Good live album, but I prefer Hendrix in his rock phase
Growing up, I loved Jimi Hendrix's Experience. I had never tried his Band of Gypsies vinyl back in the day. I bought this on sale to add to the Hendrix collection and I'm not sure if it will stay. This album is the first after his breakup with them and it's a live recording from 1969.

Some say it's the beginning of the end, I cannot say that. It's good, solid blues, but I prefer hearing Hendrix rocking.

This is a six song collection, that is almost 46 minutes long. You get a lot of live jamming on this CD, which is mostly worth hearing. Vocals on "Who Knows" just annoy me; however, "Machine Gun" is excellent--good strong playing and one of my favorites of all his work.

I don't regret hearing this CD, but I think I'd rather remember Jimi rocking with the Experience than bluesing with the Gypsies.

Rebecca Kyle, May 2008

Banned Gypsies
I yield to no man when it comes to admiring Jimi Hendrix - indeed, watching and listening to him perform in a tiny club, way back in '67, was one of the highlights of my life. It was transformational. That said, let's be honest about Band of Gypsies - it's a mess. Of course, the failures of Hendrix transcend the triumphs of mortals, but still.

Hendrix freely admitted that he was no great singer, and his limitations have never been more evident. Even Buddy Miles, who was better, sounds awful. Perhaps the live concert environment meant they couldn't hear themselves. Indeed, this album would have been much better had there been no vocals at all. The jams, naturally, smoke like a southbound train, Hendrix is in great form. But play the CD again and imagine how much better it would sound purely instrumental.

Swapping out Mitch Mitchell for Buddy Miles was like trading in a Rolls Royce for a Yugo, Miles is particularly unexceptional here. The bass contribution by Billy Cox could have been handled just as well by a table lamp. Most egregious of all is the material itself. From a song-writing point of view there is little to cheer, particularly when it comes to lyrics. This would be more palatable if the singing were expert; unfortunately, the awkward vocals Hendrix delivers draw attention to the inadequacies of the lyrics.

Of course it's worth owning and listening to, but, for a variety of reasons, it is just not up to the standards of the 3 "Experience" albums.

Band Of Gypsys
Jimi Hendrix-Band Of Gypsys *****

Complete with ex-Electric Flag drummer Buddy Miles and old army buddy Billy Cox on bass and the man himself Jimi Hendrix on guitar at a loose New Years Eve concert at Bill Graham's Fillmore East jam Band Of Gypsys is the essential Hendrix recording, as well as his best.

The rhythm section of Miles and Cox is in my opinion better than that of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Also I must say, that to me this is the best Hendrix ever played, nothing I have ever heard from him on any other release even comes close to this, maybe 'Voodoo Child (Slight Return)' from Electric Ladyland comes close but nothing else. His songwriting is also amazing here. I am not going to say it is better then on his other recordings though because I feel that Jimi was an amazing songwriter his entire career.

'Who Knows' kicks things off on this blues-fusion album and does so greatly. 'Machine Gun' is perhaps the greatest thing Hendrix ever did. The guitar work is breathtaking, and the Vietnam conscious lyrics are heartfelt. Buddy Miles' 'Changes' is killer. The guitar and vocal work is some of the best and most raw blues ever recorded. 'Power To Love' and 'Message To Love' go hand in hand and should only be listened to back to back in succession. 'We Got To Live Together' closes the album and does so with a bang. The group vocals really get the message of the song across, and Hendrix's guitar sound on this track is head scratching, and Cox's bass playing on this track owns anything by the Experience.

Band Of Gypsys was Hendrix's anti-celebrity album. He wanted to get away from the showmanship of his earlier recordings and performances because he and his black audience felt it was demeaning much like it was for the fantastic Louis Armstrong. I think he achieved what he set out to with Band Of Gypsys and so much more. This is a fantastic record that should be heard by everyone.

Jimi is a musical God
To make it short and sweet.Just listing to Machine Gun with all those war sounds coming out his guitar shows me Jimi Hendrix was and still thousand ahead of any computrize sounding guitar player of today.Hendrix is god !

a brilliant live album
Before purchasing Band of Gypsys, I was well aware many people have mixed feelings with this live recording. Many people, specifically huge Hendrix fans who must own everything he did, feel this is a pretty average live performance overall. However, I have to disagree *strongly*. I've heard quite a lot of live albums from 60's and 70's rock musicians, and I really feel Band of Gypsys is right up there with the very best of them.

I can't put into words how surprised I was upon first listen just how CLEAR and magnificent the performance sounds. I don't even have the remastered version! Seriously, compared to most live albums released during the same time, this one sounds WAY above average. I'm really happy about that.

As for Hendrix's guitar playing, that was ANOTHER major surprise to me. I went in expecting just a few guitar solos here and there, because the reviews led me to believe this album was lacking in guitar playing. That is NOT true. There's more guitar soloing going on throughout the album than I ever thought was even possible. The opening track "Who Knows" and especially "Machine Gun" are lengthy tracks with funky rhythm sections and lots and lots of guitar soloing. Together, these two songs make up over 20 minutes of brilliant guitar playing and memorable songwriting.

The other four tracks are more soulful in vocal delivery, and funky and guitar-dominated, but shorter than the first two tracks. Shorter doesn't mean worse though, and overall we're talking about 45 minutes of a really spectacular concert from Hendrix. I'm sure there's better live albums out there from this legendary guitarist, but that doesn't make Band of Gypsys a bad recording in any way, shape or form in my opinion. Even calling it average wouldn't feel right.