Woke Up This Morning

So I'm kicking this popsicle stand and taking off to Europe in just over 2 weeks. Until I leave, I'm going to be posting faster and furiouser than EVER BEFORE in what amounts to a farewell tour since I'll be gone for 2+ months. That means posts will be short and plentiful (I hope) as I try to showcase some last minute tunes, covers and otherwise. NOTE: from here on end, I'll be throwing these up on SaveFile.

First off, I wanted to draw your attention to a bizarre CD I borrowed from the trusty Edmonton Public Library:


This is a recording, handmade by Jimi himself, bootlegged, then semi-officially released under various titles. The sordid history of the recording is recounted in the liner notes with not much authority. There's some more info on it here.

The semi-historic significance of the recording is that a drunken Jim Morrison mumbles and yells obscenities throughout, particularly on the notoriously dubbed Morrison's Lament. Johnny Winters is apparently on rhythm guitar and Buddy Miles may or may not be on drums (depending whose liner notes you believe).

The quality of the recording is rather horrid and not really worth listening to, even though Jimi does a cover of Tomorrow Never Knows and Sunshine of Your Love (a better version of this can be found on his BBC Sessions CD).

Give a listen to: Morrison's Lament

Well, that was fun and bizarre. The idea of Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison together is certainly tantalizing, but the results are not exactly inspiring (depressing, perhaps). Both died within 3 years of this gig.

To combat the bad taste of that recording, here's a couple covers I dig:

Shirley Bassey - Light My Fire [originally by The Doors]
I think I may have posted this cover before, but it's so wonderfully overblown I can't resist. The best is around the 3:00 mark when she belts, "Come on baby light my--" [everything grinds to a halt] "FIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEE" (which lasts about 15 seconds). I was almost tempted to go see her at Wembley Stadium in June, but then my wallet and head came to their collective senses.

Santana - Spanish Castle Magic [originally by The Jimi Hendrix Experience]