LAST LISTENED TO during the week
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT poor
RATING
Little Miss Strange is my least liked Hendrix track bar none. This is mostly because it sounds nothing like a Hendrix tune, for which there is a very good reason: Noel Redding.
Redding was the bass player for the Experience. By '68, he was not happy with his place in the band, especially with the erratic schedule, party atmosphere and multiple takes involved in the recording of Electric Ladyland. Hendrix would often vanish for days on end, when he was supposed to be in the studio and it was during one of these occasions that Redding brought in Little Miss Strange. It became the only new composition on the album that was not written by Hendrix. Further, Redding not only wrote the song and played the bass on it, but he also sings and plays the guitar, with Hendrix's only apparent input was some overdubs on the near-complete track. Consequently, the song stands out nastily on this great album and is the only part that really shows its age.
In the mid '90s, a documentary about the making of this album laid bare much of this. It also shows that Redding still has an axe to grind. He only ever refers to Jimi as 'Hendrix' and he insists that their version of All Along The Watchtower is not as good as Dylan's original (even though i am pretty sure that Dylan himself doesn't). Little Miss Strange was, apparently, only included on the album as a sop to the disgruntled bass player. I am sure i'm not the only one who wishes it hadn't been.
It's a tune that the skip button on CD players was invented for and is lucky to get two stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment