The San Jose Pop Festival of May 25th, 1969 is the setting for This Guitar On Fire. Listening to this, it sounds like the music is fast. Not tape problems causing fast playback, but the band themselves playing fast.
But maybe that's just my imagination. A decent concert, but nothing that stands out compared to some of the JHE's best. Unfortunately, this good concert gets brought down by a so-so sounding CD.
Vocals are distant, and you only hear Jimi's guitar (sounds very bassy), and Mitch's snare drum and occasional cymbal smash. Noel's bass is almost completely lost, heard on occasion during the slow numbers.
Noel himself would be "lost" just over a month later in Denver (fired/quit, depending on who tells the story), and that would be the end of the original JHE lineup.
The highlight of this CD is a quite good Red House, but the sound quality prevents a proper listening (loud, louder, and neighbors-calling-the-police-loud :) )
And an extended Voodoo Child (Slight Return) closes the concert, and features a few minutes of Room Full Of Mirrors, and Sunshine Of Your Love during this jam, before heading back to Voodoo Child.
As I say, quality is quite rough, for an audience source I'd rate it as average. A decent concert, but not one of the JHE's best, but still a part of the larger Jimi Hendrix puzzle.
- Hear My Train A-Comin' 9:34
- Fire 6:10
- Spanish Castle Magic 5:17
- Red House 11:37
- I Don't Live Today 6:42
- Foxy Lady 3:27
- Purple Haze 2:38
- Voodoo Chile 15:27
- Room Full Of Mirrors 2:05
- Sunshine Of Your Love 4:35
Catalog #: Black Sun Music BSM-001
