3 Jul
2003
3 Jul
'03
8:21 a.m.
I can find higher quality music being given away by
the artist
for free than its possible to find in all the archives of major
labels (well, ok Hendrix is major label, but look, they assassinated
him).
Hendrix is actually a great example. Far from unknown and then
'discovered', as most people would have it, he was playing live for
years but no-one in the industry would give him a break.
It took an outsider (and a musician, not a label executive) to
recognise his talent, and introduce him to other UK-based musicians.
It was on their insistence that he got the gig at Monterrey in 1967,
which I think was his first big break in the US.
As for assassinated, I think it would be fairer to say that they
didn't look after him very well. He actually died due to the
combination of sleeping tablets and alcohol, shortly after playing a
storming set in a field just outside our village to 600,000 people.
He's kind of a religious figure around here...
Cheers
Daniel