As the yearlong celebration of what would have been Jimi Hendrix’s 70th birthday comes to a close, two new projects have been released to accommodate. A new PBS American Masters documentary titled “Hear My Train A Comin’” aired on Nov. 5 and the first time released Miami Pop Festival (Sony Legacy) recorded in 1968 saw the light of day.
While Experience Hendrix, the family­-operated company overseeing all things Hendrix has been stellar; their issue of Miami Pop Festival is a disappointment. For historical reasons I can understand its release, first-
time performances of “Tax Free” and “Hear My Train A Comin’” sadly though, it was just a flat show.
Recorded by Hendrix’s engineer Eddie Kramer, it was just one of the few times it sounded like the band mailed it in. Just five months later when The Experience played Winterland (a much superior CD release), Hendrix had these new songs down pat and they smoked on them.
It’s obvious now with this release, the Hendrix Estate has reached the end of quality-unreleased material.
This is not a knock on Experience Hendrix or Sony Legacy; they have been super protective of Hendrix’s legacy and has restored his catalog to its rightful, highly respected place. Miami Pop Festival though is a notch below the rest.
Dave Stewart, prolly best known for his work with The Eurythmics, has done well for himself as a solo guy. An in-demand producer (Joss Stone, Stevie Nicks) he’s also released some worthy albums of his own.
His latest Lucky Numbers (180 Records) follows the trend of his previous two, in that it was recorded with top-notch studio musicians in Nashville. He would gather the musicians and run them through the material only once or twice and then record it. He felt that way he’d truly capture the band’s spontaneity. It worked for his previous Ringmaster General and Blackbird Diary albums but sorta misses the mark here.
It’s still spontaneous, musicians are great and Stewart’s in fine voice but the material here isn’t on par with his previous stuff. It’s a perfect example of how even with a great concept, one thing can throw a wrench in the plans. Lucky Numbers is his third album in three years, he shoulda spent more time on the material.
That being said it’s still a worthy release with its blend of guitar rock with a slight country influence, courtesy of those Nashville session musicians. Standouts include “Every Single Night,” “Drugs Taught Me a Lesson,” “Satellite,” and my favorite of the album “One Step Too Far.”
Released in correlation with Paul Simon The Complete Album Collection, which includes all Simon’s solo album work in one box set, is Over The Bridge Of Time: Paul Simon Retrospective (Columbia) a single-disc compilation that for the first time includes his solo and Simon and Garfunkel material.
Like him or not, trying to compile an overview of an artist whose body of work is as large as Simon’s on a single CD is virtually impossible. The bigger hits, “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “American Tune,” “You Can Call Me Al” and a few gems like “Hearts and Bones” and “The Only Living Boy In New York.”
Over The Bridge Of Time is a great introduction for anyone who isn’t familiar with the work of Simon.
Nashville’s Kings Of Leon burst upon the music scene when music really needed a guitar band to spice things up. When they released their debut in 2003 the number one album that year was 50 Cent’s Get Rich Or Die Trying and number two was Nora Jones Come Sail With Me.
On their latest Mechanical Bull (RCA), KOL have pretty much worn out their welcome. As good, refreshing and energetic their music has been it’s really become the same song over and over. The same for all six albums!
I don’t feel that a band needs to change their style or musical philosophy, you just need to grow or show some sign that you’re being creative. Producer Angelo Petraglia who produced their previous Come Around Sundown needed to be firm and not allow the band to take the easy way out and rely on their tried and true.
While record labels are waiting for the upcoming holiday season to release the big name stuff, a lot of anniversary editions of previously released titles have been issued lately. Another one that might generate some interest is the two CD/one DVD Eric Clapton Unplugged: Expanded and Remastered (Rhino).
Back in 1992 Clapton reluctantly agreed to partake in MTV’s Unplugged series, which resulted in the biggest success of his career, selling 19, that’s right 19 million copies and earning him six Grammys. He’s never gotten close to those numbers since.
While I’m a big Clapton fan, history will show that once he released this album he was never the same. It seemed that he lost that fire, that intensity that made him a ‘drop jaw’ guitarist.
That being said this edition includes the original re-mastered album, while the second CD has six titles that didn’t make the final broadcast. The DVD is the original broadcast but more importantly, in fact the jewel of this set is the unedited, complete dress rehearsal, sans audience.
It’s a fascinating look at how Clapton works with his band on arrangements and how he interacts with the band to keep things light while working.
The previously unreleased “Worried Life Blues” is worth the price of the set alone.

After 30 years of working at MATC, Duane Rodriguez is leaving. Before working at MATC, Rodriguez was a student who worked on the Times newspaper. We wish him luck on his future endeavors and thank him for his contributions.