#OLD AND NEW LP MEET UP. GONNA EXPLODE

[giddlygoat]

@soy-s4uce

art dump ^^

[mondoholic]

Josh Homme spoke to Kyuss World Radio about the 25th anniversary of KYUSS's final album, "…And The Circus Leaves Town". The Californian four-piece split three months following the LP's release, resulting in it being less critically and commercially successful when compared to the two KYUSS albums which helped birth the stoner rock movement — 1992's "Blues For The Red Sun" and 1994's "Welcome To Sky Valley".

"I'm not good at keeping memorabilia and I'm not too nostalgic because I guess it makes me feel a little sad sometimes," Josh said. "And I feel like there's such a huge pile of things to do. And sometimes I feel like when I look at a picture or something, I go, 'Man, it'll never be that. That's only where it was.' So I tend to focus forward.

"Hearing that [the album] is 25 years old, that makes me happy. It makes me a little bit proud that I got to do something that long ago, and I'm not dead yet. [Laughs]"

Asked if he had an inkling that "…And The Circus Leaves Town" would turn out to be KYUSS's swansong when he chose the LP title, Homme said: "I think the way Brant [Bjork, drums] left [after] 'Sky Valley' was a real shock, and it was very much like the rug being pulled out from under you. Because I didn't really understand [why he was leaving], and he was never able to make it really clear. Because I think it's difficult, too — when you're young like that, it's difficult to say, 'I need to go this direction.' When he left, he had our manager tell us that he was leaving, so we didn't really get to speak to Brant. And one of the things that he had said was, 'I think the band should be over.' And I really loved Brant. And I think that was a difficult moment to hear your friend was gone and he wasn't explaining why and that he thought it should be over.

"One aspect that I always agreed with is that bands, especially at that time, I was adamant that bands shouldn't go on too long," he continued. "At the time, I really felt like you do your best work, and when you realize you've done your best work, that's when you should explode the band — to preserve it is to destroy it; that you end [the band] at the absolute apex of your creativity as a group of people. And for me, personally, and I probably should have shared this, but in my gut, I was, like, 'We'll do one more record, and it'll be everything we have.' And so when I suggested that title, I think I knew that that was it, or I felt that it was coming to a close. It just felt very sort of Edgar Allan Poe, or it felt like 'Something Wicked This Way Comes', which is one of the [most] beautiful I've ever seen for a book. It's just got this beautiful ominous darkness to it. And so '…And The Circus Leaves Town' just felt timeless, and it's over, and you watch the exit on the horizon."

In March 2012, Homme and ex-KYUSS bassist Scott Reeder filed a federal lawsuit against Bjork and ex-KYUSS singer John Garcia over their involvement in the band KYUSS LIVES!, alleging "trademark infringement and consumer fraud." Five months later, a judge ruled that Garcia and Bjork could not release any recordings under the name KYUSS LIVES! and warned them that future concerts under the KYUSS LIVES! mark "might continue to subject them to liability for trademark infringement."

Asked if there is any scenario under which he would consider taking part in a KYUSS reunion of some kind, Homme told Kyuss World Radio: "My philosophy has always been, never do a reunion, never do a sequel. It's not what it was; it's what it is. And that's kind of how I've felt. A legacy that involves having been at the epicenter of a scene that got created, it's so fragile; it's like an ice sculpture. And I don't wanna be a blow dryer on that thing. That being said, I was in full support of KYUSS LIVES! and I would go to the shows and I told them as much, until what Brant and, unfortunately, what John tried to do. And that was terrible."

Elaborating on the breakdown of his relationship with Bjork and Garcia, Homme said: "All you have to do is show each other respect and say, 'Hey, we wanna do this, and we wanna talk about it.' Once Scott Reeder told me they were wanting to put out an album, I said, 'Let's sit down and talk.' So Scott and I went and talked to John and Brant. Sorry, it wasn't Brant — it was just John, because the band as it is, Brant had quit, so he wasn't part of that, what it was when it stopped, [which was] me and Scott and John. So I said, 'This is a discussion for me and you and John.' So I went and talked. And I said, 'We should find out a way for you guys to continue that's respectful.' You don't trample on what the legacy is and that you kind of let everyone understand what's going on moving forward. And the name they chose was a little unfortunate, 'cause it's actually literally saying KYUSS is alive again, which wasn't my favorite thing, but I was, like, 'Who cares?' But unbeknownst to me and Scott during that meeting, they'd already applied for a trademark to steal the name away. So I'm sitting there talking to these guys in good faith, and their managers, and they'd already applied, and you have, like, 20 days to object to the application. So the notion that I'm sitting there talking in good faith about how they could continue, and meanwhile, at that exact moment, in another room somewhere, they're applying to take the trademark for the name KYUSS so we wouldn't own it anymore, so John and Brant would own it. And so John had felt like he was robbing himself for something, and that's just not right — I don't play that way. And it also meant that they couldn't be trusted to be honest. 'Cause I'm sitting in a room, and instead of telling you that, it's like being stabbed in the back, essentially. There was no choice but to actually take action, because you can't sit down and say, 'Let's talk about this,' because now you told me that I may say something to you with my right hand, but my left hand might be stabbing you in the back. It's made it impossible to trust what was going on. And Scott and I both were, like, 'Jesus.' And it was only three people — me and John and Scott. It was, like, 'John, what are you doing? You are allowing you and Brant to take the name from you and me and Scott.'"

Homme continued: "I suppose at the end of the day, they didn't need a blessing [to play KYUSS music], but I was giving it to 'em. I want those guys to do well. And they were playing KYUSS music for a generation that had only heard of it and never heard it. I didn't see the harm in that. But trying to usurp it and take it away was just like dirty pool. The problem with all that stuff is that in a lawsuit or something like that, everyone loses; everyone looks bad. People that have loved KYUSS for so long go, 'Fuck these guys.' And that's terrible. That's why I say it's so fragile. That's why I say I've always wanted to err on the side of don't finger bang the ice sculpture; it's gonna break. If you don't touch it, it's just classic. But you don't punctuate the end of a band with a lawsuit. Those things are tragic, and they're awful. And then they lost, because, of course, you lose when you do things like that. But that damage is awful.

"But to be honest with you, and to answer your question, there have been times I thought it cannot end that way, and the only real way to end it correctly now would be to play," he explained. "And because they sort of perverted the punctuation and they knocked the wing off this beautiful dragon that's an ice sculpture, and the only way to put the motherfucking wing back on would be to [play again].

"I have thought about this, especially in the last few years, to do something special, and even to make up for that mistake of Brant and, unfortunately, John, to make up for it. [I thought we should] play and give all the money away. Like, play for the fans — cover your costs and make it five bucks. Figure out a way to be, like, this is how the punctuation will end the sentence of this band. Because it was never about money — it never was about money. It never was about fame, and when it felt like that was the move they were making, I was so sad."

After KYUSS split in 1995, Homme went on to form QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE.

In a May 2012 interview with RolllingStone.com, Bjork stated about Homme and Reeder's lawsuit, "They don't want to mention that they trademarked the name KYUSS after I left the band, assuring that I had no rights in KYUSS's future. They're both accusing John and I of doing something that they actually did themselves. Their inner conflict is this: both Josh and Scott want control and money from KYUSS LIVES!, but they don't want to participate and they ultimately don't want us to exist. The double standard is unbelievable."

He added, "Josh and I were the creative force within the band and after the completion of our second record, 'Blues For The Red Sun', we developed an opposing view on how the band should exist and operate. In 1992, Josh discovered publishing, which is the financial revenue stream for songwriting. After that, he wanted to write all the songs. As a drummer, I couldn't make him play my songs. I wasn't going to compromise my heart and soul and play drums for Josh to make money in a band I started. So I left the band. I was a confused, angry and sad 19-year-old idealist who sacrificed my love of my band for what I believed in. Two and a half years later, Josh would break up the band after John confronted him about the same thing; his need to control the band for personal gain."

[mezzopurrloin]

Mezzo Plays Final Fantasy X: Part 1

"Listen to my story."

Here we are, my first actual screenshot LP. This is the tenth (or somethingth) game in the Final Fantasy series, originally released on the PS2. I'm playing the HD Remaster on PC, specifically. It's a nice linear RPG with a deeply involved plot. I'll try to avoid giving away any spoilers until they're revealed in the story, but some things you might have already heard. And obviously, if you don't want to be spoiled for this almost 20 year old game, don't read any further.

"This may be our last chance."

To Zanarkand

I'm not gonna try and link too much music, but this one has plot relevance.

Anyway, let's meet our hero. He's a sports star getting ready for the big game tonight. Some fans pass by and ask for an autograph, which he freely gives out.

I'm going with his canon name of Tidus. This is the first FF with full voice acting, but also included the option to rename the main character. The end result: No one ever, throughout the entirety of the game, refers to Tidus by name. It's very awkward and very noticeable. Thankfully they fixed this issue in future Final Fantasies.

On the way over, he passes by a poster of his father Jecht. He just disappeared out of the blue about 10 years ago, and has been missing ever since.

Game on! Tidus and his teammates are ready to blitz.

But on the coast, something emerges from the water... The game continues as the creature moves forth and begins destroying the city. Eventually the two meet and Tidus is forced to flee from the destroyed stadium.

Then he runs into Auron, the guy who saw the thing surface. Tidus and Auron seem to already know each other, but there's no time to reminisce on that now.

We saw this mysterious child a little bit earlier, when Tidus was signing autographs. They freeze time somehow and impart a few cryptic words of advice: "It begins, don't cry." Then, they disappear.

Sin launches a tentacled beast from its watery sphere, and that creature looses scales all over the city. Auron hands Tidus a sword, "a gift from Jecht" as he claims.

Battle time. These Sinscales are extremely weak, and go down in one hit from either Tidus or Auron's swords. Unlike some other FF games, this one's battle system is solely turn-based rather than being both turn and timing based. The little bar on the right shows the current turn order, which can change depending on circumstances. Right now all you really have at your disposal are basic attacks. Auron's heavy katana makes a very satisfying 'chop' noise when you smack something with it.

Chop down a few of those and you meet Sinspawn Ammes, the tentacled thing that loosed them. It's supported by a few Sinscales and will cast the spell Demi on you.

This spell looks pretty dangerous, and it can be in some circumstances, but its damage is always equal to 1/4 of the target's current HP, so it can never kill you. Tutorial boss and all that.

Speaking of tutorials, here's a new battle mechanic. When the orange bar under a character's HP/MP display is full, they can unleash their Overdrive. These are similar to the Limit Breaks of FF VII, and are slightly different for each character. First Auron can blast the field with his Dragon Fang...

Then Tidus can follow up with his Spiral Cut.

There's a lot more to say about Overdrives, most of which I'll save for when we get more. Anyway, as Tidus and Auron attack the Sinspawn it gradually loses tentacles, until it eventually dies. It'll drop your HP a lot with repeated Demi casts, but all it does is spam Demi so it can't kill. Plus you have a few potions in case of emergency.

They head closer to Sin, but find themselves stopped by a swarm of Sinscales.

The key to this battle is not to waste time attacking the Sinscales, as more will approach. Instead, you want to destroy the loose fuel tanker, causing it to explode and take out all of them at once.

The piece of road they were standing on is uplifted toward Sin, and there appears to be no escape.

Auron and Tidus are both sucked through the portal.

Tidus finds himself swimming through what looks like the ruined stadium. He finds what appears to be Jecht nearby, but it turns into a younger version of Tidus as he approaches.

"I thought about a lot of things...like where I was, what I'd got myself into. I started to feel light-headed...and then, sleepy. I think I had a dream. A dream of being alone. I wanted someone -- anyone, beside me...so I didn't have to feel alone anymore."

He awakens in this old ruin. Auron is nowhere to be found.

Thankfully, unlike most RPG heroes Tidus actually can swim. He moves toward the ruined temple, seeing if he can find anyone.

This sphere marks our first save point, and a good stopping point for today.

[brittanafanfichelp]

Hi do you have any of the author Talks old fics?

Hi! I do have a few of their older, deleted fics. I’m not sure which ones you are looking for so I’m just gonna list the ones I have. If you want to I can send you any or all of them.

COMING SOON 

4 women from different walks of life and across the country meet on Twitter before hitting New York to create a film company and start working on movies. Friendships are formed, love is blossoming, egos swell, and chaos ensues.13k

Grenade 

“Don’t get too close to me…I’m a grenade. I might explode when handled the wrong way.” AUBrittana* 32k

Heartbeat 

Santana is celebrating the anniversary of one of the biggest days of her life when she meets Brittany and her life changes forever from the bond they both soon discover they have. 10k

Hollywood Living: A Very Lima Christmas Carole 

AU Christmas where the LP family travels to Lima for the holidays. 4k

Hollywood Living: Battle of the Birds 

Thanksgiving themed one shot from the Hollywood Living verse where Santana and Brittany take on their friends in a friendly competition of who can make the best turkey for Thanksgiving. *Brittana*Love*Humor*Friendship 4k

Hollywood Living: The Easter Egg Hunt

Celebrate Easter Sunday with the Lopez Pierce family. - A Easter one shot chapter that is from the Hollywood Living verse-so the kids are their ages in the story before the time jumps at the end, meaning Noah is 16, Ashton is 10, Carter is 8, and Mackenzi 4k

Our Love

“What they lack in money, they make up for with love” - Brittana family story. Santana and Brittany are raising their 2.5 kids when they fall on hard times and have to rely on their love to make it through. 32k

Prompts

Compilation of the prompts I posted on Tumblr 24k

Single Ladies

Best friends Mercedes and Santana own a boutique in Atlanta, where they are set on enjoying life as young single successful women breaking into the demanding fashion world. Santana meets Brittany at her boutique but contiunually turns down her advances since she is dead set on remaining single and enjoying her random hookups. 18k

Summer Madness

My Wife and Kids companion piece - Brittany and Santana spend the summer in New York reconnecting with one another without the distractions of work, friends, or their kids. Cooking lessons and wine tastings, beach days and thunderstorm movie dates bring the best friends and wives back together while strengthening their marriage. 5k

This Christmas

HL/MWAK AU Set 10 years in the future from MWAK, The four Lopez-Pierce family is finally all together after 5 years of spending Christmas spread around the country. As the family catches up around the holiday, secrets and truths are revealed. 12k

This Is Us

Fresh off of her victory on Master Chef, Chef Santana takes Aunty Snixx to the level while Brittany focuses on her writing career as they raise their 4 young kids. Trilogy to A Dollar and A Dream, and Marriage, Motherhood, and Mischief 22k

Unexpected Guest

After being brutally attacked Brittany shows up to Santana’s door unexpectedly after being estranged for years. Can Santana save the former love of her life and rekindle their relationship. SuspenseDrama*Romance*Thriller* 44k

Vacation Love

Santana and Quinn decide to take their friendship to the next level during a New Directions reunion trip HumorQuinntana*Smut*Laughs*Friendship* 61k

[tumblunni]

Ohhh fuckin geez at least let me has a pikachu

Today's update: still feeling all fucked up from Everything Happening At Once, also getting a migraine from all the stress the other day and how i basically didnt sleep for two days and then passed out today and lost the entire 24 hours. Like man i cant even say the family shit was yesterday?? It just feels that way cos i spent all of today either sleeping, crying or crying on the phone to the bank and the stupid online game store that took my money for pokemon preorder yet didnt send me the actual game. GAHHHH and ive forgotten to Eat Food for like the whole three days all this shit has been going down, aside from a handful of Starburst candy my sis gave me during our Big Awkward Moment. And the energy drink i chugged on the way there to meet her because Fuck I Need Awakeness To Comprehend This Shit. I think my stomach is exploding in on itself.

Anyway! ANYWAY!! Gahhh! Anyway!

Thank you mega fuckin big much to the friends who leant me money AGAIN, both to catch the midnight bus to meet a long lost sibling and also to fix this stupid game preorder bollocks. God what the fuck is up with my life? I feel so guilty asking for money and man you guys have leant me like 300 in the last 3 months! Fuck i hope this stupid cavalcade of finance problems stops soon and i can start paying you all back because JESUS CHRIST. I feel like my skin is melting off my bones whenever i think about how much i dont deserve such great friends! 'welp yeah theyre wonderful people, guess i lost an arm' You ever wanna cringe yourself into a little ball from embarassment? Yeah like that but so much that i disintegrate into atoms.

SO I HOPE! FOR FUCKIN GODS SAKE! That this stolen money zero game bullshit gets resolved soon. But there's no chance of it taking less than a week, so thank you SO MUCH for helping me place another preorder at a different more reliable shop! This is what i get for fuckin going bargain hunting aaa. I ordered pikachu version just in case the original order does somehow turn up, cos it was eevee version. But i got none of the preorder bonuses anymore and no pokeball controller on this. I guess maybe itll make my second playthru more fun if i can finally use the damn controller, haha! And this second copy is probably gonna arrive quite late now cos i missed the preorder window. But it should be either on saturday or monday which is way better than waiting a month or something chasing up this bullshit! And hopefully also in a week or two i will get the money back from selling alll those preowned games, and it can go towards A: GROCERIES and B: repaying bebst friends of reckless money giving. You guys are fuckin nuts, seriously!! And man god i hate that im still suffering this knock-on effect tight finances bullshit from the stupid mental hospital thing 3 months ago. I mean i failed to even last a month there and its cost me almost a thousand pounds in terms of stocking up the stuff to be able to move house temporarily, all the mobile data i had to use while being without internet while i was there, all the miscellaneous expenses along the way, and then all the bill debt and having to restock tolietries and groceries and everyries when i got back home. Sighhh! And i feel guilty that i bought a stupid warhammer starter kit around halloween and i still havent even opened it because The Guilt. Like man i should have somehow predicted there would be more money trouble and saved that money rather than make a selfish purchase. But like it was the cheapest beginners kit anyway and i even haggled a discount for getting the figures without the paint. And now im being selfish and getting this pokemon game!! Twice!! Because stupid fuckin online banking nonsense!! Godddd give me back my money so i can give it to my friendsssss

So yeah in summary Bunni Feel Bad and also Overwhelmed and also Bad. But hopefully stuff is sorted now. Gah!

Also probably will be some delay on doing a lets play of this new pokemon cos i dunno when its gonna arrive and also i feel Big Sick now and need to chug a paracetamol and eat a loaf of bread before i die. Hope i dont spend all weekend just passed out on the sofa from Too Much Braining In One Day. Srsly why did this all happen all at once...

Also i probably wont go with the idea of twin protagonists headcanon for this LP, cos the whole Untimely Lost Sibling Madness kinda made that a sore spot to think about. One good side of getting the version i didnt want is that i can pick the female protagonist if i get pikachu version, and go with the personality i was gonna use for the female sibling. Cos actually it seems that your rival dude's perosnality is kinda simular to what i was gonna do for the male sibling? Could just have that sort of relationshup as a best buddies thing. And playing as a sassy roughhousing jock girl protag is gonna be more fun than playing The Nice And Shy Dude which is basically what i always do in every game cos its just me??? Would get more fun character lets player contrast with protagonist Darcy.

Also fuck i am gonna have SO MUCH to talk about in this first episode! Watchers who dont follow me on tumblr are gonna be so confused. "Hey youtube i just got out of mental hospital and found my long lost sister who thought i was dead, anyway never mind that lets talk about pokemon! I was gonna say i dont have any baby pictures of me when the original Pokemon Yellow came out, but here's the one i found on a facebook obituary for myself yesterday..."

What the fuck is my life, seriously?

Also if my starter ends up being a male pikachu im gonna name it Chuppy after my original one in pokemon yellow. And if its a girl i'll call it Ghostwriter after my mimikyu and pretend that its a mimikyu that just has an extra high quality disguise. Seriously, picturing all of these cute antics and tiny costumes on mimikyu makes it all even sweeter to me! I love ghosties!!

LOL I JUST REALIZED MAYBE IM A GHOST TRAINER COS I WAS "DEAD" ALL THESE YEARS AND DIDNT KNOW IT

Seriously man if there are any parents out there reading this, dont fuckin lie to your 4 year old that her sibling is dead just because the dad divorced you. There are no words for how fucked up this is. Except 'oh i guess thats why my favourite digimon frontier character is duskmon'. I fuckin thought that plot was unrealistic when i first watched it! XD actually i think duskmon is straight up my favourite digimon design and the one i'd probably pick as my partner, even though i prefer Impmon's plot from the third season. I kinda wanna go make a fanmade full evolution line for Duskmon now?? Man why am i getting so wildly off topic!

I really need to eat a food and sleep a sleep

[auskultu]

The Black Elvis?

Michael Lydon, The New York Times, 25 February 1968

SAN FRANCISCO —“Will he burn it tonight?” asked a neat blonde of her boyfriend, squashed in beside her on the packed floor of the Fillmore auditorium. "He did at Monterey,” the boy friend said, recalling the Pop Festival at which the guitarist, in a moment of elation, actually put a match to his guitar. The blonde and her boy friend went on watching the stage, crammed with huge silver-fronted Fender amps, a double drum set, and whispering stage hands. Mitch Mitchell, the drummer, came on first, sat down, smiled, and adjusted his cymbals. Then came bassist Noel Redding, gold glasses glinting on his fair, delicate face, and plugged into his amp.

“There he is,” said the blonde, and yes, said the applause, there he was, Jimi Hendrix, a cigarette slouched in his mouth, dressed in tight black pants draped with a silver belt, and a pale rainbow shirt half hidden by a black leather vest.

“Dig this, baby,” he mumbled into the mike. His left hand swung high over his frizz-bouffant hair making a shadow on the exploding sun light-show, then down onto his guitar and the Jimi Hendrix Experience roared into “Red House.” It was the first night of the group's second American tour. During the first tour, last summer, they were almost unknown. But this time two LP’s and eight months of legend preceded them.

The crowds in San Francisco—their three nights here were the biggest in the Fillmore’s history—were drooling for Hendrix in the flesh. They got it: this time he didn't burn his guitar ("I was feeling mild”) but, with the careless, slovenly and blatantly erotic arrogance that is his trademark, he gave them what they wanted.

He played all the favorites, “Purple Haze,” “Foxy Lady,” “Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire” and "The Wind Cries Mary.” He played flicking his gleaming white Gibson between his legs and propelling it out of his groin with a nimble grind of his hips. Bending his head over the strings, he plucked them with his teeth as if eating them, occasionally pulling away to take deep breaths. Falling back and lying almost prone, he pumped the guitar neck as it stood high on his belly.

He made sound by swinging the guitar before him and just tapping the body. He played with no hands at all, letting his wah-wah pedal bend and break the noise into madly distorted melodic lines. And all at top volume, the bass and drums building a wall of black noise heard as much by pressure on the eyeballs as with the ears.

• • •

The black Elvis? He is that in England. In America James Brown is, but only for Negroes; could Hendrix become that for American whites? The title, rich in potential imagery, is a mantle waiting to be bestowed. Within his wildness, Hendrix plays on the audience’s reaction to his sexual violence with an ironic and even gentle humor. The D.A.R. sensed what he is up to: they managed to block one appearance with the Monkees last summer, because he was “too erotic.” But if Jimi knows about his erotic appeal, he won’t admit it.

"Man, it's the music, that’s what comes first,” he said, taking a quick jerk of Johnny Walker Black in his motel room. “People who put down our performance, they’re people who can’t use their eyes and ears at the same time. They got a button on their shoulder blades that keeps only one working at a time. Look, man, we might play sometimes just standing there; sometimes we do the whole diabolical bit when we’re in the studio and there ain’t nobody to watch. It’s how we feel. How we feel and getting the music out, that’s all. As soon as people understand that, the better.” 

• • •

The Jimi Hendrix Experience, now doing a two-month tour (they will be at Hunter College on Saturday and at Stony Brook, L. I., on March 9), was formed in October, 1966, just weeks after Hendrix came to London from Greenwich Village encouraged by former Animal Chas Chandler. Mitchell, 21, came from Georgie Fame’s band, a top English rhythm and blues group, and 22-year-old Redding switched to bass from guitar, which he had played with several small-time bands. Their first job, after only a few weeks of rehearsal, was at the Paris Olympia on a bill with Johnny Hallyday.

Their first record, “Hey Joe,” got to number 4 on the English charts; a tour of England and steady dates in the in London clubs, plus a follow-up hit with “Purple Haze,” made them the hottest name around. Men’s hairdressers started featuring the “Experience style.” Paul McCartney got them invited to the Monterey Pop Festival and they were a smash hit.

But Jimi Hendrix, born James Marshall Hendrix 22 years ago in Seattle, Wash., goes a lot further back. Now hip rock’s enfant terrible, he quit high school for the paratroopers at 16 (“Anybody could be in the Army, T had to do it special, but man, was I bored”). Musically he came up the black route, learning guitar to Muddy Waters records on his back porch, playing in Negro clubs in Nashville, begging his way onto Harlem bandstands, and touring for two years, lost in the bands of rhythm and blues headliners: the Isley Brothers, Joey Dee, Little Richard, and King Curtis. He even played the Fillmore once, but that was backing Ike and Tina Turner and long before the Haight-Ashbury scene.

• • •

“I always wanted more than that,” he said, “I had these dreams that something was gonna happen, seeing the numbers 1966 in my sleep, so I was just passing time till then. I wanted my own scene, making my music, not playing the same riffs.

“Like once with Little Richard, me and another guy got fancy shirts ’cause we were tired of wearing the uniform. Richard called a meeting. ‘I am Little Richard, I am Little Richard,’ he said.‘the King, the King of Rock and Rhythm. I am the only one allowed to be pretty. Take off those shirts.’ Man, it was all like that. Bad pay, lousy living, and getting burned.”

Early in 1966 he finally got to Greenwich Village, where he played at the Cafe Wha as Jimmy James with his own hastily formed group, the Blue Flame. It was his break and the bridge to today’s Hendrix. He started to write songs—he has written hundreds—and play what he calls “my rock-blues-funky-freak sound.”

• • •

“Dylan really turned me on—not the words or his guitar, but as a way to get myself together. A cat like that can do it to you. Race, that was okay. In the Village people were more friendly than in Harlem where it’s all cold and mean. Your own people hurt you more. Anyway, I had always wanted a more open and integrated sound. Top-40 stuff is all out of gospel, so they try to get everybody up and clapping, shouting, ‘yeah, yeah.’ We don’t want to get everybody up. They should just sit there and dig it. And they must dig it, or we wouldn’t be here.”

A John Wayne movie played silently on the television in the stale and disordered room, and Hendrix started alternating slugs of scotch and Courvoisier. He stopped and turned to the window, looking out over San Francisco. “This lookslike Brussels, all built on hills. Beautiful. But no city I’ve ever seen is as pretty as Seattle, all that water and mountains. I couldn’t live there, but it was beautiful.”

Besides his music, Hendrix doesn’t do much. He wants to retire young and buy a lot of motels and real estate with his money. Sometimes he thinks of producing records or going to the Juilliard School of Music to learn theory and composition. In London he lives with his manager, but plans to buy a house in a mews; in his spare time he reads Isaac Asimov’s science fiction. His musical favorites, as he listed them, are Charlie Mingus, Roland Kirk, Bach, Muddy Waters, Bukka White, Albert Collins, Albert King, and Elmore James.

• • •

“Where do you stop? There are, oh man, so many more, all good. Sound, and being good, that’s important. Like we’re trying to find out what we really dig. We got plans for a play-type scene with people moving on stage, but everything pertaining to the song and every song a story.

“We’ll keep moving. It gets tiring doing the same tiling, coming out and saying, ‘Now we’ll play this song,’ and ‘Now we’ll play that one.’ People take us strange ways, but I don’t care how they take us. Man, we’ll be moving. ’Cause man, in this life you gotta do what you want, you gotta let your mind and fancy flow, flow, flow free.”