Ever since I came across The Hiltonaires record and
read up on the antics of label boss L Muller, I've kept my eyes open since for
anything on the Stereo Gold Award label to see how far Mr M was prepared to take
his passion for grabbing lots of credit for doing very little. I don't think I'm
going to find a better or more damning example than this. Ostensibly a 'tribute'
to Jimi Hendrix and released shortly after his death, of the twelve songs on this album, seven were either written by or are
closely associated with Jimi. 'Purple Haze', 'Hey Joe', 'Crosstown Traffic',
'Foxy Lady' - these are songs that would form the backbone of any 'Best Of'
compilation worth it's salt. So fair enough that they appear on a 'tribute' to
the man then. What's perhaps less welcome are the five tracks ('Acid Test',
'Patch Of Grass', 'Git Some', 'Gittin' Busted' and 'Requiem For Jimmy, (sic))
which, in what must be a supreme bout of hucksterism, are credited to L Muller.
Any guitarist invoking Jimi to pay tribute would need to be sure of his chops, and the surrogate Hendrix on this apparently (and conveniently) plays under the non de plume 'The Purple Fox'. Better than 'Hazy Mary' or 'Windy Joe' I suppose, but from the name down the naked opportunism that runs through this whole project sticks out like the words 'cheap cash in' through a stick of rock. Actually, the back cover note tells us the Fox's 'real' name is Alex Boggs: "Alex Boggs is a young man "with hair down to his knees" (as the man said), that sings and plays a wailing guitar under the name, The Purple Fox". I can't locate any other instances of Mr Boggs existing outside of this album so I'm guessing that's an alias too (with my suspicions further aroused by finding these recordings have also been issued under the name 'Jeff Cooper And The Stoned Wings'), all of which suggests an anonymous session man who'd rather stay that way.
But whether it's the Fox, Boggs or Cooper, anyone hoping for more of the fluidity or imagination that marked Hendrix's playing will be in for a disappointment. First off, none of those 'new' titles are 'proper' songs per se; they're merely extended, warm up jams based around a single chug a lug chord sequence and copious amounts of wah wah. The Fox/Boggs/Cooper does a passable Hendrix pastiche on vocals, albeit one that on those 'new' songs borders on the racist in its portrayal of a supposedly stoned black man, all the while reviving and replicating Hendrix riffs and motifs as he goes. Take 'Patch Of Grass' - it's whole drive is built around a truncated 'Crosstown Traffic' riff that Fox mumbles lines like 'It's green it's not purple and there's a haze hanging over it' over. Well quite. That 'duh duh duh duh' sound in the background is either the dull plod of a pedestrian bassline or a click track of Jimi spinning in his grave.
The Hendrix songs proper are dealt with competently enough and 'Purple Haze' et al are recognisable from the off, albeit in sawn-off pub rock versions; Hendrix always used studio technology as a fourth member of the band but there's none of that trickery to be found here. To be honest, I wouldn't really expect to, not on the budget that must have been behind this record, but it means the songs sound like first take versions by a well gigged covers band and anything 'difficult' about the originals is either glossed over or simply left out. It's tempting to once again pose the question 'what's the point'?, but this time I know what the 'point' was - that is, to shamelessly cash in on the death of a rock star and use the goodwill associated with his name to harvest royalties off your own rotten compositions.
A cynical move maybe, but perhaps no less cynical than the eleven posthumous releases of Jimi's leftovers and half finished tracks that more renowned record labels have put out since 1970. At least those actually were Jimi in action though - this Purple Fox nonsense is far from that, and while I understand why it was released, it doesn't explain why anyone would want to buy it. For me, money wouldn't be an issue - if it was the choice between either this cheap alternative or nothing then, quite frankly, I'd rather do without. Pasting a garish painting of Jimi over what looks like a stock photo of a dance band at a supper club as a cover only confirms the tackiness of the whole affair.
Any guitarist invoking Jimi to pay tribute would need to be sure of his chops, and the surrogate Hendrix on this apparently (and conveniently) plays under the non de plume 'The Purple Fox'. Better than 'Hazy Mary' or 'Windy Joe' I suppose, but from the name down the naked opportunism that runs through this whole project sticks out like the words 'cheap cash in' through a stick of rock. Actually, the back cover note tells us the Fox's 'real' name is Alex Boggs: "Alex Boggs is a young man "with hair down to his knees" (as the man said), that sings and plays a wailing guitar under the name, The Purple Fox". I can't locate any other instances of Mr Boggs existing outside of this album so I'm guessing that's an alias too (with my suspicions further aroused by finding these recordings have also been issued under the name 'Jeff Cooper And The Stoned Wings'), all of which suggests an anonymous session man who'd rather stay that way.
But whether it's the Fox, Boggs or Cooper, anyone hoping for more of the fluidity or imagination that marked Hendrix's playing will be in for a disappointment. First off, none of those 'new' titles are 'proper' songs per se; they're merely extended, warm up jams based around a single chug a lug chord sequence and copious amounts of wah wah. The Fox/Boggs/Cooper does a passable Hendrix pastiche on vocals, albeit one that on those 'new' songs borders on the racist in its portrayal of a supposedly stoned black man, all the while reviving and replicating Hendrix riffs and motifs as he goes. Take 'Patch Of Grass' - it's whole drive is built around a truncated 'Crosstown Traffic' riff that Fox mumbles lines like 'It's green it's not purple and there's a haze hanging over it' over. Well quite. That 'duh duh duh duh' sound in the background is either the dull plod of a pedestrian bassline or a click track of Jimi spinning in his grave.
The Hendrix songs proper are dealt with competently enough and 'Purple Haze' et al are recognisable from the off, albeit in sawn-off pub rock versions; Hendrix always used studio technology as a fourth member of the band but there's none of that trickery to be found here. To be honest, I wouldn't really expect to, not on the budget that must have been behind this record, but it means the songs sound like first take versions by a well gigged covers band and anything 'difficult' about the originals is either glossed over or simply left out. It's tempting to once again pose the question 'what's the point'?, but this time I know what the 'point' was - that is, to shamelessly cash in on the death of a rock star and use the goodwill associated with his name to harvest royalties off your own rotten compositions.
A cynical move maybe, but perhaps no less cynical than the eleven posthumous releases of Jimi's leftovers and half finished tracks that more renowned record labels have put out since 1970. At least those actually were Jimi in action though - this Purple Fox nonsense is far from that, and while I understand why it was released, it doesn't explain why anyone would want to buy it. For me, money wouldn't be an issue - if it was the choice between either this cheap alternative or nothing then, quite frankly, I'd rather do without. Pasting a garish painting of Jimi over what looks like a stock photo of a dance band at a supper club as a cover only confirms the tackiness of the whole affair.
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