Reliving the Magic: Jimi Hendrix at the Carousel Theater, in Framingham, MA, in 1968
lI was 15 years old then and all these years later ready to take a a trip down memory lane and relive the magic of a legendary performance by Jimi Hendrix
I was there with friends from the Lanesville section of Gloucester, including my sister Shelley Smith, my boyfriend Paul Jeswald, John Ahonen (RIP), Scott MacNeil (RIP), and Jeffry Steele. It was a hot summer night, and Jeff's father, who got us the tickets, drove us there in a big, old, 60s station wagon. There were no seat belts; we were all crushed into the back end in our jeans and t-shirts. I was 15 years old and couldn’t believe my luck at being invited to tag along on this epic excursion.
The Carousel Theater was a huge tent and a theater in the round about an hour and a half away from my hometown of Gloucester, MA. They had summer theater and concerts there, and we couldn’t believe that Jimi Hendrix was playing and that we were going. I first became aware of his music in 1966 or 1967 with his rendition of “Hey Joe,” which I heard about from some high school kids who talked about it and later heard it on the radio in a car and later had the album “The Jimi Hendrix Experience.” It was a unique and outlandish sound that wasn’t quite blues but a new kind of rock. The guitar playing was virtuoso, and there were tales of him playing upside down, backward, and smashing his guitars. In his pictures and album cover, he wore open shirts, afro hair with feathers, and scarves, which nowadays seem like basic rock star apparel. Still, in those times, it was a flagrant expression of the counter-culture hippie lifestyle that was beginning to emerge in the hotbed of 60’s culture. The picture on the album cover was pure psychedelia with the fish eye lens. We heard him speaking a vibrational guitar language that resonated in our souls, especially with the song “Purple Haze.” I remember the exact moment and where I was when I first heard that song. I was driving with my uncle in a blue Mercury Convertible, and I heard it on the radio as we went down a curving hill. To coin a phrase of the time, “It Blew My Mind”. Later, we all tuned in to the song “The Wind Cried Mary,” which supposedly the name Mary was a reference to smoking pot. This became an anthem for young people as the older folks of the time had no idea that it meant smoking marijuana or taking LSD, a popular psychedelic drug of the time made famous by the Harvard psychologists Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (later known as Ram Das). The name of the album “Are You Experienced” has a double meaning: Have you taken these drugs, and have you heard this music? In those days, young people in the know, flashed the peace sign to each other as sort of a secret signal of being in the know.
Our seats were high in the back, but we had a good view of the stage. Jimi Hendrix looked very small and thin and not the healthiest person I had ever seen. There were rumors that he took a lot of speed and LSD. The stage was crammed with amplifiers and a drum kit. He played with two other musicians, Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell.
The band was loud and almost seemed listless, even in the loudness. I remember being excited to see Hendrix playing his guitar tricks behind his back and up in the air. This was very revolutionary for the times. There was a lot of feedback, which seemed like a new and innovative concept, and Jimi was known to use it to his advantage. We were initially excited, even though secretly disappointed, as his first couple of songs seemed like he was going through the motions. Later, more energy and verve came into the playing Purple Haze and Wild Thing.
Jimi played the guitar turned around, upside down, behind his back, and then interpolated part of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ plucking the strings with his teeth. I found this very impressive and really thought this was amazing in my 15 year old fan girl way. It was sort of like seeing a freak of nature in a circus tent which was thrilling in one way and sort of sad in another like going to a zoo and seeing animals in a cage.
I remember it was a very long performance but the playing was good, although the beginning a little boring. We excitedly left the theater in the round with about 2500 other people. You can see by the ticket stub above that by todays standards the pricing ($4.95) was low even with inflation and the crowd was not a stadium size.
We got back into the station wagon and we really were amazed at how cool Hendrix was and we did after all feel “experienced” by his music.
Jeff’s father was definately the cool parent to take us there and we were very grateful.
Just two years after his performance in Framingham, sadly, Hendrix died at age 27 in London, after taking a large dosage of barbiturates. He is recognized today as one of the most influential electric guitar players in popular music history, and perhaps the greatest rock instrumentalist ever.
I feel very blessed that I got a chance to actually have the Jimi Hendrix experience that hot August night in 1968.
