NOT long before we started planning this Jimi Hendrix cover story, I found myself playing Running The Voodoo Down! Explorations In Psychrockfunksouljazz 1967–80, a great compilation from 2017 that explored black America’s response to the volume and possibilities of psychedelic rock. Along with George Clinton, Sly Stone and Miles Davis, Hendrix casts a sizable shadow over the proceedings – either in a very overt sense, like the way the Isley Brothers segue from CSNY’s “Ohio” into Hendrix’s “Machine Gun”, or else as a galvanising force, whose questing and progressive imperative encouraged others to follow his example. We visit some of the music Hendrix made in his final creative outpouring, as part of Peter Watts’ cover story that digs into his fecund, if ultimately tragic, 1970. “He was the first person we knew who had stepped outside of the status quo,” recalls one former friend. “He was the spirit of the music.”
There’s more, of course. Stand by for the welcome return of some very old friends of Uncut – Gillian Welch and David Rawlings and Mercury Rev – artists who have in no small way helped shape what we do here – and a tremendous piece on Chris Bell, as we mark a series of Big Star-related anniversaries in this issue. There’s newcomers Brown Horse alongside Fontaines DC, Thurston Moore, Cass McCombs, Yes, Paul Heaton, a farewell to John Mayall, David Crosby by Mike Scott and a deep dive into Neil Young’s Archives Volume III by Allan Jones. Please also check out a terrific review of Wild God and interview with Nick Cave by Alastair McKay – which are by some distance the best things I’ve read on Cave’s latest album.
After all that, you might reasonably ask, what exactly do you do for an encore? How about a 10-track Big Star CD…
As ever, let us know what you think of the issue.