As a veteran of Iraq and having heard all the sounds war has to give us, I heard every single sound that he tried and did convey. It was and is very chilling
The Jimi Hendrix's version of America's national anthem is very creative in my opinion, I wasn't able to understand at first but once I read a comment that said the funny sounds that were being made was to represent the war, bombs and children crying, after that I saw it to be a work of art
It was a very strange, avant-garde art performance by a brilliant but eccentric musician, and seems to have fit the surreal tone of the era perfectly. I was born rather close to the era and grew up through the 1970s - Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner" sounded normal and beautiful to me. I think it's taken decades of perspective for me to even begin to hear how strange or revolutionary it must have sounded to audiences in the 1960s, or how odd and counter-intuitive it must sound to younger audiences today.
When I first heard this at 14 years old, I got it. Immediately. I was completely unfamiliar with Hendrix at the time, but for some reason, I knew exactly what he was doing, what he was saying. I had heard other guitarists, but never heard a guitar sound like that. I never knew a guitar COULD sound like that. I remember the high string bends sounding eerie to me. For some reason, I connected with Jimi Hendrix's music more than anything else in my life. I am now 38 and nothing has changed. However, though less famous, Machine Gun at the Fillmore East is a better, deeper anti-war statement. He says a lot with his guitar. The song exhausts you. When you take the time to listen to it with all of your attention on it and nothing else, it will exhaust you. He takes you many places in those 12 minutes, horrible places, and you understand what he is saying, where he is coming from. Hendrix truly was an original, an other worldly talent, and we will never again see another Hendrix. And it is my curse to know that he died 11 years before I was born, that he and I were never on this planet at the same time, and that I will never, or could have ever, had the absolute mind blowing pleasure of seeing him play live.
I had a similar experience my grandfather and his brother both served (his brother died) and every time we hear Jimi’s rendition my grandfather tears up and starts talking about how it should’ve been him
Tristan Radeka you should watch the full performance. You can probably get a used dvd of his woodstock performance on eBay for a few bucks. Totally worth it
While it's indeed the best 'anti-war' rendition of the US anthem ever (and it just can't be topped), personally it's my 2nd favourite rendition. I think Huey Lewis & The News 2-minute A Capella rendition of the anthem is the ultimate rendition. That unlike many modern ones (remember Fergie lol?) they sang it as patriotic as it gets, and serving the song instead of themselves. There were no 'OOOEEERR LAAAAAND OF THE FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE' and stuff like that. Bet the forefathers had written it to be performed that way too! Jimi still remains possibly the greatest to pick up a guitar, and an artist I love.
Good job on this video. You nailed it. I actually teach this to 4th graders the first week of school. I frame it around a lesson about the War of 1812 and the poem written by Francis Scott Key. Then we listen to the National Anthem played by the USMC Band, we listen to Whitney Houston sing it, and then listen to Jimi wailing it (I play the videos). The kids always get a little perplexed by Jimi. I then explain this very fact...that he was describing the war IN HIS PLAYING...a song INSPIRED by war. I go over the parts of the bombs bursting in air, etc. They then GET IT. We then do a compare and contrast exercise and vote for our favorite version. Jimi always gets a few new fans...lol. It is a great lesson and the kids love it. Especially when i wrap it up with Johnny Horton's "Battle of New Orleans". They definitely get a new perspective on the "Star Spangled Banner" and an important war very few know anything about. Hopefully it is a lesson they will remember for along time.
"A war very few know anything about" Is that how it is now? (especially the younger generations) God I sure hope not. It's not their fault though...I'm glad you are teaching them what you can because someone has to. Good job showing them Jimi's version of the Anthem. My dad was almost drafted in the Army in 1965 due to a low draft number, but got lucky and passed a test which got him into the Navy voluntarily under better conditions. Still got spit on when arriving back home. His dad was in the Pacific as an infantry man in WW2. Every male in my in my family from both of my grandfathers to my dad and my uncles and great uncles, all served the military. I'm the only one who didn't. I was 18 in 2003 and deliberately avoided volunteering for Iraq because I thought it was just as absurd as Vietnam was. At the time I didn't feel Iraq had anything to do with 9/11, but now years later I have serious contempt for the entire official version told to us about 9/11. Anyway, my main point is that the kids need to know about ALL the wars and the countless men who have served and not only died, but _survived_ horrific physical wounds and mental scars/experiences that we need to at least be aware of. I think it should be mandatory for all high schoolers to see the pictures and video of young men who had their jaws or face and limbs blown off, and now have to eat food through a tube, and show them that old movie called "Johnny got His Gun".
Lmao i remember one time when I was in 3rd grade or something the teacher asked "who are some people who made blacks more accepted in America" and I said proudly "Jimi hendrix" because my brother told me "when jimi started playing guitar everyone was like woah black people are cool" and then my teacher looked at me like wat
@@rupe553 I think partly it is called that as a nationalistic nation building exercise. Vietnam used to be split in half, and the Southern government was never legitimate in the North's eyes (and for good reason, they were brutally repressive & corrupt, and the workers largely didn't support it, but the US propped it up). When the North liberated the South, they embarked on a project of nation building that focused on Vietnam having always been a single nation that had been broken in half by imperialists & foreign intervention propping up corrupt regimes. Wars are often named in a nationalistic way as a form of nation building. Russia calls WWII "The Great Patriotic War", for instance. It acts as a foundation for a society to build itself, a uniting nationalistic myth. That's why they call it the American War, it was the "Vietnamese people fighting against the imperialists and their puppets who were oppressing the Vietnamese people and breaking them in half to divide and conquer them" and America is that enemy. Nationalism is a dangerous thing, nonetheless.
When I was 11 years old (1972) I snuck into a theater to see Woodstock. I waited through the three hours of the movie because I wanted to see Jimi Hendrix - at the time I was a big Hendrix fan, but I'd never seen a film of him. He came on at the end. Suddenly, this irresistible power came through the speakers, and this unique and striking image filled the screen. I was pinned to the chair, unable to move. Every fiber of my being was overwhelmed. On an instinctual level, I understood the symbolic significance of what I was hearing. But I was never the same. It was a turning point for me. There was no going back. To this day, I can't listen to it without getting chills.
The saddest thing about the Hendrix performance is that he was bumped from a Sunday headlining slot to Monday morning. The festival was essentially over when Hendrix took the stage. I've been bumped to the end of a show before and it made me feel like shit. Now, whenever I'm bumped I remember that Hendrix sucked it up, took the stage and changed the world of music because he had the humility and dedication to making music under any condition. More of a legend than we will ever know.
That was beautiful! Well done. And the sentiment "you can love your country but hate your government", rings ever-so-true, for me right now. Thank you for this video!
Most Iconic Moments of Human History: 1) Lil' Wayne Guitar Solo 2) Nick Jonas Guitar Solo 3) Discovery of Fire Then a bunch of other useless crap that isn't as important. Stuff like flight, electricity... You know, the lame stuff. :P
What do you think about Machine Gun, samurai? I know that it had less impact because it's not as famous, but it's much more explicit and powerful. Greatest guitar performance/solo ever.
There was a moment of that recording where, even totally tuned in to the music, I genuinely could not tell if it was Hendrix's voice or his guitar. Powerful stuff. The only other time I've heard something like it was Clapton's Bell Bottom Blues.
Man, Hendrix was cool. Even when he was playing a song that oozed of destruction, he keeps your eyes transfixed on him. Many people have tried to copy him, but there will be only ONE Hendrix!
When I first heard his rendition as a kid, I didn't really like it, I thought it was too "all over the place", a little disjointed. I didn't really care for "the bombs bursting in air" part, even though I knew it's exactly what he was trying to do, and, of course, he was skilled enough to easily get his guitar to make all those sounds. The thing that makes this song great is that, even though it's not a classic rendition of the Anthem, with the "bombs bursting in air" and the "taps", etc, Jimi knows exactly where he is in the song and exactly how he wants each part of the song to sound, and near the end, for the last few bars of the song, he plays the notes of the song the way we are used to hearing, straight forward and right on key (he had been tuning while playing the song) and finishes the song. IMO, I don't think he is trying to play the song in a disrespectful way. I think it is a very "creative" version of the song, again, he's not up there just playing anything in an unrehearsed way, he knows each part fits into the whole. He knew exactly how he wanted each note to sound, and he played it. There IS something about this performance and rendition by Jimi.
The irony, of finding offense in overlaying sounds of war into the "Star Spangled Banner" is that the song is about war and how the origins of the United States are from war. It is, like many national anthems, a pugnacious song. I suppose what is actually offensive to some is that Hendrix took a lovely little song about war and made it actually resemble war. It's hard to romanticize war when it sounds like that.
IdFightMyDad Actually, the Star Spangled Banner is about defenseless American citizens who refused to surrender or allow the stars and stripes to be lowered during a one sided artillery fusillade from the British navy. The British commander target the rampart where the flag was, solely to destroy morale, and unarmed American civilians went out of their homes and picked up the flag after the rampart had been destroyed, holding it up until they were killed. More took their place and were subsequently killed by the barrage, but by morning, the bodies were still holding the flag up. That is not a story about war or fighting. And war is never romanticized - it is the intention and the character of the men who fight them that is romanticized - and for good reason. Your precious "society" that facilitated the existence of such idiotic people as hippies was built on the bodies of these men, acting according to their convictions.
@@dh7164 In response to the first paragraph, as part of a what? War. Name me a war in the past 75 years that helped build this society. The hippies weren't protesting WWII. They were protesting Vietnam. And lionizing people who fight in wars like Vietnam is a ploy to get more to sacrifice themselves for wars that do nothing good for society. I stand by my thesis, that there should be nothing controversial about putting the sounds of war in that song.
There shouldn’t be a video made about questioning his legacy. He was a Mozart with the electric guitar. He is the best electric guitarist in modern history.
If you were a teen male at the time, you would be expecting to be carrying a rifle through a jungle before your 19th birthday, and all those sounds were on the TV every day, so you would have instantly recognized every sound and its personal meaning to you. See ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-F_p1JC3z2kU.html for context.
In my 4th grade music class, our teacher had a week long breakdown of the Hendrix’s rendition of the anthem and I remember myself and just about everyone else in the class just thinking it was shit. Many years later, I found Hendrix on my own and I realize where I was wrong. Hendrix was certainly, with no doubt in my mind, the greatest guitarist of all time.
I do not know why I hear him playing this song and I start to cry, it’s so beautiful and touches my soul. Maybe they should play this rendition when people complain
Jimi captured the feeling of the times with that piece of art. It makes you think and feel what the people at that time felt. It's an interesting but perfect way to record history.
The US had weeks before landed on the moon, Jimi goes sonic after hitting the "rockets red glare", Apollo or anti-personnel rockets. and then goes sonic on "our flag was still there", on the moon but then the note on "there" segues into "Taps", flag draped on coffins. He goes beyond all of that; Jimi incarnates the tragedy, the pain - you can feel the pain of the napalm girl running from the burning vil as Jimi plays.
His comments on the Dick Cavett Show right after that were: "I thought it was beautiful, man". So he didn't take a knee, he reached out. Everyone has their way of drawing attention to something. This was his and perfect for that time.
The main reason this performance is so incredible is that, as a guiding light for the counter culture movement of the 60's, Jimi personified, in artistic form, the civil unrest and displeasure with the state of the political climate of the time. Millions of young Americans were angered that our government would choose to enter the Vietnam conflict. Feeling that we did not "belong" there, this sentiment grew throughout the country. Jimi played the nation anthem that day ironically. Thumbing his nose at the establishment, this iconic performance conveyed all that the counter culture was feeling in a musical context. The heavy distortion used; the bastardization of the melody - all done with clear intent. Taking the "heart" of America; the song that embodies our resolve and constitution as a nation; Jimi twisted it into an anthem for the new generation. Woodstock as a whole became a beacon to guide and unite the young people of the day. A peaceful demonstration of their rage with our involvement in Vietnam. My mother was there up near the stage, so I have an almost firsthand knowledge of that unforgettable experience. Jimi will FOREVER reign supreme.
Also show them ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-F_p1JC3z2kU.html which preceded it. That explains the attitudes of the audience at Woodstock.
There's this collection of short stories by Sherman alexie a native American writer named "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven". One of his story's was called "The only Indian who saw Jimi Hendrix play The Star Spangled Banner" its pretty interesting would suggest you read it.
It does have too much tone and fuzz on the guitar in places but it doesnt stop me watching it amazement, its memorising to see someone playing so many complex riffs with such fluid dexterity at that time with the backdrop of grainy film to remind you how old it is, its just always fascinated me like hes a time traveller, he was 20 years too early.
1973 I’m in high school. We had a Cc radio station: two loudspeakers in the quad and a turntable in a small room. Music was spun at lunch period. The dj played this piece and was quickly shut down by school staff. It was to be the only song banned at our radio station. We couldn’t understand why. We were proud of our anthem and our flag just not our government. I think Jimi meant it out of Love. When I listen to it now I still get the feeling I did back then as with any verison of it : God bless America
David Flint Goes 2 show ya.... America, itz peephole, & DUH idiotz REALly running her n2 da ground, r a beeyatch, bcause only a dumb beeyatch, would hate u 4 loving her.
This musical and artistic experience is a must in a life-time experience. The first listening and understanding of something much bigger than just a guitar solo is overwhelmingly emotional and powerful, even for a european like me, thanks Jimi
Great video dude! When I first heard it as a kid I knew there was a deeper meaning to all the weird noises, but I didn't know what it was until I started learning about the 60s and the Vietnam War era in history class.
Political protest against a war and a government, not against soldiers or the military. A desire to stand up for young men dying in a war they shouldn't have been in, not to insult those young men. Jimi Hendrix was a true patriot. Loyalty to his country and countrymen always. Loyalty to his government when they deserve it. That's all.
It was the ultimate act of musical patriotism, showing that you can love your country and the people in it and still be critical of its government. Hendrix was a true patriot.
I'm very glad you recognize the significance of the song to us. You play that in a public place, all people come. Believe me, I've seen in. I live in Vegas and there was a street performer playing it and I'd say 300-400 people were gathered around, of all races, and probably multiple religions.
I heard the recording a few years ago and i just didn’t get it. But I listened to it now and it made me cry. I finally understood what Jimi meant. The People came to Jimi expecting peace but he showed them war on stage.
Great vid, I would like to add a few other observations though. The band that Jimi played with (apart from Mitch Mitchell and Billy Cox) and the setlist that he played at Woodstock give an impression of improvisation. Apparently, rhythm guitarist Larry Lee only came back from Vietnam 2 weeks before Woodstock and was somewhere in between asked by Jimi to join his band. Billy Cox had also only just replaced Noel Redding and had not done a lot of gigs yet with Jimi and Mitch (if any?). I think Jimi also mentions somewhere during the introduction that they hardly rehearsed. In my view this is one of the reasons why the concert consists of so many long blues songs, long jams, and long solo's. I think that the national anthem, at least initially, was in a way just another way to fill the concert. BTW it was still probably his best concert IMHO. Another observation is that it was not unusual for him to play the national anthem on gigs, and in the UK he even played God Save the Queen. Also the fact that there was a Vietnam Veteran (Larry Lee) with him on stage makes it unlikely that he meant any kind of disrespect to the military with his playing. (should someone still think that) Last thing: the sounds that he makes replicating 'bombs' and 'crying' might well be just that, but the effects that he makes can be heard in other performances during other songs as well (for instance in the beginning of the track EXP on Axis: Bold as Love).
I get what you're saying about it being maybe accidental, but remember that Joe Cocker's backup females singers got stuck in traffic and all he had was The Grease Band to help him on vocals. Not only was the Hendrix Anthem so significant, Cocker's "With a little help from my friends" was probably his best performance of the song ever. It's like a golfer who makes his most significant shots at one of the 4 major tournaments. Had these performances taken place in some small venue with no one looking, so what. But the world was looking and the significance can't be understated regardless of whether it happened on purpose or not.
Jimi was pro Vietnam for most of the war but grew tired of the way it was being handled politically around the time of his SSB rendition. Totally anti communism.
Really interesting analisys! Here in Argentina happened something like that when Charly Garcia recorded a version of our national anthem. The difference was that here the anthem was used in the last 70's by the dictatorship government almost exclusively and if you didn't agreed with them or did or sang or say something they didn't like, you becomed a "desaparecido".
The First time I heard 👂 Jimi, my friend was playing THIS. I asked WHO is THAT ?,What instrument is he playing ? .... Have never been the same since......
Samuraiguitarist, my compliments on you being opened minded enough to give Hendrix a listen. Hopefully, your whole generation will follow suit and realize the music from 1964-1990 was the best and is full of gems. Unfortunately, the record industry destroyed rocknroll and all forms of rock. And now they are paying for it.
I watched this video late, 2020 to be exact, but I was 10 when this got played was in my late 20's when I finally heard it.....this is MEGA-appropriate for todays scene...sorry if you missed it but the sixties, even at ten, were OFF-THE-CHAIN-nunn-nunn-nunn-nunn.......
The song was writ in a time of war, after a great battle. Jimi played it during a time of war & played it like a great battle. ...& the gods made Love. ☯☮🕉✡
I was a little tripped out when I revisited the Jimi tune, went down the RU-vid rabbit hole for a while, then you welcomed me back. "Wat. How----oh, right."
"you can love your country but hate the government". idk why that hit me so hard but I feel like that especially today this matters a lot to me. politics are politics, im not good with them. but i really do love my country and i feel like our government isnt very American anymore. i cant tell you what that means because i dont know what it means to be American anymore. But i can definitely say that i am a patriot who wants to see his country be great, i cant say that America has ever been great but America has harbored so many beautiful souls and heroes. i just hope that America can be a hero too.
The first time I heard it. I fully understood exactly what it meant. And it was the defining moment that Jimi Hendrix became the greatest guitar player ever.
Where did you find your quote about the festival goer saying the anthem became "our song"? I am writing a research paper on this and this quote would be super useful!!! thank you
When Jimi played this at Woodstock, after it's completion he was the uncontested greatest guitarist on the globe. No other guitarist could have conceived or played our national anthem in this way. The absolute monumental step forward in music theory that was demonstrated at that performance is liken to the difference between TNT a hydrogen bomb.Third Stone From The Sun is another example . Jimi didn't play notes as much as sounds,the beginning of Axis Bold as Love i,e, EXP is another prime example of his genius. There's more to playing then fast finger's and speed riff's.INNOVATION MATTERS and that is a key element of what separate's him from everybody else... class dismissed.
actually Jose Feliciano (a badass guitarist his own self), caught way more flack at the all-star game in '68 for doing it in a very creative, unusual (but not provocative) way, really . you had to actually go see the Woodstock film to see/hear Jimi's version ,or get the soundtrack, while Jose was on national TV.
*Jimi's* version of *The Star Spangled Banner* was classic in every sense of the word! He made a statement to the government that the Vietnam War should end and he played it so beautifully!!!
samuraiguitarist, if you want to listen to/watch other great/famous guitar performances, listen to the entire concert called The Song Remains the Same by Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page influenced more guitarists to copy his style than anyone else. Also, The Who Live At Leeds which is rated the greatest live recording of a rock band. If you are sticking with famous guitar performances, there are many. But since you mentioned Jimi Hendrix, Machine Gun from the Band of Gypsies Album is a must.
