songs are Star Spangled Banner, Purple Haze, and Voodoo Chile (slight return) but the problem with the complete songs is the shakey camera angles, supposly the guys filming where on heavy LSD. Their is the complete second set AUDIO on here as a bonus feature including the full performence. The upgrade for this concert is the new 5.1 surround sound. Their is also a booklet include with the DVD that explains the story about the short film JIMI PLAYS BERKELEY with some nice rare pictures of Jimi Hendrix. Enjoy!Movie Review: Jimi is great ....
Summary: 3 Stars
....but whoever allowed this to be released in the butchered state that it's in should be shot!!!! I have waited for this complete show/movie to come out with good sound and uncut now for so many years, when I found out that they did this to it, my jaws just droped.... I will buy it but I am so angry that some of his best playing has actually been cut out.... Get your act together "the people who are in charge of Jimi's music" please, you are doing him a great diservice..... If Jimi was alive he would be doing the shooting himself....Enough said but the dvd is still worth it because of the 5.1 and stereo sound remastering.....(if it was not cut i would have given it a 5)...Buy it anyway it's still worth it..."Purple Haze" "Johnny B Goode" and what is left of "Hear my Train A Comin" alone are invaluable...ROCK ON JIMI (the undisputable master!!!!)