Jimi Hendrix - Blue Wild Angel (Live at the Isle of Wight)

Starring:Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix
Studio: Experience Hendrix
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Those familiar with the original Isle of Wight DVD/VHS release will be pleasantly surprised by Blue Wild Angel. For one thing, the soundtrack has been remixed in both stereo and 5.1 surround. Hendrix's legendary Isle of Wight show may have been notoriously riddled with technical difficulties, but in all honesty, it is one of his better live recordings, and Eddie Kramer's remix sounds superb. Next, Blue Wild Angel includes many songs missing from the original release such as "Lover Man," "Foxey Lady," "Message to Love," "Ezy Rider," and "Purple Haze." By far the highlights of the performance are the mesmerizing, newly unedited versions of "Red House" and "Machine Gun." Finally, as an added bonus, the concert is introduced by a mini documentary about Hendrix's involvement with the Isle of Wight festival. This introduction is told through new interviews with Mitch Mitchell, Billy Cox, and Eddie Kramer and footage from Murray Lerner's Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival rockumentary. Blue Wild Angel is a great addition to any Hendrix fan's collection. --Rob Bracco

Customer Reviews:

Historically significant...not a good performance.......2007-06-30

First of all look at the cover...It's in red and black and says 'Blue Wild Angel'? How lame is that? If you research the rest of this tour most of the shows were considered bad. Jimi just did'nt care at this point in time. That being said, there are some good moments(though no great ones imo).The show seems to start well and end well but is hit and miss in the middle. Jimi did'nt want to be there and it shows. However they do play for a long time...Jimi is visibly tired and stoned...and out of tune most of the time...this DVD is for die hard fans and collectors...made me sad to watch actually...Jimi deserves better and this should not have been released...just because you can does'nt mean you should...

Half Bad.......2007-05-30

The first half of this performance is horrible due to equipment problems. The second half of the performance is great. It's worth buying for the second half of the performance. Too bad they did All Along the Watchtower during the first half of the performance.

One of the best-filmed Hendrix concerts, even if not one of his best.......2007-04-09

This concert is a must have for Hendrix fans for all the reasons listed by others below. The film quality is great, almost the whole concert is shown, unlike the horrible edited versions of the past, and the concert is not as bad as some might say, although many greater ones have been preserved on tape. On some songs he's distracted by equipment problems, but on others you really can see Hendrix at his best. It's just an uneven concert really, but worth having nonetheless. My only complaint is that this DVD is 'PCFriendly', and so unlike every other DVD in my collection, wouldn't play on my PC as I only had 4 GB free on my hard disk. Unfortunately, I don't think there is a 'PCUnfriendly' version that simply plays by popping it into your disk drive, so I would suggest anyone without a DVD player and a full hard disk take into consideration that you won't be able to watch this DVD. However, still 5 stars for a great release.

JIMI HENDRIX'S FINAL MOMENTS ON FILM!.......2006-09-25

I will be doing a review on the historic legendary classic DVD concert entitled "Jimi Hendrix - Blue Wild Angel - Live at the Isle of Wight." I will also be editing this review from time to time so that you the consumer will get the best and most accurate review possible. Before I begin, I would highly suggest that you read my other reviews on Jimi's historic landmark concerts at the "Monterey Pop Festival" on 18 June 1967 and the "Woodstock Festival" on 18 August 1969. They are both long reviews but they contain a lot of information on Jimi. I do hope that you read and enjoy them both. It would also help me shorten this long review and not have to add all that information in this review.

For me personally, this marks the third review on Jimi Hendrix's legendary concert series which focus's on some of his most memorable and unforgettable performances in Rock n' Roll history. Each concert that Jimi performed on would also show the different phases and differences he displayed which would also show visibly and be audible in his music. I guess you can say that every performance Jimi delivered in his short brief career all sounded different, they never sounded the same. The year 1970 started off as a busy year for Jimi, he performed many concerts across the country and in other countries as well. At least four concerts were partially filmed, "Live at Berkeley" 30 May 1970, "Live at the Atlanta Pop Festival" 4 July 1970, "The Rainbow Bridge concert" 30 July 1970 and the one I am reviewing for you now. Jimi's "Isle of Wight" performance, according to many Rock critics, is Hendrix's final moments on film. Enough said, its time to go back in time to the "Isle of Wight Festival" 30 August 1970.

Jimi was not feeling very good during this period, story has it that before showtime, he had been extremely sick as a result of taking some bad acid. Because of this, Jimi's scheduled performance had to be put off numerous times until he finally took the stage late at 2 A.M. In my opinion, from what I've read in many Hendrix biographies, Jimi was taking drugs as a result of going through a deep depression and being very unhappy at this stage of his career. Jimi was also living the Sex, Drugs & Rock n' Roll lifestyle and was not getting the rest that was needed to deliver the great performances. To make matters worse, the pressures of his manager Mike Jeffery (on financial matters and changes in personnel in Jimi's bands) and Jimi needing more money to complete his own recording studio called "Electric Lady Studios," (thus steeling him away from what he really loved, which is recording in the studio and creating new songs) Jimi had to force himself to go on the road on the 1970 tour and do what he does best, PERFORM LIVE WITH HIS GUITAR. But with all the pressures mounted on Jimi during the 1970 tour, that spark of being the charismatic showman on stage that Jimi was always known for was gone by the time he performed at the "Isle of Wight Festival." PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM IN NO WAY KNOCKING HENDRIX IN ANY WAY. If you see the film, you will notice how depressed and unhappy Jimi really is. Whatever it was that bothered Jimi (I have many opinions) during that period would take a toll and would eventually get the best of him. Shortly after the "Isle of Wight" performance, with Jimi's life falling apart, sadly, on 18 September 1970, a few weeks later, Jimi hendrix died. Despite all of his troubles and not playing his guitar at 100%, Jimi STILL dug deep down in his heart and delivered a great performance by letting his guitar do all the talking. Considering the circumstances, its a wonder that Jimi even performed on that early morning on 30 August 1970.

Jimi performed 18 songs on that early morning of 30 August 1970, but only 15 songs made it on this DVD release. I will review all 18 songs here and are as follows: (1.) "God Save The Queen" (the British National Anthem done the Jimi Hendrix way, EXCELLENT!), (2.) "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (EXCELLENT! Jimi was the first artist that ever attempted and succeeded in performing this Beatles legendary song live.), (3.) "Spanish Castle Magic" (EXCELLENT, OUTSTANDING!), (4.) "All Along The Watchtower" (EXCELLENT! Another one of Jimi's great tributes to Bob Dylan.), (5.) "Machine Gun" (EXCELLENT, OUTSTANDING! Jimi's actually bringing the Vietnam war to the audience and firing shots through his explosive guitar.), (6.) "Lover Man" (EXCELLENT! Jimi's answer to the B.B. King classic "Rock Me Baby."), (7.) "Freedom" (EXCELLENT! I love this song. Jimi uses his Flying V guitar for this song.), (8.) "Red House" (unhappy moment for Jimi, but still EXCELLENT! Jimi had problems finding his groove for this song but eventually found it somewhere in the middle of his guitar solo.), (9.) "Dolly Dagger" (EXCELLENT! One of my favorites.), (10.) "Midnight Lightning" (not on DVD release, EXCELLENT!), (11.) "Foxey Lady" (EXCELLENT!), (12.) "Message To Love" (EXCELLENT!), (13.) "Hey Baby" (New Rising Sun) (not on the DVD release, EXCELLENT! This is a beautiful slow song.), (14.) "Ezy Ryder" (EXCELLENT! This song KICKS!), (15.) "Hey Joe" (not on the DVD release, EXCELLENT!), (16.) "Purple Haze" (EXCELLENT! Another great version that will leave you in a "Purple Haze" for "Daze."), (17.) "Voodoo Child" (Slight return) (EXCELLENT! Another one of my favorites. Jimi wrote and sings this song like he truly means it.) and (18.) "In From The Storm" (EXCELLENT! Another great ROCKER!)

I'd like to add a little note to this performance, Jimi made a lot of guitar errors on some of his songs during his "Isle of Wight" performance. But as the late great Stevie Ray Vaughn once said, "I even copied Jimi's mistakes because they even sounded great." After Jimi's "Isle of Wight" performance on 30 August 1970, and prior to Jimi's unexpected death on 18 September 1970, he would only give one final performance. Jimi's "Live at the Isle of Fehmarn" in Insel Fehmarn, Germany on 6 September 1970 would mark the end of of his incredible spectacular career. Jimi's last concert performance is available through Dagger Records / Experience Hendrix LLC.

In closing, Jimi Hendrix will always be the GREATEST GUITARIST THAT EVER LIVED. The date of 18 September 1970 will always be a sad day in Rock n' Roll history. We'll never know just how far Jimi's natural gifts and talents would have taken us, but I'm sure that there would have been no boundaries or limits. But most importantly, Jimi possessed something that few guitarists have; Jimi had and played his guitar with a lot of heart. Jimi's magical sounds and unimaginable effects that accompanied his brilliant music which then flowed through his guitar were driven by his big heart as a result of his love, passion and devotion for his guitar. If a naturally gifted guitar genius were without that real important quality, what else is there? What a TRAGIC loss for Rock n' Roll. Thanks for reading my long review and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it for all of you. LONG LIVE ROCK N' ROLL! Rock out always. Take care, J.L.

GET IT YOU FOOL!! .......2006-08-23

Excellent footage and quality for this period! Great performance of a legend guitar player.

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