I wanted to like this, I really did. But if you can't actually get rights to the songs depicted in the film... I mean, c'mon...
@countZZero I didn’t bother. And pretty much don’t bother with biopics. That includes the reigning in of the “I’m curious to see what they do with it” drive. The map is not the territory and a biopic is barely a map. More like “chewing gum for the eyes”. Eh?
Parts of it are excellent, but most of it relies on rumor, half-truths, and conjecture. And some of it is just invented for the film.
Yeah. It covers roughly 1966 and 1967, with flashbacks to Jimi's childhood and a few early gigs. It ends with him taking the stage at Monterey.
The movie is worth watching. The guy who plays Hendrix is very good, in that he captures many of Jimi's nuances: the spacey stammer, his constantly bobbing head and... The actor nails this stuff perfectly...
But a couple of the people who were there (Linda Keith, Kathy Etchingham) have said many of the scenes are simply made up.
There's one scene where Hendrix beats up Kathy Etchingham at a pay phone, Jimi ripping the phone from her hands and beating her in the head with the receiver. Etchingham said this incident never happened, and while Hendrix had a temper and was quick to anger, he never raised a hand to her. I believe her.
@countZZero that was a different girlfriend, Carmen Borrero. Look it up.
Borrero? The film depicts this incident as happening to Etchingham. She was reportedly pissed off at that and other scenes in the movie...
BELOW: Redding/Etchingham/Townshend
The good stuff (for me anyway) is his interaction with Clapton, Chas Chandler, the Beatles, and others in the London psychedelic scene.
The scene where he blows Clapton off the stage playing "Killing Floor" is good, as is the scene where Hendrix plays Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" at the Saville Theatre in London, with the Beatles present, just 2 days after the album's release.
It's worth watching, you just have to take some of it, as depicted, with a grain of salt.
@countZZero shouldn’t that be a tab of salt? I’ve seen a lot of videos of his friends and associates with their mosaic of memories. Billie Cox knew him before the fame. Eddie Kramer is a great source for insights into the creativity and personality. The truth is in the records and live performances. I forgot who said it, but someone close, a girlfriend, said Hendrix would use a lot the magical hippie speak as a shield rather than engage/open up/be vulnerable.
@countZZero so it’s a biopic? 🤣