I knew even as a kid that someday I would be doing a "Purple Haze" cover……
Rewind "forty-something" years, me and my crew are on our way to the school yard to play some baseball…..
…we hear a garage band blaring some Roll & Roll a couple of blocks away, so we take a quick detour towards the sound.
Although this was the "All Black" side of the factory-town/steel-town of Chicago Heights, Illinois, which always piped 70's Soul and R & B across the radio airwaves on the Black side of town….
…the many garage bands in my "all black" neighborhood often played Rock & Roll, because Rock & Roll made it easier to showcase their guitar skills, unlike the mundane, lethargic sound of 70's R&B and Soul.
(…though there were a few very talented R&B/Soul exceptions, such as "Earth Wind & Fire").
Anyhoo, we found the source of the sound, and this brother, I think his name was Marco, was simply "slaying" Purple Haze on what I remember to be a white, beat up, Fender Stratocaster….
….and I stood there mesmerized, kinda like a farm kid standing in a field staring fascinated at an approaching tornado, as the adults around him frantically run for shelter.
Then, one of my boys grabbed my arm and said….
"Duggie, let's go. We gotta hurry and get the baseball field before the older dudes get there…."
As I walked away, still in a daze, and although it was considered a more illegal and profane word back then for a kid, I simply muttered under my breath …. "DAMN".
My first version of "Purple Haze" was that same night, with my favorite instrument at home…
…that instrument being, "The Broom"
Note to Self: "Time to put away the broom …..time for the real thing……."
[below] Jimi Hendrix: "Purple Haze", Live, 1967
[below] "Purple Haze" (…my cover version)
[below] Some cool Hendrix photos I ran across ENJOY!!!
(No copyright infringement intended, I claim no ownership rights, most photos are downloadable wallpaper and screensavers, see copyright disclaimer at bottom of post)
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Life, just like music, is all about…..
"…finding your 'Frequency' "
"…finding your 'Vibration' "
"…finding your 'Wavelength' "
-Doug Wallace (me)
~stay healthy~
Click here or photo below for all my tracks in….
"Music is the Best Medicine"!!!
(a.k.a., "The Soundtrack of My Life") 
Copyright Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended, just appreciation of the original artist via a Not-For-Profit Health Blog. All rights belong to the original artist, I don't claim any. Right to use photos of the artist claimed under: Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
2 Responses
Ahhhhhhh…love me some Jimi!❤ And we all wonder how his life would have played out had he not departed this earth at age 27. Great post.
Hi Juliana,
I often wondered the same thing about how his music would have evolved had he lived into his 60’s and 70’s. When you research his story, he apparently was already tired of the music he was doing, and wanted to branch out and do some other things, but his fans kept demanding the same stuff, thus his record company kept making the band put out the same stuff.
He said the fans wanted him to set his guitar on fire every night and he didn’t want to do that, because when you find a guitar that feels right to you, you don’t wanna destroy it.
I ran across a video of a concert where he commented in front of the audience about the next song he was gonna play, “OK, let me play some more of this ‘rubbish’ “”
But seems like the late 60’s was a “perfect storm” for that kind of rebellious music, and Jimi simply got pulled into the whirlwind.
…It’s pretty amazing to be known by everyone as the best in his craft having only lived to be 27 and only having a professional career of 3 years. His talents were more diverse that we knew, he was proficient with acoustic guitar, piano, he even played the accordion!!!!!
Thanks for reading and appreciating….
Doug at GAIA Health Blog