Hanson - Now Hear This. 1973 England

There are those, perhaps even a majority, who believe the music world would have been different had Jimi Hendrix remained alive. His larger than life personality and obvious powerful influence in the late 60s would have kept the creative force of continuing to challenge music norms to this very day.

No - nothing would have changed. Other than more great music from Hendrix for a short while of course. We would have watched him take on progressive rock, jazz/rock, funk, and fusion throughout the mid 70s. And then the wheels would have come off. Desperate attempts to stay relevant in the public eye - he would have tried AOR, Disco, New Wave, and finally bad 80s pop. Once all that failed (and later tagged with a series of 2.5 to 2.75 ratings on RYM) he probably would done some instrumental guitar rock, and possibly even caught a commercial break like Santana. Finally crawling into the 2000's, the rediscovery awaits, and he sells out stadiums of 75,000 or more. While at the water cooler, the sales guy, all dressed up in his blue suit and tie brags to his co-workers "Guess what I did this weekend? I flew to London and saw Hendrix live". "Oh wowww", everyone coos. "That's soooo cool" says all the IT workers surrounding who have no hope to see Hendrix beyond YouTube.

Oh - Now Hear This - thank you Junior Marvin Hanson for giving us a reasonable facsimile of what Jimi Hendrix would have accomplished in 1973. Well done. Am I finished here? Yea, that's it.

Ownership: LP: 1973 Manticore (USA). Gatefold. Recent pickup from a store in Albuquerque (2022).

5/24/19 (new entry); 4/27/22