Producer John McDermott Interview  c 2013

Experience Hendrix LLC and Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, has just released on DVD and Blu-ray, the expanded home video edition of the American Masters documentary Jimi Hendrix – Hear My Train A Comin’, combined with a host of never-before-released special performance features, that was broadcast on Tuesday, November 5, 2013.

   Also issued at the same time in November is Jimi Hendrix Experience: Miami Pop Festival, the first-ever release of one of the guitar virtuoso’s most sought-after performances, as originally recorded on site by Hendrix’s long term sound engineer, Eddie Kramer. Never available in any form, Miami Pop Festival is being released as a single CD and a limited edition numbered double 12″ audiophile vinyl set (all analog cut by Bernie Grundman, pressed at QRP on 200 gram vinyl).

     Jimi Hendrix Experience: Miami Pop Festival introduces the first recorded stage performances of “Hear My Train A Comin'” and “Tax Free” while showcasing live takes on such selections as “Fire,” “Hey Joe,” “I Don’t Live Today” and “Purple Haze.”

The package includes never before published photos taken at the festival and an essay by award-winning music journalist and Grammy Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli.

The first ever major rock festival staged on the East Coast, the May 1968 Miami Pop Festival was the first event promoted by Michael Lang—who would organize Woodstock, the biggest pop culture event of the decade, fifteen months later—and Ric O’Barry, who had been the dolphin trainer for the popular television program Flipper.

Lang and O’Barry had been inspired by the June 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival in California, the groundbreaking gathering where Jimi Hendrix made his U.S. debut.

Lang staged the festival at GulfstreamPark in Hallandale, Florida, securing the Jimi Hendrix Experience as the headline act for the event.

“Jimi’s performances at the Miami Pop Festival is truly one of the legendary ‘lost’ treasures,” suggests John McDermott, longtime producer of stellar Jimi Hendrix CD and DVD reissues with Janie Hendrix,   President and CEO of Experience Hendrix LLC and the sister of Jimi Hendrix.

“During the making of the Electric Ladyland album, the Experience flew to Miami specifically for these shows,” McDermott explains. “Jimi had Eddie Kramer come down with them to record the shows for them [which marked the first time that Eddie recorded Jimi in concert]. Jimi’s publicist Michael Goldstein was also the publicist for the festival and Linda Eastman was there as well to photograph the group. This was the first major East Coast rock festival and Jimi’s status as its headline act spoke to his fast rising popularity. 

   “The shows were unique in that the group was to perform two short sets–one in the afternoon and the second during the evening show. Jimi took advantage of the opportunity and worked in material such as ‘Hear My Train A Comin’,’ ‘Tax Free,’ and ‘Red House’ which were unfamiliar to his audience.

At this moment in his career, Jimi had issued two albums but he comprised his stage repertoire by feel and not purely for promotional purposes. Even ‘Hey Joe’ is treated to a unique arrangement. The Experience lived in the moment and when you hear the dynamic interplay between them throughout this performance you get a sense for how unique and powerful they were as a live act. 

    “It is great to hear the band shift tempos and modify arrangements on the fly. Jimi wasn’t a stick to the set list, ‘Hello Cleveland we luv ya!’ kind of guy. He really strove to make a connection with the audience–whether it was during his gyrations in ‘Foxey Lady’ or the depths of his emotions within ‘Red House.’ He wanted to share something unique and special and the album and footage on the DVD make this clear.

   “The shows were originally recorded on 1” 8 track by Eddie Kramer. Criteria Sound had a remote truck on site and Eddie jumped in there for Jimi’s set [famed Criteria engineers Ron and Howard Albert recorded the other acts]. It was well recorded and the performance is one of the best by the Experience.

   “The tapes and footage recorded that day became ensnared in the mess that followed the collapse of the festival following torrential rains that came after a successful first day. Michael Lang was one of the promoters along with Ric O’ Barry, Barry Taran and Marshall Brevitz.

“Miami had been in a major drought and the state seeded the clouds over the Everglades. The storm that followed essentially washed out the second day and left the festival bankrupt. Jimi never got to perform on the second day as the stages were crudely formed atop flatbed trucks parked on the raceway at GulfstreamPark. High tech this was not.

    “In the years afterwards, Janie Hendrix and I discovered the film and audio multi-tracks. We had hoped to find more but I spent a decade tracking down every angle I could. Thankfully we have the sound and some amazing footage to share with fans.    

    “We created an all analog 2 LP vinyl version of the album that Bernie Grundman mastered. He did a great job and we are pressing it on 200 gram vinyl at Quality Record Manufacturing in Kansas. They have done a great job with the recent releases we have issued,” stresses McDermott.

Dr. James Cushing, a DJ at KCPR-FM on the campus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, also weighs in on the Hendrix ’68 Miami album.

“Better than any other live Experience recording, this brilliant-sounding concert demonstrates the deep connection Jimi had with drummer Mitch Mitchell. We can really hear how both musicians respect and challenge one another with their split-second thinking, especially on ‘Hey Joe’ and ‘Tax Free.’ Mitchell gets unfairly overlooked in discussions of great jazz/rock drummers, and this concert should change that.”

Recently uncovered film footage of Hendrix at the 1968 Miami Pop Festival is among the previously unseen treasures that will be featured in American Masters: Jimi Hendrix – Hear My Train A Comin’, which premiers on November 5, 2013.

Hear My Train A Comin’ unveils previously unseen performance footage and home movies taken by Hendrix and drummer Mitch Mitchell while sourcing an extensive archive of photographs, drawings, family letters and more to provide new insight into the musician’s personality and genius.

    A pioneering electric guitarist, Hendrix had only four years of mainstream exposure and recognition, but his influential music and riveting stage presence left an enduring legacy. Hear My Train A Comin’ traces the guitarist’s remarkable journey from his hardscrabble beginnings in Seattle, through his stint as a US Army paratrooper, unknown sideman to R&B stars such as Little Richard, Joey Dee and the Isley Brothers and his discovery and ultimate international stardom.

American Masters: Jimi Hendrix – Hear My Train A Comin’ is directed by the award winning director Bob Smeaton (Festival Express; The Beatles Anthology; Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child; Hendrix 70: Live at Woodstock).

What any big screen version of Herndrix’s comet-like life would have to capture is the musician’s “incredible sense of mystery,” says Smeaton. “Going into this (documentary), I always felt Hendrix was a bit of a mystery to me. And now after learning so much about him, I still feel he’s a mystery. Which is what makes him forever interesting.”

Susan Lacy is series creator and executive producer of American Masters.

The expanded DVD features an array of special features highlighted by never before released film footage featuring performances filmed at Miami Pop, the July 1970 New York Pop Festival and the September 6, 1970 Love & Peace Festival at the Isle Of Fehmarn in Germany—the final performance by the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

The high definition DVD features new stereo and 5.1 surround mixing by Hendrix’s engineer Eddie Kramer. The documentary is a production of Fuse Films and THIRTEEN’s American Masters in association with WNET.

Presented as part of a year-long celebration around his 70th birthday year–the guitarist was born November 27, 1942–the two-hour Hear My Train A Comin’,  illustrated by interviews with Hendrix and illuminated with commentary from family, well-known friends and musicians including Paul McCartney, Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, Eddie Kramer, Steve Winwood, Ernie Isley, Vernon Reid, Billy Gibbons, Dweezil Zappa and Dave Mason as well as revealing glimpses into Jimi and his era from the three women closest to him: Linda Keith (the girlfriend who introduced Jimi to future manager Byran James “Chas” Chandler), Faye Pridgeon (who befriended Hendrix in Harlem in the early 1960s) and Colette Mimram, (one of the era’s most influential fashion trendsetters who provided inspiration for Hendrix’s signature look and created such memorable stage costumes as the beaded jacket Hendrix famously wore at Woodstock).

The film details the meteoric rise of the Experience, the creation of his groundbreaking music, the building of Electric Lady Studios, his state-of-the-art recording facility in Greenwich Village and concludes with poignant footage from his final performance in Germany in September 1970, just 12 days before his death at age 27.

“We made Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin to present the story of Jimi’s life and career,” offers producer McDermott. “We have made previous films about major events and performances in Jimi’s life such as Monterey, Woodstock and the Isle Of Wight but this was a chance to bring his life story to fans in a way that we have not done.

   “We also added some bonus content on the DVD for fans. There is a feature about the Miami festival, as well as five songs filmed at the July 1970 NY Pop Festival on Randall’s Island. Eddie Kramer did some great stereo and 5.1 surround mixes for these.

“We also found footage of the last performance by the Experience at the Isle Of Fehmarn in September 1970. It wasn’t professionally done but the historical significance is obvious. It is really enjoyable to watch this material given how scarce film footage is of Jimi performing.”

   “Hear my Train a Comin’ is an in-depth look at the life and legacy of Jimi with his own words as well as the words and memories of those that knew him well and were close to him,” commented Janie Hendrix. “His impression on the world through his genius, music and talent continue to magically touch the lives of ensuing generations.”

Next up are DVD releases of famous concert dates, and Janie is in talks with Hollywood producers about a long-awaited biopic about her brother. “It’s really happening. But it’ll be done right.” 

jimihendrix.com

   Los Angeles native Harvey Kubernik has been an active music journalist for over 40 years and the author of 5 books, including “This Is Rebel Music” (2002) and “Hollywood Shack Job: Rock Music In Film and On Your Screen” (2004) published by the University of New Mexico Press.

   In 2009 Kubernik wrote the critically acclaimed “Canyon of Dreams The Magic and the Music of Laurel Canyon” published by Sterling, a division of Barnes and Noble. In summer 2012, the title was published in a paperback edition.   

    He is also a writer of “That Lucky Old Sun,” a Genesis Publications limited edition (2009) title ($900.00 signed ) done in collaboration with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Sir Peter Blake, designer of the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” cover. 

    With his brother Kenneth, he co-authored the highly regarded “A Perfect Haze: The Illustrated History of the Monterey International Pop Festival” published in 2011 by Santa Monica Press. They have also teamed up for a book with photographer Guy Webster for Insight Editions, slated for summer 2014. 

   For early spring 2014, Harvey Kubernik’s “Turn Up The Radio! Rock, Pop and Roll in Los Angeles 1956-1972” will be published by Santa Monica Press.

   In fall of 2014, Palazzo Editions will publish “Leonard Cohen: Everybody Knows,” a coffee table size volume with narrative and oral history written by Harvey Kubernik. 

        This century Harvey penned the liner notes to the CD re-releases of Carole King’s “Tapestry,” Allen Ginsberg’s “Kaddish,” the “Elvis Presley ’68 Comeback Special” and the Ramones’ “End of the Century.” 

   He is the Contributing Editor of Record Collector News. www.recordcollectornews.com

   In 2013, Kubernik was seen on the BBC-TV documentary on Bobby Womack, “Across 110^Th Street,” directed by James Meycock and lensed for the Neil Norman-directed documentary about the Seeds due out in spring 2014.