Some people are critical of what Producer Alan Douglas did with the Jimi Hendrix recordings, overdubbing musicians who were not on the original sessions, sequencing the material with a different perspective, etc. but love him or not - he was a key figure and had the intuition that was essential to carrying on Jimi's legacy. And some of the projects I do question while other work of his - Voodoo Soup, one example - he he gets my praise for; re-launching the Hendrix catalog in a unique and very commercial way.
Also, along with the great recordings Douglas released of Jimi's, even the discs that are being "restructured" by the Hendrix Estate (which is doing a terrific job) I have always maintained that ALL the Alan Douglas product needs to be kept in release, even when the same songs are remixed and re-released in a different setting. Hendrix is so iconic, prolific and special that true fans need all aspects of and visions for his recordings available in libraries for further study.
Controversial, intuitive and valuable, Douglas passed away this week on June 7th. He contributed another important work, organizing Jimi Hendrix's writings in book form as a sort of "autobiography" that answers many questions we fans have. Along with his compilations - The Essential Jimi Hendrix Vols 1 and 2, http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-essential-jimi-hendrix-vols-1-2-mw0000195422 and the Hendrix Blues album the producer left us the written word on Hendrix to accompany the recordings - Starting At Zero - His Own Story
Rest in peace, Alan Douglas.
Soundtrack Recordings to the film Jimi Hendrix
http://www.allmusic.com/album/soundtrack-recordings-from-the-film-jimi-hendrix-mw0000849706
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I was supposed to interview Producer Douglas this month but he passed away on June 7. Both NY Times and Globe articles below
Now
I've said many
glowing things about him and know Tony Bongiovi personally (have had
dinner with him; was at his studio when AC/DC was recording) ...they
picked up on the controversy of Douglas erasing Hendrix master tapes and
quoted me. My lawyer, Mike Savage, alerted me to this and feels I let Douglas off the hook, to Hendrix purists the touching of the master's work was sacrilege
In
any event, it is interesting that while the TV3 aliases beat me up on
Patch I'm being quoted in the NY Times. They don't get it.
Was
emailing a colleague about Connie Francis singing Bobby Hebb's Sunny
yesterday and Connie's manager called me today out of the blue about
something
else (a Boston band I wrote about; he launched them in the 50s/60s)...
coincidences galore. And his name is the same name as the fellow that I know who works with the Hendrix estate...
Alan Douglas, Who Mined Hendrix Archive, Dies at 82
By BRUCE WEBER JUNE 14, 2014
In
the wake of the outcry, his explanation was always that he wanted
Hendrix’s music to find its way to a new audience at a time when his
star had begun
to fade; the playing behind him on the tapes was, by Mr. Douglas’s
lights, substandard, and failed to showcase Hendrix to the best
advantage. But among rock critics and fans, the debate lingered for
years.
“If
you take this work at face value, without the baggage of what
‘producer’ Alan Douglas did to the tapes,” Joe Viglione wrote in a
review on the website AllMusic that also disparaged a co-producer, Tony
Bongiovi, “it’s still Hendrix. Maybe God allowed the series of albums to
happen so the world could see Hendrix’s work could survive doctoring
and musicians jamming with his art after the fact.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/arts/music/alan-douglas-who-mined-hendrix-archive-dies-at-82.html?
Same article in the Boston Globe
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