Jimi Hendrix: A Rare Interview in London, January 1967

[JasO]

The day before he recorded his vocals for "Purple Haze," Jimi did an interview with 18-year-old Steve Barker, a student at London’s Regent Street Polytechnic who was writing for his school's publication. For the first time, Steve has just published the complete, unedited transcript of the interview. Although gear is never mentioned, the interview's revealing and covers a lot of ground as Jimi talks about songwriting, Bob Dylan's influence, Eric Clapton, The Monkees, Donovan, Pink Floyd, The Fugs, blues and jazz heroes, psychedelic music, freaks and pervs, onstage destruction, and lots more.

Some of the best stuff is on Bob Dylan. For instance, when Steve asks Jimi if he ever met Bob, Jimi replied, "I saw him one time, but both of us were stoned out of our minds. I remember it vaguely. It was at this place called The Kettle of Fish in the Village. We were both stoned there, and we just hung around laughing – yeah, we just laughed. People have always got to put him down. I really dig him, though."

A little later, Jimi said, "When I was down in the Village, Dylan was starving down there. I hear he used to have a pad with him all the time to put down what he sees around him. But he doesn’t have to be stoned when he writes, although he probably is a cat like that – he just doesn’t have to be."

Jimi also talks about Bob's influence on his songwriting, his love for Highway 61 Revisited -- especially "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" -- and how he'd like to play some sessions with Bob "because his group ought to be a little more creative"!

Anyway, it's an intriguing snapshot in time of Jimi just weeks before he emerged as as a bona-fide rock guitar superstar.

The whole interview is posted here: http://jasobrecht.com/

[Xplorer]

wow thanks, i love it. jimi talking about the others, it's really cool.