I gained a deeper appreciation of Hendrix from a song on Dee Carstensen's "Regarding the Soul" album on which she records a version of his song "Angel" ...I never would have guessed it was written by Hendrix, and at 73, I was a contemporary....never ceased to be amazed at how insightful Will Roger's was when he said, "we're all ignorant, just about different things.,"
Thanks for bringing these sacred ideas back into the light. I hope you’re right. It seems that loving and understanding one another are now racist and evil ideals. I don’t know when reason will overtake hysteria again.
Yes, it's a shame that ignoring skin color is so taboo these days, but I remain hopeful. When times are at their most bleak, a little light can go a long way. It's now more important, I think, to focus on how we can look past our superficial differences and shake hands with those from all walks of life.
The great tragedy of Hendrix is, as his friend and former bandmate Bill Magee told me for an upcoming profile in Living Blues, that he was betrayed by those who used him for their own profit, plying the formerly sober Hendrix with booze and pills he wasn't prepared to deal with. Hendrix was, I think, too trusting for his own good, and like many trusting souls was abandoned by those who did not have his best interests at heart. His artistic vision was as immense as his heart - of his contemporaries on guitar, really only Jeff Beck and Peter Greene were his artistic equals, and Green was another visionary who was led astray by selfish users of his talent.
Very fine article Joe; Jimi grew up in Seattle where he was loved by many people, his classmates and neighborhood families, black and white. While Seattle is not a racial paradise, it did miss out on much of the racial violence of the 20th century. Some of Jimi's wide perspective on race must have some roots in his Seattle upbringing. Feel free to check out my story of meeting Jimi in San Francisco in 1967 just days before his historic show at the Monterey Pop Festival; cheers! Dex
" I'm not sure I will live to be 28 years old, " Hendrix quoted in the Guardian article. The diary entires quotes here must have been written 1969-1970.
Those times will not replicated. For me it seemed Jimi Hendrix was clearly mentioning urban warfare or militant resistance with the introduction of the 1970 live performance of "Machine Gun". Before starting he dedicates the song to "all the soldiers fighting in Chicago, Milwaukee, New York..oh yes all the soldiers fighting in Vietnam."
We do not know if Hendrix felt he had to show solidarity by changing his white band mates for black band mates or if it was a direction he was going to with his music.
The top rock bands of the era were making 'statements' of support for the anti-war/peace movements in their music.
The Rolling Stones in 1968 released "Street Fighting Man" calling for a "palace revolution".
The Beatles in 1968 released two versions of "Revolution" the fast version with the verse "count me out" and the slow version had "count me out...in" , as Lennon changed his mind in the song.
Jim Morrison of the Doors wrote in the 1967 song "Five to One" that "they got the guns, but we got the numbers gonna win we're takin over".
An obscure 1968 movie by Jean Lucky Godard "1+1 or Sympathy for the Devil" was released starring the Rolling Stones as they recorded that song in the studio with scenes of Black Panthers in a junk yard reading from revolutionary texts by Baraka and Cleaver.
Including the protest songs with clear intent it was a vastly different time than today. Police usually won every battle with "street fighters", so much so that the Chicago chapter of the Panthers claimed the Weatherman actions as "Custeristic".
So it became maybe for Hendrix to clarify his stance, but he never left the Black Community in his heart anyhow. Imo
I entertained the thought that Hendrix had to be silenced along with Morrison before they stirred up additional conscience. Tin foil hat stuff though.
This is cookie-cutter blathering: you take some semi-obscure excerpts from a diary and construct them around one's biased premise. Just what is this supposed to prove? That Jimi Hendrix is beyond "race"? I mean, this is really very cynical. I'm not saying that they are taken out context but the money shot is "Race isn't a problem in my world," which is typical of blacks who have "made it." And then it is juxapositioned with BLM. So on one extreme race is everything; on the other, it doesn't exist.
Sorry my article didn't resonate with you, Norman.
I understand your point about how Hendrix's notoriety may have made it easier for him to make these comments, but does that mean there's no wisdom in them? I don't believe that his position of fame undermines his overall point about the importance of ignoring race, and think that it's a far better alternative to the radical ideas about race that have dominated the cultural conversation these days.
Sorry Norman, Joe's essay is not blather. The blather might be coming from inside your soul, bitterness that denies anything but 'ressentiment' about racial questions ...
My comment was about the politics of CDN: Conveniently Dead Negroes whose words can be cherry-picked after they are gone. The Right has made a cottage industry re MLK's words, and I don't see much difference in the use of Hendrix's words.
So when a non-Black person airquoted oppression, & told Black people the oppression faced today isn’t legitimate, I finally came to accept that this “journal” is about keeping Black people in subjugation to the tyranny of Western thought.
From the overwhelming number of non-Black writers with the unmitigated gall to “shape” Black thought, to the articles compelling Black people to be allied w/ those who are not allied with Black people...to now see Joe make such a statement demonstrates that he feels no qualms (i.e. some qualifying character that makes his opinion on Black suffering an authoritative one) telling Black people their suffering is illegitimate.
Sort of like when my white neighbor met me for the first time & reminded me how lucky I was to be jogging in our neighborhood in 2015 because “years ago (they) would have shot me for something like that.” https://jahbread.com/white-privilege-fear-black-man/
We're not a segregationist journal. Our mission is to publish heterodox opinions that might be of interest to black people, and anyone else for that matter, regardless of the race of the opinion-holder.
Then don’t call yourself the journal of free BLACL thought. Just cal yourself the journal of Free Thought. Otherwise, you’re proving that you added “Black” for some ulterior motive.
One of our primary goals is to highlight black viewpoint diversity. That's why, even when a post isn't by a black author, it will very often discuss black authors, artists, musicians, etc.
This is exactly what the current post—about Jimi Hendrix—does.
Yet again: this particular non-black authored post, also delegitimized Black Suffering. So, let me be clear: the summum bonum for my critique is to put Black people on alert that the author of this particular piece has the audacity to believe it his liberty to take, to determine which generation of Black people has endured “real” oppression.
Fr. JahBread, problem is your expression of hatred towards the tyranny of Western thought is a very Western thing. Try expressing disgust or hatred of the Eastern or Islamic; they have had their rounds of being the oppressor - and don't much like being reminded of them; at least the Western allows for an aperture of free expression not matter the emotion ...
Babylon is Babylon, wherever it is - whether in the West or the East. Yet, I critique Babylon in the West because the Western portion of Babylon is what I understand best.
Your ancestors lived and ate oppression but they hung in there because they knew you - a free man - would come along; you don't have to re-live their oppression. You are free, my Brother ...
My ancestors didn’t hang in there because they knew I would come along. That sounds like some cute shit but it’s meaningless. My ancestors were hanging in there to get out of Babylon. They didn’t make it out except by death.
I am free. But not because you say so, and not because black people were freed - that didn’t happen. I am free because I don’t give a fuck about the oppressor or her rule.
I gained a deeper appreciation of Hendrix from a song on Dee Carstensen's "Regarding the Soul" album on which she records a version of his song "Angel" ...I never would have guessed it was written by Hendrix, and at 73, I was a contemporary....never ceased to be amazed at how insightful Will Roger's was when he said, "we're all ignorant, just about different things.,"
I love "Angel," but have never heard Carstensen's version, so thanks for the recommendation, Melvin!
Thanks for bringing these sacred ideas back into the light. I hope you’re right. It seems that loving and understanding one another are now racist and evil ideals. I don’t know when reason will overtake hysteria again.
Thanks for the kind words, Shirley.
Yes, it's a shame that ignoring skin color is so taboo these days, but I remain hopeful. When times are at their most bleak, a little light can go a long way. It's now more important, I think, to focus on how we can look past our superficial differences and shake hands with those from all walks of life.
Very insightful Joe!
Thank you so much!
The great tragedy of Hendrix is, as his friend and former bandmate Bill Magee told me for an upcoming profile in Living Blues, that he was betrayed by those who used him for their own profit, plying the formerly sober Hendrix with booze and pills he wasn't prepared to deal with. Hendrix was, I think, too trusting for his own good, and like many trusting souls was abandoned by those who did not have his best interests at heart. His artistic vision was as immense as his heart - of his contemporaries on guitar, really only Jeff Beck and Peter Greene were his artistic equals, and Green was another visionary who was led astray by selfish users of his talent.
How did Beck make it through?
A little luck, at least. He went through his own addiction struggles.
Very fine article Joe; Jimi grew up in Seattle where he was loved by many people, his classmates and neighborhood families, black and white. While Seattle is not a racial paradise, it did miss out on much of the racial violence of the 20th century. Some of Jimi's wide perspective on race must have some roots in his Seattle upbringing. Feel free to check out my story of meeting Jimi in San Francisco in 1967 just days before his historic show at the Monterey Pop Festival; cheers! Dex
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnKnwP6qZBY
Too bad we lost Jimi so soon. Thanks for sharing this perspective.
" I'm not sure I will live to be 28 years old, " Hendrix quoted in the Guardian article. The diary entires quotes here must have been written 1969-1970.
Those times will not replicated. For me it seemed Jimi Hendrix was clearly mentioning urban warfare or militant resistance with the introduction of the 1970 live performance of "Machine Gun". Before starting he dedicates the song to "all the soldiers fighting in Chicago, Milwaukee, New York..oh yes all the soldiers fighting in Vietnam."
We do not know if Hendrix felt he had to show solidarity by changing his white band mates for black band mates or if it was a direction he was going to with his music.
The top rock bands of the era were making 'statements' of support for the anti-war/peace movements in their music.
The Rolling Stones in 1968 released "Street Fighting Man" calling for a "palace revolution".
The Beatles in 1968 released two versions of "Revolution" the fast version with the verse "count me out" and the slow version had "count me out...in" , as Lennon changed his mind in the song.
Jim Morrison of the Doors wrote in the 1967 song "Five to One" that "they got the guns, but we got the numbers gonna win we're takin over".
An obscure 1968 movie by Jean Lucky Godard "1+1 or Sympathy for the Devil" was released starring the Rolling Stones as they recorded that song in the studio with scenes of Black Panthers in a junk yard reading from revolutionary texts by Baraka and Cleaver.
Including the protest songs with clear intent it was a vastly different time than today. Police usually won every battle with "street fighters", so much so that the Chicago chapter of the Panthers claimed the Weatherman actions as "Custeristic".
So it became maybe for Hendrix to clarify his stance, but he never left the Black Community in his heart anyhow. Imo
I entertained the thought that Hendrix had to be silenced along with Morrison before they stirred up additional conscience. Tin foil hat stuff though.
Perfectly said!
Thank you so much, Diane! Glad you enjoyed my article.
Amen https://open.substack.com/pub/sinatana/p/dear-crt?utm_source=direct&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
This is cookie-cutter blathering: you take some semi-obscure excerpts from a diary and construct them around one's biased premise. Just what is this supposed to prove? That Jimi Hendrix is beyond "race"? I mean, this is really very cynical. I'm not saying that they are taken out context but the money shot is "Race isn't a problem in my world," which is typical of blacks who have "made it." And then it is juxapositioned with BLM. So on one extreme race is everything; on the other, it doesn't exist.
Sorry my article didn't resonate with you, Norman.
I understand your point about how Hendrix's notoriety may have made it easier for him to make these comments, but does that mean there's no wisdom in them? I don't believe that his position of fame undermines his overall point about the importance of ignoring race, and think that it's a far better alternative to the radical ideas about race that have dominated the cultural conversation these days.
Thanks for commenting.
Hendrix, like MLK, has become a Conveniently Dead Negro, whose words can be cherry-picked to suit any occasion.
Sorry you see no hope. The attitude through which you look at the world will determine what you see.
Sorry Norman, Joe's essay is not blather. The blather might be coming from inside your soul, bitterness that denies anything but 'ressentiment' about racial questions ...
My comment was about the politics of CDN: Conveniently Dead Negroes whose words can be cherry-picked after they are gone. The Right has made a cottage industry re MLK's words, and I don't see much difference in the use of Hendrix's words.
So when a non-Black person airquoted oppression, & told Black people the oppression faced today isn’t legitimate, I finally came to accept that this “journal” is about keeping Black people in subjugation to the tyranny of Western thought.
From the overwhelming number of non-Black writers with the unmitigated gall to “shape” Black thought, to the articles compelling Black people to be allied w/ those who are not allied with Black people...to now see Joe make such a statement demonstrates that he feels no qualms (i.e. some qualifying character that makes his opinion on Black suffering an authoritative one) telling Black people their suffering is illegitimate.
Sort of like when my white neighbor met me for the first time & reminded me how lucky I was to be jogging in our neighborhood in 2015 because “years ago (they) would have shot me for something like that.” https://jahbread.com/white-privilege-fear-black-man/
"the overwhelming number of non-Black writers"
We're not a segregationist journal. Our mission is to publish heterodox opinions that might be of interest to black people, and anyone else for that matter, regardless of the race of the opinion-holder.
Then don’t call yourself the journal of free BLACL thought. Just cal yourself the journal of Free Thought. Otherwise, you’re proving that you added “Black” for some ulterior motive.
We did have a motive in adding "Black," but it wasn't ulterior. We stated it in the post that introduced the journal:
https://freeblackthought.substack.com/p/coming-soon
One of our primary goals is to highlight black viewpoint diversity. That's why, even when a post isn't by a black author, it will very often discuss black authors, artists, musicians, etc.
This is exactly what the current post—about Jimi Hendrix—does.
Yet again: this particular non-black authored post, also delegitimized Black Suffering. So, let me be clear: the summum bonum for my critique is to put Black people on alert that the author of this particular piece has the audacity to believe it his liberty to take, to determine which generation of Black people has endured “real” oppression.
Fr. JahBread, problem is your expression of hatred towards the tyranny of Western thought is a very Western thing. Try expressing disgust or hatred of the Eastern or Islamic; they have had their rounds of being the oppressor - and don't much like being reminded of them; at least the Western allows for an aperture of free expression not matter the emotion ...
Babylon is Babylon, wherever it is - whether in the West or the East. Yet, I critique Babylon in the West because the Western portion of Babylon is what I understand best.
You understand and enjoy and take advantage of the freedom of the West - Cheers Brother!
I cannot take advantage of something that was hard won by the blood, sweat & tears of my ancestors. But again, this is the “Free Black Thought” crowd.
Your ancestors lived and ate oppression but they hung in there because they knew you - a free man - would come along; you don't have to re-live their oppression. You are free, my Brother ...
My ancestors didn’t hang in there because they knew I would come along. That sounds like some cute shit but it’s meaningless. My ancestors were hanging in there to get out of Babylon. They didn’t make it out except by death.
I am free. But not because you say so, and not because black people were freed - that didn’t happen. I am free because I don’t give a fuck about the oppressor or her rule.
That was great, thanks for sharing!