Jimi Plays Berkeley [Blu-ray]

The great and powerful Jimi Hendrix

I just discovered the expanded version a little while ago and immediately ordered it. Frankly, I'm surprised by some of the negative comments. If you're a true Hendrix fan, you have to be overjoyed with the precious few minutes of new footage in the new release. As the best reviewer states, the editing on Hear My Train a Comin' was nothing short of *criminal*. If you do not get how important that particular performance was, I don't know what to tell you... These performances are undoubtedly among the very best that we have. For my money, the solo on Hear My Train is second only to Machine Gun FE BOG. Yes, it's that damn good! And sure enough, the expanded version folks did the very best they could to rectify the abortion on the first release.So here it is:Hear My Train is played in it's entirety, start to finish. Significant video of Jimi's playing has been found and added. MOST OF THE MAIN SOLO IS SHOWED. This alone makes owning the expanded version indispensable!But that is not all.For my money, the first set was the best. And Jimi did Voodoo Chile SR at the early set, too. And you get a good deal of video footage of it in the expanded version. Yes, it's fantastic, consistent with the entire set.Also from the first set, Purple Haze is shown in it's entirety (but I'm not sure this is new with the expanded edition). Yes, it's fantastic. There's something odd though, that I haven't seen anybody mention. PH is played in it's entirety, but right after it concludes, after a brief moment of other footage, there is a segment of Jimi soloing in... Purple Haze. But for the life of me, it's not the same as the performance just shown -- yet, he's wearing the same clothes and playing the same Strat. I don't get it. Sound check?The other bit of additional footage of note is from the Machine Gun in the 2nd set. This of course is welcome, too.Also, the opening segment has corrected the audio that corresponds to the video. On the original release Straight Ahead was played, but what was actually played during that footage was Machine Gun, and the expanded version makes that correction on the audio track.So, if you're a real Hendrix fan, you already own Jimi Plays Berkeley, but buying the new version is a no-brainer. And people are complaining about the photo on the cover???Because this film contains some of the best footage of Jimi's playing ANYWHERE ANYTIME, this deserves 5 stars, despite the drawbacks of the film itself, such as much of the retarded camera work.There is also a new booklet with a lot of great information.(BTW, I am fortunate enough to have seen the man four times!)

First off let me say that this DVD is for completists only. It is much the same as the originalVHS and then DVD release of the film. The transfer to HD is not that glaringly different. What you are paying for basically are a few precious new minutes of footage during "Hear My Train A' Coming" and "Voodoo Child.") as well as the opening segment where the band is jamming on "Machine Gun" during the afternoon soundcheck with a brief but very cool closeup of Jimi playing some really sweet riffs.The film crew that Jefferys hired to document the concert were criminal in their incompetance. Some of the new footage during "See My Train" is just alternate angles of stuff we have already seen (and some of the original angles were better}. The guy filming from the balcony if he still lives, should be hunted down and thrashed. During one of Jimi's greatest recorded performances he is either panned way back or totally out of focus. A couple of times he actually gets it right and we get some precious up close video of Jimi's incredible fretwork which can be amazing to watch. I say precious because it is. Quality footage of Jimi in concert is so very rare and just doesn't seem to exist in great quantity. Photographers were either stoned or did not seem to know how to shoot him because they were continually up in his face denying fans who did and especially those that did NOT get to see him live, the chance to experience what it was really like to see as well as hear him play.There is a couple of minutes of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" from the first show which are fun to see until Jimi goes so far out of tune there is no fixing it although he soldiers on and even manages to smile.There are a few seconds of new footage during "Machine Gun" but they are grainy and look to be from an 8mm source and are hardly worth a mention except that it IS new Jimi footage.(and that is one of my least favorite versions of "Machine Gun" anyway.Now for the downside. the new street interviews (a bunch of stoned Hippies trying to sound deep) which have been added are beyond annoying and could have been left out completely as well as the Berkeley riot footage which except for a few snippets during "Machine Gun" were too numerous and I could have cared less about. (I have always wondered what the little black kid with the Saxophone shown briefly during "The Star Spangled Banner" was all about. It might have been cool if one of the protesters had cracked one of their signs over the head of the redneck from the pool hall.(just a thought).Finally,I have also wondered about the young girl sitting up front that we see during "Voodoo Child." Her reactions are priceless, and what a story she has to tell her grandchildren.(where is SHE now?)If you are a completist you will want to own this because as I mentioned before every note and foot of film is precious. It is the best we have until the long awaited 1969 Royal Albert Hall film is released...hopefully while we are still above ground.

You can't go wrong with this dvd. You get to SEE Hendrix play "Johnny B. Goode", "Hear My Train A Comin'", "I Don't Live Today", "Machine Gun", "Purple Haze", "Star Spangled Banner", and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)". Plus you get the rowdier second set (in audio only), which is almost twice as long as the video (and has some great stuff on it as well - the star-spangled banner is particularly inspired here).As for the video, it's mind-blowing. So why quibble about the photography which lacks polish, but includes lots of things that work quite well. Hendrix is well covered. So is the audience. You really get a feel for the times. I didn't mind gratis shots of a Berkeley riot! I thought they were exciting and worked very well with Hendrix's playing in the background - they'd lost some footage of the concert and this was filler I guess, but really it's not that long, and it does bring you into what was going on at that time and in that place. Other small flaws on my video included movie titles in the begining that are slightly clipped, and grainy, unrestored color which looked similar to Woodstock quality footage.I guess after reading all the moaning and groaning about video quality, I was expecting much worse, when it wasn't really that bad (we're talking the year after Woodstock) - BUT what's more important - Hendrix's playing at this show is incindiary - on fire. He writhes like a man possessed, plays the guitar every which way and we get to watch it, nay own it, for less than ten bucks! You can't go wrong here, and you'll have fun showing this little ditty to your friends for years to come.

They did their best with the original film (I suppose) and people like me like to see these things as they originally were - even if as a rule, I hate to see things hacked to pieces and if I could see a 'complete' Hear My Train A Comin, one day then that would make me a very happy man! It's not as if the editing is subtle or very accurate at times, during the songs - but this is what it is and is a must for a fan such as I.The full show audio 'extra' takes this from a three-star rating to a four, for me and the whole film-feature (quite brief, though it is) gives a nice snapshot of the time, even if I question how often I'd go back to watching this.

This is one of the best in concert films there are of Hendrix, the problem in the past was that many songs were butchered, such as 'Hear my Train a Comin'' which was easily the best version of this song ever recorded, however it was cut to bits to fit the film, now although still not complete it's a far longer version and much more enjoyable, due mainly to the inclusion of newly discovered film. If you are an Hendrix fan and already have this film on DVD, well all I can say is that for me at least, the BluRay version is worth investing in. I first saw this film when it was screened locally around 1971, 'Johnny B Goode' sent a tingle down my spine, forty years later, this definitive version has lost none of it's impact,for anybody wishing to discover Hendrix for the first time, you can't make a better choice than this BluRay.

This is one of Jimi Hendrix's best concerts. His guitar playing is bloody amazing.No guitar player since Jimi Hendrix can even match what he did

had this on vhs video years ago know it is good

This is the first JH DVD I have purcheased so I don't have to much it to compare it has some great tracks like Johnny be good which is outstanding, voodoo chile superb and purple haze pure entertainment, it was a real pleasure to see him play and his incredible showmanship is untouchable. Plus a great sound track.