Hendrix (The Movie)

Yeah, so...I was in Shop-Rite earlier today, buying out the condom section (Because I get more ass than a toilet seat. More butts than an ashtray. More pussy than an animal shelter. More tail than...something that gets a lot of tail. I dunno...a taxidermist?), when I saw the $5.00 DVD section. The first (and only) DVD that jumped out at me was "Hendrix."

Oh yes, a movie about The Life (and Death) of Jimi. I remember when this made-for-cable movie was on either Showtime, or Cinemax, or some other Channel Shawn Doesn't Have back in 2001. I remember reading about it, and how much it sucked. Also, that The Hendrix Estate hadn't allowed for the use of any Original Hendrix Tunes in the movie, so the only recourse was to use the cover tunes he'd played and/or recorded.

I had to see this movie.

I've been a Jimi Hendrix Fan for a very long time. I'm not even sure when I started listening to Jimi (I think Lincoln was still in Office-I'm that damn old), but I remember vividly when Hendrix first Blew My Mind.

It was on the bus to some Field Trip or another in Seventh Grade. Back in 1932, I believe (another "old age" joke-Zing!). Anyway, Flan had loaned me his Walkman for the ride, along with his cassette (no, it wasn't an Edison Cylinder-fuck you-I make the age jokes here) of "Axis Bold As Love." That's Jimi's second album, for you unenlightened folks.

Holy Shit. That album freaked me out. I listened to it incessantly over the following several days, much to Flan's chagrin, because I wore out the batteries to his Walkman. Fuck him, I was enraptured by Hendrix's Music.

Since then, I've been a Serious Hendrix Fan. As a matter of fact, I think one of the only real arguments I've had with my Dad since childhood involved him dissing Jimi as being nothing but a "noisemaker who used volume and distortion to cover up his lack of skill." I'm paraphrasing here, but the point is, it pissed me off. My father and I got into a Fight about Jimi Hendrix. That's just wacky.

So, after painting the spare room in my house (more on that later, don't skip ahead*) I sat down to watch "Hendrix," fearing the worst.

It didn't suck.

Sure, the Lead (Wood Harris) didn't look much like Jimi, but he did (kind of) capture Hendrix's manner of speaking. Now, I'm no expert-I only know Jimi from the footage I've seen of him over the years- but I thought Wood (heh heh, I said "wood") did a decent job portraying Jimi's (public) persona.

The performance footage was a different story. If you're going to try and portray Jimi Hendrix in concert, you should have (at least) a Rudimentary Understanding of The Mechanics of Playing The Electric Guitar. Wood Harris was clueless. His hands were all over the place. Riding the nut during the high notes and flailing about like a stroke victim during the mellow passages. It took me right out of the movie.

I'm sorry, but once you've seen Actual Footage of Jimi Hendrix In Concert, no pale imitation (be it Prince, Stevie Ray, or Wood Harris) will do. Someone should've at least coached Wood on how to fake it convincingly (like Prince).

Aside from my gripes about the "live" footage, I liked the movie. It wasn't gratuitous in it's representation of that era. Sure, it was Rated R, mostly to shoehorn in some flagrant nudity, but, then again, everyone was naked back then. Or so your mom tells me.

Jimi's death was depicted with respect, and wasn't "sensationalized" for Dramatic Effect.

All in all, not a bad flick.

I've always envied Jimi's "cosmic/spiritual" side. I wish I had a bit more faith. A bit more...consciousness. I'm far too grounded in "reality," and I've always felt stifled by it. That's probably why I have such a hard time writing Honest Songs. I'm a cynic. A satirist. A douche.

Fuck it- I'm gonna score some 'shrooms, and get back in touch with My Inner Hippie. Who's with me?

-Shawn

p.s. *Oh yeah, I finished painting the spare room, and I'm turning it into a Temporary (until the house sells) Gym. I'm putting my bench, weights, and treadmill in there. I figure I can actually get a good workout upstairs, since I won't be distracted by the phone, the guitars, the computer, and such. I need to get my shit together, both mentally and physically, and I've always found that one compliments the other. Wish me luck.