Rising from the mud of Max Yasgur's farm at 9 a.m. on August 17, 1969, Jimi Hendrix's radical "Star Spangled Banner" was an apt metaphor for the music festival that became a cultural signifier. That song, in all of its buzz-bomb magnificence, still flies like a tattered freak flag over the Woodstock nation, defining that gorgeous, fleeting moment when anything -- any sound at least -- seemed possible. The two-disc JIMI HENDRIX LIVE AT WOODSTOCK, the ninth in a series of pristinely remastered archives assembled by the Hendrix family, brings to life the iconic 140-minute Woodstock set (minus two songs) in all its anarchic ferocity. Jimi didn't think much of this gig: The sextet that would eventually become the
Band of Gypsys was ill-prepared and unwieldy, and besides, it was too damn early in the morning. Five previously unreleased tracks will delight devotees --"Message to Love," "Spanish Castle Magic," with its uncharted solo, a feisty "Lover Man," a sinister "Foxey Lady," and a soulful "Hey Joe." But it's "Jam Back at the House," a polyrhythmic peek into what Jimi might have en-fusioned had he lived a little longer, and the final 30 minutes of risky, soaring, and wondrously intuitive guitar playing that will get you back to the garden.
