# If Hendrix was still Alive?

[E-Z]

Hendrix sure seemed to wanted to take more of a funk approach at the end. Had he lived, the likes of Rick James, Ohio Players, among others might have been overshadowed.

Jimi could play in any musical style and that includes straight blues, late 1960s psychedelic rock, 1950s rock & roll, R & B from his days playing on the 'Chittlin circuit' during 1964-1965 as a side man backing the 'star' performers such as Little Richard & The Isley Brothers and others as well as playing funk, soul, jazz and he even appears on a very early 'hip hop' song during late 1969 along with drummer Buddy Miles (from The Band of Gypsies) with the all black protest group The Last Poets, checkout Doriella Dufontaine with Buddy Miles playing drums (organ was added later by Buddy) and Jimi on electric guitar mainly playing rhythm guitar accompanying 'the rapping' by the last poets members. This song originally lasted for about 12-13 minutes in length but it was edited down to about 8:47 minutes and was originally released on a 12' vinyl disc under Alan Douglas's stewardship of the Hendrix musical achieve in 1994 just prior to Jimi's family acquiring the 'Hendrix Estate' and if you can find a copy its worth acquiring although is a bit of a 'rare track' to find in the Hendrix achieve. The Last Poets have themselves released the song Doriella Dufontaine on a Last Poets 'best of' cd in the past.

 

[E-Z]

Billy Cox is perhaps the only surviving member who performed with Jimi Hendrix, there's some interesting information on his Wikipedia page about when he performed with Jimi Hendrix and what happened after his passing. In there it describes material which Cox which was a part of which surfaced after Hendrix's passing.

I read not to long ago that Billy Cox claimed that a number of songs that appeared after Jimi's death that appeared on the vinyl albums such as the Cry of Love & Rainbow Bridge were co-written by Jimi and himself and therefore if Jimi had lived those songs would have been credited as HENDRIX/COX but when the songs Billy was referring to such as Dolly Dagger and some others were released they are solely credited as HENDRIX. Some of the songs that Billy was referring to later appeared on First Rays of the New Rising Sun & South Saturn Delta on cd in the late 1990s after Jimi's family took over the estate and released them under Experience Hendrix.

 

[Nai Noswad]

E-Z, what's the story with Hendrix's estate?
Is it run tight? Not long back Jimi videos on YT were all blocked?
Marc Bolan's son kept a tight leash one time...Sharks in suits(if you know what I mean)

 

[CP/M User]

And Zak is almost 60 himself.......

Grace Slick once said..“All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire.”

btw ...she'll be 85 in October

So She would have been 47-48 at the time of recording "Nothing's Gonna stop us now", giving her 2 years max to tour around with that song! Assuming she's a Woman of her word!

 

[dr wu]

So She would have been 47-48 at the time of recording "Nothing's Gonna stop us now", giving her 2 years max to tour around with that song! Assuming she's a Woman of her word!

She is indeed a 'woman of her word'.......from online info on American songwriter web site...
"The song went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and in several other countries and became the Starship’s best-selling single. Slick, who was 47 at the time, also became the oldest woman to earn a No. 1 single in the U.S.

Though Starship was at the height of their career in the ’80s after “Nothing’s Gonne Stop Us Now,” Slick, who was at least a decade older than her bandmates, parted ways with them.

Slick also admitted that she never liked “Nothing’s Gonne Stop Us Now,” because she didn’t believe its lyrics. “I don’t like to sing songs where I don’t believe the lyrics,” said Slick. “Diane Warren is an amazing pop songwriter, and she, I’m assuming, believes in that state where you’re in love, you get kind of crazy. But I’m older now. I am damn near 50, and I’m singing, ‘Nothing’s gonna stop us now.’”

Slick added, “I know goddamn well how fast a relationship can come apart. So I’m getting up onstage and I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, right.’ It’s distracting and disconcerting to me.”

Too band the old farts.... Stones, Who, Dylan , etc... havent taken the hint and are still acting like old fools. They must have too many kids to support.

"

 

[CP/M User]

Once I thought Judith Durham from the Seekers had gone all Rock/Psychedelic, though it turned out to be Grace Slick with Jefferson Airplane performing "Somebody To Love", though Folk-Pop probably would of been a good fit for her perhaps like Sandy Denny in Fairport Convention, or perhaps that's too lardy-dah, though I'm surprised given she gave Dylan the nod to retire given his Folk roots.

Other artists have explored other avenues to music, Rod Stewart for example had success with Rhythm of my Heart in 1991, which just shows it's possible to be a member from the Jeff Beck Group in the late 60s, to be successful 30 years on. Australia's John Farnham was another young one springing up in the 60s, though found even bigger fame in the later part of the 80s and early 90s. Of course those things wouldn't have been possible had their music transitioned. John Farnham was still a pop musician, though the music had really evolved from his earlier stuff, he also had a period with The Little River Band in the early 80s, which perhaps brought some Rock influences into play.

 

[E-Z]

E-Z, what's the story with Hendrix's estate?
Is it run tight? Not long back Jimi videos on YT were all blocked?
Marc Bolan's son kept a tight leash one time...Sharks in suits(if you know what I mean)

With regards to Jimi's musical legacy Ian I think it was managed by Mike Jeffries Jimi's manager on Jimi's death in September 1970 took charge of Jimi's affairs until Mike was killed in a mid-air plane crash between 2-aircraft over France in March 1973 after which Warner Brothers Music took control of Jimi's recorded legacy but shortly after Mike's death 'Warner Brothers Music' handed the 'massive tape library' that Jimi had collected of his own studio and live recordings to a guy named Alan Douglas who was well known in the 'Jazz world' and who worked with big names such as Miles Davies and others including.

Alan Douglas had met Jimi at the Woodstock festival in August 1969 and the two became friends with Alan supervising several 'Hendrix studio sessions' during late 1969. Alan Douglas after taking charge of Hendrix's back catalogue then released a number of albums under his stewardship although the first two albums proved to be 'very controversial' because Alan 'wiped' a number of the backing musicians such as Mitch Mitchell, Noel Redding & Buddy Miles that appeared on the original recordings and re-placed them with 2 or 3 fairly 'unknown studio musicians' with these 'new' albums appearing both in 1975 as Crash Landing & Midnight Lightning.

After those two albums Alan Douglas released a number of other albums including 2-'very best of Jimi Hendrix' albums on vinyl and another poorly received album called Nine To The Universe the so called "Jazz album" with Alan Douglas claiming in the album liner notes (on the back of the album) that this was 'Jimi heading in a new Jazz direction' at the time of his death even though 3 out the 5 tracks date from mid-1969 over 12-15 months before Jimi's actual death. With regards to the album 'Nine To The Universe' I quite like it because several tracks are 'long fluid free flowing up tempo Jazz/rock numbers' that sound great to my ears!. After Nine To The Universe came several more albums including the re-mastered and re-packed Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold As Love & Electric Ladyland plus a cd album called Voodoo Soup which had several previously un-released recordings included on it plus the Hendrix 'blues album' that is still available plus Alan also released a 'new' Woodstock festival' cd with previously (at the time) unreleased tracks and a 'new' longer version of the 1970 Isle of Wight performance with previously unreleased tracks that basically made the 1971 Polydor vinyl album 'Jimi at the Isle of Wight' redundant (except for record collectors). Back in the 1980s Alan also released The Jimi Hendrix Concerts' double-vinyl live album of The Jimi Hendrix Experience performing in the USA and in London and also in the early 1990s The Winterland live Concerts from 1968 on a double-vinyl album. Also as previously posted by myself Alan Douglas released Jimi performing with the early 'hip hop' group the American Last Poets on a 12' disc which is called Doriella Dufontaine which was greeted with the 'thumbs up' by Hendrix fans at the time and finally Alan also re-released a new 25th anniversary album of the Band of Gypsies in 1995 plus a Band of Gypsies-2 vinyl album which also included several tracks from the Berkley California concert in May 1970 and therefore 'aren't' really from the Band of Gypsies shortly prior to him being removed from supervising the Hendrix archive in 1995.

After litigation in the US courts by the Hendrix family Alan Douglas was 'removed' from supervising anymore 'Hendrix product' in 1995 and since then Jimi's family especially Jimi's half-sister Janie Hendrix 'heads up' the Experience Hendrix company formed to safeguard Jimi's recorded legacy and who is assisted by John McDermott a 'Hendrix biographer and author' of several books on Jimi and also Eddie Kramer Jimi's original studio engineer who was on his early studio recordings such as Are You Experience, Axis: Bold As Love, Electric Ladyland, The Cry of Love, Rainbow Bridge & War Hero's as well as several other albums and who's now in his early 80s as of 2025 and as lived in the USA since 1968. The Experience Hendrix company was ultimately formed due to the many and varied 'shoddy records' and recordings that were on the record market soon after Jimi's death in 1970 until the end of the 1980s with these albums purporting to be "Jimi Hendrix at his very best" with most of these recording originating from when Jimi was a 'unknown musician' between 1963-1965 and these albums usually featured a LARGE PICTURE OF JIMI ON STAGE ON THE FRONT RECORD SLEEVE CIRCA 1970!. Anyway Experience Hendrix is dedicated to 'taking care of Jimi's recorded legacy' for now and for future generations to enjoy and for new younger music fans to 'discover' Jimi's music in 100 years time!!..

Alan Douglas will always remain a 'controversial figure' in the Hendrix fan circles being really a 'Jazz record producer' who released the controversial albums Crash Landing & Midnight Lightning back in 1975 with 'studio musicians' replacing Mitch Mitchell on drums, Noel Redding on bass & Buddy Miles on some drum tracks as well although Alan did supervise several Hendrix studio sessions in the USA in late 1969 so he did have a 'connection' with Jimi, anyway he died in France in 2014.

 

[Nai Noswad]

Thanks E-Z,nice comprehensive account, that Douglas fella sounded like a real chancer.Janie seems to be doing a fine job.I really hate the likes of Elvis's Tom Parker,Loog Oldham and Don Arden etc...who pray on other folks talent.

 

[E-Z]

Thanks E-Z,nice comprehensive account, that Douglas fella sounded like a real chancer.Janie seems to be doing a fine job.I really hate the likes of Elvis's Tom Parker,Loog Oldham and Don Arden etc...who pray on other folks talent.

I rewrote some of my previous post Ian.

From memory I read many years ago that on Jimi's death in September 1970 he had about £20.000 in his bank account but bare in mind the JHE was playing gigs for between £10.000-£15.000 a night in 1969/70?. Apparently a lot of the money from the Jimi Hendrix Experience record sales and live concerts simply 'disappeared' would you believe??. That was the way in rock music back then.