Hendrix: Gypsys or Other?

I've read, and heard, time and time again over the years how some Jimi Hendrix fans consider Band of Gypsys their least favorite of his albums. And I'm on the complete opposite side of that argument. Personally, Bandy of Gypsys is far and away my favorite of his albums. Is it because of the different lineup he plays with as opposed to those in,say, The Jimi Hendrix Experience? Perhaps, in part. Is it the fact that it's a completely live album? Again, that fact helps to make it a damn fine listen but it's not the real reason. I don't think so. Nope, what I really love most about Gypsys is the fact that it's a genuine rock and roll album. Okay, yeah, you're right. It's got a lot of funk and blues rock in it. But more than that: it doesn't have hardly any of the psychedelic sounds of the Experience albums and - perhaps this makes me a traitor to my fellow wannabe-hippies- but I Iove it all the more for that very reason. It's an album that after only one listen of the first song I said to myself: "They've really got their shit together"...which is something I can't always say about the other albums Hendrix worked on.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love to sit back with a j and get lost in 1983...(A Merman I Should Turn To Be) but there's only so much psychedelica I can enjoy before my head space wants to be filled with some down and dirty rockin' music. I love the fact that Jimi Hendrix was such an innovator. I love that much of what we call modern rock would not be what it is without his monumental input and impact. I think it's awesome that Hendrix was such a learned, genuine, dedicated musician and songwriter that he wrote songs using the formulae of what we call classical orchestral music. I find it fascinating to compare his works with the great compositions of the past. I recognize all of this and completely respect the man for it. But I'm sure I can't be the only person out there whose favorite song on Electric Ladyland is Crosstown Traffic.

And why is that? Because Crosstown Traffic is what could be called a more "traditional" rock song. It's a rock song that works within the parameters of a tried and true rocker: Intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, guitar solo, chorus, chorus, jam, jam, jam or similar. Is it old and played out, cliche or passe? It may be now but it certainly wasn't then. Is it limiting? I don't know and I don't really care. I love the experimental stuff, I really do. But I'm a rock n' roll girl at heart and sometimes I get tired of the existential, hallucinatory, mind expanding hippie stuff and I want to rock out! That's why I'll usually take Machine Gun over Merman. And like so many Hendrix fans I can only wonder: as Band of Gypsys is so good and recorded only three months before Jimi Hendrix died, what could he have gone on to do? Like so many of us who would love to enjoy the brilliance and passion of the rockers who died so young, one day I hope to attend The Great Gig in the Sky and find out for myself.