Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7827 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-09-19
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, Live, PAL, Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 219 minutes

Synopsis
Featuring Jimi Hendrix recorded live on August 19th 1969 at Woodstock. Tracklist includes: 'Message To Love', 'Fire', 'Redhouse', 'Jam Back At The House', 'Purple Haze', 'Hear My Train A Comin' and 'Voodoo Chile'. Plus never-before-seen versions of 'Foxy Lady', 'Hey Joe', and 'Spanish Castle Magic'.

Customer Reviews

Incomplete, but extraordinary.
It is incomplete but otherwise extraordinary. Let me explain, through the late 70s and 80s I was one of the largest collectors of Jimi's material in the world. I stayed at Al Hendrix's house in Seattle as well as Noel Redding, Kathy Etchingham and Monica Danneman's house, met Mitch Mitchell and many others, put on the UK's largest Jimi Hendrix Convention in 1984 and had a collection second to only perhaps one or two. My priorities changed in 1985 when I became a Christian. I had Jimi's complete Woodstock gig on audio tape in superb quality just over 20 years ago. For 36 years it was rumoured that the entire gig was filmed but I had to make do with my excellent audio recording. Anyway for me the highlights of the gig were the last 30 minutes from Voodoo Child onwards AND two numbers called 'Gypsy Woman' and 'Call Me Mastermind'. These two songs were sung by Larry Lee and Jimi took a step back and played some remarkable rhythm guitar. Gypsy Woman is the Curtis Mayfield number and Jimi's rhythm is absolutely exquisite as it is on Call Me Mastermind. It made such a pleasant musical break from the otherwise high octane funky blues rock lead guitar which Jimi displays practically all the way through with a touch of flamenco at the end. I really was looking forward to these two numbers so that the world could hear Jimi's awesome rhythm playing and not just his lead work which everybody already knows.
This was the only time Jimi played these two numbers live in concert and the powers that be have omitted them - That's why I am disappointed. I suppose contractual reasons have come into play since they are not Jimi's songs.
I guess I like complete Jimi Hendrix concerts and there is not one that exists on DVD to this day. However for those who are not bothered by this it is definitely 5 STAR. OK, this is Jimi's set list at Woodstock:
1.Message to Love
2.Hear my train a'coming
3.Spanish Castle Magic
4.Red House
5.Call me Mastermind
6.Lover Man
7.Foxy Lady
8.Jam Back at the House
9.Izabella
10.Gypsy Woman
11.Fire
12.Voodoo Child
13.Star Spangled Banner
14.Purple Haze
15.Woodstock Flamenco Improvisation
16.Villanova Junction Blues (Gorgeous beyond belief)
17.Hey Joe

So what we have missing on the DVD are: 'Call me Mastermind' 'Gypsy Woman' the incredible call and response intro to Hear my Train a'comin' and much banter between the songs which does make it a two hour concert.
However although the extended and experimental band are under rehearsed Jimi really does play some extraordinary guitar which even today nobody has matched. Jimi's fretting technique is astonishing - and notice how he hardly ever looks down at his hands on the neck, a pure natural. Villanova Junction Blues is one of those pieces why Jimi is cited as the greatest and most creative electric guitarist of all time. This really is 5 star all the way.

Gypsy Sun And Rainbows
As a novice guitarist, I am very much inspired by Jimi Hendrix. Whilst many players like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Tom Morrello have updated the sounds considerably, none of these have left so much impact in music. However, whilst his music was considered amazing, it's his showmanship on the live stage that made him legendary.

Woodstock is cited as Hendrix's greatest performance. Played to 300,000 people in 1969, Jimi extended his 'Experience' group from three to six members to expand his sound. When watching the dvd, its easy to see how it was in that era.

Hendrix's band of gypsies are really tight as a unit from the opening Message to Love, classic songs like Fire, Loverman and Purple Haze, to the classic Voodoo Child. Of course, Woodstock will always be remembered for Jimi's take on the Star Spangled Banner.

The 'Second Look' dvd basically extends the performance with less cuts and including Hear My Train A Comin' for the first time. The bonus features are very small in numbers with Billy Cox (Bass) and Larry Lee (Rhythm Guitar) talking about their Nashville Roots and memorabilia of the Woodstock festival. I find the press conference is a treasurable piece of footage and Eddie Kramer's (Hendrix's record engineer)talk about the festival is very interesting.

Woodstock is a fantastic introduction to the style and music of Jimi Hendrix. Whether people say songs are missing etc, it does not really matter as a whole since this is the DEFINITIVE Hendrix dvd.

Buy it now :-)

Memorable, Essential, But Not His Best

Despite the hype, this was not Jimi's best concert: it had some great moments but in many places is rather shambolic. This is not surprising, as the Gypsy Sun and Rainbows was under-rehearsed.

The footage is OK, although it concentrates on Hendrix (of course).
Most of the Hendrix hits are there, along with new material like Mitch's `Beginnings' (aka Jam Back at the House, with composition credits going to Jimi) and 'Izabella'. The Star Spangled Banner and the instrumental which follows are the best things in the show.

The DVD is almost twice as long as the original VHS release and has much better sound. However, as with the video, the mix buries the other members of the band (second guitar and two percussionists) apart from Mitch and Billy.

The concert sounds more or less like it's being played by a three-piece band; this is usually a good thing as Larry Lee is not that great a guitarist and the percussion seems to get in the way, at least when you can hear it. But it does mean that you're not hearing the true sound of the show.

The omission of Larry Lee's songs yet again is inexcusable, as apparently they weren't that bad and footage must exist.

The extras on the second DVD are welcome, but you'll probably only watch them once. The interviews with Mitch Mitchell, Larry Lee and Billy Cox are worthwhile, even if you'll be shocked by how different Mitch and Larry look these days. The `bonus' black and white footage is OK but doesn't really add much to the proceedings.

Despite the caveats, this is a must-have if you're a Hendrix fan.